JP2000158504A - Molding condition control apparatus and method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a molding condition to approach the optimum value by preventing the generation of an inferior product at the start time of molding by preserving only a molding condition necessary for a good product and making it possible to confirm the past altering history. SOLUTION: The local controllers 2a, 2b, 2c... are respectively provided to one or a plurality of molding machines and a group control host computer 3 for unitarily controlling the local controllers 2a, 2b, 2c... is provided. The group control host computer 3 preserves molding condition data after alteration sent from a molding machine in a temporary preserving molding condition file 3b and superscribes or newly write the molding condition data after alteration preserved in the temporary preserving molding condition file 3b in an actual molding condition file 3a when the writing designation to the actual molding condition file 3a is inputted thereafter.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a molding condition management apparatus and method for managing one or more molding machines (for example, injection molding machines).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a plurality of injection molding machines have been controlled by individually arranged local controllers, and these local controllers (hereinafter referred to as controllers) are group management hosts installed in offices and the like. It is centrally managed by a computer (hereinafter referred to as a group management host). That is, the group management host stores and manages the molding conditions of each injection molding machine in a file for each combination of “machine No. × part number × die number”.

[0003] By the way, the input for changing the molding conditions is performed while comparing the molded products on site, and the change procedure at this time is as follows in the conventional molding condition management described above.

That is, first, conditions are input to a controller of a molding machine, and after a non-defective product condition is determined, a file is transmitted to the controller. The controller adds the machine No., product number, and mold No. data to the received file and sends the file to the group management host, and the group management host saves the received file (for example, Kaisho 6
3-135223). In this case, the file after the change is saved by overwriting the file before the change.

[0005]

As described above, in the conventional molding condition management, the molding condition file received by the group management host is unconditionally stored. Therefore, for example, even if the operator temporarily changes the molding conditions in order to improve molding defects that occur during molding, the modified molding condition file is stored in the group management host. Therefore, the next time the molding machine attempts to mold a product of the same mold and the same part number, the modified molding condition file saved earlier is sent to the controller of the molding machine, and the There was a problem that a large number of non-defective products were generated.

[0006] Further, since it is not known how the molding conditions have been changed in the past, and there is only a makeshift molding condition file, it is necessary to bring the molding conditions closer to the optimum value by repeating the molding. It was difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to prevent the occurrence of defective products at the start of molding by storing only the molding conditions necessary for good product quality, It is an object of the present invention to provide a molding condition management device and a management method which enable the confirmation of the change history of the molding conditions to make the molding conditions close to the optimum value.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a molding condition management apparatus for managing one or a plurality of molding machines. Molding condition file, temporarily storing molding condition file for temporarily storing molding conditions, and storing the modified molding condition data sent from the molding machine side in the temporary saving molding condition file, and thereafter When an instruction to write to the production molding condition file is input,
The present invention is characterized in that there is provided data change processing means for overwriting or newly writing the changed molding condition data stored in the temporary storage molding condition file into the production molding condition file.

The molding condition management apparatus of the present invention may further include, in addition to the above configuration, the name of the person who made the change and the reason for the change as the write instruction, and store the molding condition data after the change with the name of the person who made the change and the reason for the change. It is characterized in that it has a change history management table that is additionally stored.

Further, according to the molding condition management method of the present invention, the modified molding condition data sent from the molding machine is temporarily stored in the molding condition management method for managing one or a plurality of molding machines. Save to a file, and then, when a write instruction to the production molding condition file is input, overwrite the new molding condition file with the modified molding condition data saved in the temporary It is characterized in that it is written in

In the molding condition management method according to the present invention, in addition to the above configuration, a changer name and a change reason included in the writing instruction are stored in a change history management table in association with the changed molding condition data. The feature is that it does.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a molding condition management apparatus according to the present invention. The molding condition management device includes local controllers 2a, 2b, 2c,... Provided in one or a plurality of molding machines 1a, 1b, 1c,.
A group management host computer 3 for centrally managing the local controllers 2a, 2b, and 2c, and a server computer 4 for performing bidirectional communication with the group management host computer 3. The group management host computer 3 and the server computer 4 is configured to be accessible from the client personal computer 5.

Therefore, each of the molding machines 1a, 1b, 1c,.
And between each local controller 2a, 2b, 2c
In this embodiment, the communication speed between the local controllers 2a, 2b, and 2c and the group management host computer 3 is taken into consideration in consideration of the communication speed and the factory site communication.
2 communication or RS-232C communication. Also, communication between computers may be Ethernet communication,
Since a large amount of items such as volume data are sent to the server computer 4 in addition to the molding condition file, it is preferable to use a UNIX machine capable of more real-time processing for system stability.

