JP2003283198A - System for optimizing mounting process - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optimization processing system in which the progress of optimizing a mounting process can be displayed to a user and the optimization processing can be interrupted while making valid the processing results in the way. <P>SOLUTION: A means 12 for displaying the progress of optimization processing is provided for a system 10 optimizing the mounting process such that the operating time of the mounting line is minimized by sequentially repeating step S1 for distributing a component to each packaging unit based on specified conditions when a large number of components are mounted on a board through a mounting line provided with a plurality of mounting units, step S2 for calculating the operating time of each mounting unit and the mounting line required for mounting a distributed component, and step S4 for altering the conditions such that the operating time of respective mounting units is substantially equalized. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mounting process optimizing apparatus for optimizing a mounting process when mounting a large number of electronic components on a board using a plurality of mounting machines.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, using a plurality of mounting machines,
Electronic components such as ICs, semiconductors, and resistors are mounted on a substrate. For example, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-248737, one production program data is divided and allocated to each mounting machine so that the operating time (tact time) of each mounting machine is substantially the same. It has been performed to optimize the parts, the mounting position of a feeder that stores the allocated parts, and the order of mounting the parts on the board. When the optimization of the mounting process is completed,
In the divided production program, the types of components supplied by the respective mounting machines, the mounting positions of the feeders, and the like are displayed on the display provided in the control device. The user can confirm the contents displayed on the display and newly specify conditions such as correcting the mounting position of the feeder. Then, when the optimization is performed again under the new condition, it is possible to realize the optimum mounting process that satisfies the condition required by the user.

[0003]

By the way, the detailed procedure for optimizing the mounting process as described above is as follows. First, the production program data is divided for each mounting machine based on certain predetermined conditions, the takt time for each mounting machine is calculated, and the above conditions are set so that the calculated takt time is approximately the same for each mounting machine. to correct. Then, the production program data is divided again under the corrected conditions, the takt time is calculated, and the series of processes of correcting the conditions are repeated a plurality of times until the predetermined number of times is reached. In this way, the optimization process of the mounting process requires time to execute the series of processes a plurality of times, but the display shows nothing particularly about the time required until the optimization process is completed. As a result, the user could not understand how long it would take to complete the optimization process. Therefore, if the user interrupts the optimization process on the way due to time constraints,
Although the above series of processing is executed several times and the optimization of the mounting process is in progress, all the processing results in the middle of optimization are erased and the mounting process is in the unoptimized state. I was back. An object of the present invention is to make it possible to display the progress status to the user when optimizing the mounting process, and to enable the processing result in the middle of optimization to interrupt the optimization processing. It is to provide a processing device.

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 provides a large number on a substrate by a mounting line equipped with a plurality of mounting machines, as shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. When mounting the above components, the component allocating means (CPU 11) for allocating the components to be mounted to the respective mounting machines based on a predetermined condition, and the respective mounting machines for operating the allocated components. Operating time calculation means (CPU 11) for calculating the operating time and the operating time of the mounting line
And a condition changing unit (CPU 11) that changes the conditions so that the calculated operating times of the respective mounting machines are substantially the same.
And a component allocation process by the component allocation unit (step S1), an operation time calculation process by the operation time calculation unit (step S2), and a condition change process by the condition change unit (step S4) are repeated in this order. A mounting process optimizing device 10 for optimizing a mounting process so that the operating time of the mounting line is minimized, and including a display unit (display unit 12) for displaying the progress status of the optimization process. It is characterized by

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the mounting process optimizing apparatus includes a component allocation process by the component allocation means, and an operating time calculation process by the operating time calculation means,
Since the condition changing process by the condition changing means is repeatedly performed in order, the components allocated to each mounting machine are optimized each time the condition is changed, and the operating time of each mounting machine becomes almost the same. As a result, the operating time of the mounting line approaches the shortest one, and the mounting process is optimized. Then, the progress status of the optimization processing is displayed by the display means (step S7), so that it is possible to grasp how much the optimization processing is progressing.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the mounting process optimizing apparatus according to the first aspect, the progress status of the optimization process is displayed by the component allocation process and the operating time calculation process according to a changed condition. The number of times (the number of times the feedback process was performed) and the shortest operating time of the mounting line calculated by the operating time calculation means (the shortest operating time of the mounting line calculated by performing the feedback process), It is characterized by including at least one of the remaining time (remaining optimization time T) required until the optimization is completed.

