EP2298553A1 - Method for synchronising the position of multiple individual drives of a drive assembly and/or production assembly, in particular for a printer and accompanying drive assembly and/or production assembly and accompanying printer - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves optimizing the travel range or the adjustment range to be determined in the context of the synchronization of the position of the individual drives. The travel range or the adjustment range is optimized for aligning the individual drives under consideration of the overall system of the drive assembly or the production assembly or on the part of a central unit of the overall system of the drive assembly or the production assembly.

Description

In systems or machines in which several individual drives work together, for example to ensure a continuous flow of one or more products, the mutual relationship between the individual drives must generally be taken into account for the success of the production process or for achieving a satisfactory quality standard. The individual drives must be performed together, with their position to each other, in certain fault tolerances, set correctly.

This setting is currently done on a purely decentralized level. The position of the drives to each other is set decentrally, the synchronization task is processed decentrally. At the very most, subsystems are considered.

This poses the problem that, until finally a production-capable state is established, a considerable amount of time passes or resources are consumed to a considerable extent, for example by generating production scrap. The machine can not be optimally utilized by the occurrence of considerable set-up times.

The invention is thus based on the object of specifying a method improved in this respect.

To solve this problem, a method for synchronization of the position of several individual drives of a drive network and / or production network, especially in a printing press, provided, which is characterized in that in the context of synchronization of the position of the individual drives to be determined traversing and / or adjustment paths Alignment of the individual drives taking into account the overall system of the drive network and / or production network and / or be optimized by a central facility of the overall system of the drive network and / or production network.

The alignment of the individual drives, which are combined to form a drive network or production network so as to meet the technological requirements, thus takes place while optimizing this process with regard to the travel path or adjustment path for the individual drives or for the system of drives as a whole. This optimization is carried out according to the invention on the basis of a consideration of the overall system, that is to say of the entire drive network or production association, not as previously based on a decentralized approach. In particular, the optimization of the travel paths or the adjustment of the drives by a central device of the overall system can be made, for example by means of an execution of the optimization process in a higher-level control system or a higher-level control device. Of course, the determination according to the invention of optimized adjustment paths also includes a determination of these corresponding optimal target positions or the like, which are then set on the basis of the respective current positions. Even in such a way, ultimately, if not directly, optimized ways are determined.

The consumption of time and resources, until finally the required production readiness exists, are significantly reduced in this way. The existing specifications are linked across the production or throughout the drive network.

According to the invention, the travel and / or adjustment paths can be optimized with particular advantage, taking into account at least one boundary condition.

The consideration of boundary conditions makes it possible to take into account a large number of requirements, which are or could be important for the optimization of the production process, and to include them in the optimization process in order to minimize unused times, to optimize resource consumption, and to improve efficiency To achieve the highest possible utilization of the respective machine in which the drives are installed.

At least one technological and / or constructive specification and / or a current drive state of at least one individual drive can be taken into account as at least one boundary condition. As a rule, it makes sense to determine the current drive states for all drives of the overall network or production network and to include them in an evaluation process, e.g. in a central facility. This can be done, for example, by interrogating or transmitting appropriate signals from the drives, so as to allow for each drive optimal setting or determination of a Verstellauftrags to carry out the setting.

For optimum alignment of the drives, technological conditions and special features of the respective machine or drive network play a role. Likewise, constructive properties must be considered. This means, for example, that on the one hand the conditions of the machine itself, for example the basic number of drives and their installation within the machine or even details of the control, can be included as a boundary condition in the optimization process, on the other hand specifications given by the product to be produced are, for example, properties of a specific material incorporated as a raw material in the process and used in production, and the like.

If now a machine is to be brought from a non-synchronous to a synchronous operation, a control device expediently reads current from all axes or drives Drive states such as position angle and position data. These current states are evaluated, preferably taking into account further boundary conditions, centrally, for example in a superordinate control system, or flow into a calculation process as part of an optimization process. As a result, optimized travel and / or adjustment paths are obtained for the individual drives or axles.

From the point of view of the implementation or the program means to be used in the context of the control, it is conceivable that the method according to the invention is not only provided for new machines from the beginning, but also retrofitted on already existing machines. Thus, the advantages of the invention can also be used in existing systems.

The travel and / or adjustment paths can be optimized as a boundary condition taking into account an allowed adjustment speed and / or at least one permissible adjustment movement and / or at least one current position angle of at least one individual drive.

