Patent ID: 7657343

Claim:
A conveyance system comprising: a conveyance line which is configured by connecting any of a plurality of different types of conveyance units to convey objects and a controller which controls said conveyance line, wherein each conveyance unit has a conveyance direction for conveying an object, a connecting position for connecting other conveyance units, and a length, and each type of conveyance unit differs from another type of conveyance unit in terms of one or more of the conveyance direction, the connecting position and the length; said conveyance units comprising: identification information transmission means for transmitting identification information based on each type of said conveyance units to said controller, connecting means, which is arranged on connecting positions of said conveyance units, for connecting one of said conveyance units to another of said conveyance units; and connection information transmission means for transmitting connection condition information indicating whether the connecting means of a conveyance unit is connected to connecting means of another conveyance unit and the connecting position to said controller, and said controller comprising: identification information reception means for receiving the identification information from said conveyance units; connection information reception means for receiving the information concerning connection condition of said conveyance units, and layout arranging means for specifying one or more of said conveyance units in the conveyance line, identifying the conveyance direction, the connecting position and the length for each of the specified conveyance units, and arranging a layout of the specified conveyance units, based on the identification information and the information concerning connection condition; and conveyance plan generating means for generating an optimal route to convey the objects based on the layout arranged by said layout arranging means.