Patent GB-1528014-A (GB)
Title: System for cyclic operation of self-running objects
IPC: B61B13/00
Filed: 1975-08-29
Abstract: 1528014 Automatic electric control JAPAN TOBACCO & SALT PUBLIC CORP 29 Aug 1975 [30 Aug 1974] 35640/75 Heading G3N [Also in Division B7]  In a manufacturing factory for making cigarettes, including a series of cigarette making machines 9A to 9F in manufacturing stage 1 and a series of packing machines 12A to 12D at a packing stage 2, a central control unit 62 responds to vehicle requests from vehicle standby stations 11A to 11F disposed before each cigarette making machine to route empty vehicles 3 from reservation zone 4 to the requesting stations and to vehicle requests from vehicle standby stations 14A, 14D, disposed before each packing machine, to route vehicles loaded during the manufacturing process from reservation zone 5 to the requesting stations. Vehicles emptied by the packing machines are returned to reservation zone 4. The vehicles are self propelled and are guided by a leader cable system. The vehicles are routed to particular standby stations &c. by energizing the guide cables 8A-8F at different frequencies and by controlling the guidance system of a vehicle to respond only to signals at the frequency of the cable defining its route. Each vehicle carries the usual pick-up coils 17a 17b which are connected via amplifiers 22a 22b, a selected pair of band pass filters 23a1 to 23a6 and 23b1 to 23b6 and rectifiers 24a 24b to a difference circuit 25 which provides an output to steering motor 27. In addition each vehicle includes a transmitting coil 19 coupled to an oscillator 29 and a receiving coil 18 which can pick up from a ground coil connected to the central control office a routing signal to set in unit 34 the required pair of filter circuits and also a run signal for operating drive motor 40. The vehicle can also receive stop and go instructions at the manufacturing and packing machines. When a vehicle enters a standby station 11A or 14A its receiving coil 18 receives a vehicle stop signal via ground coil 45 and its transmitting coil 19 is coupled to ground coil 46 to send a vehicle arrival and holding signal to the central office. When this signal disappears, as the vehicle is moved to the machine from the standby position, the central office routes another vehicle to take its place. At the junctions 15A and 15C a vehicle arriving at the junction on one line sets up a stop signal in the other line until it has cleared the junction. The vehicles are conditioned to follow a particular route at allocation circuits e.g. 6 at the exit of reservation zone 4 at which a waiting vehicle receives from circuit 58a a stop signal from the central office and supplies a holding signal from its transmit coil 19 to the office to indicate its presence via receiving circuit 57A. This holding signal is also applied to the transmission circuit of the next succeeding reservation station to act as a stop signal for any vehicle thereat. This latter vehicle, if present, similarly supplies a stop signal to the next succeeding station and so on throughout the reservation zone. When a vehicle is requested the central office applies a routing signal to the vehicle in the allocation circuit and removes the stop signal so that the vehicle moves out thus removing the stop signal from the vehicle in the next succeeding station so that this moves up one position to the allocation circuit. Similarly all vehicles in the reservation zone move up one position. In an alternative arrangement the guide cables are all energized at the same frequency and only one cable in a group is energized to route a vehicle to its destination.