JP6875697B2 - Production information collection system and production information collection method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a technique for collecting production information from a plurality of processing machines.

In factories that produce automobile parts, various processing machines such as molding machines, press machines, cutting machines, grinders, and automatic casting and forging machines are installed. The production information in these processing machines is centrally managed by a computer system arranged in the factory (see Patent Document 1).

Each processing machine has a control unit that controls the operation of the processing machine and sucks up equipment data for knowing the operating status of the processing machine. The equipment data includes various on / off data and log data of the processing machine, and even one processing machine has a wide variety. The computer system to be managed receives these equipment data from the control unit of each processing machine, stores them, and uses them as production information.

JP-A-2002-006932

Generally, various manufacturers and types of processing machines are installed in the above-mentioned factories. In order for the computer system to receive and store these equipment data from the control unit of each processing machine, it is necessary to set a program so that it can correspond to the control unit of various processing machines, and the processing machine You need to change the program every time there is an addition or change.

Further, in addition to the equipment data previously sucked up by the control unit, temperature data at a new specific position of the processing machine may be required. In this case, it is conceivable to newly attach various state detection sensors such as temperature measuring instruments and vibration and position sensors to the processing machine and send these data to the computer system via the control unit provided in the processing machine. Be done. However, if the program version of the control unit is old, it may not be possible to accommodate new equipment such as a temperature measuring instrument. Therefore, if the program of the control unit is upgraded to accommodate new equipment, the program may not be able to support the old equipment that has been installed in the processing machine. Therefore, the present inventors have proposed to separately install a dedicated control unit capable of supporting various state detection sensors and the like. Again, the computer system needs to change its program to accommodate the new control unit.

In this way, in a computer system for collecting production information from a plurality of processing machines, there are many opportunities to change the program, which requires time and effort.

The present invention has been made based on such circumstances, and is a production information collection system, a computer system, a production information collection method and a program that can easily set and change a program for collecting production information from a plurality of processing machines. Is intended to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the production information collection system according to one embodiment of the present invention is a production information collection system that collects production information from a plurality of processing machines, and is on / off operation of the processing machines. It is possible to receive the on / off data and the log data received from the communication unit via the communication unit and the communication unit that transmits the / off data and the log data of the processing machine to the communication path. It includes a computer system that synthesizes the received on / off data with the received log data at the timing of receiving the on / off data and outputs the data.

In the production information collection system according to one embodiment of the present invention, the on / off data and the log data are treated separately, and the on / off data and the log data are combined at the timing when the on / off data is received. Since it is configured to output, it is possible to easily set or change the program for collecting production information from multiple processing machines.

In the production information collection system according to one embodiment of the present invention, the computer system determines whether or not there is a change in the synthesized data, and if there is a change, registers the synthesized data. As a result, the amount of data to be registered can be reduced.

In the production information collection system according to one embodiment of the present invention, the on / off data includes on / off data of the power supply of the processing machine, on / off data of the automatic operation setting of the processing machine, and predetermined operation of the processing machine. The on / off data of the above and the on / off data of the alarm of the processing machine are included.

In the production information collection system according to one embodiment of the present invention, the communication unit transmits digital data obtained by sampling the analog data among the log data to the communication path. As a result, analog data can also be handled as digital data .
The computer system according to one embodiment of the present invention is a computer system for collecting production information from a plurality of processing machines, and on / off data relating to on / off operation of the processing machine and the above-mentioned said via a communication path. The receiving unit capable of receiving the log data of the processing machine and the received on / off data are combined with the received log data according to the on / off data at the timing when the on / off data is received. It is provided with a composite data output unit for output.

The method according to one embodiment of the present invention is a production information collecting method for collecting production information from a plurality of processing machines, and collects on / off data related to on / off operation of the processing machine and log data of the processing machine. The on / off data is transmitted to the communication path, the on / off data is received via the communication path, and the received on / off data is added to the log data received via the communication path at the timing when the on / off data is received. Is synthesized and output.

The program according to one embodiment of the present invention is a program for collecting production information from a plurality of processing machines, and is a step of receiving on / off data related to the on / off operation of the processing machines via a communication path. And, at the step of receiving the log data of the processing machine via the communication path and the timing of receiving the on / off data, the received on / off data is combined with the received log data and output. It causes the computer system to perform the steps to be performed.