According to the invention described in claim 2, as the progress status of the optimization processing, the number of times the component allocation processing and the operating time calculation processing are executed under the changed condition is displayed on the display means, It is possible to understand to what extent the optimization of the mounting process is progressing. Further, as the progress status of the optimization processing, the shortest operating time of the mounting line calculated by the operating time calculating means so far is displayed on the display means, so that the user can determine whether or not further optimization of the mounting process is necessary. You can judge. Also,
As the progress status of the optimization process, the remaining time required until the optimization process is completed is displayed on the display means, and the user is concerned about how much time it will take to complete the optimization process. You can prevent it.

The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2.
In the mounting process optimizing apparatus described, for example, as shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 3, it is determined whether or not the component allocation process and the operating time calculation process are executed at least once under the changed conditions. Means (CPU 11)
Then, when it is determined that the component allocation process and the operating time calculation process have been executed at least once under the changed conditions (step S21; Y), the mounting process that minimizes the operating time of the mounting line is stored. Mounting process storage means (storage unit 15 or recording medium 15a)
When the optimization process is interrupted, the execution determination process by the execution determination unit (step S21) and the mounting process storage process by the mounting process storage unit (step S22) are performed.

According to the third aspect of the invention, for example, when the user is satisfied with the progress status of the optimization processing displayed on the display means and interrupts the optimization processing, the execution determination processing is executed by the execution determination means. It is determined whether or not the component allocation process and the operating time calculation process have been executed at least once based on the changed conditions. When it is determined by the execution determination means that the component allocation processing and the operating time calculation processing have been executed under the condition changed at least once, the mounting step storage processing is performed by the mounting step storage means, and the mounting line storage processing is performed. The mounting process that minimizes the operating time is stored. Therefore, even if the optimization process is not completed, the optimum mounting process can be effectively enabled in the middle of the optimization process.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of a mounting process optimizing method and a mounting process optimizing apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The mounting process optimizing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 is configured by a personal computer including a display unit 12, and when mounting a large number of electronic components on a board using a mounting line configured by connecting a plurality of mounting machines. In addition, the mounting process is optimized so that the operating time of the mounting line is the shortest.

Here, it is assumed that the mounting line in this embodiment is configured by connecting mounting machines of different models. For example, different models such as a mounting machine that can mount a small chip at high speed and a mounting machine that can mount a wide range of electronic components such as large-sized components such as ICs and odd-shaped components such as connectors The mounting speed when mounting an electronic component is different. Therefore, in such a mounting line, by allocating the electronic components that can be mounted to each mounting machine faster, the mounting of electronic components onto the board can be performed more efficiently than the mounting line in which the mounting machines of the same model are connected. Can be implemented.

Further, in the present embodiment, the mounting step refers to a procedure in which the mounting line or the mounting machine mounts the electronic components in what order and at which position on the board. It is assumed that the process optimizing apparatus 10 is created in a readable data format, and more preferably, it is created as a program capable of operating the mounting line based on the procedure.

First, the structure of the mounting process optimizing device 10 will be described. As described above, the mounting process optimizing device 10
Includes a display unit 12, a CPU 11, an input unit 1
3, a RAM 14, a storage unit 15 having a recording medium 15a, and the like, and each unit except the recording medium 15a is connected by a bus 16.

