US 12,275,621 B2
Control unit and method for operating a conveying means
Thomas Blank, Reichshof (DE); and Manfred Martis, Wetzlar (DE)
Assigned to JOHANNES HUEBNER FABRIK ELEKTRISCHER MASCHINEN GMBH, Giessen (DE)
Appl. No. 17/800,782
Filed by JOHANNES HUEBNER FABRIK ELEKTRISCHER MASCHINEN GMBH, Giessen (DE)
PCT Filed Feb. 4, 2021, PCT No. PCT/EP2021/052608
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Aug. 18, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/165044, PCT Pub. Date Aug. 26, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 10 2020 104 603.0 (DE), filed on Feb. 21, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0100751 A1, Mar. 30, 2023
Int. Cl. B66C 13/30 (2006.01); B65G 43/04 (2006.01); G05D 1/00 (2006.01); G05D 3/10 (2006.01)
CPC B66C 13/30 (2013.01) [B65G 43/04 (2013.01); G05D 1/00 (2013.01); G05D 3/10 (2013.01); B65G 2203/0283 (2013.01); B65G 2203/0291 (2013.01); B65G 2203/046 (2013.01); B65G 2811/0621 (2013.01); B65G 2811/095 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for operating conveyor means (27), the conveyor means comprising a drive unit (11) and a control unit (10) for controlling the drive unit, a carriage (28) of the conveyor means being moved along a rail (12, 29, 49, 67) of the conveyor means by means of the drive unit, the control unit being controlled by means of a control device (13) of the control unit, a rotary encoder (16, 36, 56) of the control unit being connected to a shaft (18) of the drive unit or of a measuring wheel of the carriage and registering a rotation of the shaft, a rotation angle signal, a rotational speed signal or a position value being transmitted to the control device by means of an encoder device (17, 37, 52, 58) of the rotary encoder in order to determine an assumed position of the carriage on the rail,
wherein at least one position signal is detected by means of a sensor apparatus (14, 40, 70) of a safety device (71) of the control unit, the sensor apparatus being disposed on the carriage and the rail, a real position of the carriage on the rail being determined by means of a safety apparatus (25, 38, 51, 59) of the safety device based on the position signal, the assumed position being corrected according to the real position by means of the safety device,
wherein the position signal is generated by means of at least one sensor (22, 31, 47, 50, 63) of the sensor apparatus (14, 40, 70) disposed on the carriage (28) when passing markings (19, 30, 46, 48, 63) of the sensor apparatus disposed on the rail (12, 29, 49, 67), and
wherein the sensor apparatus (14, 40, 70) comprises at least two sensors (22, 31, 47, 50, 63) disposed on the carriage (28) and a plurality of markings (19, 30, 46, 48, 63) disposed along the rail (12, 29, 49, 67), passive RFID transponders (20, 21, 33, 42, 43) being used as markings and RFID transceivers (23, 34, 41) being used as sensors.