JP7626730B2 - Crane device and crane control system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a crane device and a crane control system, and in particular to a crane device and a crane control system that transmit and receive operational information and the like to and from external information devices.

For example, in a building such as a factory, a crane device is installed that is equipped with a hoisting motor that moves a suspended load such as a manufactured structural part in the vertical direction, and a moving motor that moves the suspended load along a rail installed on the ceiling side.

The hoisting motor runs along a rail installed along the ceiling of the building, and is equipped with a rope drum around which the wire rope is wound. This rope drum is rotated by the hoisting motor, and has the function of winding up and paying out the wire rope connected to the load.

The crane device is also equipped with a travel motor for running on the rails, and by driving this travel motor, the hoisting motor moves along the rails. In the following, the hoisting motor, the travel motor, or both may be referred to as the drive motor.

In such crane equipment, it is necessary to understand the operating status of the crane equipment and perform maintenance and management. Incidentally, the drive motors for hoisting and moving are mainly installed on the ceiling of the factory, and their control units are generally integrated with the drive motor. When checking the operating information of the drive motor during maintenance and management such as inspection and troubleshooting, the maintenance worker must climb up to the ceiling where the drive motor is installed. For this reason, depending on the location of the drive motor, it may take time to ensure safety, such as by preparing a high-altitude work vehicle.

To solve such problems, for example, a crane management system described in JP 2014-34260 A (Patent Document 1) is known. In Patent Document 1, a first information processing device provided in the drive motor acquires operation information, and the collected operation information is sent to a portable second information processing device carried near the first control device. This makes it possible to check the operation information of the drive motor from the floor near the drive motor without having to climb up to the ceiling where the drive motor is installed.

In the crane management system of Patent Document 1, a first information processing device is attached to the crane apparatus, capable of controlling operation according to each application, such as hoisting, traversing, and traveling, and the second information processing device is configured to request the first information processing device to send information related to the operation of the first information processing device, receive information sent from the first information processing device in response to this request, and associate the received information as operation information of the crane apparatus and store it in its own storage means. Furthermore, the second information control device can also be configured to be able to communicate with a third control device such as a cloud server.

JP 2014-34260 A

In Patent Document 1, the first information processing device and the second control device are equipped with communication devices equipped with wireless communication modules capable of short-range communication such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark) or Bluetooth (registered trademark). For this reason, unless the second information processing device is carried within the range of the radio waves transmitted by the first information processing device, various types of information cannot be collected. For example, the remaining lifespan of the components of the crane apparatus cannot be constantly calculated, which may result in overlooking the fact that the components of the crane apparatus have reached the end of their lifespan.

In addition, the third information processing device can communicate with a data server such as a cloud via Internet communication, but since the third information processing device is configured to be able to communicate only with the second information processing device, the second information processing device cannot send the latest information to the third information processing device unless it obtains operation information from the first information processing device, and there is a problem in that the third information processing device cannot sequentially obtain the latest operation information.

For example, even if the remaining lifespan is calculated on the data server side, the calculation of the remaining lifespan cannot be performed unless the second information processing device is carried within the range of the radio waves transmitted by the first information processing device.

The object of the present invention is to provide a crane device and a crane control system that can sequentially store operation information of the crane device in a data server and further enable the operation information to be viewed on a portable information display terminal as required.

The present invention relates to a crane device that includes a plurality of drive motors including at least a hoisting motor and a travel motor, a crane control unit that controls each of the drive motors, and a communication unit connected to the crane control unit. The communication unit has a function of periodically transmitting operation information of the crane device to a cloud server via a long-distance communication network, and a function of transmitting operation information to a portable information display terminal via a short-distance communication network in response to a request from the information display terminal.

The present invention has the advantage that the latest operation information of a crane device can be stored in a data server, and the operation information can be viewed on a portable information display terminal as needed.

1 is a configuration diagram showing an overall configuration of a crane apparatus to which the present invention is applied; 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a crane control system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a simplified configuration of the crane control system shown in FIG. 2 . FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a simplified configuration of a crane control system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a simplified configuration of a crane control system according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a simplified configuration of a crane control system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. 11 is a circuit diagram showing a method of supplying power to a wireless communication unit. FIG.

The following describes in detail an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiment, and the scope of the present invention includes various modifications and applications within the technical concept of the present invention.