This means that all possibly relevant boundary conditions can be included in the optimization process, which takes place centrally or starts from a consideration of the overall system. This ensures that the ultimately triggered adjustment command can be executed without any risk of damage to the machine or the individual components. Specifically, this means that the optimization takes into account, for example, how fast a drive or even a group of drives can be adjusted at most without problems, or which adjusting movements are permitted at most, so that the drives do not interfere with one another during operation and The like, or whether an optionally calculated minimum adjustment can be performed technically at all. It should also be considered whether a particular adjustment depending on the location or setting another Drives of the drive system can be conveniently carried out so that the required coordination with the other drives is given.

Taking into account a plurality of boundary conditions, a weighting of the boundary conditions can be carried out according to the invention.

This means that for the implementation of the optimization process for the entire system can be defined, how important a respective boundary condition is, for example, whether this boundary condition must be met in any case, or if there are certain tolerances or whether it is a forward or subordinate constraint.

The boundary conditions can thus be evaluated differently in their meaning. Optionally, for example, database tables can be stored in a controller or a control system that contain evaluation specifications for the boundary conditions and / or can be changed by the user. The weighting may, for example, be such that boundary conditions, the non-compliance of which could possibly lead to damage to the machine as a whole, are rated as more important than boundary conditions, which could only possibly lead to a lower quality of the product or the like. The weighting of the boundary conditions can preferably be changed at any time by the user. Weighting factors or the like may be used for the weighting.

As part of the synchronization of the position of the individual drives Verfahr- and / or adjustment requirements for the individual drives and / or based on the individual drives signals transmitted to a central device of the entire system of the drive network and / or production network and / or determined in this and / or by the central facility is read in and / or retrieved.

It is therefore conceivable that certain requirements for aligning or adjusting the drives are already determined decentrally, in the drives themselves or in these associated decentralized control devices, which are then read out or retrieved, for example, by a higher-level control system or another central device then flow into the actual optimization process. It is also conceivable that only signals related to the individual drives, such as current position angles, position values or the like, are transmitted to or retrieved from the central device, which are subsequently further processed centrally in order to generate concrete adjustment requests. Furthermore, it is possible for further drive-related signals to be determined in the central device, if appropriate from individual drive-related signals, which then, for example, flow into the optimization process as boundary conditions.

According to the invention, in the context of the synchronization of the position of the individual drives, movement and / or adjustment requirements for the individual drives and / or boundary conditions can be evaluated by a central device of the overall system of the drive network and / or production network.

According to the invention thus the adjustment requirements and boundary conditions are evaluated on the entire system and not decentralized, as has been customary. As a result, a better overall vote is possible, since all influences on the production process or multiple specifications in an overall consideration flow together production-wide.

As part of the synchronization of the position of the individual drives can be formed depending on an evaluation of traversing and / or Verstellanforderungen for the individual drives and / or boundary conditions Verstellaufträge for individual drives and / or transmitted to the individual drives and / or deviations can be compensated , in particular on the part of a central body of the overall system of the Drive network and / or production network and / or as part of a specification of target positions.

A higher-level control system or a higher-level control device thus evaluates the alignment requirements for the individual drives, possibly also determined by the control device, wherein boundary conditions, preferably weighted, can be taken into account in any desired form.

As a result of this optimization process adjustment orders are generated, which indicate how the alignment or the rotation and adjustment of each individual drive has to be made under the path optimization according to the invention. These adjustment orders or commands, which lead to optimized adjustment paths, are transmitted, for example, in the form of control signals to the individual drives or their decentralized controls, for example to drive controllers of the individual drives.

Preferably, finally, deviations that may occur during adjustment, are regulated in the context of a control loop, so as to ensure the optimal adjustment of the positions or positions of the drives and to check. The control can likewise be triggered or carried out by the central device, such as, for example, the control system or a central control device.

The travel and / or adjustment paths can be optimized by means of an optimization algorithm implemented, in particular in a central device of the overall system of the drive network and / or production network, in particular by means of an optimization algorithm based on a movement model.

If necessary, such an algorithm can also be retrofitted in existing machines or controllers. In this case, an optimization strategy must be defined, for which preferably a movement model the machine or the individual drives of a drive and / or production network is created, whereupon the optimization calculation is carried out on the basis of the model parameters. The result is optimized adjustment paths for the drives.

On the basis of this path-optimizing algorithm, an optimum synchronization of the position of drives of a system can finally be carried out on the basis of an overall system consideration.

