JP2000322118A - Management system for nc machine tool and storage medium storing management program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a numerically controlled(NC) machine tool management system and a management program allowed to be operated from a personal computer(PC) at high operability. SOLUTION: The NC machine tool management system remotely manages an NC machine tool from a PC connected to the machine tool through a network. The NC machine tool has a parts machining part 1 for executing parts machining based on numerical control(NC) and an NC part 2 for controlling the operation of the parts machining part 1 in accordance with a prescribed machining program. The PC has a graphical user interface function and a picture display part for displaying a window corresponding to the operation state of the machine tool, senses the operation state of the NC machine tool and displays an icon in the window corresponding to the operation state of the machine tool. Consequently the PC can execute the accurate remote control of the NC machine tool while surely grasping the operation state of the NC machine tool.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a management system for an NC (Numerical Control) machine tool for processing a part by numerical control and a storage medium storing a management program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An NC machine tool can control a machining tool exchange, a relative position between a part and a machining tool, a machining content, etc. based on a machining program with high accuracy and high speed. It can respond quickly to small-lot production. In such NC machine tools, various types of component processing can be realized as the number of types of tools and the number of control axes are increased, but the processing programs are further advanced and complicated.

In recent years, by connecting an NC machine tool and a personal computer (personal computer) to each other via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network), 1) management and operation of a machining program by a graphical user interface, and 2) network compatibility. Has attracted attention.

[0004]

When the NC machine tool is used alone, the operator may directly operate the operation panel provided on the NC machine tool while checking the operation state of the NC machine tool. When performing remote control from a personal computer connected via a network, it is difficult for the operator to check the operation state of the NC machine tool, and there is a risk of forcibly performing an unreasonable operation when an error occurs in the NC machine tool. There is.

An object of the present invention is to provide a management system for an NC machine tool and a storage medium storing a management program with good operability from a personal computer.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an NC machine tool having a component processing unit for performing component processing by numerical control, and a numerical control unit for controlling the operation of the component processing unit in accordance with a predetermined processing program. An operation state display device for displaying an operation state of the NC machine tool, and a network for transmitting a signal between the NC machine tool and the operation state display device, wherein the NC machine tool ranks and judges the operation state. The operating state display device is a management system for an NC machine tool, wherein the operating state of the NC machine tool is sensed and displayed separately for each sensed operating state.

According to the present invention, N
C To detect the operating state of the machine tool and display it on the operating state display device separately for each operating state. Is possible.

Further, according to the present invention, the operation state display device includes:
The personal computer has a screen display unit having a graphical user interface function, and the personal computer includes:
The operation state of the NC machine tool is sensed, and the display position of the icon corresponding to the NC machine tool is set in a state-specific window associated with the sensed operation state.

According to the present invention, a state-specific window corresponding to the ranked operating state of the NC machine tool is stored in a memory of a personal computer, and the operating state of the NC machine tool is detected by sensing the operating state of the NC machine tool. Icons can be displayed in the status-specific windows according to the
The operation state of the machine tool can be easily recognized.
The operating state of the NC machine tool includes, for example, a normal stop, a normal operation, a stop due to a minor error, a stop due to a serious error, and a power-off. Therefore, the operator can promptly respond from the personal computer according to the operation state of the NC machine tool, and can greatly improve the operability. For this reason, even if the personal computer is arranged at a place distant from the NC machine tool via the network, it is possible to execute an accurate remote operation while reliably grasping the operation state of the NC machine tool.

A plurality of NC machine tools and a plurality of personal computers can be connected to the network.
Centralized management of C machine tools, distributed management by a plurality of personal computers, and various other types of management systems can be realized.

Further, according to the present invention, the NC machine tool determines a normal state and an abnormal state, and the personal computer detects an abnormal state of the NC machine tool and displays a display position of an icon corresponding to the NC machine tool. Is set in an abnormal state window associated with the detected abnormal state.

