JP7380451B2 - human machine interface device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a human-machine interface device applied to a plant monitoring and control system.

BACKGROUND ART Monitoring and control systems that monitor and control manufacturing plants (food plants, oil plants, paper plants, steel plants, etc.) are known. Large-scale supervisory control systems are constructed as distributed control systems.

The supervisory control system includes a human machine interface (hereinafter referred to as HMI) that connects to a large number of field devices (including actuators and sensors) that make up the plant via a computer network. The HMI includes a display, a keyboard, a mouse, etc., and an operator uses the HMI to perform operations for monitoring and control.

The operator checks the status of the entire process as well as the status of each individual loop in real time on the HMI display. For example, in a beer manufacturing plant, the processes include a brewing process, a fermentation process, a maturing process, a filtration process, and the like. The individual loop is, for example, a feedback process for controlling the liquid level in the tank to a constant height.

During operation, the operator
(1) Process or schedule progress screen for the entire operation (2) Screen depicting the process to be operated (3) Group screen for instruments related to the process screen in operation (4) Details screen for each instrument (5) Alarm Display a selected screen on the display, such as from the history screen such as or operation record.

A single task or process is basically performed according to a standardized procedure manual. Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-20426) discloses a system that allows a paper-based procedure manual to be read into a monitoring device and edited in order to easily edit the procedure manual.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2013-20426

Conventionally, operators have checked the necessary screens for each process in a procedure manual, arranged the necessary screens on the HMI display, and then started working on each process. In other words, preparation time is required before starting each process. Therefore, it is desired to shorten the preparation time.

Furthermore, procedure manuals are not necessarily standardized. When manufacturing new products that require new work or processes, procedure manuals may not be standardized. For example, when manufacturing a new alcoholic beverage product, the state of fermentation changes depending on external factors such as temperature and humidity, which may require control operations by a skilled operator that are not included in the procedure manual. In order to quickly pass on work procedures performed by such skilled operators to other operators, a mechanism is desired that reduces the number of man-hours required to create procedure manuals.

This invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems. The purpose of this invention is to be able to store HMI screen information and edited procedure manuals at the end of a process, and to automatically prepare the stored screen information and procedure manuals as an initial display when the process starts next. The objective is to provide an HMI device.

In order to achieve the above object, the HMI device according to the present invention is configured as follows.

The HMI device receives various process signals from a group of devices constituting a manufacturing plant, and includes a process work screen that can display device states according to the values of the received process signals.

The process work screen can be switched for each specified process, and has a drawing area and a procedure manual area. The drawing area displays a plurality of drawings selected by an operator from various drawings associated with at least one process signal among the various process signals. The procedure manual area displays a procedure manual for a work method in the designated process and a plurality of work procedures to be performed using the work method .

The HMI device includes equipment status display means, procedure manual editing means, process end processing means, process identifier input means, and process start processing means.

The equipment state display means displays, for each of the plurality of drawings displayed in the drawing area, an equipment state according to the value of the received process signal on the drawing associated with the process signal.

The procedure manual editing means is capable of editing the procedure included in the procedure manual data displayed in the procedure manual area.

When terminating the current process, the process completion processing means includes information associating the drawing combination data of the plurality of drawings displayed on the process work screen with the process identifier of the current process, and information on the process work screen. Information associating the displayed procedure manual data with the process identifier is stored in a storage device.

The process identifier input means can input the process identifier.

The process start processing means acquires the drawing combination data associated with the process identifier input by the process identifier input means and the procedure manual data associated with the process identifier from the storage device, and starts the process. Place it on the work screen as the initial display.

In one preferred aspect, the process identifier is specified by combining a process number and a method pattern number when there are multiple method patterns for one process.

In another preferred aspect, the HMI device further includes a procedure manual input/output unit capable of inputting and outputting the procedure manual data to/from an external device.

According to the present invention, the drawing combination and edited procedure manual can be stored at the end of a process, and the stored drawing combination and procedure manual can be placed as an initial display on the process work screen when starting the process from next time onwards. . Since the screens necessary for the process are automatically prepared, the preparation time until the start of work can be shortened.

Further, according to the present invention, the process work screen has a drawing area that displays the equipment status and a procedure manual area that displays the procedure manual, and the procedure manual can be easily edited during the process work, so that the procedure manual can be created. can reduce man-hours.

