Realization of one-rail double-vehicle system in finished cigarette product warehousing

To pursue high efficiency and avoid emergent interruption in finished cigarette product warehousing, a system featured one-rail with two reciprocating shuttle vehicles was designed. A cross-platform multi-PLC control means for the palletizing station, shuttle vehicles and conveyors was developed through the cross-platform interaction between AB and PHOENIX PLCs and intra-platform interaction between PHOENIX PLCs. In case of shuttle vehicle failures, the double-vehicle normal mode switches rapidly to the single-vehicle emergency mode. A test was conducted in the Cigarette Manufacturing Department of Yuxi Cigarette Factory. The results showed that the capacity of the designed system increased by 10.3 pallet/hour, which met the requirements of production. The switch between single-vehicle and double-vehicle running modes took 5 min, and the interruption of product handling was avoided. This technology provides a support for improving the efficiency of cigarette warehousing via shuttle vehicles.