JP7795090B2 - Planning device, planning method, and control program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a planning device, a planning method, and a control program.

In manufacturing industries that produce made-to-order products with different specifications for each customer, planning for the strip cutting process, which cuts out the product coils (hoops) to be shipped from, for example, rectangular plate-shaped raw coils, is an important task that affects the manufacturing costs of the product coils. This process requires the creation of a plan that enables the cutting blades arranged for strip cutting to cut out rectangular products with the specifications specified by the customer from raw coils that may contain defects in various positions and vary in size. Patent Document 1 discloses a coil rewinding combination processing method that automates the coil combination problem and improves yield in rewinding equipment.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-023739

However, conventional devices and methods for cutting strips do not adequately address the possibility that the original coil may contain defective parts, and there is room for improvement in the processing procedures.

One aspect of the present invention was developed in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to reduce the processing load or processing time when planning strip cutting work, which involves cutting product coils from raw coils that may contain defective parts.

To solve the above problem, a planning device according to aspect 1 of the present invention is a planning device for planning the strip-cutting work of cutting product coils from raw coils, and includes: an acquisition unit that acquires raw coil information, including the width, length, weight, and location of defective portions, for each of one or more raw coils; a first calculation unit that adds up normal portion lengths, calculated for each normal portion width of each raw coil, for the normal portion width, which is the maximum width of the portion of each raw coil that does not contain defective portions in the width direction, and which is the length of a region having approximately the same continuous normal portion width; a second calculation unit that calculates, for each normal portion width, a harvestable weight, which is the total weight of product coils having a width corresponding to the normal portion width that can be cut from the one or more raw coils, based on the added-up normal portion lengths; and a third calculation unit that calculates a range of product coil widths corresponding to harvestable weights equal to or greater than a predetermined reference weight.

The above configuration allows candidate product coil widths to be extracted in advance when performing strip cutting work. This reduces the processing load or processing time when planning strip cutting work, which involves cutting product coils from raw coils that may contain defects.

In the planning device according to aspect 2 of the present disclosure, in the above-described aspect 1, the acquisition unit further acquires at least one of an upper limit and a lower limit of the product coil width set as a product specification for the product coil cut out from the one or more raw coils, and the third calculation unit calculates a range of product coil widths corresponding to harvestable weights equal to or greater than the predetermined reference weight within a range defined by at least one of the upper limit and the lower limit.

With the above configuration, it is possible to extract a range of product coil widths corresponding to harvestable weights equal to or greater than a predetermined reference weight, for example, within a range set by the user.

In the planning device according to aspect 3 of the present disclosure, in the above-mentioned aspect 1 or 2, the first calculation unit calculates, for each calculated normal portion width, a harvestable length, which is the sum of the normal portion lengths in areas having a normal portion width equal to or greater than the calculated normal portion width, and the second calculation unit calculates the harvestable weight based on the harvestable length.

With the above configuration, the second calculation unit can calculate the harvestable weight from the sum of the normal portion lengths based on the calculation results of the first calculation unit.

In a planning device according to aspect 4 of the present disclosure, in any of aspects 1 to 3 above, the third calculation unit uses the total weight of the one or more original coils multiplied by a predetermined value less than 1 as the reference weight.

The above configuration contributes to high yields of strip cutting of product coils with a simple configuration.

In a planning device according to aspect 5 of the present disclosure, in any of aspects 1 to 3 above, the third calculation unit uses as the reference weight a value obtained by multiplying the maximum collectable weight, among the collectable weights for each normal portion width calculated by the second calculation unit, by a predetermined value equal to or less than 1.

With the above configuration, the third calculation unit can calculate a certain range of product coil widths that includes the product coil width corresponding to the maximum harvestable weight.

The planning device according to aspect 6 of the present disclosure is any one of aspects 1 to 3 above, further comprising an input unit that accepts user-operated input, and the third calculation unit uses a value corresponding to the input accepted by the input unit as the reference weight.

With the above configuration, the user can freely set the reference weight to their desired value.

In the planning device according to aspect 7 of the present disclosure, the first calculation unit is configured to calculate the normal portion width at predetermined intervals from the starting point at an arbitrary position along the length of each of the one or more original coils, and to calculate the normal portion length by adding the calculated normal portion widths when the normal portion widths are approximately the same; a storage processing unit that stores the normal portion length in a storage unit each time the normal portion width changes, in association with the normal portion width before the change; and an adding unit that adds up the stored normal portion lengths for each normal portion width that is approximately the same in the one or more original coils.

With the above configuration, the normal portion length for each normal portion width of the original coil can be calculated using the procedure described above.

In a planning method according to aspect 8 of the present disclosure, the third calculation unit performs an extraction process to exclude candidates having product coil widths outside the calculated range of product coil widths from a group of product coil candidates to be planned.

The above configuration allows candidates for product coil width to be extracted in advance, contributing to reducing the processing load in calculations related to product coil width.

A planning method according to a ninth aspect of the present disclosure is a planning method for planning the strip-cutting operation of cutting product coils from raw coils, and includes: an acquisition step for acquiring original coil information, including the width, length, weight, and location of defective portions, for each of one or more original coils; a first calculation step for adding up, for each normal portion width of the one or more original coils, normal portion lengths, which are the lengths of regions having approximately the same continuous normal portion width, for normal portion widths, which are the maximum widths of portions of the original coil in the width direction that do not contain defective portions; a second calculation step for calculating, for each normal portion width, the harvestable weight, which is the total weight of product coils having a width corresponding to the normal portion width that can be cut from the one or more original coils, based on the added normal portion lengths; and a third calculation step for calculating a range of product coil widths corresponding to harvestable weights equal to or greater than a predetermined reference weight.