According to the present invention, the personal computer detects an abnormal state of the NC machine tool and displays an icon in an abnormal state window corresponding to the abnormal state. Abnormal states include, for example, the above-mentioned normal stop, normal operation, stopping with a minor error, stopping with a serious error, and powering off, stopping with a minor error, and stopping with a serious error. . Therefore, the operator can recognize such an abnormal state and take an appropriate action, thereby minimizing the failure of the NC machine tool, and quickly recovering the part processing that was in progress. It is possible. It is also possible to display an icon in the normal state window corresponding to the normal state in addition to the abnormal state window corresponding to the abnormal state, whereby it is possible to constantly check that there is no abnormality in the NC machine tool. Operability from a personal computer.

According to the present invention, there is provided a component processing unit for executing component processing by numerical control, and a numerical control unit for controlling the operation of the component processing unit in accordance with a predetermined processing program.
C machine tool, a personal computer having a screen display unit having a graphical user interface function, and a network for transmitting a signal between the NC machine tool and the personal computer. A management program applied to the management system of the NC machine tool, which is executed on the personal computer, detects an operation state of the NC machine tool, and displays a display position of an icon corresponding to the NC machine tool. N is set in a state-specific window associated with the sensed operation state.
C is a storage medium storing a management program for a machine tool.

According to the present invention, the operating state of the NC machine tool is sensed, and the display position of the icon corresponding to the NC machine tool is set in a state-specific window associated with the sensed operating state. The management program to be stored can be stored in a storage medium such as a magnetic tape, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a memory card, or can be supplied by cable or wireless data transmission.

[0015]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. A plurality (three in FIG. 1) of CNCs (Co
mputed Numeric Control) Machine tools M1 to M3 and a plurality of (two in FIG. 1) personal computers (personal computers) PC1 and PC2, which are operation state display devices, are mutually connected by Ethernet, and a LAN (local area network). Of the NC machine tool management system.

Various machine tools such as an automatic lathe and an automatic milling machine can be connected as the CNC machine tools M1 to M3. For example, even if the same automatic lathe is used, the number of machining axes and the control commands are different from high-performance models. Up to functional models can be connected.

The personal computers PC1 and PC2 are a CPU for performing arithmetic processing, a memory for storing programs and data, a pointing device such as a keyboard and a mouse, a display such as a liquid crystal panel and a cathode ray tube (CRT), and a communication port for network connection. And software such as an OS (operation system) and user applications compatible with graphical user interface processing, multitask processing, networks, and the like.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the CNC machine tool. The CNC machine tools M1 to M3 include a component processing unit 1 that performs component processing by numerical control, an NC (numerical control) unit 2 that controls the operation of the component processing unit 1 according to a predetermined processing program, and instructions from an operator. And a PL for controlling signal transmission among the component processing unit 1, the NC unit 2, and the operation panel unit 3.
It comprises a C (programmable logic controller) unit 4 and the like. The PLC unit 4 has a network function for connecting to a network.

The component processing unit 1 includes a plurality of processing axes, a component holding unit for positioning and rotating components, a servomotor for supplying a driving force for these components, various actuators, and the like.

The NC unit 2 includes an interface such as a CPU, a memory, and a servo motor control unit, and controls the operation of the component processing unit 1 by executing a processing program loaded in the memory.

The operation panel unit 3 is composed of input devices such as a keyboard, switches, and buttons, output devices such as a display and an LED, a CPU, etc., and transmits input data from the input device to the PLC unit 4, 4
And outputs the data to an output device.

The PLC section 4 comprises a CPU, a memory, an interface, etc., and further has a component processing section 1, an NC section 2,
An input port and an output port for inputting and outputting data to and from the operation panel unit 3 and the network are provided, and rewriting and reading can be performed in bit units by specifying a port address. In the memory of the PLC unit 4, a memory map of input / output ports is secured, and a sequence ladder program for defining an association between an input port and an output port and defining a logical operation is loaded, and the sequence ladder program is rewritten. The operation of the PLC unit 4 can be arbitrarily changed.