CPU 11 (Central Processing Unit)
Reads various control programs stored in the recording medium 15a of the storage unit 15 and centrally controls the operation of each unit according to the control programs. Also,
The CPU 11 executes an optimization process, a remaining optimization time calculation process, and an optimization interruption process, which will be described later, in accordance with the read control program, stores the processing result in the RAM 14 and displays it on the display unit 12. And RAM14
The processing result stored in the storage unit 15 or the recording medium 15
It is saved in a predetermined save destination in a.

The display unit 12 is an LCD (Liquid Crystal D).
isplay), CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), etc., and according to the instruction of the display signal input from the CPU 11, the progress of the optimization process on the display screen, that is, the number of times the feedback process is performed, and the operating time calculation process. The shortest operating time of the calculated mounting line,
The remaining optimization time T is displayed. That is, the display unit 12 functions as a display unit.

The input unit 13 comprises a keyboard having character / alphanumeric input keys, cursor keys, various function keys and the like, and a pointing device such as a mouse or a touch pen. The press signal and the operation signal from the pointing device,
It is output to the CPU 11 as an input signal. That is, when a signal for instructing the start of the optimization process or the start of the optimization process is input from the input unit 13, this signal is output to the CPU 11 and the CPU 11 starts a predetermined process.

The RAM 14 (Random Access Memory) is
Various control programs read from the storage unit 15 in the above-described various processes controlled by the CPU 11,
It serves as a temporary storage area for input or output data and parameters.

The storage unit 15 has a recording medium 15a in which programs and data are stored in advance.
a is a magnetic recording medium 15a or an optical recording medium 15a
Alternatively, it is configured by a non-volatile memory such as a semiconductor. The recording medium 15a is fixedly provided in the storage unit 15 or is detachably attached to the recording unit 15a. The recording medium 15a includes a system program and various optimization processing programs executable on the system program. Processing programs, data processed by these programs, and the like are stored. Each of these processing programs is stored in the form of a readable program code and is stored in the CPU.
11 sequentially executes the operation according to this program code.

That is, the recording medium 1 included in the storage unit 15
When the optimization process ends, the optimization result of the mounting process is stored in 5a, and when the optimization interrupt process is executed, if a feedback process described later is executed at least once, the optimization process is in the middle stage. In step 2, the mounting process that minimizes the operating time of the mounting line is stored as an optimization intermediate result. That is, the recording medium 15a included in the recording unit 15 functions as a mounting process storage unit.

Next, the operation will be described. First, the mounting process optimizing process executed by the mounting process optimizing apparatus 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the start of the optimization process of the mounting process is requested, the component allocation process is performed in step S1.
In this component allocation process S1, the CPU 11 reads out the mounting process optimization program recorded in the recording medium 15a, and first, the electronic components to be mounted are mounted on respective mounting machines based on predetermined conditions set in advance by the user or the like. Allocate each. That is, the CPU 11 functions as a component allocation unit.

Here, the predetermined condition is an instruction to selectively allocate a certain electronic component to a certain model according to the type and number of electronic components to be mounted on the board, the model of the mounting machine, etc. Or simply instructing the number of electronic components to be evenly distributed, or the like, which is set in advance or can be appropriately selected by the user.

When the component allocation process S1 is completed, the operating time calculation process is performed as step S2. In this operating time calculation process S2, the CPU 11 causes the recording medium 15
The simulation program recorded in a is read out, and the operating time required when each mounting machine mounts the electronic component allocated by the component allocation processing S1 and the operating time of the mounting line are calculated. That is, the CPU 11 functions as operating time calculation means.

When the component allocation process S1 and the operating time calculation process S2 are completed, the CPU 11 executes step S3. In step S3, it is determined whether or not the conditions for allocating the parts have been changed at least once. If it is determined in step 3 that the predetermined condition for allocating components has not been changed (S3; N), step S
4 is executed. When it is determined that the condition for allocating the component to the mounting machine is changed at least once in step 3 (S3; Y), step S5 described later is executed.

