An automation system

Abstract

 This invention relates to an automation system which reads the "Cylinder Information Card" on the LPG cylinders, fills these cylinders automatically and removes the defective cylinders by pushing them from the conveyor line prior to filling.

Description

[0001] Technical field

[0002] This invention relates to a system which reads the "Cylinder Information Card" on LPG cylinders, fills these cylinders automatically and removes the defective cylinders by pushing them from the conveyor line prior to filling.

[0003] Prior art

[0004] In order to continue to compete with the opportunities provided by new technologies on the international market, it is a must to rapidly complete the research & development, design & preparation for manufacturing and manufacturing processes. In order for the companies to keep up with this race, they have to apply modern methods such as computer assisted engineering, design and manufacturing. With the use of computers in the production lines, manufacturing technology has evolved and developed rapidly.

[0005] Computer technologies play a great role in the development of manufacturing technologies. Computers are made use of in many basic areas such as planning in manufacturing, design, manufacturing, shipping and management. However the development of new techniques and technologies are also made via computers. Enterprises have to display the necessary and sufficient effort in order not fall behind of this rapid change. Computer assisted design, computer assisted manufacturing, and computer integrated manufacturing, cellular manufacturing systems, flexible manufacturing systems and robots are the in the forefront among these new technologies. Although this technology is high-cost enterprises are adapting to these technologies in their plans for the future

[0006] As with industrial establishments in various sectors, industrial establishments in cylinder filling and distribution also develop and implement computer assisted production technologies. Thus, unnecessary procedures and processes leading to waste have been tried to be eliminated.

[0007] In the state of the art embodiment, tare information in the "Cylinder Information Card", which is placed on the valves and located on the LPG cylinders, is entered to the electronic scale by the filling staff and the filling is started manually by the same staff.

[0008] However in this system which is applied for rapid filling, the fact that tare information is entered manually by the filling staff slows down the system and decreases efficiency. Moreover; on the condition that the tare information on the filling information card is misread or this tare information is not entered correctly to the filling scale, too much or less gas is filled into the cylinders.

[0009] In the state of the art in Japanese patent application no. JP5026398, a device which verifies the tare weight during filling in order to prevent the wrong tare information, which may be entered by filling staff and lead to too much or less filling, is described.

[0010] In the state of the art in another Japanese Patent application no. JP55074663, it is disclosed that prior to filling, filling information is read from a barcode placed on the cylinder via a manual POS device and this information is stored.

[0011] Moreover; in the European patent document no. EP0813022, it is disclosed that the empty cylinder is weighed prior to filling and the required quantity of gas is filled under the control of a computer. The flow meter on the tip of the filling hose transmits the quantity of the filled gas to the central control unit with a signal and this unit controls the opening and closure of the gas stop valves. In this system, the tare of the empty cylinder is weighed and the necessary gas quantity is calculated under the control of a computer and after filling, the cylinder is re-weighed and controlled, and if the required weight is not reached it is pushed out of the conveyor line.

[0012] Brief description of the invention

[0013] The purpose of this invention is to produce an automation system which reads the tare information from a "Cylinder Information Card" using a camera system, operated without any staff under the control of a computer, transmits the cylinder's tare to the filling scale through electronic software and which performs the filling under the control of a computer.

[0014] Another purpose of this invention is to produce an automation system which enables the sensing of the cylinders without a "cylinder information card" or invalid cylinders by a computer via camera, and which pushes these cylinders from the conveyor line to the separation basket prior to filling.

[0015] Detailed description of the invention

[0016] An automation system for reaching the objectives of this invention is shown in the appended drawings, and

[0017] Figure 1 - is the schematic image of the automation system of the invention.

[0018] The parts illustrated in the Figures are numbered and the corresponding names of these numbers are given below:

1. Automation system

2. Reading Station

3. Camera

4. Separation piston

5. 51, 52, 53, 54 Sensor

6. Communication Circuit

7. Computer

8. Stopper

9. Separation Basket

10. Carousel

11. Conveyor

12. System panel

13. Lighting

14. Filling Scale

15. Driving Piston

16. Cylinder

17. Signal

[0019] The automation system (1) of the invention comprises basically: at least one specially illuminated (13) reading station (2), at least one camera (3) to read the "Cylinder Information Card", at least one separation piston (4) which pushes the cylinders not having a "Cylinder Information Card" or the invalid cylinders out of the conveyor line (11), sensors (5, 51, 52, 53, and 54) that control the system, at least one communication circuit to transmit the information received from the sensors (5, 51, 52, 53, and 54) to the computer, at least one system computer (7) which stores all the filling information, at least one software which enables the system to run without any errors and is installed in the system computer (7).

[0020] When the cylinder (16) moving on the conveyor line reaches reading station (2), the software senses, through the signal (17) received from sensor-1, that the cylinder (16) is under the camera (3). System stoppers (8) stop the cylinder at an exact point in this chamber where the camera can see the cylinder (16) and the"Cylinder Information Card" on it. Thanks to specific illumination (13) and adequate lighting in this station, the image of the tare information on "Cylinder Information Card" is taken by the camera (3) and the information can be read by the software installed in the system computer (7) using the image taken.

[0021] In similar dangerous sites containing explosive gas (LPG), exproof electric lamps are used for special lighting (13). Hence, fire or explosion that may stem from a spark from short circuit is prevented. Moreover; all the electrical components and the camera (3) also has to operate without being flammable.