The patrol light 5 includes a blue light, a green light, a yellow light, a red light, and the like, and is turned on in accordance with the operation state of the component processing section 1. The operation state of the part processing unit 1 is “normal standby”,
Either "Normal operation", "Stopping due to a minor error" such as when a predetermined number of parts have been processed, or "Stopping due to a serious error" such as damage to a processing rule, and N
The diagnosis is performed by the C unit 2, and the ON / OFF of the patrol light 5 is controlled via the PLC unit 4. The blue light is lit during normal standby, the green light is lit during normal operation, the yellow light is lit when stopped due to a minor error, or the red light is lit when stopped due to a serious error.

For example, the NC processing unit 2 controls the part processing unit 1
If the operating state of the device is diagnosed as normal standby, the NC
The unit 2 sets an input flag corresponding to the on / off state of the blue light of the patrol light 5 in the memory map of the PLC unit 4, and resets the flag in an operation state other than the normal standby state. The CPU of the PLC unit 4 periodically checks the memory area to check the bit state corresponding to the on / off state of the blue light, and if the bit is off, continues the memory area check. If the bit is ON, an output flag corresponding to ON / OFF of the blue light of the component processing section 1 is set, and the patrol light 5 reads this flag state and operates the energizing relay of the blue light.

As described above, the states of the input devices and output devices of the operation panel section 3 and the operation states of the NC section 2 and the component processing section 1 are reflected in the memory map of the PLC section 4, and the personal computer PC1, By allowing rewriting and reading of the memory map from PC2,
Remote operation by the personal computers PC1 and PC2 becomes possible.
When the remote operation is permitted, there is a concern that the operation of the operation panel unit 3 and the operation of the personal computers PC1 and PC2 may conflict with each other, but here, one of the latest operations is reflected by the logical OR operation of each operation. It is configured as follows.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the personal computer by the management program. In the memory of the personal computer, icons representing the CNC machine tools M1 to M3, respectively, and window data associated with the operation state of the CNC machine tools are stored. The operating state is
The CNC machine tools M1 to M3 are commonly ranked, and windows are prepared by the number.

In the window, icons corresponding to the respective NC machine tools are displayed, and below the icons, there are provided areas for displaying the names and corresponding numbers of the respective NC machine tools in association with the icons.

For example, when the management program is started in the personal computer PC1, initialization processing is executed in step a1, and the personal computer PC1 and the CNC machine tools M1 to M1 are executed.
3 is established, and mutual data transmission becomes possible. At this time, information on the number of NC machine tools to be connected, the name of each NC machine tool, the network address of each NC machine tool, and other information are also stored in the personal computer PC1.
The data is read from the hard disk or the like in the memory of the personal computer PC1. Next, in step a2, the operation state of each CNC machine tool is sensed by reading the output flag of the PLC unit 4. Normally, one of the operating states in which the blue light, green light, yellow light, and red light are lit is read.
In some cases, such as when the power of the NC machine tool is not turned on, reading is impossible.

Next, the process proceeds to step a3, and a window corresponding to the operation state is displayed on the screen display unit as illustrated in FIG. “Alarm”, “disconnect”, “stop”, “run”, and “operator message” are displayed on the title bar of each window. The “alarm” window corresponds to an operating state in which the red light of the patrol light 5 is turned on, that is, a state in which the patrol light 5 is stopped due to a serious error. Similarly, the “disconnected” window corresponds to a state in which the output flag of the PLC unit 4 cannot be read, and the “stop” window corresponds to a normally stopped state in which a blue light is turned on.
The “operation” window corresponds to a normal operation state in which a green light is lit, and the “operator message” window corresponds to a stopped state due to a slight error in which a yellow light is lit.