1 is a diagram for explaining a supervisory control system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. It is an example of the drawing combination table based on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is an example of a procedure manual table according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is an example of the window for inputting the process identifier based on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart of processing executed at the end of each process in the HMI device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. 2 is a flowchart of a process for preparing an initial display of a process work screen when starting a process in the HMI device. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of an HMI device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that common elements in each figure are given the same reference numerals and redundant explanations will be omitted.

Embodiment 1.
<System configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a supervisory control system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. A manufacturing plant monitoring and control system includes an HMI device 1.

The HMI device 1 is connected to a group of monitored equipment 2 that constitutes a manufacturing plant via a computer network. The monitored equipment group 2 includes field equipment that constitutes a plant and a programmable logic controller. The HMI device 1 includes a processing section 3, a display 73, an input/output interface 74, and a network interface 75.

The HMI device 1 receives various process signals from the monitored equipment group 2. The HMI device 1 displays on the display 73 a process work screen 4 that can display the equipment status according to the value of the received process signal.

The process work screen 4 is a screen for monitoring and controlling processes, and can be switched for each process. The process work screen 4 has a drawing area that displays a plurality of drawings selected by the operator from various drawings, and a procedure manual area that displays a procedure manual for the process. Display parts associated with at least one process signal among the various process signals are arranged in each of the various drawings. A process end button 5 is arranged on the process work screen 4.

The processing section 3 includes a drawing number input section 11 , a drawing display section 12 , a drawing movement section 13 , an equipment status display section 14 , a procedure manual editing section 15 , a process end processing section 16 , a process identifier input section 17 , and a process start processing section 18 , a procedure manual input/output unit 19 , and a database 20 . The processing unit 3 realizes the functions of each unit by a processor 71 in FIG. 7, which will be described later, executing various programs stored in a storage device 72.

The figure number input section 11 transmits the figure number input from the input/output interface 74 to the drawing display section 12. For example, the operator inputs the number of the drawing to be displayed on the process work screen 4 using the keyboard.

The drawing display section 12 receives the drawing number from the drawing number input section 11. The drawing display unit 12 uses the drawing number as a search key to acquire a drawing corresponding to the drawing number from the drawing table 21 of the database 20 and displays the drawing on the process work screen 4. The drawing table 21 stores information in which drawing numbers and drawing data are associated.

The drawing moving unit 13 has a function of changing the position (coordinates) of each drawing displayed on the process work screen 4 by operating the input/output interface 74. For example, the operator changes the position of the drawing by dragging and dropping the mouse.

For each of the plurality of drawings being displayed in the drawing area, the equipment status display unit 14 displays in real time the equipment status according to the value of the received process signal on the drawing associated with the process signal. For example, depending on the value of the received process signal, the device status display unit 14 displays numerical values or characters on a display part corresponding to the process signal, or changes the color, position, or shape of the display part.

The procedure manual editing section 15 can edit the procedure manual data displayed in the procedure manual area of the process work screen 4 during the work of the current process. For example, the operator can add a new work procedure to the procedure manual being displayed on the process work screen 4 using the keyboard.

The process end processing unit 16 is executed when the operator presses the process end button 5 on the process work screen 4. The process end processing unit 16 stores drawing combination data of the drawing area displayed at the end of the current process in the database 20. Specifically, when finishing the current process, the process completion processing unit 16 stores information in which the drawing combination data of the plurality of drawings displayed on the process work screen 4 and the process identifier of the current process are associated with the database. 20 drawing combination tables 22.

For example, the process identifier is specified by a process number. When there are multiple method patterns for one process, the process identifier is specified by combining the process number and the method pattern number. Further, the drawing combination data includes a drawing number combination, a drawing arrangement, and a drawing size. FIG. 2 is an example of the drawing combination table 22. By combining the process number and method pattern number, a plurality of drawing combination data can be stored for one process.

In FIG. 2, for example, in the column corresponding to process 1 (method A), a1 in the column indicated by the row indicating the drawing number combination indicates the area a1 in which the drawing is displayed on the process work screen 4. ing. Here, 1 in a1 indicates, for example, step 1. 05 is the drawing number. a1=05 indicates that the drawing number displayed in the drawing display area a1 is 05. b1=07 indicates that the drawing number displayed in the drawing display area b1 is 07. The same applies to others.

