1. A safety stop mechanism for a robotic accessor in an automated storage library, comprising:
a connector having first and second ends, the first end configured to contact a door of the automated storage library when the door is in at least a first position; and
a safety stop connected to the second end of the connector and adapted to move from a down position to an up position, the safety stop in the down position when the door is in the first position to allow for travel of the robotic accessor over the safety stop.
2. The safety stop mechanism of claim 1, wherein the connector is adapted to travel laterally corresponding to movement of the door between the first position and a second position, consequently moving the safety stop from the down position to the up position, the up position preventing travel of the robotic accessor beyond the safety stop.
3. The safety stop mechanism of claim 2, wherein the first position of the door is closed and the second position of the door is open.
4. The safety stop mechanism of claim 1, further including a bracket, pinned through the safety stop, to connect the safety stop to the second end of the connector.
5. The safety stop mechanism of claim 4, further including a cam track integrated into the safety stop, at least a portion of the pinned bracket traveling along the cam track as the safety stop is moved from the down position to the up position.
6. The safety stop mechanism of claim 1, wherein the connector is a spring-loaded plunger.
7. The safety stop mechanism of claim 1, wherein the connector is at least partially enclosed by a housing.
8. The safety stop mechanism of claim 7, further including a pin connecting at least a portion of the safety stop to the housing, wherein the safety stop is adapted for pivoting from the down position to the up position about the pin.
9. The safety stop mechanism of claim 7, further including a sensor device connected to the housing, wherein the sensor device is adapted for detecting the safety stop in at least one of the up position and the down position.
10. The safety stop mechanism of claim 7, wherein the housing is adapted for mounting to a base structure of the automated storage library.
11. A safety stop mechanism for a robotic accessor in an automated storage library, comprising:
a housing;
a plunger, spring-loaded to a portion of the housing, and having a first end adapted to contact a door of the automated storage library when the door is in at least a first position; and
a safety stop connected to an end of the plunger and adapted to move from a down position to an up position, the safety stop being in the down position when the door is in the first position to allow for travel of the robotic accessor over the safety stop.
12. The safety stop mechanism of claim 11, wherein moving the door between the first position and a second position releases the plunger to allow for lateral travel, inducing movement of the stop from the down position to the up position to prevent travel of the robotic accessor beyond the safety stop.
13. The safety stop mechanism of claim 12, wherein the first position of the door is closed and the second position of the door is open.
14. The safety stop mechanism of claim 11, further including a bracket, pinned through the safety stop, to connect the safety stop to the end of the plunger.
15. The safety stop mechanism of claim 11, further including a cam track integrated into the safety stop, at least a portion of the pinned bracket traveling along the cam track as the safety stop is moved from the down position to the up position.
16. The safety stop mechanism of claim 11, further including a pin connecting at least a portion of the safety stop to the housing, wherein the safety stop is adapted for pivoting from the down position to the up position about the pin.
17. The safety stop mechanism of claim 11, further including a sensor device connected to the housing, wherein the sensor device is adapted for detecting the safety stop in at least one of the up position and the down position.
18. The safety stop mechanism of claim 11, wherein the housing is adapted for mounting to base structure of the automated storage library.
19. A method of manufacturing a safety stop mechanism for a robotic accessor in an automated storage library, comprising:
providing a connector having first and second ends, the first end configured to contact a door of the automated storage library when the door is in at least a first position; and
providing a safety stop connected to the second end of the connector and adapted to move from a down position to an up position, the safety stop in the down position when the door is in the first position to allow for travel of the robotic accessor over the safety stop.
20. The method of manufacture of claim 19, wherein the connector is adapted to travel laterally corresponding to movement of the door between the first position and a second position, consequently moving the safety stop from the down position to the up position, the up position preventing travel of the robotic accessor beyond the safety stop.
21. The method of manufacture of claim 19, further including providing a sensor device adapted to detect the safety stop in at least one of the up position and the down position.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An apparatus for controlling an oven, comprising:
an input unit for inputting a set temperature of the oven;
at least one heater which operates with a variable heating onoff cycle, the variable heating onoff cycle including a heater-on time and a heater-off time; and
a controller for adjusting the heating onoff cycle such that after the at least one heater operates for a current cycle period with a current heating onoff cycle, the controller generates a new heating onoff cycle by adjusting the heater-on time of the current heating onoff cycle based on a difference between a current temperature in the oven and the set temperature, the at least one heater operating with the new heating onoff cycle in a next cycle period.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a heating-off time in the heating onoff cycle is fixed.
3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one heater includes a plurality of heaters, as a result of comparison between the current temperature in the oven and the set temperature, at least one of the heaters with greater heating capacity being turned on if a temperature difference is greater than a predetermined criterion, at least one of the heaters with smaller heating capacity being turned on if the temperature difference is smaller than the predetermined criterion.
4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one heater includes a plurality of heaters, as a result of comparison between the current temperature in the oven and the set temperature, all of the heaters being turned off for a predetermined time if the set temperature is lower than the current temperature in the oven.
5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein as a result of comparison between the current temperature in the oven and the set temperature, the heater-on time of the heater in the new heating onoff cycle is elongated as the set temperature is higher than the current temperature in the oven.