The above method achieves the same effect as the above-mentioned planning device, making it possible to reduce the processing load or processing time when planning the strip cutting work, which involves cutting product coils from raw coils that may contain defective parts.

A control program according to aspect 10 of the present disclosure is a control program for causing a computer to function as the planning device described in aspect 1 above, and is a control program for causing a computer to function as the acquisition unit, the first calculation unit, the second calculation unit, and the third calculation unit.

The above configuration achieves the same effect as the above-mentioned planning device, making it possible to reduce the processing load or processing time when planning strip cutting work, which involves cutting product coils from raw coils that may contain defective parts.

One aspect of the present invention makes it possible to reduce the processing load or processing time when planning strip cutting operations to cut product coils from raw coils that may contain defective parts.

FIG. 1 is an example of a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a planning device. 1 is a conceptual diagram of an example of a strip cutting device that cuts product coils from raw coils. 10 is an example of a flowchart illustrating the overall flow of processing executed by the planning device. 10 is an example of a flowchart illustrating a flow of a first calculation process. 10 is an example of the position of a defective portion, and the width and length of a normal portion. 10 is an example of the normal portion length obtained by adding up the normal portion widths of all of one or more original coils. 10 is an example of a collectable length corresponding to each normal portion width. 10 is an example of the harvestable weight corresponding to each normal portion width. This is an example of a range of product coil widths corresponding to harvestable weights equal to or greater than a predetermined reference weight. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a process flow for cutting off defective portions that cannot be used in product coils from an original coil. 10 is an example of a flowchart illustrating the flow of a fifth calculation process.

One embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The planning device 1 according to this embodiment is a device for creating a strip cutting plan, which is a plan for cutting raw coils of rolled steel sheet into product coils according to the product specifications required by the user.

Before explaining the configuration of the planning system 1, we will briefly explain line cutting. Figure 2 is an example conceptual diagram of a line cutting device that cuts product coils from raw coils. As shown in the figure, the raw coil 31 is fed in a predetermined direction by the line cutting device 3 and cut by a cutting blade 30, such as a round blade, fixed midway in the feed direction. Multiple cutting blades 30 are typically arranged, with adjacent cutting blades 30 spaced a predetermined distance apart. In the example of Figure 2, seven cutting blades 30 are arranged on the line cutting device 3. This predetermined distance is set to the product coil width, which is the width of the product coil 32, one of the product specifications. Furthermore, as illustrated in Figure 2, in many cases, at least one end 33 in the width direction of the raw coil 31, i.e., the left and right sides in Figure 2, is cut off. Typically, the end 33 is treated as waste when manufacturing the product coil 32.

In the following description, unless otherwise specified, the "width" of an original coil or product coil refers to the distance in the width direction of the original coil or product coil, and the "length" refers to the distance in the length direction of the original coil or product coil. Additionally, the "length direction" refers to the direction perpendicular to the aforementioned width direction.

The cutting device 3 in Figure 2 shows an example in which six product coils 32 are cut out in parallel, but the planning device 1 will be described as a device corresponding to a cutting device that cuts out product coils one by one. An example configuration of the planning device 1 will be described below.

(Configuration example of planning device 1)
1 is an example of a block diagram showing the configuration of a planning device 1 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the planning device 1 includes a control unit 10, a storage unit 21, and an input unit 22.

The control unit 10 is a control device that controls the entire planning device 1, and is, for example, one or more processors, and various types of processors such as an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), CPU (Central Processing Unit), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), or PLD (Programmable Logic Device) can be used.

The control unit 10 also functions as a first acquisition unit 11, a second acquisition unit 12, a first calculation unit 13, a second calculation unit 14, a third calculation unit 15, a fourth calculation unit 16, and a fifth calculation unit 17.

The first acquisition unit 11 acquires original coil information for each of one or more available original coils to be used in creating a strip cutting plan. The original coil information is information about each original coil, including the width, length, weight, and location of defective parts of the original coil. The original coil information may also include the thickness of the original coil and its density, which is its weight per unit volume.

The second acquisition unit 12 acquires product coil information for one or more product coils cut out from the above-mentioned available raw coil. The product coil information is information set as product specifications for the cut-out product coil, and includes information such as the product weight and total product weight. The product coil information may also include the number of welds possible and the length of the product coil, and may also include at least one of the upper and lower limits of the product coil width.

Here, the product unit weight is the weight that each product coil should reach. The total product weight is the total weight of all product coils that should be obtained from the one or more original coils. The number of welds that can be performed is the upper limit of the number of welds that each product coil can have to reach the product unit weight, and indicates the maximum number of welds that can be performed per product coil. However, the number of welds that can be performed does not necessarily have to be set. Details of welding will be explained later.

Furthermore, the source from which the first acquisition unit 11 and the second acquisition unit 12 acquire information may be, for example, the memory unit 21 or an external storage medium connected to the planning device 1. Furthermore, the first acquisition unit 11 may acquire information input via the input unit 22 as original coil information, and the second acquisition unit 12 may acquire information input via the input unit 22 as product coil information.