[0022] "Cylinder information card" is an information storage and transmission card comprising tare information and is fixed on the valve on the cylinder (16) or on any point on the outer surface of the cylinder. In the reading station (2), information obtained as a result of reading is stored in the system computer (7).

[0023] With the signal (17) received from sensor-2 (51), it is understood that the cylinder has left the reading station (2) and has come to the area where the cylinder separation basket (9) is present. Since the cylinders (16) without cylinder information cards or with invalid cards (16) can not be read by the camera (3) despite the signal (17) coming from sensor-1 (5), the software classifies the cylinder (16) as defective, and pushes the defective cylinder to the cylinder separation basket (9) when it comes to the cylinder separation (9) part of the conveyor line (11) via the signal (17) sent to the cylinder separation piston.

[0024] After the cylinders (16) which are not found to be defective as a result of the "Cylinder Information Card" reading pass the cylinder separation basket (9), sensor-3 (52) sends a signal (17) to the system computer (7). With the signal (17) received, the system software senses that the cylinder (16) is put on the relevant scale (14) on the revolving carousel (10) using cylinder driving piston (15). Moreover; with the signals (17) received from sensor-4 (53) and sensor-5, the filling scale (14) number upon which the cylinder (16) is put is determined and the tare and filling information of the relevant cylinder (16) is sent to this filling scale (16) automatically by the software. With the signal (17) sent to the filling scale (16), filling starts for the relevant cylinder (16).

[0025] The automation system (2) working without any defect depends on the software installed in the system computer (7). Reading of the cylinder (16) tare information, detection of the cylinder (16) flow, separation of inappropriate cylinders (16) and cylinders with invalid cards from the line, detection of the carousel (10) filling scale (14) number, starting filling and all the coherence is controlled by this software. Moreover; all the relevant photos, tare and filling information is stored in the system computer (7) by this software.

[0026] In one embodiment of the invention, in order to enable the communication circuit (6) between system computer (7) and sensors (5, 51, 52, 53 and 54), and the signals (17) received from filling line to be sensed by the system computer (7), voltage information is converted into RS-232 format. In order for the cylinder separation piston (4) and carousel cylinder driving piston (15) to operate, the information sent by the software is converted into voltage and sent to solenoid valves thus enabling the flow of air to the pistons (4 and 15).

[0027] Since the LCD screen used for the follow up of all the information related to automation system (1), the key pad placed for the control of the system and also the solenoid valves used for the control of piston movements (4 and 15) in the automation system, pressure switch and system panel (12) including photocell amplifiers are also exproof, the possibility of fire stemming from the short circuit in these parts is prevented.

[0028] Within this general concept, it is possible to develop many variation of the automation system (1) of the invention, and the invention is just like as described in the claims and can not be restricted with the examples explained here.

[0029] 

Claims

1. An automation system comprising at least one reading station (2), sensors (5, 51, 52, 53, and 54) which through signals, send the cylinder flow at various points in the system to the system computer and thus control the system, at least one communication circuit (6) which transmits the signals (17) received from sensors (5, 51, 52, 53, and 54) to the system computer (7), at least one system computer (7) which stores all the information related to filling, at least one software installed on the system computer which enables the system to work without any errors and controls the system; and characterized in that at least one camera (3), which is used for the detection of cylinder tare information obtained as a result of the "Cylinder Information Card" reading, and at least one separation piston used for separation of the cylinders (16) not having "Cylinder Information Card" or invalid cylinders (16) from the conveyor line (11) to the cylinder separation basket prior to filling.

2. An automation system (1) according to Claim 1, including an exproof camera (3) which is placed in any point in the station in such a way that it can see the "Cylinder Information Card" which may either be fixed on the valve of the cylinder (16) or may be at any point on the cylinder (16) in the reading station (2).

3. An automation system (1) according to Claim 1, having a special illuminated (13) reading station (2) including exproof lamps and light filters adjusting the light amount which prevents reflection on the "Cylinder Information Card"

4. An automation system according to one of the above mentioned claims, having a reading station (2) including the mechanism which senses that the cylinder (16) is below the camera (3) with the signal (17) received from sensor-1 (5), and which enables the cylinder (16) to stop, via stopper (8), at a point from where it can be seen by the camera (3).

5. An automation system (1) according to one of the abovementioned claims, which detects that the cylinder (16) is defective, via the software, on condition that the cylinder (16) coming to the reading station (2) with the signal (17) received from sensor-1 (5), does not have a "Cylinder Information Card" or on condition that it has an invalid card (16).

6. An automation system according to one of the abovementioned claims, in which the information that the cylinder (16) is driven to the carousel (10) with the signal received from sensor-3 (7), and that the cylinder (16) is driven to the relevant balance (14) on the revolving carousel (10) by the carousel cylinder driver piston (15) is detected by the software.

7. An automation system (1) according to one of the abovementioned claims, including the software installed on the system computer (7) which sends the tare and filling information of the relevant cylinder (16) to the filling scale (14) automatically by detecting the filling scale (14) number upon which the cylinder (16) is placed, thus performing the filling automatically.

8. An automation system (1) according to one of the abovementioned claims, including an exproof system panel (12) collecting hardware regarding the system, having a LCD screen and a key pad which enables the device to be controlled by an operator and the operator to be informed, solenoid valves used under the control of the movements of piston (4 and 15), pressure switch and photocell amplifiers.

Drawing