According to the present invention, it is possible to easily set or change a program for collecting production information from a plurality of processing machines.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the production information collection system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the whole operation of the computer system in the production information collection system of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the operation of the equipment data collection processing of the computer system in the production information collection system of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the operation of the timer interrupt processing of the computer system in the production information collection system of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the equipment data displayed on the screen which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the information of an electronic medical record. It is the schematic which concerns on the modification of this invention. It is operation explanatory drawing of the modification shown in FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a production information collection system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the production information collection system 1 is a system that collects production information in a factory 20 that produces parts by using, for example, a plurality of processing machines 10A, 10B, and so on. The production information collection system 1 also includes, for example, a database 21 installed outside the factory.

The processing machines 10A, 10B, ... Are a molding machine, a press machine, a cutting machine, a grinding machine, an automatic casting and forging machine, and the like. For example, when the processing machines 10A, 10B, ... Are molding machines, the production information is based on various on / off data and log data such as the number of times of molding, molding temperature, molding pressure, and molding time. Information.

Control units 11A, 11B, ..., And data output devices 12A _-1 , 12A- ₂ , 12B _-1 , ... Are installed in each of the processing machines 10A, 10B, .... The control units 11A, 11B, ... Control the operation of the processing machines 10A, 10B, ..., Also suck up the equipment data and output it as on / off data and log data. The data output devices 12A _-1 , 12A _-2 , 12B _-1 , ... Output data not included in the above log data. This data is also practically equipment data. The data output device 12A- ₁ is, for example, a temperature measuring device and outputs analog data. The data output device 12A- ₂ is, for example, a switch on / off detector and outputs on / off data which is digital data.

The production information collection system 1 has a plurality of communication units 2A- ₀ , 2A- ₁ , 2A- ₂ , 2B- ₀ ..., And a computer system 3. A plurality of communication units 2A- ₀ , 2A- ₁ , 2A- ₂ , 2B- _0, ... Are connected in series via wiring 4 as a communication path. The computer system 3 accommodates _{these plurality of communication units 2A-0} , 2A- ₁ , 2A- ₂ , 2B- ₀ , and so on, which are connected in series via the wiring 4. Of the plurality of communication units 2A- ₀ , 2A- ₁ , 2A- _{2 , 2B-0} , etc., the communication unit closer to the computer system 3 side is defined as the upstream communication unit. In the example of FIG. 1, the communication unit 2A- ₀ is the most upstream communication unit.

Communication units 2A- ₀ , 2A- ₁ , 2A- ₂ , 2B- ₀ ... Are installed in one or more for each processing machine 10A, 10B, .... In the example of FIG. 1, the processing machine 10A is provided with a control unit 11A, a data output device 12A- _{1 as a temperature measuring device, and a data output device 12A-2} as a switch-on / off detector. There is.

_{The data output device 12A-1} as a temperature measuring device outputs the measurement data by the temperature measuring device as analog data. _{The data output device 12A-2} as a switch on / off detector outputs on / off data according to the opening / closing of the mold.

The control unit 11A is _{connected to the communication unit 2A-0} , the data output device 12A- ₁ is connected to the communication unit 2A- ₁ , and the data output device 12A- ₂ is connected to the communication unit 2B- _2.

The communication units 2A- ₀ , 2A- ₁ , 2A- ₂ , 2B- ₀ ... Function as slave stations, and address data is added to the equipment data in response to a request from the computer system 3 which is the upstream master station. It has a function to attach and flow to the upstream side and to flow data from the downstream side to the upstream side.

For example, the communication unit 2A- ₀ sucks up equipment data from the control unit 11A of the processing machine 10A, attaches unique address data to the equipment data in response to a request from the computer system 3, and sends the equipment data to the upstream side. Receives this.

The communication unit 2A- ₁ has an A / D conversion function for converting analog data into digital data. In response to the request from the computer system 3, the data output device 12A- ₁ of the processing machine 10A converts the measurement data (analog data) by the analog data temperature measuring device into A / D, and attaches unique address data to the digital data. The data is sent to the upstream side, and the computer system 3 receives this. That is, the communication unit 2A- ₁ transmits the digital data obtained by sampling the analog data among the log data to the communication path.

The communication unit 2A- _{2 attaches unique address data to the data from the data output device 12A-2} of the processing machine 10A and sends the data upstream in response to the request from the computer system 3, and the computer system 3 receives the data.

The computer system 3 functions as a master station for the slave station, and the equipment data (log data and log data) with address data from _{each communication unit 2A-0} , 2A- ₁ , 2A- ₂ , 2B- _{0 ...} Enter and save the data that is not included (on / off data related to the on / off operation of the processing machine). The computer system 3 is, for example, a PC, and executes the above processing by a program running on a general-purpose OS such as Windows (registered trademark).

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of the computer system 3.