The first calculation unit 13 calculates the normal portion length, which is the length of a region having a continuous normal portion width that is approximately the same, for each normal portion width of the original coil, for the normal portion width, which is the maximum width of the portion of each original coil that does not contain a defective portion in the width direction. Here, the approximately same normal portion width means normal portion widths that can be considered to be the same within a range that allows for an error up to a certain predetermined value. However, the predetermined value may be 0. Details of the normal portion width and normal portion length in the original coil will be described later.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the first calculation unit 13 includes a normal portion length calculation unit 131, a memory processing unit 132, and an adding unit 133. The normal portion length calculation unit 131 calculates the normal portion width at predetermined intervals from an arbitrary position that serves as the starting point along the length direction of each of one or more original coils, and adds the calculated normal portion widths together if they are approximately the same to calculate the normal portion length. For example, the starting point may be a position that is a predetermined distance greater than or equal to 0 away from the end of the original coil in the length direction. In this embodiment, the predetermined distance is described as 0.

Each time the normal portion width changes, the memory processing unit 132 associates the normal portion length with the normal portion width before the change and stores it in the memory unit 21.

The summing unit 133 sums the stored normal portion lengths for each of the approximately same normal portion widths in one or more original coils.

The second calculation unit 14 calculates, for each normal portion width, the harvestable weight, which is the total weight of product coils having a width corresponding to that normal portion width that can be cut from one or more original coils, based on the combined normal portion lengths.

The third calculation unit 15 calculates the range of product coil widths corresponding to harvestable weights equal to or greater than a predetermined reference weight.

The fourth calculation unit 16 performs processing such as calculating the passing positions of a cutting blade at a predetermined interval for each of one or more original coils in order to extract a product coil from the original coil without including any defective portions.

The fifth calculation unit 17 performs processing such as calculating the arrangement order of the cutout original coils, which include part or all of one or more original coils.

Here, the original coils for cutting refer to the original coils that are actually used to cut out the product coils from the prepared original coils. In other words, the one or more original coils mentioned above are divided into one or more original coils for cutting and zero or more remaining original coils.

The memory unit 21 is a storage device that at least temporarily stores various information, such as original coil information and product coil information. The original coil information and product coil information stored in the memory unit 21 may be information input via the input unit 22, for example. The memory unit 21 may also be an external storage medium connected to the planning device 1.

The input unit 22 accepts user input operations for the planning device 1. The input unit 22 is, for example, a keyboard and a mouse. The user inputs product coil information, etc., to the planning device 1 via the input unit 22. Note that if some of the product coils have already been manufactured, the control unit 10 may use the value obtained by subtracting the total weight of the product coils that have already been manufactured from the total weight of the product coils input as an order as the total product weight.

The planning device 1 is connected to the output device 2 via wired or wireless communication so that information can be communicated. The output device 2 outputs information input from the planning device 1 based on control by the control unit 10. Examples of the output device 2 include a monitor (display), a printing device, or a projection device.

Note that the units included in the planning device 1 do not necessarily need to be incorporated into a single device. For example, one or more units may be included in separate devices and connected to enable communication, or one or more units may be located on the cloud and connected to enable communication. For example, a first control unit 10 functioning as the first calculation unit 13, second calculation unit 14, and third calculation unit 15, and a second control unit 10 functioning as the fourth calculation unit 16 and fifth calculation unit 17 may be provided in separate planning devices.

(Overall processing flow)
Next, a description will be given of the overall flow of the processing executed by the planning device 1. Fig. 3 is an example of a flowchart showing the overall flow of the processing.

In S11 (step S11), the first acquisition unit 11 performs a first acquisition process to acquire original coil information from the storage unit 21. S11 corresponds to the first acquisition step. As described above, the original coil information includes information such as the width, length, and weight of each original coil, as well as the location of any defective parts. Furthermore, in steps S11 and after, the control unit 10 stores the acquired or calculated information in the storage unit 21.

In S12, the second acquisition unit 12 performs a second acquisition process to acquire product coil information from the memory unit 21. S12 corresponds to the second acquisition step. As described above, the product coil information includes the width of the product coil to be cut from the original coil, the product unit weight, the total product weight, the number of times welding can be performed, etc.

In S13, the first calculation unit 13 performs a first calculation process. S13 corresponds to the first calculation step.

The first calculation process of S13 will be described below with reference to Figure 4. Figure 4 is an example flowchart showing the flow of the first calculation process. The first calculation unit 13 may refer to the original coil information and product coil information as necessary in each process included in the first calculation process. The same applies to the second to fifth calculation processes described below.

In S1301, the first calculation unit 13 calculates the normal portion width at each position on the original coil in the longitudinal direction of the target original coil, starting from the starting point at an arbitrary position, by referring to information indicating the position of the defective portion. Figure 5 shows an example of the position of the defective portion, as well as the normal portion width and normal portion length. As shown in original coil 51 in Figure 5, for example, the position of defective portion 41 is expressed by the coordinates of a rectangle that includes defective portion 41. The coordinates may be multiple numerical values corresponding to the positions of each corner of the rectangle on the original coil. Furthermore, if the position of the defective portion acquired by the first acquisition unit 11 is not information expressed by rectangular coordinates, the first calculation unit 13 may be configured to set the coordinates of a rectangle that includes each defective portion. Here, the first calculation unit 13 may calculate the normal portion width at regular distances in the longitudinal direction of the original coil, or may calculate the normal portion width at each position where the presence or absence of each rectangle in the defective portion changes.