The molding machines 1a, 1b, 1c... Are controllers with a controller capable of transmitting and receiving molding conditions in a file. The molding conditions include temperature (cylinder temperature, nozzle temperature, resin temperature). Temperature), pressure (injection pressure (however, peak pressure at each stage for a molding machine that can be set in multiple stages)), time (1 cycle time, dwell time, weighing time, injection time, filling time, cooling time), Positions (weighing start position, injection advance position), etc.
Set about ~ 400 items.

In the setting method, besides the conventional method of inputting with a digital switch provided for each item, a controller of a recent molding machine displays an item on a touch panel screen, and a method of directly inputting the item is used. There is. In any case, each item (200 to 400 items) of the molding condition is set to 1
Any method may be used as long as it can be transmitted and received as a file.

The local controllers 2a, 2b, 2c
.. Can be transmitted and received to and from each of the molding machines 1a, 1b, and 1c.
A mold No. is added and transmitted to the group management host computer 3. Further, it receives the production plan information from the group management host computer 3 and at the same time receives the molding condition file and transmits it to the corresponding molding machines 1a, 1b and 1c.

The group management host computer 3 transmits molding condition data to the local controllers 2a, 2b, 2c,. Molding condition data is Machine No. × Part No. × Die No.
(That is, machine No. × part number × mold No.)
Is used as a key) and stored in a production molding condition file 3a (see FIG. 4) for management. Also, it receives the molding condition files from the local controllers 2a, 2b, 2c,... And stores them in the molding condition file 3b for temporary storage (see FIG. 4). However, the molding condition file 3b for temporary storage
Is configured to store only the latest data for each key combination (machine No. × part number × die number). Also,
The temporary storage molding condition file 3b has a screen for inputting a changer name and a reason for the change. When the input is completed, the temporary molding condition file 3b is overwritten as a production molding condition file 3a or newly written and stored. Also, the input changer name and change reason, and the local controllers 2a, 2b, 2c,.
And sends the modified molding condition file (the molding condition file stored in the temporary storage molding condition file) received from the server computer 4 to the server computer 4.

The server computer 4 receives the name of the person who made the change, the reason for the change, and the molding condition file from the management host computer 3, and performs centralized management. In this case, in the database to be saved, machine No. × part number × mold No.
A table having fields other than the key, such as a changer name, a change reason, a molding condition item and its value, is created to manage the change history of the molding condition. FIG. 2 shows an example of the molding condition change history management table. When managed in this way,
Subsequent searches are easier.

It should be noted that the number of data items to be stored is limited by the capacity of the hard disk of the server computer 4, so that it is impossible to keep the number of data items indefinitely, but the data of the same month at least one year ago can always be referenced. Prepare a hard disk as follows. For data over one year,
Such operations as copying to a tape or an optical disk and referencing it when it is desired can be sufficiently handled. Therefore, backup processing of old data may be performed once a year (for example, during the year-end and New Year period) or when the production of the factory is stopped.

The client personal computer 5 refers to the molding condition file with the changer name and the reason for change, which is centrally managed by the server computer 4, and displays the molding condition change history shown in FIG. 2 on the screen.

In the above configuration, the local controllers 2a, 2b, 2c...
And the transmission and reception of the molding condition data between the group management host computer 3 and the server computer 5,
This is performed using the machine No. × article number × mold No. as keys.

Next, a description will be given of a molding condition management processing operation in the molding condition management apparatus having the above configuration with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. 3 and an example of overwrite registration processing shown in FIG.

As described above, the actual molding condition file 3a of the group management host computer 3 includes each molding machine 1a,
The molding condition data of 1b, 1c ...
It is stored for each combination of mold No. Then, at the time of transmission of the production plan, a molding condition file that matches the production plan is read from the production molding condition file 3a using the machine No. × article number × the mold No. as a key, and the local controller (for example, 1a) of the corresponding molding machine (eg, 1a) is read. For example, it transmits to 2a). Hereinafter, the molding machine 1a and the local computer 2a will be described as examples.

The local controller 2a transmits the molding conditions stored in the received molding condition file to the molding machine 1a.
The molding machine 1a performs molding in accordance with the molding conditions.

When the molding conditions are changed during the molding, for example, due to the occurrence of a defective product, the change is input while comparing the molded products on site. In this case, the input molding condition after the change is the local controller 2
a, the machine No. × article number × mold No. is added and then transmitted to the group management host computer 3 (step S1,
S2). At this time, the group management host computer 3
The received molding condition data is transferred to the production molding condition file 3a.
Is not directly overwritten, but temporarily stored in the temporary storage molding condition file 3b (step S3).

Thereafter, when the molding conditions are changed again, the process returns from step S4 to step S2, where the molding conditions are transmitted from the local controller 2a to the group management host computer 3, and are stored in the storage molding condition file 3 previously stored.
b is overwritten and stored (step S3). For example, if the molding condition data of the same key as the molding condition data key (machine No. × part number × mold No.) received from the local controller 2a is already stored in the temporary storage molding condition file 3b, it is overwritten. Then, the latest data is temporarily stored.