In the context of the synchronization of the position of the individual drives, the current position angles of all individual drives, in particular of all axes, can be read in by a central control device and an optimal setpoint position for all individual drives calculated by means of an optimization algorithm in a superordinate control system and sent to the individual drives, in particular to associated drive controller, are transmitted and / or it can be compensated for deviations from the optimal target positions via a control loop. To compensate for the deviations, signals which relate to the actual state of the respective individual drive are in turn to be reported back to the central or higher-level control system. Of course, the higher-level control system can actively request these signals, which relate to the current drive state, in turn. If the drives adopt the determined setpoint positions, then the paths that are traversed in this setting procedure are possible as short as considering the boundary conditions, since the desired positions have been determined as a function of the path optimization according to the invention. Of course, instead of the desired positions or in addition to these, the travel paths can be specified directly (starting from or as a difference to the current position).

In this way, by a path-optimized approach in a printing press synchronization time can be significantly reduced while minimizing the production of waste. The controller reads a current one from all axes, including the folder Position angle for which the optimization method is then carried out taking into account further boundary conditions. The determined setpoint position is distributed to all drive controllers, including those of the folder. The individual drives take their optimal positions, where appropriate, corrections can be determined and made by a control.

Moreover, the invention relates to a drive network and / or production network with a plurality of individual drives to be synchronized in their position, in particular a printing machine, wherein the drive network and / or production network is characterized in that it has means for optimization in the context of synchronization of the position of the individual drives Determining traversing and / or adjustment paths for aligning the individual drives taking into account the overall system of the drive network and / or production network and / or in the form of a central device of the overall system of the drive network and / or production network has, in particular for synchronizing the position according to a method such as has been described above.

In the drive network or production network, for example, there is a central device such as a higher-level control system, which serves as a means of optimizing the alignment paths of the individual drives. The optimization takes place against the background of a consideration of the entire system. In this case, the optimization means is based on current data of the drives, for example the current position data, possibly also other data, which it retrieves or receives from decentralized devices such as controllers. This data, along with other constraints that are significant to the adjustment process, are evaluated to produce commands that relate to and are passed to the final adjustments of each axis.

This consideration, which is oriented towards the whole system, offers the advantage that the expenditure of time and resources until reaching the synchronized state can be reduced until finally a production-capable state is set or a state that allows a production with little or no waste.

Furthermore, the invention relates to a printing machine with at least one drive assembly and / or production network with several individual drives to be synchronized in their position, in particular as described above, which is characterized in that at least one drive network and / or production network of the printing machine means for optimization in the context of Synchronization of the position of the individual drives to be determined traversing and / or adjustment paths for aligning the individual drives taking into account the overall system of the drive network and / or production network and / or in the form of a central device of the overall system of the drive network and / or production network of the printing press, in particular means for Synchronization of the situation according to a method as already described.

In the printing machine according to the invention, the synchronization time can be reduced and the waste produced can be minimized by, for example, a control of all axes reads the respective current position angles and evaluates them as part of an optimization algorithm, for example in the parent control system. In this case, the optimization algorithm, which takes into account system-relevant boundary conditions, optionally in weighted form, e.g. Target positions calculated, which are distributed to the respective drive controller. Furthermore, a control of deviations is carried out via a control loop, so that a synchronous machine state is achieved in a short time.

Further advantages, features and details of the invention will become apparent from the following embodiment and from the FIG. 1 , It shows the FIG. 1 sketchy the course of a method according to the invention.

First of all, according to box a, it is assumed that drive components of a compound are at standstill drive compound. Thereupon, according to box b, for each individual drive n ("for each drive n") of the drive system or production system, a current current position or a current position angle p _n ("actual position") is read in, for example a position angle. In addition, adjustment conditions or boundary conditions c _{n are} read in ("adjustment constraints"), which limit the possibilities for adjustments of the individual drives. These conditions can originate from the individual drives themselves or be read in and / or stored in tables, such tables being present, for example, in a central control device (possibly also decentralized) and can refer to the respective production processes or the machine per se. From these data, finally, a motion vector V _n ("motion vector") is calculated. The calculation of this motion vector is based on a movement model for the entire machine or a production network of the machine.

From the motion vector V _n , a vector of an adjustment profile vector or the travel and / or adjustment paths to be set is generated in accordance with the box c. This vector An is a function of the motion vector V _n and A _n = f (V _n ). Such a vector An is calculated taking into account the overall system or considering the overall system with its boundary conditions and the like for each individual drive n. The calculation is based on an optimization algorithm that optimizes the adjustment paths based on a motion model.