Also, for example, the first calculation unit 13 may divide the original coil into grid-like regions of a certain size, and associate the numerical value 1 with each region if it contains a defective part, and associate the numerical value 0 with each region if it does not. In this way, even if the defective parts are arranged in a complex manner, the first calculation unit 13 can calculate the width of the continuous regions associated with the numerical value 0 in the width direction of the original coil as the normal part width. Note that the above-mentioned certain distance and certain size can be set arbitrarily with the required accuracy, and for example, the finer they are, the closer they can be to the actual shape of the defective part.

In S1302, the first calculation unit 13 determines whether the first normal portion width calculated for a certain position on the original coil has changed from the second normal portion width calculated immediately before. If the first calculation unit 13 determines that the normal portion width has changed (S1302: YES), in S1303, it calculates the normal portion length corresponding to the second normal portion width and stores it in the memory unit 21.

Furthermore, some or all of the processing from S1301 to S1303 is executed by the normal portion length calculation unit 131 and memory processing unit 132 provided in the first calculation unit 13. In other words, the processing from S1301 to S1303 is performed by the normal portion length calculation unit 131, which calculates the normal portion width at predetermined intervals from the starting point at an arbitrary position along the length direction of each of one or more original coils, and adds the calculated normal portion widths together if they are approximately the same to calculate the normal portion length. Furthermore, the memory processing unit 132 provided in the first calculation unit 13, each time the normal portion width changes, associates the normal portion length with the normal portion width before the change and stores it in the memory unit 21.

Furthermore, the normal portion length refers to the length of a region having a continuous normal portion width that is approximately the same. If the first calculation unit 13 determines that the normal portion width has not changed (S1302: NO), it performs the process of S1301 at the next position in the length direction of the original coil.

Note that the first calculation unit 13 calculates the normal portion width for the first time at the start of the target original coil, and therefore if the second normal portion width does not exist, it makes a "NO" determination in S1302. Also, if the first calculation unit 13 reaches the end of the target original coil and there is no next normal portion width to calculate, it makes a "YES" determination in S1302.

In S1304, the first calculation unit 13 determines whether the end of the original coil has been reached in calculating the normal portion length; in other words, the first calculation unit 13 determines whether the calculation of the normal portion length has been completed at each position on the target original coil. If the first calculation unit 13 determines that the end of the original coil has been reached (S1304: YES), it then executes the process of S1305. If the first calculation unit 13 determines that the end of the original coil has not been reached (S1304: NO), it executes the process of S1301 at the next position in the length direction of the original coil.

By the first calculation unit 13 repeating the processes of S1301 to S1304, the normal portion length is stored in the memory unit 21 each time the normal portion width changes in the length direction of the original coil.

The original coil 53 in Figure 5 shows the normal portion width at each position of the original coil, and Table 55 shows an example of the normal portion length corresponding to each normal portion width. For example, Table 55 shows that the area of the original coil 53 where the normal portion width is 750 mm has a normal portion length of 1000 m.

In S1305, the first calculation unit 13 determines whether or not there are any original coils remaining among the one or more original coils for which the normal length has not been calculated. If the first calculation unit 13 determines that there are any original coils remaining for which the normal length has not been calculated (S1305: YES), it performs the processing from S1301 on those original coils. On the other hand, if the first calculation unit 13 determines that there are no original coils remaining for which the normal length has not been calculated (S1305: NO), that is, if it determines that the normal length has been calculated for all of the one or more original coils, it performs the processing of S1306.

In S1306, the summing unit 133 included in the first calculation unit 13 sums the normal portion lengths calculated for each normal portion width of each original coil for all of the one or more original coils, for each substantially identical normal portion width. Table 61 in Figure 6 shows an example of the normal portion lengths calculated for each normal portion width of each original coil, and Table 63 shows an example of the normal portion lengths summed for each normal portion width for all of the one or more original coils. In Table 63, only a single row corresponds to each value of the normal portion width.

In this way, the first calculation unit 13 stores the calculated normal portion length in the memory unit 21 each time the normal portion width changes in the length direction of one or more original coils, and adds up the stored normal portion lengths for each of the one or more original coils with approximately the same normal portion width.

In S1307, the first calculation unit 13 calculates the collectable length, which is the sum of the normal portion lengths in regions having normal portion widths equal to or greater than the normal portion width, based on the result of adding up the normal portion lengths as exemplified in Tables 61 and 63 of Fig. 6 and Table 71 of Fig. 7. Table 71 of Fig. 7 shows an example of the collectable length corresponding to each normal portion width, and is a table in which rows of the calculation results of the collectable length are added to Table 63 of Fig. 6. For example, the collectable length of 3,300 m in the row where the normal portion width is 800 mm indicates that the sum of the normal portion lengths in regions where the normal portion width is 800 mm or greater (in the example of Table 71, the normal portion widths are 800 m, 900 m, and 1,000 m) is 3,300 m. In other words, in the example of Table 71, the normal portion lengths for normal portion widths of 800 m, 900 m, and 1000 m are 800 m, 2000 m, and 500 m, respectively, and the value of 3300 m mentioned above corresponds to the sum of these normal portion lengths. When the set of k where the normal portion width W _k matches one of the normal portion widths in Table 63 is K, the set of k' where W _k' ≧W _k is K', and the normal portion length is L _k , the extractable length OL _k is expressed by the following formula.