Thereafter, the molding condition file 3b for temporary storage
If the user wishes to save the molding condition data stored in the group in the production molding condition file 3a, the name of the person who made the change and the reason for the change are input from the screen of the group management host computer 3. In this case, since the changer name and the reason for change are also input for each key combination, the machine number to be overwritten on the screen of the group management host computer 3 × the product number × the mold number
Can be displayed and selected, and after the selection, the name of the person who made the change and the reason for the change can be input.

When the name of the person who made the change and the reason for the change are input (when Yes is determined in step S5), the molding condition data stored in the molding condition file 3b for temporary storage at that time is input. The changed person name and the reason for the change are stored in the production molding condition file 3a (step S6). At this time, if the molding condition data of the same key does not exist in the production molding condition file 3a, the data is newly saved, and if the molding condition data of the same key already exists, it is overwritten and saved.

It should be noted here that only one newest data can be stored in the temporary storage molding condition file 3b for each key combination. Therefore,
If it is desired to save the data in the production molding condition file 3a, it is necessary to perform a process of saving the production molding condition file 3a before the next molding condition data of the same key is transmitted from the local controller. However, usually, the molding conditions are not frequently changed, so that the data for one key combination to be stored in the temporary storage molding condition file 3b is only the latest one, and there is no problem. Rather, when a plurality of molding condition data are stored in the temporary storage molding condition file 3b, there is a possibility that it is impossible to know which data is what at the time of saving, and the file capacity of the group management host computer 3 is limited. Is not preferred.

Next, the group management host computer 3 stores the input changer name and the reason for the change, and the molding condition file stored in the molding condition file 3b for temporary storage.
The data is transmitted to the server computer 4 (step S7).

As described above, the server computer 4
The name of the changer, the reason for the change, and the molding condition file are received from the group management host computer 3, stored in the molding condition change history management table, and centrally managed (step S8).

When it is desired to view the molding condition change history data stored in the server computer 4, for example, the client computer 5 accesses the server computer 4 and refers to the molding condition change history management table to check the molding condition change history table. The change history may be displayed on the screen.

In the above embodiment, the molding condition management device according to the first aspect is substantially realized by the group management host computer 3, but the molding condition management device according to the second aspect is Since the change history management table is stored in the server computer 4, the change history management table is realized by a system including the group management host computer 3 and the server computer 4. However, if the change history management table is configured to be stored in the group management host computer 3, the molding condition management apparatus according to claim 2 can be realized by substantially only the group management host computer 3. .

[0035]

According to the molding condition management apparatus and the management method of the present invention, the modified molding condition data sent from the molding machine is stored in the temporary molding condition file, and then the production molding condition file is stored. When an instruction to write to the file is input, the changed molding condition data saved in the temporary molding condition file is overwritten or newly written in the production molding condition file, and the changer included in the write instruction The name and the reason for the change are stored in the change history management table in association with the changed molding condition data. As a result, it is possible to determine whether or not to use the molding conditions that have been changed to improve the product defects that happened during molding to be non-defective products, so that molding failures such as starting molding under unexpected conditions can be determined. Can be eliminated. Further, since the temporarily changed molding condition data can be confirmed by referring to the change history management table, it is also possible to confirm whether or not it is the optimum treatment for the defect. Further, by checking the change history, it is possible to prevent the condition from returning to the same condition as in the past, and it is possible to bring the condition closer to the optimum value without repeating molding.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a molding condition management device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a molding condition change history management table.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a molding condition management processing operation in the molding condition management device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of an overwrite registration process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1a, 1b, c Molding machine 2a, 2b, 2c Local controller 3 Group management host computer 4 Server computer 5 Client personal computer

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A molding condition management device for managing one or a plurality of molding machines, a production molding condition file for storing production molding conditions, and a temporary storage molding condition file for temporarily storing molding conditions. The modified molding condition data sent from the molding machine is saved in the temporary molding condition file, and when a write instruction to the production molding condition file is input thereafter, the temporary molding A molding condition management device, comprising: data change processing means for overwriting or newly writing the modified molding condition data stored in the condition file into the production molding condition file. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a change history management table that includes a changer name and a change reason as the write instruction, and stores the changed molding condition data in association with the changer name and the change reason. The described molding condition management device. 3. A molding condition management method for managing one or a plurality of molding machines, wherein the changed molding condition data sent from the molding machine is stored in a molding condition file for temporary storage, and thereafter the production condition data is stored in a production condition file. When a write instruction to the molding condition file is input, the modified molding condition data stored in the temporarily stored molding condition file is overwritten or newly written in the production molding condition file. Management method. 4. The molding condition according to claim 3, wherein the name of the changer and the reason for the change included in the writing instruction are stored in a change history management table in association with the molding condition data after the change. Management method.