In FIG. 2, for example, in the column corresponding to process 1 (method A), Xa1 in the column indicated by the row indicating the diagram layout is the display coordinate of area a1 where the diagram is displayed on the process work screen 4. It shows the value of the X axis. Here, a1 indicates an area a1 in which the drawing is displayed. Ya1 indicates the Y-axis value of the display coordinates of the area a1 on the process work screen 4 where the drawing is displayed. The same applies to others.

In FIG. 2, for example, in the column corresponding to process 1 (method A), La1 in the column indicated by the row indicating the drawing size is the vertical axis of the area a1 on the process work screen 4 where the drawing is displayed. Shows the magnitude value in the direction. Here, a1 indicates an area a1 in which the drawing is displayed. Wa1 indicates the value of the horizontal size of the area a1 on the process work screen 4 in which the drawing is displayed. The same applies to others.

Furthermore, the process end processing unit 16 stores the latest procedure manual data edited by the procedure manual editing unit 15 in the current process in the database 20. Specifically, when terminating the current process, the process completion processing unit 16 imports information that associates the procedure data displayed on the process work screen 4 with the process identifier of the current process into the procedure manual in the database 20. It is stored in table 23.

The procedure manual data includes text information (procedure 1 to procedure n) about the work method and procedure in a certain process. FIG. 3 is an example of the procedure manual table 23. Similar to the drawing combination table 22, a plurality of procedure manual data can be stored for one process by combining a process number and a method pattern number.

The process identifier input unit 17 transmits the process identifier input from the input/output interface 74 to the process start processing unit 18 . For example, the operator uses a keyboard to enter the process number and method pattern number of the next process to start.

FIG. 4 is an example of a window for inputting a process identifier. This window includes a process number input area 41, a method pattern number input area 42, and an OK button 43. The operator inputs the process number in the process number input area 41 and the method pattern number in the method pattern number input area 42, and presses the OK button 43.

Using the process identifier received from the process identifier input unit 17 as a search key, the process start processing unit 18 acquires drawings and procedure manuals to be initially displayed from the database 20 and arranges them on the process work screen 4. Specifically, the process start processing unit 18 acquires drawing combination data associated with the process identifier input by the process identifier input unit 17 from the drawing combination table 22 of the database 20. As described above, the drawing combination data includes the drawing number combination, the layout location, and the drawing size. Based on this drawing combination data, the process start processing unit 18 arranges the corresponding drawing in the drawing area of the process work screen 4 as an initial display.

Furthermore, the process start processing unit 18 acquires the procedure manual data associated with the process identifier input by the process identifier input unit 17 from the procedure manual table 23 of the database 20, and initializes it in the procedure manual area of the process work screen 4. Place it as a display.

In this way, the combination of drawings and procedure manuals stored at the end of a previously executed process are called up at the start of the next process, and the necessary drawings and procedure manuals are automatically displayed on the process work screen 4. Ru.

The procedure manual input/output unit 19 can input and output procedure manual data to/from an external device. The external devices include a printer that can print procedure manual data on paper, a scanner that can convert paper procedure manuals into electronic data and input it to the HMI device 1, and a storage medium that can input and output procedure manual data as an electronic file. , PC, etc.

<Processing flow>
Next, with reference to FIG. 5, a processing flow for saving drawing combination data and procedure manual data on the process work screen 4 at the end of a process will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the process executed at the end of each process in the HMI device 1 of this embodiment.

In step S100, the operator presses the process end button 5 on the process work screen 4 to end the current process.

In step S110, an end selection window is displayed. In the termination selection window, it is possible to select whether to terminate the process (YES) or not to terminate the process (NO). If YES is selected, the process advances to step S120. If NO is selected, this processing flow ends.

In step S120, a save selection window is displayed. In the save selection window, it is possible to select whether to save (YES) or not to save (NO) the combination of drawings and procedure manuals displayed on the process work screen 4. If YES is selected, the process advances to step S130. If NO is selected, this processing flow ends.

In step S130, the process end processing unit 16 stores the drawing combination data and procedure manual data at the end of the current process in the database 20.

Next, with reference to FIG. 6, a process flow will be described in which, at the start of a process, drawings and procedure manuals saved at the end of the process performed in the past are arranged as the initial display on the process work screen 4. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a process for preparing the initial display of the process work screen 4 when starting a process in the HMI device 1 of this embodiment.

In step S200, the operator inputs a process identifier (process number, method pattern number) into the window of FIG. 4 described above to start the process.