The reason for calculating the harvestable length is that, in an area where the normal portion width is X mm, it is possible to cut out a product coil with a product coil width of X mm or less, as shown in the original coil 73 in Figure 7. From another perspective, the harvestable length indicates the total length of the product coil that can be cut out when the product coil width of the product coil is set to a certain normal portion width.

After the first calculation unit 13 performs the process of S1307, the process of S14 in Figure 3 is then executed. S14 corresponds to the second calculation step.

Returning to FIG. 3 , in S14, the second calculation unit 14 performs a second calculation process in which it calculates the harvestable weight corresponding to each normal portion width based on the harvestable length, etc. In one aspect, the second calculation unit 14 calculates the harvestable weight corresponding to the normal portion width by multiplying the normal portion width, the harvestable length corresponding to that normal portion width, the thickness of the original coil, and the density. Here, the product of the thickness and density of the original coil corresponds to the weight per unit area of the original coil. This value may be calculated by the second calculation unit 14 based on the width, length, and weight of the original coil. The weight of the original coil per unit area may be calculated by the second calculation unit 14, for example, based on the width, length, and weight of the original coil, or based on the thickness and density of the original coil.

Table 83 in Figure 8 shows an example of the harvestable weight calculated based on the normal portion width and harvestable length in Table 81. In many cases, the longer the harvestable length, the greater the harvestable weight, even if the normal portion width is short. On the other hand, in the example of Table 83, the harvestable weight value of 2,812 kg corresponding to a normal portion width of 900 mm exceeds the harvestable weight value of 2,500 kg corresponding to a normal portion width of 800 mm. This is partly because, when the normal portion width is set to 800 mm, even in areas where the normal portion width exceeds 800 mm, the product coil width is assumed to be 800 mm when cutting out the product coil, and partly because the harvestable length corresponding to a normal portion width of 900 mm is relatively long.

In S15, the third calculation unit 15 calculates the range of product coil widths corresponding to harvestable weights equal to or greater than a predetermined reference weight as the third calculation process. S15 corresponds to the third calculation step. Here, the reference weight refers to an arbitrary weight that is acceptable from the perspective of cutting out a product coil with minimal loss from the coil.

Figure 9 shows an example of the range of product coil width. In the graph of Figure 9, the horizontal axis shows the product coil width corresponding to the normal portion width, and the vertical axis shows the total harvestable weight of one or more original coils. In other words, Figure 9 is an example of a graph plotting data corresponding to Table 83. In Figure 9, when the product coil width is greater than or equal to a and less than or equal to b, the harvestable weight is greater than or equal to the reference weight. In other words, when the product coil width is greater than or equal to a and less than or equal to b, the yield, which is the ratio of the harvestable weight to the weight of the original coil, increases.

As described above, by determining the product coil width for which the harvestable weight is equal to or greater than the reference weight, product coils that can be harvested from one or more available raw coils can be extracted from orders in advance based on the determined product coil width in the upcoming line cutting plan. In other words, it is possible to exclude product coils that are impossible to produce in the first place due to their product coil width or harvest weight from the line cutting plan. In other words, the product coils that are the subject of the line cutting plan can be narrowed down to those that can be produced from one or more raw coils that are the subject of the plan. Therefore, the number of product coils that are the subject of the line cutting plan can be reduced, which makes it possible to reduce the processing load and processing time when creating the line cutting plan.

Alternatively, in another aspect, when a value or range of either the product coil width or the harvestable weight is input via the input unit 22, the third calculation unit 15 may calculate the range of the other, and output that range on the output device 2. Alternatively, when values or ranges of both the product coil width and the harvestable weight are input via the input unit 22, the third calculation unit 15 may determine whether or not both requirements can be met, and the result of this determination may be output on the output device 2.

Furthermore, for example, the third calculation unit 15 may use as the reference weight a value obtained by multiplying the total weight of one or more original coils by a predetermined value less than 1. Furthermore, the third calculation unit 15 may use as the reference weight a value obtained by multiplying the maximum harvestable weight among the harvestable weights for each normal portion width calculated by the second calculation unit 14 by a predetermined value less than or equal to 1. Furthermore, the third calculation unit 15 may use as the reference weight a value corresponding to a user input received by the input unit 22.

Next, we will explain an example of the process for creating a strip cutting plan.

Figure 10 is an example schematic diagram showing the process flow for cutting off defective parts that cannot be used in product coils from the original coil.

The original coil 101 in Figure 10 shows the location of a defective portion 41 contained in a single original coil. As shown in the original coil 101, the defective portion 41 may be located only at the end 33 in the width direction of the original coil, or may extend to the central portion. The original coil 102 shows an example of the predetermined interval at which the cutting blade passes and the cut-off portion 42. Here, the predetermined interval is the width of the product coil. The passing position of the cutting blade 30 is variable in the width direction of the original coil. Therefore, both ends in the width direction of the original coil are not necessarily cut off, and only one end 33 may be cut off. As an exception, if the width of the original coil is equal to the width of the product coil, neither end 33 is cut off.

