Si Handling Systems, Inc.

Barry C Conklin

Edmund L Mangan

The speed of a driverless vehicle is controlled along the length of the module from an incoming high speed to an outgoing low speed or vice versa. The module includes first, second and third aligned drive tubes between tracks adapted to support a vehicle. A first motor is coupled to the first drive tube for driving the same at a first (high) speed. The second drive motor is coupled to the third drive tube for driving the same at a second (low) speed. The second drive tube is maintained out of mechanical engagement with the first and third drive tubes. A variable speed motor is coupled to the second drive tube to drive the second tube between the first (high) and second (low) speeds, independently of the first and second motors.

Vehicle speed control transition module and method

An intelligent driverless vehicle rolls on a track and has a pair of drive wheels which engage with a rotating drive shaft. The angular position of the drive wheels relative to the drive shaft determines the speed of the vehicle. Each vehicle has a microcomputer associated therewith, a position encoder for supplying information regarding the position of the vehicle to the microcomputer, an angular position encoder for providing information regarding the angular position of the drive wheels to the microcomputer for the computation of vehicle speed, and a drive wheel control means and associated linkage for changing the angular position of the drive wheels and thus vehicle speed in response to commands from the onboard microcomputer. The microcomputer communicates with a central computer via a bidirectional communications link. The central computer controls the speed and acceleration of each vehicle by selectively communicating with the microcomputers on board the vehicles.

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Easton, PA, United States of America

Barry C Conklin