JP2608809B2 - Concrete hopper gate opening adjustment method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for adjusting the opening of a concrete hopper gate provided in a batcher plant for producing ready-mixed concrete.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a batcher plant for producing ready-mixed concrete, a predetermined amount of gravel, sand, cement, water and an admixture is measured in accordance with the composition of the ready-mixed concrete to be produced, and these measured materials are sequentially fed to a mixer. Then, the ready-mixed concrete is manufactured by kneading for a predetermined time. When the kneading is completed, the ready-mixed concrete is dropped into the concrete hopper arranged below the mixer,
Then, the hopper gate attached to the lower part of the concrete hopper is opened and loaded into the mixer truck waiting below.

When the ready-mixed concrete is dispensed from the concrete hopper and loaded into the mixer truck, it is preferable to adjust the amount of discharge from the hopper to such an extent that the ready-loading can be quickly carried out, and without causing the ready-mixed concrete to overflow from the receiving hopper of the mixer truck.

Therefore, the computer which is a control device of the batcher plant stores in advance how much the gate opening of the concrete hopper is set according to the slump value of the ready-mixed concrete to be manufactured, and the slump of the ready-mixed concrete to be manufactured is stored. The gate opening is determined according to the value. For example, a slump value of 0 to 7 cm, 8 to 14 c
m, 15 to 17 cm, and 18 cm or more. The concrete hopper gate opening is set for each of these sections. At this time, the larger the slump value (the softer the ready-mixed concrete), the larger the gate opening.

[0005]

However, simply adjusting the gate opening of the concrete hopper by roughly dividing the slump value into about four steps as described above has a drawback that the discharge amount becomes uneven. In addition, if the amount of storage in the concrete hopper increases, the rubber hopper gate opens greatly depending on its weight and the amount of discharge changes, so it is impossible to adjust the amount of discharge only by adjusting the gate opening according to only the slump value. . In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a method of adjusting a hopper gate of a concrete hopper to an appropriate opening according to a slump value of ready-mixed concrete and a storage amount in the concrete hopper.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an opening adjusting means for adjusting a gate opening in a hopper gate of a concrete hopper for temporarily storing and dispensing ready-mixed concrete by a mixer. A means for detecting the amount of fresh concrete stored in the concrete hopper is provided, and a set slump value at the time of completion of kneading is stored in advance in a computer in accordance with the mixing number of the ready-mixed concrete to be kneaded. The difference between the slump value of the ready-mixed concrete with respect to the reference slump value and the difference between the storage amount of the ready-mixed concrete with respect to the reference storage amount of the concrete hopper is the antecedent of the fuzzy inference rule, and the opening correction amount of the hopper gate is fuzzy. The fuzzy inference rule that is the consequent part of the inference rule is stored,
When the manufactured ready-mixed concrete is discharged from the hopper gate, fuzzy inference is performed based on the set slump value read out from the mix number of the ready-mixed concrete to be discharged and the amount of ready-mixed concrete stored in the concrete hopper, and the opening correction amount of the hopper gate is estimated. Then, the preset standard opening is corrected to determine the proper opening of the gate, and the opening of the hopper gate is adjusted.

[0007]

According to the method for adjusting the opening degree of the concrete hopper gate according to the present invention, the deviation amount of the set slump value of the ready-mixed concrete in the concrete hopper with respect to the preset reference slump value of the ready-mixed concrete is determined. The fuzzy inference rule with the deviation of the amount of ready-mixed concrete in the concrete hopper relative to the reference storage amount as the antecedent of the fuzzy inference rule, and the opening of the hopper gate as the consequent part of the fuzzy inference rule, is stored in the computer memory. It is stored in advance. Then, when opening the hopper gate, first, the deviation amount between the set slump value and the reference slump value of the ready-mixed concrete stored in the concrete hopper is calculated. In addition, the amount of ready-mixed concrete stored in the concrete hopper is obtained, and the deviation from the reference storage amount is calculated. Subsequently, inference is performed on the basis of the stored fuzzy inference rules using the slump value and the amount of deviation of the storage amount as antecedents of the fuzzy inference, and an appropriate opening degree of the hopper gate of the concrete hopper is estimated. Then, the opening degree data of the hopper gate is sent to the opening degree adjusting means, and the hopper gate is automatically opened by an appropriate amount to discharge the ready-mixed concrete.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

A biaxial mixer 1 mounted on a batcher plant for producing ready-mixed concrete has an arm fixed radially to two parallel kneading axes and a mixing blade at the tip of the arm. The kneading shaft is driven and rotated in opposite directions by a drive motor 2 to knead the concrete material.