If the defective portion 41 is located at the end 33 of the original coil, the defective portion 41 will be cut off when the end 33 is cut off. However, if the defective portion 41 extends across the center of the original coil (see Figure 10), for example, and the width of the normal portion in the width direction of the original coil is less than the width of any of the product coils, it is necessary to cut off the entire width direction, including the defective portion 41, as the cut-off portion 42. Therefore, excessively increasing the product coil width increases the number of cut-off portions 42, which can lead to reduced yield. Note that the cut-off portions 42 of the original coil may be cut off in advance by changing the orientation of the cutting blade 30 that cuts off the end 33, or may be cut off by a cutting blade other than the cutting blade 30 that cuts off the end 33. In one embodiment, the position in the length direction of the original coil through which the cutting blade 30 passes is set in S16, which will be described later.

Furthermore, in S15, the third calculation unit 15 may calculate a range of product coil width within the range defined by the upper and lower limit values of the product coil width set as product specifications, within which the harvestable weight is equal to or greater than the reference weight. That is, in the example of FIG. 9, the third calculation unit 15 calculates a product coil width that is equal to or greater than the lower limit value and equal to or less than the upper limit value, and equal to or greater than a and equal to or less than b. Note that both the upper and lower limit values of the product coil width do not necessarily have to be set as product specifications; only one of them may be set. Furthermore, if an upper limit value is not set as product specifications, the third calculation unit 15 may set the largest value among the widths of one or more original coils as the upper limit value. Furthermore, if a lower limit value is not set as product specifications, the third calculation unit 15 may set the smallest value among the normal portion widths of one or more original coils as the lower limit value.

In S16, as the fourth calculation process, the fourth calculation unit 16 calculates information for selecting a raw coil for cutting for each of one or more raw coils. In other words, the fourth calculation unit 16 calculates information for selecting one or more product coils that meet the product specifications. In one embodiment, the fourth calculation unit 16 calculates the passing position of the cutting blade 30, the harvestable weight, and the yield. Note that the third calculation unit 15 may also calculate the harvestable weight and yield for each raw coil corresponding to each product coil width.

As mentioned above, the original coil 102 in Figure 10 shows an example of the passing position of the cutting blade 30. In parts of the original coil where the width of the normal portion exceeds the width of the product coil, the passing position of the cutting blade is variable in the width direction of the original coil within a range that does not include defective portions. However, as shown in the example of the original coil 102, it is desirable for the fourth calculation unit 16 to set the passing position of the cutting blade 30 so that it forms a straight line. In addition, the fourth calculation unit 16 sets the predetermined spacing of the cutting blade within the range of the product coil width calculated by the third calculation unit 15.

In one aspect, the third calculation unit 15 may perform an extraction process to exclude candidates with product coil widths outside the range calculated in S15 from the group of product coil candidates to be targeted for the line cutting plan. For example, this extraction process extracts only product coil information for product coils with product coil widths within the above range from the product coil information for one or more product coils input as targets for the line cutting plan planning process, and uses the extracted product coil information as targets for the fourth calculation process and beyond. The fourth calculation unit 16 performs the fourth calculation process using the extracted product coil widths as candidates. This means that the product coil width candidates input to the fourth calculation unit 16 are narrowed down in advance to the product coil width range calculated by the third calculation unit 15, and that the raw coils to be used in the line cutting work can be narrowed down in advance. Furthermore, narrowing down the product coil widths to within the above range in advance means that the product coil candidates to be targeted for the line cutting plan planning process are narrowed down to those with product coil widths within the above range.

For example, in a configuration in which the first planning device 1 that performs the first to third calculation processes and the second planning device 1 that performs the fourth and fifth calculation processes are implemented as separate devices, the control unit 10 of the first planning device 1 may transmit the product coil width candidates extracted by the third calculation unit 15 to the second planning device 1.

In addition, the fourth calculation unit 16 may set the predetermined spacing of the cutting blades to a value that maximizes the harvestable weight from one or more raw coils.

Alternatively, the control unit 10 may present the range of product coil widths calculated by the third calculation unit 15 via the output device 2, and the user may select a product coil width within that range, or a range of product coil widths within that range, via the input unit 22, which is then used by the fourth calculation unit 16.

Furthermore, the fourth calculation unit 16 or the third calculation unit 15 may be configured to not use raw coils with a yield below a predetermined value in subsequent processing, and not calculate the passing position of the cutting blade 30, etc.

As shown in the example of original coil 103, the divided portions that cross the cut-off portions 42 are connected by welding. In addition, if the passage position of the cutting blade 30 is not in a straight line within a single original coil, the position of the product portions 43 will shift in the width direction of the original coil even if no cut-off portions 42 are created. As a result, the original coil is cut in the width direction and each product portion 43 is connected by welding. From another perspective, the fourth calculation unit 16 can reduce the number of times that the passage position of the cutting blade 30 changes in the width direction of the original coil, thereby reducing the number of times that welding is performed.

Furthermore, original coil 103 indicates that product coils are harvested from the area of the original coil excluding end portion 33 and defective portion 41. The weight of the original coil in the state shown in original coil 103 is the harvestable weight of that original coil. In addition, the ratio of the harvestable weight to the weight of the original original coil shown in original coil 101 is the yield of original coil 101.

Welding is also performed when the length of the product coil exceeds the length of the original coil, or when the end of an original coil is joined to produce a product coil. From another perspective, a single product coil may be produced from discontinuous sections of the original coil that sandwich the cut-off portion 42, or from multiple original coils.