Figure 1 shows the overall configuration of an inverter-type crane device to which the present invention is applied, and Figure 2 shows the configuration of a crane control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the inverter crane device is composed of a crane hook 1, a wire rope 2, a hoisting induction motor 3, a hoisting drum 4, a traverse induction motor 5, traverse wheels 6, a traverse girder 7, a traveling induction motor 8, traveling wheels 9, a traveling girder 10, a hoisting/traverse inverter control device 11, an operation input device 12 suspended from a cable, a traveling inverter control device 13, etc. In addition, the hoisting induction motor 3, the traverse induction motor 5, and the traveling induction motor 8 each have an induction motor brake 14 (see FIG. 2) built in.

The inverter crane device moves a load attached to a crane hook 1 in the vertical direction (indicated by the Y direction, -Y arrows), i.e., up and down, by winding up and down a wire rope 2 with a hoisting drum 4 rotated by a hoisting induction motor 3. In addition, the traverse wheels 6 are rotated by a traverse induction motor 5, and the load moves left and right (indicated by the X direction, -X arrows) along a traverse girder 7. Furthermore, the traveling wheels 9 are rotated by a traveling induction motor 8, and the load moves forward and backward (indicated by the Z direction, -Z arrows) along a traveling girder 10.

As shown in FIG. 2, the hoisting/traverse inverter control device 11 incorporates a hoisting/traverse inverter control unit 15, a hoisting inverter 16, and a traverse inverter 17. The traveling inverter control device 13 incorporates a traveling inverter control unit 18 and a traveling inverter 19. The hoisting/traverse inverter control unit 15 and the traveling inverter control unit 18 are connected by a communication line (wired) 20.

The hoisting induction motor 3 and the traverse induction motor 5 are controlled by the hoisting/traverse inverter control unit 15 stored in the hoisting/traverse inverter control device 11. That is, when the operator inputs a specific command from the operation input device 12, the hoisting/traverse inverter control unit 15 provides the hoisting inverter 16 and the traverse inverter 17 with the operation information required for control. An encoder 21 is attached to the hoisting induction motor 3, and inputs the rotation information of the hoisting induction motor 3 to the hoisting/traverse inverter control unit 15.

The hoisting inverter 16 and the traverse inverter 17 then apply the necessary frequency, voltage, and current to the hoisting induction motor 3 and the traverse induction motor 5, and at the same time control the release of the induction motor brake 14. As a result, in the case of the hoisting drum 4, the load attached to the crane hook 1 is moved vertically without falling, and in the case of the traverse wheels 6, the traverse wheels 6 are moved left and right along the traverse girder 7.

Similarly, when the operator inputs a specific command from the operation input device 12, the traveling induction motor 8 attached to the traveling wheel 9 is controlled by the traveling inverter control unit 18 stored in the traveling inverter control device 13, which controls the traveling inverter 19, and the traveling inverter 19 applies the required frequency, voltage, and current to the traveling induction motor 8, and at the same time controls the release of the induction motor brake 14, thereby moving the traveling wheel 9 in the forward/backward direction along the traveling girder 10.

Furthermore, the hoisting/traversing inverter control device 15 is provided with a wireless communication unit 22, which is connected to the hoisting/traversing inverter control unit 15 by a communication line 23. Furthermore, the traveling inverter control unit 19 is connected to the hoisting/traversing inverter control device 15 by a communication line 20. Therefore, the operation information of the crane device in the traveling inverter control unit 19 and the hoisting/traversing inverter control device 15, and the operation information of the electric motor (operation information such as current value and instantaneous current value) are sent to the wireless communication unit 22.

The wireless communication unit 22 is equipped with a long-distance communication unit for long-distance (remote) communication and a short-distance communication unit for short-distance communication, and periodically communicates with the cloud server 24 and, as necessary, communicates with the portable information display terminal 26 in response to a request from the information display terminal 26. The wireless communication unit 22 is also equipped with a communication antenna 22L for long-distance communication and a communication antenna 22S for short-distance communication.

The wireless communication unit 22 is bidirectionally connected by a long-distance communication network to a communication antenna 25A of a communication unit 25 of a cloud server 24, which is composed of a data server equipped with a calculation function. The communication antenna 25A of the cloud server 24 is also connected by a long-distance communication network to a portable information display terminal 26 equipped with a communication unit. Furthermore, the wireless communication unit 22 is bidirectionally connected to the portable information display terminal 26 by a short-distance communication network. The communication unit 27 of the information display terminal 25 is equipped with a communication antenna 27L for long-distance communication and a communication antenna 27S for short-distance communication.

As a long-distance communication network, an Internet communication network, a telephone line communication network, or a communication network that combines these can be used. Also, as a short-distance communication network, a Wi-Fi communication network or a Bluetooth communication network can be used.