Next, the display position of the icon symbolizing each CNC machine tool is set in a window corresponding to the sensed operation state. Thereby, an icon symbolizing each CNC machine tool is displayed in the window corresponding to the sensed operation state. In FIG. 5, icons of five CNC machine tools are displayed one by one in windows corresponding to five types of operation states.

The CNC machine tools M1 to M3 to be connected are registered in the personal computer PC1 in advance, and a step a4 is executed.
In, it is determined whether or not the processing for sensing the operation state for the registered number and displaying the icons has been completed. Steps a2 to a4 are repeated until the processing for the registered number is completed. For example, if the number information N = 3 read in step a1, the processing from steps a2 to a4 is performed by the CNC machine tools M1 to M4. After repeating three times up to M3,
In step a5, a sampling timer process is started.

Next, in step a6, it is determined whether or not there is a selected icon among the displayed icons. The selection of the icon is performed by clicking a mouse button or the like. If no icon is selected,
When the process proceeds to step a10 and the icon is selected, in step a7, a process of selecting one of two display methods, simple and detailed, is performed.

For example, when the left button of the mouse is single-clicked, the icon is selected and highlighted, and in step a9, the CNC corresponding to the icon is selected.
Displays simple information on machine tools. The simple information includes, for example, information indicating the progress of component processing, which is constituted by the number of components that have been processed, the processing time, and the like.

On the other hand, in step a8, detailed information of the CNC machine tool corresponding to the selected icon is displayed by double-clicking the left button of the mouse or selecting a pull-down menu that appears after single-clicking the right button. I do. As the detailed information, an error message is displayed in addition to the above-described part processing progress, particularly when the machine is abnormally stopped. As the error message, the type, scale, occurrence location, and countermeasure manual of the abnormality may be displayed.

These pieces of display information are stored in a memory in association with the operation state of the CNC machine tool, and are displayed on a personal computer by reading more detailed data from the CNC machine tool.

When no icon is selected in step a6, and in steps a8 and a9
After displaying the information of the machine tool selected in step a10, it is determined in step a10 whether or not to execute the registration / deletion processing of the machine tool. If not, that is, if “No”, the process proceeds to step a5, and If so, registration / deletion processing of the machine tool is executed in step a11.

Next, at step a11, for example, the CNC machine tools M1, M2
New CNC machine tool M when two
After registering the CNC machine 3, the CNC machine M3 on the network is searched, and the name of the CNC machine M3, the network address of the CNC machine M3, and other information are stored in a hard disk or the like in the personal computer PC1. And the number information N = 3.

When deleting, the number information is reduced and the connection with the corresponding NC machine tool is released. After that, the processing shifts to the processing of step a2.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the sampling timer process of FIG. 3 in more detail. When the sampling timer process is started, first, at step b1, the operating state of each CNC machine tool is read, as in the case of FIG. 3, and it is determined at step b2 whether the operating state has changed. If changed, step b2
In b11, the display window of the icon is also changed, and if not changed, the processing in steps b2 to b11 is skipped and the process proceeds to step b12.

In steps b3 to b10, when the component processing section 1 is normally stopped, the icon is moved to the window corresponding to the normal stop, that is, the window corresponding to the lighting of the blue light. Similarly, when the component processing unit 1 is operating normally, the icon is moved to the window corresponding to the green light, and when the component processing unit 1 is stopped due to a slight error and needs to be alerted, The icon is moved to the window corresponding to the yellow light, and if the component processing unit 1 is stopped due to a serious error and an alarm is required, the icon is moved to the window corresponding to the red light. If none of the operation states is satisfied, in step b11, the icon is moved to a “disconnected” window indicating that connection is not possible.

Next, in step b12, a change in the operating state is confirmed, and it is determined whether or not the process of changing the icon for the changed one has been performed for the number of registered CNC machine tools. If the processing has not been completed, the process returns to step b1, and the processing of steps b1 to b12 is repeated until the above processing is completed.