In step S4, a condition changing process is performed. In the condition changing process S4, the CPU 11 changes the conditions for allocating the components so that the operating times of the respective mounting machines calculated by the operating time calculating process S2 become substantially the same. That is, the CPU 11 functions as a condition changing unit.

Here, changing the conditions so that the operating times of the respective mounting machines are substantially the same can be performed as follows, for example. If the mounting line is composed of three mounting machines and the operating time calculated by the operating time calculation processing S2 is 70:60:50, the mounting machine with the operating time of 70: The number of electronic components to be allocated such that the number of electronic components to be allocated is reduced so that the operating time is 60, and the operating time is 60 for a mounting machine with an operating time of 50. Is newly added, and the condition is changed such that the condition is not particularly changed when the operating time is 60.

Alternatively, if the mounter having an operating time of 70 can quickly mount a small chip and it takes a long time to mount a large component or an odd-shaped component, the operating time is 70 Do not allocate large parts or odd-shaped parts to the mounter, and change the conditions to add the amount of small chips. Then, a mounting machine having an operating time of 50 normally mounts a small chip, and if the model is good at mounting a large component or a deformed component, the large component or the deformed component is mounted. Change the condition such as allocating more. In this way, the conditions are changed so that the operating times of the respective mounting machines are substantially the same based on appropriate and appropriate parameters.

When the conditions for allocating the electronic components to the respective mounting machines are changed by the condition changing processing S4, the component allocating processing S1 is executed again, and the mounting machines are assigned to the respective mounting machines based on the changed conditions. Sort the parts again. Next, the operating time calculation process S2 is executed, and the operating time required by each mounting machine and the operating time required by the mounting line when mounting the electronic components distributed to each mounting machine according to the changed conditions are calculated. . Here, as described above, a series of processes performed in the order of the condition change process S4, the component allocation process S1, and the operating time calculation process S2 as described above is referred to as a feedback process.

Next, as described above, when it is determined in step S3 that the predetermined condition has been changed at least once (S3; Y), step S5 is executed. Note that in step 3, the predetermined condition is at least 1
It is determined that the feedback process has been changed, that is, it is determined in step 3 whether or not the feedback process has been performed at least once.

In step S5, it is determined whether or not the feedback process has been executed until the preset number of times has been reached. It is determined that the feedback process has not been executed until the predetermined number of times is reached (S5; N).
Then, step S6 described below is executed, and when it is determined that the feedback processing has been executed until the predetermined number of times is reached (S5; Y), step S8 described later is executed.

In step S6, the CPU 11 performs the remaining optimization time calculation process for calculating the remaining time required until the end of the optimization process (hereinafter referred to as the remaining optimization time T). The remaining optimization time T is calculated according to the following mathematical expression (1).

[Equation 1] T = Running Time × (Total Count−Current Count) / Current Count (1) where, Running Time = sum of time required to execute feedback processing, Current Count = number of times feedback processing is executed , Tot al Count = predetermined number of times to perform feedback processing

That is, it is assumed that the feedback processing has been executed once until now, and that the time required to execute this one feedback processing was 10 seconds, and that the feedback processing was performed 9 times in total. , Formula (1)
Thus, the remaining optimization time T is calculated to be 80 seconds. Alternatively, assuming that the feedback process is executed twice, the first feedback process takes 10 seconds, and the second feedback process takes 20 seconds, and the feedback process is performed 9 times in total, the mathematical expression (1) Thus, the remaining optimization time T is calculated to be 105 seconds. The number of times feedback processing is performed is not particularly limited, and the time required for the above feedback processing is merely an example.

When the remaining optimization time T is calculated in step S6, the CPU 11 then executes step S7.
In step S7, the progress of the optimization process is displayed on the display unit 12
Is displayed. The progress status of the optimization process displayed on the display unit 12 is, in addition to the remaining optimization time T, the number of times the feedback process has been executed so far, and the shortest time obtained by executing the feedback process. Including the operating time of the mounting line. The display contents of these progress statuses are updated every time the feedback process is executed once.