Below the mixer 1, a concrete hopper 3 for temporarily storing the fresh concrete dropped from the mixer is provided, and at the discharge portion of the concrete hopper 3, a hopper gate made of a tubular flexible material is provided. 4 is installed. Open the opening to the hopper gate 4,
A pair of rollers 5 for pinching and pressing from both sides for closing are provided. The roller 5 is attached to a lower end of an arm 9 rotatably attached to a member 7 fixed to a support member 6 by a shaft 8, and the roller 5 is rotatable around the shaft 8. Then, the tip of the piston rod 12 of the cylinder 11 attached to the member 10 fixed to the support member 6 is attached to the lower end of the arm 9, and the roller 5 is advanced and retracted by the expansion and contraction of the piston rod 12, so that the hopper gate 4 is moved from both sides. It is designed to pinch or release the pinch.

The cylinder 11 that operates the roller 5 for holding the hopper gate employs an intermediate stop type cylinder that can stop the piston rod 12 at an arbitrary position, and adjusts the opening of the hopper gate 4 steplessly. I can do it.

A plant control device 13 for controlling the above device
Is provided with a fuzzy controller 14 for performing fuzzy inference based on a fuzzy set membership function and a fuzzy inference rule described later. A storage unit 15 is also provided to store the set values of various materials to be set in the material scale at the time of production of the ready-mixed concrete and the design slump values in association with the mix numbers, and to serve as antecedents of the fuzzy inference rules. It stores data and data necessary for inference. Further, an operation unit 16 for performing various operations at the time of fuzzy inference is provided. Further, a setting input unit 17 for inputting and setting various setting values and data such as a kneading capacity necessary for kneading and an opening / closing controller 18 for controlling the operation of the cylinder 11 for opening and closing the hopper gate 4 are provided.

When the ready-mixed concrete is discharged from the concrete hopper 3, the concrete hopper 3
The set slump value of the ready-mixed concrete stored in the storage unit is read from the storage unit 15 to the calculation unit 16. The set slump value is a design slump value called from the storage unit 15 based on the mix number of the ready-mixed concrete to be shipped at the time of material weighing. After the completion of the kneading, when the ready-mixed concrete for the current batch is dropped from the mixer into the concrete hopper 3, the kneading capacity set at the time of kneading is read into the arithmetic unit 16. At this time, if the ready-mixed concrete of the previous batch remains in the concrete hopper 3 without being discharged,
The amount dropped this time is added to the previous batch, and if the ready-mixed concrete of the previous batch has already been discharged, this amount is used as the storage amount without adding. In addition, the storage amount of the ready-mixed concrete in the concrete hopper 3 is calculated from the kneading capacity set in the plant control device 13. However, a sensor for measuring the storage amount is attached to the concrete hopper 3 so as to adopt the actually measured value. You may do it. The arithmetic unit 16 calculates a deviation from the reference slump value (for example, 8 cm) for the set slump value and a deviation from the reference storage amount (for example, １ ／ of the concrete hopper capacity) for the storage amount. The amount is calculated and sent to the fuzzy control unit 14.

The fuzzy control unit 14 estimates the opening correction amount of the hopper gate 4 from the deviation amount of the set slump value and the deviation amount of the storage amount by fuzzy inference, and sets the standard opening which is preset and input based on the opening correction amount. The degree is corrected, and the determined opening degree data is output to the opening / closing controller 18 to operate the cylinder 11 to open the hopper gate 4 by an appropriate amount.

Next, a method of fuzzy inferring the opening degree of the hopper gate 4 from the deviation amount of the set slump value and the deviation amount of the storage amount will be described.

The ready-mixed concrete mixed by the mixer 1 is dropped into the concrete hopper 3, and if it is confirmed that the mixer truck is waiting below the hopper 3, the discharge start switch of the ready-mixed concrete of the plant controller 13 is pressed.
The plant controller 13 reads the set slump value Lx (cm) from the storage unit 15 based on the mix number of the ready-mixed concrete to be discharged, and the deviation ΔL from the reference slump value Ls (cm) preset by the calculation unit 16. (Cm) is calculated. Further, reads the accumulated amount of the raw concrete that is stored in the concrete hopper ³ Wx (m 3), the deviation amount between the reference storage amount set in advance ^{Ws (m 3) △ W (} m 3)
Is calculated. The deviation amount ΔL of the slump value and the deviation amount ΔW of the storage amount are input to the fuzzy controller 14. The fuzzy controller 14 estimates the opening correction amount ΔT (second) of the hopper gate 4 from the input data based on the membership function of the fuzzy set and the inference rule, and the opening correction amount ΔT
Is added to the preset standard opening Ts (second) to determine an appropriate opening Tx (second). Although the unit of the opening is shown as seconds, this is the time for driving the piston rod 12 of the cylinder 11 to contract, and the opening Tx
(Seconds) That is, the longer the driving time, the larger the gate opening.

FIG. 2 shows a membership function for qualitatively evaluating the magnitude of the deviation ΔL of the slump value. ΔL (i) (i = 1 to 7) in the figure is a constant that defines the form of the membership function and is determined as appropriate. PB, PM,
PS, ZR, NS, NM, and NB are deviations of the slump value.
This is a name given to the membership function for qualitatively evaluating the magnitude of L, and has the following meanings.