Next, the flow of operational information between the hoisting/traversing inverter control unit 15 of the crane device, the cloud server 24, and the information display terminal 25 will be explained based on simplified diagrams in Figures 3 and 4. Figures 3 and 4 have substantially the same configuration, but differ in that the traveling inverter control unit 18 is directly connected to the wireless communication unit 22 via a communication line 20. For this reason, the following explanation will be given using Figure 3.

In FIG. 3, unlike the management system shown in Patent Document 1, the communication unit 25 of the cloud server 24 can obtain operation information of the crane device at the cloud server 24 installed in a remote location away from the factory without going to the factory where the hoisting/traverse inverter device 15 and the traveling inverter control unit 18 are installed.

The cloud server 24 has a function to periodically acquire the latest operation information of the crane apparatus at predetermined time intervals and update and store the information in a memory unit (not shown). It also has an editing function and can create graphs, etc. In this way, the cloud server 24 is able to hold the latest operation information of the crane apparatus.

Communication is carried out between the wireless communication unit 22 on the crane device side and the communication unit 25 on the cloud server 24 side via a long distance communication network 28. As described above, the long distance communication network may be an Internet communication network, a telephone line communication network, or a communication network that combines these. It is also possible to use other communication networks that are capable of long distance communication.

The information display terminal 27 has two communication functions. One is a long-distance communication network 28, which can use the Internet, a telephone line, or a combination of these. The other is a short-distance communication network 29, which can use a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth network.

Communication can be established through the short-distance communication network 29 by the maintenance worker carrying the information display terminal 26 to the crane device. Since the short-distance communication network 29 does not incur communication costs, it is suitable for transmitting large amounts of operation information. Furthermore, it is possible to directly transmit operation information to be displayed on the information display terminal 26. The information display terminal 26 can be a tablet terminal, a smartphone, a personal computer, or the like.

In the above, operation information of the crane device is acquired by the hoisting/traversing inverter control unit 15 and the traveling inverter control unit 18. The acquired operation information is transmitted to the wireless communication unit 21 via the wired communication line 23 as shown in FIG. 3. Here, the operation information acquired by the traveling inverter control unit 18 may be transmitted to the hoisting/traversing inverter control unit 15 via the wired communication line 20, or may be transmitted directly to the wireless communication unit 22 as shown in FIG. 4.

The wireless communication unit 22 transmits the acquired operation information to the cloud server 24 via the long-distance communication network 28. Here, the operation information is operation information sampled at relatively long time intervals, such as the operation time of the crane device, the number of times the crane device has been operated, and error information of the crane device, and this information is transmitted to the cloud server 24 periodically at predetermined time intervals. Furthermore, the amount of information per unit time of this operation information is small, and the communication costs of the long-distance communication network 28 can be kept low.

The cloud server 24 stores the received operation information, and can also edit and create screen data and graph data for display from the operation information. The screen data and graph data created by the cloud server 24 are then transmitted to the information display terminal 26 via the long distance communication network 28 in response to a request from the information display terminal 26 of the maintenance worker.

The received screen data and graph data are displayed on the display screen of the information display terminal 26 so that the maintenance worker can view them. In addition, for example, the specifications of the crane device can be edited on the information display terminal 26, and this edited information can be transmitted to the cloud server 24 via the long-distance communication network 28 and stored therein.

On the other hand, operational information such as the motor current value during operation is information that maintenance workers want to know online as necessary when performing maintenance and management. If, as in Patent Document 1, the motor's operational instantaneous values are transmitted from the crane device to the cloud server 24 via the long-distance communication network 28, and then transmitted from the cloud server 24 to the information display terminal 26 via the long-distance communication network 28, it is possible to increase the frequency of communication between the wireless communication unit 22 and the cloud server 24, or to accumulate the operational instantaneous values in the wireless communication unit 21 and transmit them to the cloud server 24 in a certain amount of time. However, such a method increases the amount of information sent by communication, which creates problems such as a decrease in the immediacy of the information and a rise in communication costs.

The information display terminal 26 and the wireless communication unit 22 of the crane device are therefore connected via a short-range communication network 29 such as a Wi-Fi communication network or a Bluetooth communication network, and the above-mentioned instantaneous operating values are sent directly to the information display terminal 26 in response to a request from the information display terminal 26. This makes it possible to solve problems such as a decrease in the immediacy of information and rising communication costs.