The computer system 3 executes the equipment data collection process (step 202) and the timer interrupt process (step 203) after the initialization (step 201).

Initialization (step 201) reads the initialization file (step 204) and displays the initial screen in the main window (step 205).

The timer interrupt process (step 203) is typically executed at predetermined time intervals (step 206).

The equipment data collected by the equipment data collection process (step 202) is stored (step 207), and is processed asynchronously (display, file creation, etc.) by the timer interrupt process (step 203).

The computer system 3 executes the equipment data collection process (step 202) and the timer interrupt process (step 203) until the end operation is performed (step 208).

In the computer system 3 according to this embodiment, the time-consuming processing is processed at a fixed cycle by a timer interrupt, and the data collection is a dedicated processing (thread), so that the shot interval is very short like that of a press machine. It will also be possible to collect data in some cases.

Next, the equipment data collection process in step 202 will be described.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation.
In the equipment data collection process, time data is attached to the equipment data received by the computer system 3, and the equipment data is distributed as equipment data for each processing machine 10A, 10B, ... According to the address data.

The computer system 3 performs transmission / reception processing of log data for log data among the received equipment data by a dedicated thread for each of the processing machines (equipment) 10A, 10B, ... (Step 301).

If no communication error has occurred (step 302), the computer system 3 receives on / off data from the control units 11A, 11B, ... Of the predetermined processing machines 10A, 10B, ... (Step 303). ), After performing the process of canceling the flicker generated by the patrol light (registered trademark) installed in the processing machines 10A, 10B, ... (Step 304), the received log data and the predetermined processing machines 10A, 10B The log data corresponding to, ... Is combined into equipment data (step 305). If a communication error occurs in step 302, the communication error data is combined with the equipment data (step 305). The communication error data can be expressed as binary data such as communication error off / communication error on.

The computer system 3 compares the synthesized equipment data with the equipment data registered most recently before that (step 306), and if there is a change in any of the on / off data, communication error data, and log data, the equipment Register the data (steps 307, 308).

The computer system 3 performs the processes of steps 303 to 308 described above for all the processing machines (equipment) 10A, 10B, ... (Step 309).

Next, the operation of the above timer interrupt processing will be described.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation.
The computer system 3 performs a process for starting communication with the control units 11A, 11B, ... Only for the first time when the system is started, and establishes the communication (steps 401 and 402).
Next, the computer system 3 performs a process for canceling the flicker (step 403). For example, the time for canceling the flicker is counted and the time is set.

Next, the computer system 3 performs solidarity processing with the "electronic medical record" and generates a medical record solidarity file for each processing machine (equipment) 10A, 10B, ... (Steps 404, 405). The "electronic medical record" will be described later.

Next, when a communication error has occurred in step 302, the computer system 3 performs a communication error recovery process in order to automatically recover the communication error (step 406).

Next, the computer system 3 mainly monitors the memory amount of the memory for storing the equipment data and organizes the equipment data (steps 407 to 409). Normally, since the processing machines 10A, 10B, ... Operate all day, that is, for 24 hours, the above-mentioned memory amount becomes enormous, and it is necessary to monitor it and reduce it as necessary. For example, the computer system 3 discards old data when the amount of memory stored in the memory exceeds a predetermined value, or discards old data stored in the memory, for example, once a day.

Next, the computer system 3 creates backup data of equipment data for each processing machine (equipment) 10A, 10B, ..., And files the data (steps 410, 411).

Next, the computer system 3 performs a process for displaying the equipment data on the screen (step 412).

FIG. 5 is an example of equipment data displayed on the screen.

As shown in FIG. 5, "date and time data", "on / off data", "communication abnormality on / off data", and "log data" are displayed on the screen. On the screen, on and off are displayed for the first data and when the data is switched.

Here, the "on / off data" refers to the power on / off data of the processing machines 10A, 10B, ..., the on / off data of the automatic operation settings of the processing machines 10A, 10B, ..., The processing machine 10A. There are on / off data of predetermined operation in 10B, ..., On / off data of alarm of processing machines 10A, 10B, .... The "log data" includes counter values of the processing machines 10A, 10B, ..., Cycle times of the processing machines 10A, 10B, ..., Weighing times of the processing machines 10A, 10B, ..., And the like.

Here, since the "on / off data" is merely binary data, it is processed by a common program even if the manufacturers and types of the processing machines 10A, 10B, ... And the control units 11A, 11B, ... Are different. On the other hand, "log data" requires individual program changes for each manufacturer and type of processing machines 10A, 10B, ... And control units 11A, 11B, .... ..