PB: Positive Big PM: Positive Medium PS: Positive Small ZR: Zero NS: Negative Small NM: Negative Medium NB: Negative Negative

The vertical axis in the figure is the membership value. Using this membership function, the deviation amount ΔL of the slump value read this time is qualitatively evaluated.

FIG. 3 shows a membership function for qualitatively evaluating the deviation ΔW of the stored amount. △ W in the figure
(I) (i = 1 to 7) are constants that define the form of the membership function and are determined as appropriate. PB, PM, PS, Z
R, NS, NM, and NB are names given to the membership function in order to qualitatively evaluate the magnitude of the deviation amount ΔW of the stored amount, and the meaning is as described above.

FIG. 4 shows an inference rule for qualitatively estimating the opening correction amount ΔT of the hopper gate 4 from a qualitative function of the deviation amount ΔL of the slump value and the deviation amount ΔW of the storage amount. For example, the inference rule at the upper left is IF (△ Lis PB
and △ Wis PB) THEN △ TiS
Represents NB. This means that if the magnitude of the set slump value is very large relative to the reference slump value (the ready-mixed concrete is very soft) and the storage amount is very large relative to the reference storage amount (full). (Consequent part) and the rule of "let the opening correction amount of the hopper gate 4 be very large on the minus side (the opening degree is made very small)" (consequent part).

FIG. 5 shows a qualitatively determined opening correction amount △.
A membership function for converting T to a quantitative value. In the drawing, ΔT (i) (i = 1 to 7) is a constant that defines the form of the membership function, and is an opening correction amount of the hopper gate 4 and is appropriately determined. PB, PM, PS, Z
R, NS, NM, and NB are names given to the membership function for qualitatively evaluating the magnitude of the opening correction amount of the hopper gate 4, and correspond to the names used in FIG. . The vertical axis in the figure is the membership value. Then, to which membership function the opening correction amount belongs is determined by the applied inference rule. When the opening correction amount is defined by a plurality of memberships based on a plurality of inference rules, a weighted average value corresponding to each membership value is used as an actual opening correction amount. The correction amount of the fuzzy inferred opening is set in advance and added to the stored standard opening to determine an appropriate opening of the hopper gate 4.

When the proper opening of the hopper gate 4 is determined in this way, the opening data is sent to an opening / closing controller 18, which drives the cylinder 11 to move the piston rod 12 to the opening data. And the hopper gate 4 is opened by reducing the length by the length corresponding to. Then, the ready-mixed concrete can be automatically loaded from the concrete hopper 3 into the mixer truck in a preferable state.

Although the membership functions used in this embodiment are all triangular, the present invention is not limited to this. The shape of the hopper gate 4 and the concrete hopper 3
The essence of the present invention does not change even if various curves are adopted according to the size of the material and the characteristics of the material, and the essence of the present invention does not change even if the number is arbitrarily set.

[0025]

As described above, according to the method for adjusting the opening degree of the concrete hopper gate according to the present invention, the deviation amount of the set slump value from the reference slump value of the fresh concrete stored in the concrete hopper 3 and the concrete hopper 3 Since the opening correction amount of the hopper gate 4 is estimated from the deviation amount of the storage amount with respect to the reference storage amount by fuzzy inference, the proper opening degree of the hopper gate 4 is determined from the opening correction amount, and the hopper gate 4 is opened. In addition, finer opening adjustment can be performed compared to the conventional opening adjustment method of the hopper gate, and the ready-mixed concrete can be efficiently loaded without overflowing from the receiving hopper of the mixer truck.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a concrete hopper gate to which an opening adjustment method according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a membership function for evaluating a deviation amount of a set slump value.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a membership function for evaluating a deviation amount of a stored amount.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hopper gate opening correction amount prediction rule.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a membership function for evaluating a hopper gate opening correction amount.

[Explanation of symbols] 1 mixer 3 concrete hopper 4 hopper gate 11 cylinder 13 plant control device 14 fuzzy control unit

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A hopper gate of a concrete hopper for temporarily storing and discharging ready-mixed concrete mixed by a mixer, comprising an opening adjustment means for adjusting a gate opening, and detecting a stored amount of ready-mixed concrete in the concrete hopper. Means, and the computer further stores in advance a set slump value at the time of completion of kneading corresponding to the mix number of the ready-mixed concrete to be kneaded, and a deviation amount of the slump value of the ready-mixed concrete from the reference slump value, A fuzzy inference rule in which the deviation amount of the stored amount of ready-mixed concrete with respect to the reference storage amount of the hopper is the antecedent of the fuzzy inference rule, and the opening correction amount of the hopper gate is the consequent part of the fuzzy inference rule, is stored. ,
When the manufactured ready-mixed concrete is discharged from the hopper gate, fuzzy inference is performed based on the set slump value read out from the mix number of the ready-mixed concrete to be discharged and the amount of ready-mixed concrete stored in the concrete hopper, and the opening correction amount of the hopper gate is estimated. And adjusting the opening of the concrete hopper gate by correcting the preset standard opening to determine an appropriate opening of the gate and adjusting the opening of the hopper gate.