Subsequently, in accordance with the box d, an adjustment profile a _n ("adjustment profile") is generated or written for each individual drive n or transmitted to or from the drives. The individual drives thus receive the adjustment commands following from the algorithm, in accordance with their alignment takes place. After this alignment can be done in accordance with the box e start up or activation of the drive network.

It is no longer shown here that, of course, after the start of production, a further control for correcting the positions of the drives can be made, for which corresponding actual values, for example, are fed back to a central control, which are evaluated there, for example, as part of a setpoint / actual value comparison to generate commands again. If the production is changed over, or if conditions or specifications of the production are changed, it may be necessary to carry out a route optimization with these changed specifications from a system standstill in accordance with box a. The position synchronization of the drives is thus taking into account a path-optimal approach, in which production-wide, the multiple specifications, such as technological and design specifications that exist for the production, are taken into account. The resource consumption and the machine utilization can be optimized thereby.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

a

casket

b

casket

c

casket

d

casket

p _n

current position / position angle

c _n

boundary conditions

V _n

motion vector

At

Vector adjustment profile

n

Index single drive

a _n

shifting profile

Claims (12)

Method for synchronizing the position of several individual drives of a drive network and / or production network, in particular in a printing press, characterized in that in the context of synchronization of the position of the individual drives to be determined traversing and / or adjustment paths for aligning the individual drives taking into account the overall system of the drive network and / or production network and / or be optimized by a central facility of the overall system of the drive network and / or production network. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the traversing and / or adjustment paths are optimized taking into account at least one boundary condition (c _n ). A method according to claim 2, characterized in that as at least one boundary condition (c _n ) at least one technological and / or constructive specification and / or a current drive state (p _n ) of at least one individual drive is taken into account. Method according to one of claims 2 or 3, characterized in that the traversing and / or adjustment paths taking into account a permitted adjustment speed and / or at least one permissible adjusting movement and / or at least one current position angle (p _n ) of at least one individual drive as a boundary condition (c _n ) are optimized. Method according to one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that at several boundary conditions (c _n ), a weighting of the boundary conditions (c _n ) is made. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that transmitted as part of the synchronization of the position of the individual drives traversing and / or adjustment requirements for the individual drives and / or based on the individual drives signals to a central device of the entire system of the drive network and / or production network and / or determined in this and / or read in by the central facility and / or retrieved. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the context of the synchronization of the position of the individual drives traversing and / or adjustment requirements for the individual drives and / or boundary conditions are evaluated by a central facility of the entire system of the drive network and / or production network. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that formed as part of the synchronization of the position of the individual drives in response to an evaluation of traversing and / or Verstellanforderungen for the individual drives and / or boundary conditions (c _n ) Verstellaufträge for the individual drives and / or are transmitted to the individual drives and / or that deviations are corrected, in particular by a central device of the overall system of the drive network and / or production network and / or within the scope of a specification of target positions. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the travel and / or adjustment paths are optimized by means of an optimization algorithm implemented in particular in a central device of the overall system of the drive network and / or production network, in particular by means of an optimization algorithm based on a movement model. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the context of the synchronization of the position of the individual drives in a printing press, the current position angle (p _n ) of all individual drives, in particular all axes read by a central control device and therefrom by means of an optimization algorithm in a higher-level control system an optimal setpoint position is calculated for all individual drives and transmitted to the individual drives, in particular to associated drive controllers, and / or that deviations from the optimum setpoint positions are corrected via a control loop. Drive network and / or production network with multiple individual drives to be synchronized in their position, in particular a printing press, characterized in that the drive network and / or production network means for optimization in the context of synchronization of the position of the individual drives to be determined traversing and / or adjustment paths for alignment the individual drives taking into account the overall system of the drive network and / or production network and / or in the form of a central device of the overall system of the drive network and / or production network, in particular for the synchronization of the layer according to a method according to one of the preceding claims. Printing machine with at least one drive assembly and / or production network with a plurality of individual drives to be synchronized in their position, in particular according to claim 11, characterized in that the at least one drive network and / or production network of the printing machine means for optimization in the context of synchronization of the position of the individual drives determining travel and / or adjustment paths for aligning the individual drives taking into account the overall system of the drive network and / or production network and / or in shape a central device of the overall system of the drive network and / or production network of the printing press, in particular for the synchronization of the layer according to a method according to one of claims 1 to 10.

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