In the computer system 3 according to this embodiment, "on / off data" and "log data" of the equipment data are processed separately for each of the processing machines 10A, 10B, ..., And then "on / off data". Since "off data" and "log data" are combined, there are additions and changes to the processing machines 10A, 10B, ... and control units 11A, 11B, ... when setting the entire system 1. In that case, it is only necessary to change the program corresponding to the "log data", and the program corresponding to the "on / off data" may be changed without or slightly. Therefore, in the production information collection system 1 according to this embodiment, it is possible to easily set or change a program for collecting production information from a plurality of processing machines 10A, 10B, ....
<About electronic medical records>
The database 21 (see FIG. 1) installed outside the factory processes data from the above-mentioned computer system 3 installed in Japan or overseas, for example.

A typical example of the data processing method by the database 21 will be described.

For example, in the factory 20, a molding machine is installed as one of the processing machines 10A, 10B, ..., And the mold used in the molding machine is engraved with a uniquely defined QR code (registered trademark). The provided identification plate 80 (see FIG. 1) is attached. The identification plate 80 is attached not only to the mold but also to the processing machines 10A, 10B, ... In the factory 20.

When the worker in the factory 20 attaches the mold to the molding machine, the QR code (registered trademark) and the mold of the identification plate 80 attached to the molding machine using an information processing device with a camera such as a tablet, for example. The QR code (registered trademark) of the identification plate 80 attached to the is recognized. After that, the recognition data corresponding to the QR code (registered trademark) recognized by the application of the information processing apparatus is sent to the database 21, and the data of the molding machine and the recognition data of the mold are linked in the database 21. As a result, it is possible to know which mold is used for the data of the molding machine, and it is possible to calculate the total number of shots of the mold.

Further, in the database 21, it is possible to know from the data of the molding machine, for example, under what conditions such as temperature and pressure the nth shot was performed. Then, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, since the relationship between the time and the number of production can be known from the data of the database 21, for example, the number of shots in which a defect has occurred can be known from the relationship with the time, and therefore. Conditions such as temperature and pressure at the time of failure can be verified. The number of products produced can be calculated, for example, from the data of a counter that counts normal products mounted on the molding machine.

The database 21 outputs the data accumulated in this way as production information as shown in FIG. 6 as information of an electronic medical record in response to a request from an information processing device such as a tablet.
<Modification example>
In the production information collection system 1 of the above embodiment, the computer system 3 and the plurality of communication units 2A- ₀ , 2A- ₁ , 2A- ₂ , 2B- _{0 ... Are connected in} series via wiring 4 as a communication path. Although it was connected to, the wiring 4 may be duplicated. FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an example thereof.

As shown in FIG. 7, in this production information collection system 1', the communication unit 2A- _{0 is the most upstream communication unit in the first wiring 4a, and the communication unit 2C -1} is the most in the second wiring 4b. The computer system 3 and each communication unit 2A- ₀ , 2A- ₁ , 2A- ₂ , 2B- _0, ... Are connected via the first and second wirings 4a and 4b so as to be upstream communication units, respectively. They are connected in series. Further, the computer system 3 has a function of being able to switch so that transmission / reception is performed via one of the first and second wirings 4a and 4b.

For example, when the computer system 3 transmits / receives data to / from _{each communication unit 2A-0} , 2A _-1 , 2A- ₂ , 2B- _{0, etc. via the first wiring 4a, a communication error occurs.} (See step 302 above), identify the communication unit in which the communication error occurred in step 302. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, when the computer system 3 _{identifies that a communication error has occurred in the communication unit 2B-0} (x in the figure), the communication units 2A- ₀ , 2A _-1 , and 2A- ₂ are the first. Data transmission / reception is continued via the wiring 4a of ₁ , but the communication path is appropriately set so that data is transmitted / received via the second wiring 4b for _{the communication units 2B-0} , 2B-1 and 2C- _1. It switches to send and receive data to and from the communication units 2A- ₀ , 2A- ₁ , 2A- ₂ , 2B- _{0, and so on.} As a result, even if the communication unit 2B- _{0 completely loses the} communication function both above and below, the data for _{the communication units 2B -1} and 2C _-1 downstream of the communication unit 2B- _{0 when viewed from the first wiring 4a.} Can be sent and received. The above process can be performed, for example, by the process of step 406 described above.
<Others>
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.

For example, the communication path may be in another form such as a star wiring type.