When step S7 ends, step S5
Thus, the feedback process is repeatedly performed until it is determined that the feedback process has reached the predetermined number. At this time, step S6 and step S7 are also repeated. Then, in step S5, it is determined that the feedback process has been executed until the predetermined number of times is reached (S
5; Y), and step S8 is executed as described above.

In step S8, the optimization result of the mounting process, which is obtained by repeating the feedback process a plurality of times, is stored in a predetermined place of the recording medium 15a as the process result of the optimization process. When step S8 ends, the optimization process end process is performed as step S9, and the mounting process optimization process ends.

Next, the optimization interruption processing executed by the mounting process optimizing apparatus 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. For example, if the user
When it is determined that the optimization process may be interrupted when the progress status of the optimization process displayed in 2 is satisfied, the input unit 13 performs a predetermined operation for interrupting the optimization process. And
When the signal requesting the suspension of the optimization processing input from the input unit 13 is input to the CPU 11, the CPU 11 starts the optimization suspension processing.

When the optimization interruption process is started, the CPU 1
First, in step S21, the execution determination process is executed. In the execution determination process S21, it is determined whether or not the feedback process has been executed at least once. That is,
The CPU 11 functions as a judgment means. Then, at least one feedback process is performed by the execution determination process S21.
When it is determined that the process has been executed once (S21; Y), the CPU 11
Executes step S22.

In step S22, the CPU 11 optimizes the mounting process in which the operating time of the mounting line is the shortest out of the processing results obtained by the feedback processing executed until the interruption processing is started. Is recorded in a predetermined place on the recording medium 15a. That is, the mounting process storing process is performed in step S22. When step S22 ends, the CPU 11 performs a process of ending the optimization of the mounting process (step 23) and interrupts the optimization.

Similarly, in the execution determination process S21, when the CPU 11 determines that the feedback process has never been executed (S21; N), the termination process of the optimization of the mounting process is performed (step S23). , Interrupt the optimization. At this time, the result or the like during the process is not recorded in the recording medium 15a or the like.

According to the present embodiment, the mounting process optimizing apparatus 10 causes the CPU 11 to perform the component allocation process S1.
Since the operating time calculation process S2 and the condition changing process S4 are repeatedly executed in order, the components allocated to each mounting machine are optimized each time the condition is changed, and the operating time of each mounting machine is optimized. Are almost the same. As a result, the operating time of the mounting line approaches the shortest one, and the mounting process is optimized.

Since the progress of the optimization process is displayed on the display unit 12, the user can check the contents displayed on the display unit 12 and grasp the progress of the optimization process. For example, as the progress of optimization process,
Since the number of times the feedback process is executed is displayed on the display unit 12, the user can grasp to what extent the optimization of the mounting process is progressing.

As the progress status of the optimization process, the shortest operation time of the mounting line calculated by the feedback process is displayed on the display unit 12, so that the user needs to further optimize the mounting process. It can be determined whether or not. The remaining optimization time T is displayed on the display unit 12 as the progress of the optimization process, and the remaining optimization time T is calculated each time the feedback process is executed. Therefore, the user can know the remaining optimization time T more accurately, and does not have to worry about how much time it will take to complete the optimization process.

Further, for example, when the user is satisfied with the progress status of the optimization processing displayed on the display unit 12 and interrupts the optimization processing, it is determined whether the feedback processing is performed at least once. It is determined by S21. When the feedback process is performed at least once, the mounting process in which the operating time of the mounting line is the shortest among the ones calculated by the feedback process in the storage medium 15a in step S22 is the optimization in-progress result as the recording medium 15a. Memorized in. Therefore, unlike the conventional case, the intermediate results of the optimization are not wasted, and the optimized results can be validated even if the mounting process of the substrate is performed to some extent by performing the feedback processing at least once. .