6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, after the next cycle period is completed, the controller generates a second new heating onoff cycle by adjusting the heater-on time of the next heating onoff cycle based on a new difference between the current temperature in the oven and the set temperature.
7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, as a result of comparison between the current temperature in the oven and the set temperature, the next heating onoff cycle is unchanged if the difference between the current temperature and the set temperature is not more than a predetermined criterion.
8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the set temperature is manually set by a user.
9. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a sensor for measuring the current temperature in the oven.
10. The apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising means for comparing the current temperature in the oven measured by the sensor and the set temperature and obtaining the difference between the current temperature in the oven and the set temperature.
11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the controller includes means for adjusting the heater-on time of the current heating onoff cycle based on the difference between the current temperature in the oven and the set temperature obtained by the comparing means.
12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the adjusting means adds one of a plurality of predetermined time periods to the heater-on time of the current heating onoff cycle as the heater-on time of the new heating onoff cycle when the difference between the current temperature in the oven and the set temperature is larger than a corresponding one of a plurality of predetermined values.
13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller adds one of a plurality of predetermined time periods to the heater-on time of the current heating onoff cycle as the heater-on time of the new heating onoff cycle when the difference between the current temperature in the oven and the set temperature is larger than a corresponding one of a plurality of predetermined values.
14. A method for controlling an oven, comprising:
heating the oven by operating at least one heater with a current heating onoff cycle in a current cycle period, the current heating onoff cycle including a heater-on time and a heater-off time;
after the current cycle period is completed, generating a new heating onoff cycle by adjusting the heater-on time of the current heating onoff cycle based on a difference between a current temperature in the oven and a set temperature; and
operating the at least one heater with the new heating onoff cycle in a next cycle period.
15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising turning on the heaters as the current temperature in the oven is lower than the set temperature.
16. The method according to claim 14, further comprising turning on a heater with greater heating capacity among the heaters as the current temperature in the oven is lower than the set temperature.
17. The method according to claim 14, wherein, in the heating step, a plurality of heaters are alternately or simultaneously operated in consideration of electric power.
18. The method according to claim 14, wherein the heater-on time of the heater is adjusted after each heating onoff cycle is completed.
19. The method according to claim 14, wherein, in the heating step, the heaters to be operated are selected by a smaller number of combinations than the number of cases of a subset for the number of the heaters.
20. The method according to claim 14, wherein the generating step includes elongating the heater-on time of the heater in the new heating onoff cycle as the current temperature is lower than the set temperature.
21. The method according to claim 14, further comprising, after the next cycle period is completed, generating a second new heating onoff cycle by adjusting the heater-on time of the next heating onoff cycle based on a new difference between the current temperature in the oven and the set temperature.
22. The method according to claim 14, further comprising turning on all of the heaters for a predetermined time if the current temperature is higher than the set temperature.
23. The method according to claim 14, further comprising keeping the next heating onoff interval of the heater unchanged if the difference between the current temperature and the set temperature is not more than a predetermined criterion.
24. The method according to claim 14, wherein the step of generating the new heating onoff cycle includes adding one of a plurality of predetermined time periods to the heater-on time of the current heating onoff cycle to be the heater-on time of the new heating onoff cycle when the difference between the current temperature in the oven and the set temperature is larger than a corresponding one of a plurality of predetermined values.
25. An apparatus for controlling an oven, comprising:
an input unit for inputting a set temperature of the oven;
a plurality of heaters located in the oven, each of the heaters operating with a variable heating onoff cycle, the variable heating onoff cycle including a heater-on time and a heater-off time; and
a controller for selectively turning onoff the heaters based on a difference between a current temperature in the oven and the set temperature, when at least one of the heaters is selected to turn on, and for adjusting the heating onoff cycle such that after the at least one of the heaters operates for a current cycle period with a current heating onoff cycle, the controller generates a new heating onoff cycle by adjusting the heater-on time of the current heating onoff cycle based on the difference between the current temperature in the oven and the set temperature, the at least one of the heaters operating with the new heating onoff cycle in a next cycle period.
26. The apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the heating on time of the new heating onoff cycle is elongated as the set temperature is higher than the current temperature.
27. The apparatus according to claim 25, further comprising a sensor for measuring the current temperature in the oven.
28. The apparatus according to claim 27, further comprising means for comparing the current temperature in the oven measured by the sensor and the set temperature and obtaining the difference between the current temperature in the oven and the set temperature.
29. The apparatus according to claim 28, wherein the controller includes means for adjusting the heater-on time of the current heating onoff cycle based on the difference between the current temperature in the oven and the set temperature obtained by the comparing means.
30. The apparatus according to claim 29, wherein the adjusting means adds one of a plurality of predetermined time periods to the heater-on time of the current heating onoff cycle as the heater-on time of the new heating onoff cycle when the difference between the current temperature in the oven and the set temperature is larger than a corresponding one of a plurality of predetermined values.
31. The apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the controller adds one of a plurality of predetermined time periods to the heater-on time of the current heating onoff cycle as the heater-on time of the new heating onoff cycle when the difference between the current temperature in the oven and the set temperature is larger than a corresponding one of a plurality of predetermined values.