The selection of the wireless communication unit 22 on the crane device side to which the information display terminal 26 connects via the short-range communication network 29 may be set on the information display terminal 26 side, or may be set from switching information acquired from the cloud server 24 via the long-distance communication network 28.

In this way, according to this embodiment, the operation information of the crane device is periodically transmitted to a data server via long-distance communication, and the operation information is stored and updated in the data server, and further transmitted to the information display terminal 26 via short-distance communication in response to a request from the information display terminal, so that the operation information can be viewed as needed.

This makes it possible to periodically store the latest operating information of the crane equipment in a data server, and allows constant monitoring of the operating status of the crane equipment, enabling accurate remote monitoring. Furthermore, operating information that contains a large amount of information, such as the instantaneous operating value of the motor current, can be viewed on a portable information display terminal as needed, improving the immediacy of information and reducing communication costs as much as possible.

In the above explanation, an external information device is connected to each crane device, but it is also possible to connect multiple crane devices together to an external information device. This method makes it possible to keep overall communication costs low. A specific example is explained below.

In FIG. 5, the crane control unit 30, which is composed of the hoisting/traversing inverter control unit 11 and the traveling inverter control unit 13 shown in FIG. 2, is connected to the information aggregation and communication unit 32 by a short-range communication network 31 such as a Wi-Fi communication network or a Bluetooth communication network. Therefore, the operation information of each crane control unit 30 is collected by the information aggregation and communication unit 32 via the short-range communication network 31. This information aggregation and communication unit 32 is placed, for example, in a position where factory communications are not disturbed (near the ceiling of a house).

In addition, the information aggregation and communication unit 32 is connected to the cloud server 24 via the long-distance communication network 28 as described above. Furthermore, each crane control unit 30 is connected to the information display terminal 26 via the short-distance communication network 29 as described above.

The information aggregation and communication unit 32 adds individual identification information for each crane control unit 30 and transmits the operation information of the crane apparatus to the cloud server 24. As explained above, the operation information is operational information sampled at relatively long time intervals, such as the operation time of the crane apparatus, the number of times the crane apparatus has been operated, and error information for the crane apparatus, and this information is transmitted to the cloud server 24 periodically at predetermined time intervals. The cloud server 24 then accumulates, stores, and can further edit the operation information for each crane apparatus by referring to the identification information.

The information display terminal 26 is also connected to each crane control unit 30 via a short-distance communication network 29. By specifying a crane control unit 30 on the information display terminal 26 side, communication can be performed with the specified crane control unit 30 via the short-distance communication network 29. In this case, as described above, when performing maintenance and management, instantaneous operating values such as the current value of the motor during operation that the maintenance and management worker wants to know online are transmitted to the information display terminal 26.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 above, instantaneous operating values such as the motor current value during operation that the maintenance worker wants to know online are sent to the information display terminal 26, but it is also possible to send them to the information aggregation and communication unit 32.

In FIG. 6, in addition to the operation information of the crane device, the operation instantaneous values such as the current value of the motor during operation that the maintenance worker wants to know online are also transmitted to the information aggregation and communication unit 32. In this state, when a request for transmission of the operation instantaneous values is made from the information display terminal 26, the information aggregation and communication unit 32 transmits the obtained operation instantaneous values of the crane device to the information display terminal 26. In this embodiment, too, since the short-range communication networks 31 and 29 are used, no communication costs are incurred, and the immediacy of the information is not lost.

Next, we will explain the power supply method for the wireless communication unit 22 in the crane device. When not operating the inverter crane device, it is common to operate the main power switch installed in the power supply unit of the inverter crane device by operating the off button of the input device, thereby cutting off the power supply to the inverter crane device.

However, in this case, the power supply to the wireless communication unit 22 is also cut off, so depending on the execution timing of the long-distance communication network 28 with the cloud server 24, the latest operation information cannot be sent to the cloud server 24.

In this embodiment, the configuration shown in FIG. 7 is adopted to eliminate this phenomenon. As shown in FIG. 7, the crane control unit 30 is connected to a three-phase power supply via a main power switch 33. Therefore, power from a three-phase power supply 34 is supplied to the crane control unit 30. The main power switch 33 is controlled by an electromagnetic relay 35, which is operated by operating an input device (start button) 35.

Therefore, when the input device 35 is turned off, the main power switch is turned off by the electromagnetic relay 35, and the power supply to the crane control unit 30 is cut off. On the other hand, the wireless communication unit 22 is maintained in a state where communication is possible because power is directly supplied to the wireless communication unit 22 by the power supply line 37 that connects the three-phase power source 34 and the wireless communication unit 22. This makes it possible to transmit the latest operation information of the crane apparatus to the cloud server 24.