Welding requires a certain amount of time and energy, which can reduce production efficiency. In addition, the outer or inner quality of the welded area may be slightly altered according to specifications. Therefore, it is preferable to reduce the number of welding operations.

Note that if the dividing points and the cut points in the width direction of the original coil are ultimately located at the ends of the product coil in the length direction, the product portions 43 including each dividing point will correspond to separate product coils, and therefore welding will not be performed.

Furthermore, the processing order for manufacturing the original coil 103 is not necessarily limited, but may be, for example, performed in the order of cutting off the cut-off portion 42, welding, and cutting the end portion 33.

The fourth calculation unit 16 moves the passing position of the cutting blade 30 at regular intervals in the width direction of the original coil, compares the number of welds corresponding to each passing position, and calculates the passing position of the cutting blade 30 that results in the fewest number of welds. Moving the passing position of the cutting blade 30 can also be said to be moving the position of the product coil that is cut out from the original coil.

The fourth calculation unit 16 may calculate the cutting blade passing position, harvestable weight, and yield for one or more raw coils, corresponding to multiple product coil widths that are varied in fixed increments within the product coil width range calculated by the third calculation unit 15.

In S17, as the fifth calculation process, the fifth calculation unit 17 calculates a combination of raw coils for cutting that includes part or all of one or more raw coils, and whose total harvestable weight reaches the total product weight, as well as the arrangement order of the raw coils in that combination.

The fifth calculation process of S17 will now be described with reference to Figure 11. Figure 11 is an example flowchart showing the flow of the fifth calculation process.

In S1701, the fifth calculation unit 17 determines whether any combination of original coils remains that is a candidate for the original coil to be cut out, among one or more original coils, and that reaches the total product weight. The processing from S1701 to S1703 is processing for extracting combinations of original coils that can become original coils to be cut out. In the processing up to S1703, consideration is given to which original coil to use as the original coil to be cut out, but the arrangement order within the original coil combination is not taken into account.

If the fifth calculation unit 17 determines that the original coil combination remains (S1701: YES), in S1702, it calculates an evaluation index that includes at least the yield for the entire combination and stores it in association with the original coil combination in the memory unit 21. Here, the yield for the entire combination may be, for example, the average yield of the original coils included in the combination, or the ratio of the total harvestable weight to the total weight of the original coils included in the combination. Furthermore, the fifth calculation unit 17 may calculate the harvestable weight, etc. for the entire combination as part of the evaluation index and store it in the memory unit 21.

Furthermore, if the fifth calculation unit 17 determines in S1701 that there are no remaining combinations of raw coils that reach the total product weight (S1701: NO), then in S1703, it sorts the combinations of raw coils stored in the memory unit 21 in order of yield among all combinations.

In S1704, the fifth calculation unit 17 sets, for the combination of original coils to be processed, an arrangement order of the original coils included in the combination such that the number of welds is equal to or less than the number of possible welds. Furthermore, if the fifth calculation unit 17 determines that the condition regarding the number of welds is not satisfied no matter how the arrangement order of the original coils included in the combination is rearranged, the fifth calculation unit 17 selects the combination with the next highest yield as the processing target. Note that the product specifications may not include the number of possible welds, and no welding conditions may be imposed.

In S1705, the fifth calculation unit 17 determines and outputs the combination and arrangement order of the set original coils as the result of the fifth calculation process. After the fifth calculation unit 17 performs the process of S1705, the process of S18 in Figure 3 is subsequently executed.

In S18, the control unit 10 outputs the processing results of the fifth calculation process to the output device 2. The user can view the processing results output to the output device 2 and confirm the conditions for cutting the product coil in accordance with the product specifications.

The control unit 10 may be configured to output the processing results of the fifth calculation process to a strip cutting device associated with the planning device 1, and the strip cutting device may then perform strip cutting based on the processing results. The planning device 1 and the strip cutting device may also be configured to be included in a single strip cutting system.

Furthermore, if the cut-off portion 42 is large and weighs more than a predetermined amount, the control unit 10 may be configured to not include the cut-off portion 42 in the yield calculation, assuming that the cut-off portion 42 can be diverted for use other than as a product coil.

The fifth calculation process shown in the flowchart in Figure 11 calculates the combination of original coils that maximizes yield and the arrangement order that satisfies the conditions regarding the number of welds.

The above describes an example of a planning method for planning strip cutting work, which includes an acquisition process, a first calculation process, a second calculation process, and a third calculation process.

The method described above from the acquisition step to the third calculation step allows candidate product coil widths to be extracted in advance when performing the strip cutting work. This makes it possible to reduce the processing load or processing time when planning the strip cutting work, which involves cutting product coils from raw coils that may contain defects.

Note that the manner in which the fourth calculation unit 16 and the fifth calculation unit 17 calculate the combination and arrangement order of the original coils based on the product coil width range, etc. calculated by the third calculation unit 15 is not limited to the manner described above. In other words, the line cutting plan creation process is not limited to a process using a specific method, and any process that allows for the creation of a line cutting plan, such as a process that corresponds to an existing line cutting plan creation method, may be used. Furthermore, the information calculated by the fourth calculation unit 16 and the fifth calculation unit 17 is not limited to specific information. From another perspective, the product coil width range, etc. calculated by the first to third calculation processes may be used for any purpose in planning line cutting work.