Further, the communication path may be wireless instead of wired. In particular, since this system typically handles the collected data as big data like an electronic medical record as described above, a communication path with lower communication reliability than a wired one like a wireless one. It may be. Moreover, recently, since a low frequency band with relatively high communication reliability can be used for wireless communication in such a system, the reliability of communication is comparable to that of wired communication. By using a wireless communication path, it is possible to eliminate the complicated wiring in the factory, which has been a big problem until now.

The production information collection system according to the present invention can be applied to a software / hardware integrated combined control system or the like. The soft-hardware integrated control system is, for example, a technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-156182. For example, a DB having equipment specifications of a processing machine for each processing machine and a part processing condition file for each part. And, when changing the processing machine, etc., the appropriateness of the change based on the equipment processing condition file before the change and the equipment specifications after the change is judged, and if not, the application that sets the new processing condition is stored. Control of the processing machine based on the task under the storage unit, the general-purpose program control OS that executes the application, and the schedule management that prioritizes the tasks according to the newly set equipment processing conditions and executes the tasks. It is provided with one control device having a dedicated machining control OS, and the dedicated machining control OS puts the general-purpose program control OS under schedule management and manages tasks for the general-purpose program control OS as low-priority tasks. To do. In this case, the general-purpose program control OS shown in FIG. 5 of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-156182 may be configured to execute the processing of the computer system in the production information collection system according to the present invention.

Further, in the above embodiment, the communication unit is associated with the control unit and the data output device on a one-to-one basis, but the communication unit may be configured to accommodate two or more control units and the data output device. I do not care.

Further, in the above embodiment, the computer system is installed in the factory, but the computer system may be installed outside the factory, for example, in a remote place.

1 Production information collection system 2A- ₀ , 2A _-1 , 2A- ₂ , 2B- ₀ Communication unit 3 Computer system 4 Wiring as a communication path 10A, 10B Processing machine 11A, 11B Control unit 12A _-1 , 12A- ₂ , 12B _-1 Data output device

Claims (5)

A production information collection system that collects production information from multiple processing machines.
The first to third communication units that transmit the on / off data related to the on / off operation of the processing machine and the log data of the processing machine to the communication path, and
It is possible to receive the on / off data and the log data received from the communication unit via the communication path, and at the timing when the on / off data is received, the received log data is received. It is equipped with a computer system that synthesizes and outputs the on / off data.
A control unit, a first data output device, and a second data output device can be installed in each of the processing machines.
The control unit is connected to the first communication unit, the first data output device is connected to the second communication unit, and the third data output device is connected to the third communication unit.
The control unit controls the operation of the processing machine , sucks up the first equipment data for knowing the operating status of the processing machine from the processing machine, and turns on / off the on / off operation of the processing machine. The data and the log data of the processing machine are output to the first communication unit, and the first and second data output devices are newly attached to the processing machine, which are not included in the first equipment data. The second equipment data from the state detection sensor is output, and the first data output device outputs analog data of the second equipment data to the second communication unit, and the first data output device outputs the analog data to the second communication unit. The data output device 2 is a production information collection system that outputs digital data of the second equipment data to the third communication unit. The production information collection system according to claim 1.
The computer system is a production information collection system that determines whether or not there is a change in the synthesized data and registers the synthesized data if there is a change. The production information collection system according to claim 1 or 2.
The on / off data includes on / off data of the power supply of the processing machine, on / off data of the automatic operation setting of the processing machine, on / off data of a predetermined operation of the processing machine, and on / off of an alarm of the processing machine. A production information collection system that includes either / off-data. The production information collection system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
The communication unit is a production information collection system that transmits digital data obtained by sampling the analog data to the communication path for analog data among the log data. It is a production information collection method that collects production information from multiple processing machines.
The first to third communication units transmit on / off data related to the on / off operation of the processing machine and log data of the processing machine to the communication path.
The computer system receives the on / off data via the communication path, and at the timing of receiving the on / off data, synthesizes the received on / off data with the log data received via the communication path. And output
The control unit is connected to the first communication unit, the first data output device is connected to the second communication unit, and the third data output device is connected to the third communication unit. ,
The control unit controls the operation of the processing machine , sucks up the first equipment data for knowing the operating status of the processing machine from the processing machine, and turns on / off the on / off operation of the processing machine. It is output to the first communication unit as data and log data of the processing machine.
The first and second data output devices output second equipment data from a state detection sensor newly attached to the processing machine, which is not included in the first equipment data. The first data output device outputs analog data of the second equipment data to the second communication unit, and the second data output device outputs digital data of the second equipment data to the second communication unit. It is output to the third communication unit.
A production information collecting method in which a control unit, a first data output device, and a second data output device can be installed in each of the processing machines, and production information is collected from each of the processing machines.

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