In addition, in addition to the power supply line 37 described above, a configuration may be provided in which the power supply is not cut off even when the input device 36 is operated, for example, a battery power supply, from which power is supplied directly to the wireless communication unit 22.

As described above, the cloud server makes it possible to obtain the latest operating information of the crane equipment at any time and constantly monitor the status of the crane equipment, enabling accurate remote status monitoring. Furthermore, when monitoring the status of each of multiple crane equipment installed in the same location, an information aggregation and communication unit that communicates with the cloud server is provided, and the crane equipment and the information aggregation and communication unit are connected and aggregated via a short-range communication network, making it possible to reduce overall communication costs.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but includes various modified examples. The above-mentioned embodiments have been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all of the configurations described. In addition, it is possible to replace part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, and it is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. It is also possible to add, delete, or replace other configurations with respect to the configuration of each embodiment.

11...hoisting/traverse inverter device, 12...input device, 13...travel inverter device, 14...induction motor brake, 15...hoisting/traverse inverter control unit, 16...hoisting inverter, 17...traverse inverter, 18...travel inverter control unit, 19...travel inverter, 20...communication line, 22...wireless communication unit, 23...communication line, 24...cloud server, 25...communication unit, 26...information display terminal, 27...communication unit, 28...long-distance communication network, 29...short-distance communication network, 30...crane control unit, 31...short-distance communication network, 32...information aggregation and communication unit.

Claims (10)

A crane apparatus including a plurality of driving motors including at least a hoisting motor and a moving motor, a crane control unit that controls each of the driving motors, and a communication unit connected to the crane control unit,
The communication unit is
a function of periodically transmitting first operation information consisting of a predetermined amount of information acquired from the crane control unit to a cloud server via a long distance communication network;
a function of transmitting, in response to a request from a portable information display terminal carried by a maintenance worker, second operation information requested by the maintenance worker, the second operation information having a larger amount of information than the first operation information acquired from the crane control unit, to the information display terminal via a short-range communications network. The crane apparatus according to claim 1,
the long distance communication network is any one of an Internet communication network, a telephone line communication network, and a communication network that combines the Internet communication network and the telephone line communication network;
The crane apparatus is characterized in that the short-range communication network is either a Wi-Fi communication network or a Bluetooth communication network. The crane apparatus according to claim 2,
the communication unit transmits the first operation information to the cloud server at predetermined time intervals;
The crane apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication unit transmits an instantaneous operating value of the drive motor as the second operation information to the information display terminal based on the request from the information display terminal. The crane apparatus according to claim 1,
The crane apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication unit is supplied with power directly from a power source. The crane apparatus according to claim 4,
A crane apparatus characterized in that the communication unit is supplied with power from a three-phase power supply which is a power supply for the drive motor via a power supply line, or is supplied with power from a battery power supply. A crane apparatus including a plurality of driving motors including at least a hoisting motor and a moving motor, a crane control unit that controls each of the driving motors, and a communication unit connected to the crane control unit;
A cloud server connected to the communication unit via a long distance communication network and configured to periodically receive first operation information consisting of a predetermined amount of information acquired from the crane control unit;
a portable information display terminal carried by the maintenance worker, the portable information display terminal being connected to the communication unit via a short-range communication network , making a request for acquisition of second operation information requested by a maintenance worker which has a larger amount of information than the first operation information acquired from the crane control unit, and receiving the second operation information in response to the request, and the portable information display terminal being connected to the cloud server via the long-distance communication network and receiving third operation information from the cloud server . 7. The crane control system according to claim 6,
the long distance communication network is any one of an Internet communication network, a telephone line communication network, and a communication network that combines the Internet communication network and the telephone line communication network;
The crane control system is characterized in that the short-range communication network is either a Wi-Fi communication network or a Bluetooth communication network. 8. The crane control system according to claim 7,
The communication unit transmits the first operation information of the crane apparatus to the cloud server at predetermined time intervals,
A crane control system characterized in that the communication unit transmits an instantaneous operating value of the drive motor as the second operation information to the information display terminal based on the request from the information display terminal. 7. The crane control system according to claim 6,
A crane control system, characterized in that the third operation information is operation information edited from the first operation information received by the cloud server. 10. The crane control system according to claim 9,
A crane control system, wherein the long distance communication network is any one of an Internet communication network, a telephone line communication network, and a communication network that combines the Internet communication network and the telephone line communication network.

Images