[Software implementation example]
The functions of the planning device 1 (hereinafter referred to as the "device") can be realized by a program for causing a computer to function as the device, and a program for causing a computer to function as each control block of the device (particularly the first acquisition unit 11, the second acquisition unit 12, the first calculation unit 13, the second calculation unit 14, the third calculation unit 15, the fourth calculation unit 16, and the fifth calculation unit 17).

In this case, the device includes a computer having at least one control device (e.g., a processor) and at least one storage device (e.g., a memory) as hardware for executing the program. The functions described in each of the above embodiments are realized by executing the program using this control device and storage device.

The above program may be stored non-transitory on one or more computer-readable storage media. These storage media may or may not be included in the device. In the latter case, the program may be supplied to the device via any wired or wireless transmission medium.

Furthermore, some or all of the functions of each of the above control blocks can be realized by logic circuits. For example, integrated circuits incorporating logic circuits that function as each of the above control blocks are also included in the scope of the present invention. In addition, the functions of each of the above control blocks can also be realized by, for example, a quantum computer.

Furthermore, each process described in each of the above embodiments may be executed by AI (Artificial Intelligence). In this case, the AI may run on the control device, or on another device (for example, an edge computer or a cloud server).

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. Embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Planning device 2 Output device 10 Control unit 11 First acquisition unit 12 Second acquisition unit 13 First calculation unit 131 Normal portion length calculation unit 132 Storage processing unit 133 Addition unit 14 Second calculation unit 15 Third calculation unit 16 Fourth calculation unit 17 Fifth calculation unit 21 Storage unit 22 Input unit 3 Line cutting device 30 Cutting blade 31, 51, 53, 73, 101, 102, 103 Original coil 32 Product coil 33 End 41 Defective portion 42 Cut-off portion 43 Product portion

Claims (10)

A planning device for planning a strip cutting operation for cutting out product coils from raw coils,
an acquisition unit that acquires original coil information including a width, a length, a weight, and a location of a defective portion for each of one or more original coils;
a first calculation unit that adds up the normal portion lengths calculated for each normal portion width of each original coil for each normal portion width in the one or more original coils, the normal portion lengths being the lengths of regions having substantially the same normal portion width in relation to the normal portion width, which is the maximum width of a portion in the width direction of each original coil that does not include a defective portion;
A second calculation unit calculates, for each of the normal portion widths, a harvestable weight, which is the total weight of product coils having product coil widths corresponding to the normal portion widths that can be cut out from the one or more original coils, based on the combined normal portion lengths;
A third calculation unit that calculates a range of candidate product coil widths corresponding to a harvestable weight equal to or greater than a predetermined reference weight;
A planning device comprising: The acquisition unit
Further, at least one of an upper limit value and a lower limit value of a product coil width set as a product specification of the product coil cut out from the one or more original coils is acquired;
The third calculation unit
The planning device described in claim 1, characterized in that it calculates a range of product coil widths corresponding to harvestable weights greater than or equal to the specified standard weight within a range defined by at least one of the upper limit value and the lower limit value. The first calculation unit
For each of the calculated normal portion widths, calculate the harvestable length, which is the sum of the normal portion lengths in the region having a normal portion width equal to or greater than the normal portion width;
The planning device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second calculation unit calculates the harvestable weight based on the harvestable length. The planning device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the third calculation unit uses a value obtained by multiplying the total weight of the one or more original coils by a predetermined value less than 1 as the reference weight. The third calculation unit
A planning device described in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the value obtained by multiplying the maximum collectable weight for each normal section width calculated by the second calculation unit by a predetermined value less than or equal to 1 is used as the reference weight. further comprising an input unit that accepts input of a user operation,
The third calculation unit
4. The planning device according to claim 1, wherein a value according to an input received by the input unit is used as the reference weight. The first calculation unit
a normal portion length calculation unit that calculates the normal portion width at a predetermined interval from a starting end at an arbitrary position along the length direction of each of the one or more original coils, and adds the calculated normal portion widths together when the calculated normal portion widths are substantially the same to calculate the normal portion length;
a storage processing unit that stores the normal portion length in association with the normal portion width before the change in a storage unit every time the normal portion width changes;
The planning device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising an adding up unit that adds up the stored normal portion lengths for each of the one or more original coils with approximately the same normal portion width. The third calculation unit
8. The planning device according to claim 1, further comprising an extraction process for excluding candidates having product coil widths outside the calculated range of product coil widths from a group of product coil candidates to be planned. A planning method for planning a strip cutting operation for cutting out product coils from raw coils, comprising the steps of:
acquiring original coil information including width, length, weight, and location of defects for each of one or more original coils;
a first calculation step of adding up normal portion lengths, which are lengths of regions having substantially the same normal portion width in succession, calculated for each normal portion width of each original coil, for each normal portion width in the one or more original coils, with respect to normal portion widths, which are the maximum widths of portions in the width direction of each original coil that do not include defective portions;
A second calculation step of calculating, for each of the normal portion widths, a harvestable weight, which is the total weight of product coils having product coil widths corresponding to the normal portion widths that can be cut out from the one or more original coils, based on the combined normal portion lengths;
A third calculation step of calculating a range of candidate product coil widths corresponding to a harvestable weight equal to or greater than a predetermined reference weight;
A planning method comprising: A control program for causing a computer to function as the planning device according to claim 1, the control program causing a computer to function as the acquisition unit, the first calculation unit, the second calculation unit, and the third calculation unit.