In this embodiment, the mounting process optimizing device 10 is composed of a personal computer having the display section 12, but the mounting process optimizing device 10 is not limited to this. What is provided with a display means capable of displaying the progress of the optimization processing and a control means such as a CPU capable of executing the above-mentioned optimization processing, remaining optimization time calculation processing and optimization interruption processing? It can be anything.

Further, in the present embodiment, the progress status of the optimization process on the display unit 12 is the number of times the feedback process is performed, the shortest operation time of the mounting line calculated by the feedback process, and the remaining optimization. Although the time T is displayed, the time T is not limited to this.
It suffices that the display unit 12 displays at least one of the number of times the feedback process is performed, the shortest operation time of the mounting line calculated by the feedback process, and the remaining optimization time T. However, some of them may be selected and displayed.

[0046]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the mounting process is optimized every time the condition for allocating components is changed for each mounting machine constituting the mounting line. And
Since the display means for displaying the progress status of such optimization processing is provided, it is possible to grasp how much the optimization processing is progressing.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the same effect as that of the first aspect can be obtained, and as the progress of the optimization process, the parts allocation means is executed by changing the condition. By displaying the number of times on the display means, it is possible to grasp to what extent the optimization of the mounting process is progressing. Also, as the progress status of the optimization process, the shortest operating time of the mounting line calculated so far is displayed on the display means, so that the user can further shorten the operating time of the mounting line, that is, optimize the mounting process. Can determine whether or not In addition, as the progress of the optimization process, the remaining time required until the optimization process is completed is displayed on the display unit, which makes the user wondering how much time it will take to complete the optimization process. You can avoid holding me.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the same effect as that of the first or second aspect can be obtained, and even if the optimizing process is interrupted before the optimizing process is completed. As a result, the mounting process having the shortest operating time obtained by the time when the optimization process is interrupted can be made effective.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a mounting process optimizing apparatus according to an example of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of a mounting process optimizing process executed by the mounting process optimizing device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of an optimization interruption process executed by the mounting process optimizing device of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Mounting process optimization device 11 Parts allocation means (CPU) 11 Operating time calculation means (CPU) 11 Condition changing means (CPU) 11 Execution determination means (CPU) 12 Display means (display section) 15a Mounting process storage means (recording medium) S1 parts allocation process S2 operating time calculation process S4 condition change processing S21 execution determination process S22 Mounting process storage process

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A component allocating means for allocating a component to be mounted on each mounting machine based on a predetermined condition when a large number of components are mounted on a board by a mounting line equipped with a plurality of mounting machines. The operating time calculation means for calculating the operating time of each mounting machine and the operating time of the mounting line for mounting the mounted components and the calculated operating time of each mounting machine are almost the same. And a condition changing unit for changing the condition, and the component allocating process by the component allocating unit, the operating time calculating process by the operating time calculating unit, and the condition changing process by the condition changing unit are repeatedly performed in this order. A mounting process optimizing device for optimizing a mounting process so that the operating time of the mounting process is minimized, and a display means for displaying the progress of the optimization process is provided. Mounting process optimization apparatus characterized. 2. The mounting process optimizing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the progress status of the optimization process is displayed by the number of times the component allocation process and the operating time calculation process are executed according to a changed condition. A mounting process optimizing device including at least one of the shortest operating time of the mounting line calculated by the operating time calculating means and the remaining time required until the optimization is completed. . 3. The mounting process optimizing device according to claim 1, wherein the execution determination means determines whether or not the component allocation process and the operating time calculation process have been executed at least once under a changed condition. And a mounting process storage unit that stores a mounting process that minimizes the operating time of the mounting line when it is determined that the component allocation process and the operating time calculation process have been executed at least once under the changed conditions. A mounting process optimizing apparatus comprising: an execution judgment process by the execution judgment unit and a mounting process storage process by the mounting process storage unit when interrupting the optimization process.