In step S210, the process start processing unit 18 acquires drawing combination data corresponding to the process identifier from the database 20.

In step S220, the process start processing unit 18 acquires procedure manual data corresponding to the process identifier from the database 20.

In step S230, the process start processing unit 18 arranges the acquired drawing and procedure manual as an initial display on the process work screen. Specifically, the process start processing unit 18 initially displays a corresponding drawing in the drawing area of the process work screen 4 based on the drawing combination data. The process start processing unit 18 arranges the procedure manual data in the procedure manual area of the process work screen 4 as an initial display.

As explained above, according to the HMI device 1 according to the present embodiment, a drawing combination and an edited procedure manual are stored at the end of a process, and when starting the process from next time onwards, the stored drawing combination and The procedure manual can be placed on the process work screen 4 as an initial display. Since the screens necessary for the process are automatically prepared, the preparation time until the start of work can be shortened.

Further, according to the HMI device 1, the process work screen 4 has a procedure manual area for displaying the procedure manual, so that the procedure manual can be easily edited during the process work. As a result, a skilled operator can easily accumulate work know-how in the procedure manual, and other operators can appropriately perform the work in accordance with the procedure manual.

Furthermore, by combining a process number with a method pattern number as a process identifier, a plurality of work patterns can be stored in one process. This allows you to record the operation according to the situation in each process. Furthermore, by comparing the work methods (man-hours and work points) of each section and group, it is possible to improve the standard method.

<Modified example>
Incidentally, in the system of the first embodiment described above, the process identifier is a combination of a process number and a method pattern number, but the invention is not limited to this. The process identifier should include at least the process number.

<Hardware configuration example>
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the HMI device 1. As shown in FIG. The HMI device 1 includes a processor 71, a storage device 72, a display 73, an input/output interface 74, and a network interface 75 connected to each other.

The storage device 72 includes a main storage device such as ROM and RAM, and an auxiliary storage device such as HDD and SSD. The input/output interface 74 includes input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse, and devices that can input and output procedure manual files between the HMI device 1 and an external device. External devices include, for example, printers, scanners, storage media, and PCs. The network interface 75 is a device that can be connected to the monitored equipment group 2 to transmit and receive signals. The HMI device 1 functions as a processing circuit that implements each process of the HMI device 1 by the processor 71 executing various programs stored in the storage device 72.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

1 Human machine interface device 2 Monitored equipment group 3 Processing section 4 Process work screen 5 Process end button 11 Drawing number input section 12 Drawing display section 13 Drawing moving section 14 Equipment status display section 15 Procedure manual editing section 16 Process end processing section 17 Process identifier input section 18 Process start processing section 19 Procedure manual input/output section 20 Database 21 Drawing table 22 Drawing combination table 23 Procedure manual table 41 Process number input area 42 Method pattern number input area 43 OK button 71 Processor 72 Storage device 73 Display 74 Input/output interface 75 Network interface

Claims (3)

A human machine interface device comprising a process work screen capable of receiving various process signals from a group of equipment constituting a manufacturing plant and displaying the equipment status according to the value of the received process signal,
The process work screen is switchable for each designated process, and includes a drawing area that displays a plurality of drawings selected by an operator from among various drawings associated with at least one process signal among the various process signals. , has a procedure manual area that displays a procedure manual for a work method in the specified process and a plurality of work steps to be performed using the work method ,
equipment state display means for displaying, for each of the plurality of drawings displayed in the drawing area, an equipment state according to the value of the received process signal on a drawing associated with the process signal;
a procedure manual editing means capable of editing the procedure included in the procedure manual data displayed in the procedure manual area;
When finishing the current process, information that associates the drawing combination data of the plurality of drawings displayed on the process work screen with the process identifier of the current process, and the procedure displayed on the process work screen process completion processing means for storing information in which the document data and the process identifier are associated with each other in a storage device;
a process identifier input means capable of inputting the process identifier;
The drawing combination data associated with the process identifier input by the process identifier input means and the procedure manual data associated with the process identifier are obtained from the storage device and are initially displayed on the process work screen. a process start processing means to be placed;
A human-machine interface device comprising: The process identifier is specified by combining a process number and a method pattern number when there are multiple method patterns for one process;
The human-machine interface device according to claim 1, characterized in that: a procedure manual input/output means capable of inputting and outputting the procedure manual data to/from an external device;
The human-machine interface device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises:

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