For example, when the number information NC of the NC machine tools is N = 3, step b is performed for each of the CNC machine tools M1 to M3.
The processing from 1 to b12 is performed three times in total.

By performing such a sampling timer process, the icon display window can be changed in accordance with the change in the operation state of the CNC machine tool.
C Even if the PC is located away from the machine tool,
A change in the operating state can be accurately grasped.

Further, by increasing the frequency of the sampling timer processing, it is possible to respond to changes in the operating state of the NC machine tool in real time, and icons are displayed and updated each time. Even with a personal computer, it is possible to grasp the operating states of a plurality of NC machine tools in real time.

Further, by displaying in a window for each state according to the operating state of the NC machine tool, it is possible to display only a window in a desired state as necessary, and within a limited display area. More necessary information can be displayed.

Although a personal computer was used as the operation state display device, the present invention is not limited to this, and any display device capable of displaying the state according to the operation state of the NC machine tool may be used.

[0047]

As described above, according to the present invention, the operating state of the NC machine tool is sensed and displayed on the operating state display device for each of the operating states.
The C machine tool can be reliably grasped, and operability from a remote place can be greatly improved.

According to the present invention, the operating state of the NC machine tool is sensed, and the display position of the icon corresponding to the NC machine tool is set in a state-specific window corresponding to the sensed operating state. Thus, the operability from a personal computer can be greatly improved.

Further, according to the present invention, the abnormal state of the NC machine tool is sensed, and the display position of the icon corresponding to the NC machine tool is set in the window corresponding to the abnormal state. Operability can be improved.

According to the present invention, the operating state of the NC machine tool is sensed, and the display position of the icon corresponding to the NC machine tool is set in a state-specific window corresponding to the sensed operating state. The management program can be stored in a storage medium such as a magnetic tape, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a memory card, or can be supplied by cable or wireless data transmission.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a CNC machine tool.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the personal computer by the management program.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the sampling timer process of FIG. 3 in further detail;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example of an icon corresponding to an operation state of the NC machine tool.

[Explanation of symbols]

 M1-M2 CNC machine tools PC1, PC2 Personal computer 1 Parts processing section 2 NC section 3 Operation panel 4 PLC section 5 Patlite

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An NC machine tool having a component processing unit for performing component processing by numerical control, a numerical control unit for controlling the operation of the component processing unit in accordance with a predetermined processing program, and displaying an operation state of the NC machine tool. Operating state display device, and a network for transmitting a signal between the NC machine tool and the operation state display device, wherein the NC machine tool ranks and determines the operation state, and the operation state display device is , An operating state of an NC machine tool is sensed and displayed separately for each sensed operating state. 2. The operation state display device includes a personal computer having a screen display unit having a graphical user interface function, wherein the personal computer senses an operation state of the NC machine tool,
The management system for an NC machine tool according to claim 1, wherein a display position of an icon corresponding to the NC machine tool is set in a state-specific window associated with the sensed operation state. 3. The NC machine tool determines a normal state and an abnormal state, and the personal computer senses an abnormal state of the NC machine tool,
3. The NC machine tool management system according to claim 2, wherein a display position of an icon corresponding to the NC machine tool is set in an abnormal state window associated with the detected abnormal state. 4. An NC machine tool having a component processing unit for performing component processing by numerical control, a numerical control unit for controlling the operation of the component processing unit according to a predetermined processing program, and a screen having a graphical user interface function A personal computer having a display unit, and a network for transmitting a signal between the NC machine tool and the personal computer, wherein the NC machine tool is applied to an NC machine tool management system which determines an operation state by ranking. A management program that is executed on the personal computer, detects an operation state of the NC machine tool, and displays a display position of an icon corresponding to the NC machine tool in a state-specific window associated with the detected operation state. A storage medium storing a management program for an NC machine tool, wherein the program is set to: