JP2002197216A - Device and method for managing information and storage medium in which information managing program is stored - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that if an URL(Uniform Resource Locator) of makers' information servers 11a-13a is known, electronic information such as an operation manual and a maintenance manual can be downloaded from makers' information servers 11a-13a, but an individual maintenance manager has to manage and retrieve the URL of each maker's information servers 11a-13a and the downloaded file. SOLUTION: When a request for information on an instrument is received from a client's personal computer 31, an address of the site where the information on the instrument is stored is retrieved from an XML information file 22.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information management apparatus, an information management method, and a recording medium storing an information management program for managing manuals and real-time information of equipment constituting a production system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to process and assemble a product, a manufacturer who builds a production system selects and purchases a plurality of machines and apparatuses. It is rare that they are the same, and they are purchased from various manufacturers. Therefore, the producer sets up production equipment,
In order to perform operation and maintenance, the operation manual
It is necessary to refer to documents provided by various manufacturers, such as maintenance manuals.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing an information management system applied to a conventional information management apparatus.
a to 13a are provided with a Web server 14 and a file transfer unit 15 for managing computerized operation manuals and maintenance manuals and distributing electronic files of the operation manuals and maintenance manuals when receiving an information provision request. Information server, 31, 32
Reference numeral 51 denotes a client personal computer having a Web browser 33 and a file transfer means 34 in the production section of the manufacturer.
Are the information servers 11a to 13a and the client computer 3
A network such as the Internet or an extranet connecting the first and second computers.

[0004] 101 is a group of electronic manuals attached to the product from the information servers 11a to 13a when downloading or purchasing a product constituting the production system, 102 is a booklet manual group attached to the purchase of a product constituting the production system, 103 is an information management device, 28 is equipment 114-1
Alarm notification means 16 for notifying the maintenance manager of the 16 alarm information, 29 is an information collection means for collecting information of the production system 113, and 52 is a network such as the Internet or an intranet connecting the information management apparatus 103 and the production system 113. It is.

Next, the operation will be described. Producers
In order to continuously process and assemble products, it is necessary to constantly maintain and manage the production system 113, but maintenance inspection items and how to deal with abnormalities are described in the operation manual and maintenance manual. Therefore, the maintenance manager or the like operates an operation manual or a maintenance manual in a booklet, or an electronic manual downloaded by operating the client personal computers 31 and 32 from the information servers 11a to 13a of each maker as necessary. Is referred to in order to understand the maintenance inspection items and the measures to be taken in the event of an abnormality.

When an alarm occurs in any of the devices 114 to 116 in the production system 113, the information collecting means 29 detects the alarm and the alarm notifying means 28
To notify the maintenance manager of the alarm generating device and the alarm number by e-mail or pager (registered trademark). The maintenance manager refers to the relevant alarm number description part of the maintenance manual for the relevant product from the name of the device and the alarm number at which the alarm has occurred, and takes action for the alarm. If the maintenance manager does not know the countermeasure method by referring to the manual, he or she has contacted the service center or the like of the device manufacturer by telephone or the like to have the countermeasure explained.

[0007]

Since the conventional information management apparatus is configured as described above, the URL (Uniform Resource) of the information servers 11a to 13a of the maker is used.
If the locator is known, the electronic information of the operation manual and the maintenance manual can be downloaded from the information servers 11a to 13a of the maker, but each maintenance manager can download the URL of the information server 11a to 13a of each maker. There was a problem that had to manage and search the files that were created. In addition, when an alarm occurs, the maintenance manager has to search for the necessary electronic file or paper operation manual and maintenance manual from the notified device name and alarm number. However, there is a problem that it takes time to input the maintenance history into the information management device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems. A maintenance manager or the like does not manage a URL of an information server of each maker, and can execute operation instructions and maintenance from an information server of each maker. The electronic information of the manual can be downloaded, and if an alarm occurs in a device in the production system, the maintenance manager can promptly take a countermeasure. An object of the present invention is to obtain an information management device, an information management method, and a recording medium on which an information management program is recorded, which can reduce an input operation.

[0009]

An information management apparatus according to the present invention, when receiving a request for disclosing device information from a client terminal, searches a storage device for a site address where the device information is stored. It is provided.

According to the information management apparatus of the present invention, when searching for an address of a site in which device information is stored, when the search means receives the purpose of obtaining the device information from the client terminal, the device information according to the obtained purpose is obtained. Is searched for the address of the site where is stored.

The information management apparatus according to the present invention is provided with a search means for searching for a device information from a database upon receiving a device information disclosure request from a client terminal.

In the information management apparatus according to the present invention, when a site that provides device information revises the device information, the registration unit downloads the revised device information and updates the device information registered in the database. It is like that.

According to the information management apparatus of the present invention, when a device constituting the production system is incorporated in the production system, the registration means downloads the device information from a site providing the device information, and stores the device information. It is designed to be registered in a database.

According to the information management method of the present invention, when a request for disclosure of device information of a device constituting a production system is received from a client terminal, the information file storing the address of the site providing the device information is read from the information file of the site. This is to search for an address.

In the information management method according to the present invention, when searching for an address of a site in which device information is stored, when the purpose of obtaining the device information is received from the client side terminal,
A search is made for an address of a site in which device information corresponding to the purpose of acquisition is stored.

In the information management method according to the present invention, when a request for disclosure of device information is received from a client terminal, device information is searched from a database.

In the information management method according to the present invention, when a site that provides device information revises the device information, the revised device information is downloaded and the device information registered in the database is updated. Things.

According to the information management method of the present invention, when a device constituting a production system is incorporated in the production system, the device information is downloaded from a site that provides the device information, and the device information is registered in a database. It is something to do.

When the recording medium on which the information management program according to the present invention is recorded receives a request for disclosing device information from the client terminal, it searches for the address of the site where the device information is stored from the contents stored in the storage processing procedure. The search processing procedure to be performed is recorded.

[0020] The recording medium on which the information management program according to the present invention is recorded is configured to record a search procedure for retrieving device information from a database upon receipt of a device information disclosure request from a client terminal. .

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below. Embodiment 1 FIG. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an information management apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
Reference numeral 13a denotes an information server of a device maker that manages and provides device information (including manuals such as operation manuals and maintenance manuals, as well as device catalogs, etc.) of in-house manufactured devices including a Web server 14 and a file transfer unit 15. , 51 are networks such as the Internet and an extranet.

Reference numeral 21 denotes an information management device for managing information of the production system. Reference numeral 22 denotes an XML (Extensible) in which the device configuration of the production system and the device management ID of each device are recorded.
leMarkup Language)
An ML information file (storage means) 23 is a maintenance history information DB 2 storing failure history, alarm history, etc. of each device.
Reference numeral 4 denotes an electronic manual DB for storing the downloaded device information. Reference numeral 25 denotes an electronic file downloaded from the information servers 11a to 13a.
2 is a file transfer means for providing information to the file transfer means 34; 26 is a Web server for providing information to the Web browser 33 of the client personal computers 31 and 32;
7, DB search means for searching the maintenance history information DB 23 and the electronic manual DB 24; DB registration means 28 for registering data in the maintenance history information DB 23 and the electronic manual DB 24; 29, information for collecting information of each device of the production system 41 The collecting means 30 is an alarm notifying means for notifying the maintenance manager of the occurrence of an alarm or the like.

Reference numerals 31 and 32 denote desktop or notebook-type client personal computers having a Web browser 33 and a file transfer means 34, which are connected to a network 52 by wire or wirelessly. For convenience of explanation, the client personal computer 31 is installed in an office or the like, and the client personal computer 32 is a notebook personal computer wirelessly connected to a network.

Reference numeral 52 denotes a network such as the Internet or an intranet; 41, a production system including a plurality of control devices and machine tools; 42 to 44, machine tools that constitute the production system 41;
1 are programmable logic controllers (hereinafter, referred to as PLCs), and 47 to 49 are machine tools 42 and 43.
And an information collecting terminal that collects information from the information management device 21 and transmits the information to the information management device 21 and receives control information and the like from the information management device 21 and transmits the information to the machine tools 42 and 43 and the PLC 45.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents stored in the DBs 23 and 24. The electronic manual DB 24 includes, for each model constituting the production system, model number information, support contact information (telephone number, FAX number, e-mail address, etc.), and manual information stored in the DB (manual name, date and time of acquisition, acquisition date and time). Address etc.) are stored. The maintenance history information DB 23 stores, for each device constituting the production system, a management ID for identifying the device in the production system, a maker, a model number, and an alarm history (alarm occurrence date and time, alarm number, untreated / treated, and treated). Is the treatment date and time,
Alarm cause, action details, and person in charge of the action) are stored.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the recorded contents of the XML information file 22. The XML information file 22 includes information indicating a line configuration and a cell configuration of the production system, and a management ID (for example, AAA-0) for identifying a device in the production system.
001) and a name (for example, device A) that is easily recognized by the maintenance manager in the line configuration. 4 and 5, FIGS. 9 and 10 are flowcharts showing an information management method according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of a production system.

Next, the operation will be described. When the maintenance manager refers to the manual of the machine tool 42 or the like when performing maintenance management of the production system 41, the maintenance manager operates the client personal computer 31 (32 may be used, but for convenience of explanation, 31 is used). Access the information management device 21 (step ST1-1). Here, for convenience of explanation, a case where a manual is referred to will be described.
Information other than the manual may be referred to as long as the information is related to the equipment constituting the production system.

The information management device 21 is a Web browser 33
Is received, an HTML file stored in advance is transmitted to the client personal computer 31 (step ST1-2). Client PC 31
The Web browser 33 displays a screen as shown in FIG. 6H (step ST1-3). When the maintenance manager selects "select from line configuration", the client personal computer 31 transmits the selected information to the information management device 21 (step ST1-4).

The information management device 21 reads out the line information in the production system by searching all the <line> tags from the XML information file 22 of FIG. 3 (step ST2), and reads the <line name> tag of the read line information. Is generated and transmitted to the client personal computer 31 (step ST3).

Upon receiving the line information in the HTML format from the information management device 21, the client personal computer 31 displays a screen as shown in FIG. 6A (step ST).
4). When the maintenance manager selects an arbitrary line, the client personal computer 31 transmits the line selection information to the information management device 21 (step ST5).

Upon receiving the line selection information from the client personal computer 31, the information management device 21
The cell information constituting the line is read from the L information file 22 by searching for the <cell> tag (step ST6), and the cell information is converted from the XML format to the HTML format and transmitted to the client personal computer 31. The client personal computer 31 sends the information
When the cell information in the ML format is received, a screen as shown in FIG. 6B is displayed. And client computer 3
1 transmits a cell selection information to the information management device 21 when the maintenance manager selects an arbitrary cell.

Upon receiving the cell selection information from the client personal computer 31, the information management device 21
From the information file 22, the device information of the cell
The device is read by searching for the device> tag, and the device data is converted from the XML format to the HTML format and transmitted to the client personal computer 31. Client PC 3
Upon receiving the device data in HTML format from the information management device 21, the device 1 displays a screen as shown in FIG. Then, when the maintenance manager selects an arbitrary device, the client personal computer 31 transmits selection information of the device to the information management device 21 (step ST7).

When the information management device 21 receives the device selection information from the client personal computer 31 (here, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the device A is selected), the information management device 21 determines which information on the device A to browse. An HTML file for asking the maintenance manager is created and transmitted to the client personal computer 31 (step ST8).

The client personal computer 31 receives the HTML file from the information management device 21 and displays a screen as shown in FIG. 6D (step ST10). And
When the maintenance manager desires to obtain the support contact information of the device A and selects “support contact information” from the screen in FIG. 6D, the client personal computer 31 transmits the selected information to the information management device 21. (Step ST11).

When the information management apparatus 21 receives the selection information indicating that “support contact information” has been selected from the client personal computer 31, it reads the device management ID of the device A from the XML information file 22 and obtains the obtained device management ID. The manufacturer and model number information of the device A is obtained from the device / device maintenance history information DB 23 shown in FIG. An electronic manual D shown in FIG. 2 using the manufacturer and model number of the device A
Search "support contact" from B24 (step ST
12) Then, the information of the “support contact information” is converted into an HTML file and transmitted to the client personal computer 31 (step ST13).

When the client personal computer 31 receives the information of "support contact information" in HTML format from the information management device 21, it displays a screen as shown in FIG. 6E (step ST14). As a result, the maintenance manager can acquire the support contact information of the device A.

On the other hand, when the maintenance manager desires to acquire the manual of the device A and selects “acquired manual list” during the screen display of FIG.
Transmits the selection information to the information management device 21 (step ST1-5). When the information management apparatus 21 receives the selection information indicating that the “acquired manual list” has been selected from the client personal computer 31, the XML information file 2
2, the device management ID of the device A is read out, and the manufacturer and model number information of the device A are obtained from the maintenance history information DB 23 using the obtained device management ID. Using the maker and model number of the device A, search the manual information from the electronic manual DB 24 (step ST1-6), and list information of the obtained electronic manuals (manual name, acquisition date and time, acquisition URL)
Is converted to an HTML file and the client PC 3
1 (step ST1-7).

The client personal computer 31 receives the HTML file from the information management device 21 and displays a screen as shown in FIG. 6 (i) (step ST1-8). FIG.
While the screen of (i) is displayed, the maintenance manager desires to obtain the manual of the device A, and reads “A-100 operation manual” or “A-1”.
When the "00 maintenance manual" is selected, the client personal computer 31 accesses the information servers 11a to 13a based on the link information embedded in the HTML, and
The manual of the device A is downloaded to the client personal computer 31 from 1a to 13a. Thus, the maintenance manager can refer to the manual of the device A.

However, as will be described later, when not only the manual acquisition URL information of the device A but also the manual (electronic file) of the device A itself is stored in the electronic manual DB 24 of the information management device 21, FIG. ) While the screen is displayed, the maintenance manager desires to obtain the manual of the device A, and reads “A-100 operation manual” or “A-100 maintenance manual”.
When is selected, the information management device 21 extracts the manual of the device A from the electronic manual DB 24 and transmits it to the client personal computer 31.

If the desired information cannot be obtained from the acquired manual for the device A, the maintenance manager
When "New information acquisition" is selected from the screen (i), the client personal computer 31 transmits the selected information to the information management device 2
1 (step ST15). Information management device 21
When receiving the selection information indicating that "acquire new information" is selected from the client personal computer 31, the H for acquiring new information is input to the maintenance manager to input a URL or the like.
A TML file is generated (step ST16) and transmitted to the client personal computer 31 (step ST1).
7).

Upon receiving the HTML file for obtaining new information from the information management device 21, the client personal computer 31 displays a screen as shown in FIG. 6G (step ST22). And the client personal computer 31
When the maintenance manager inputs the URL of the information server storing the manual of the device A on the screen shown in FIG. 6G, the URL is transmitted to the information management device 21 (step ST23). When the information management device 21 receives the URL of the information server from the client personal computer 31, the information management device 21
The RL is stored in the electronic manual DB 24.

However, in the case where not only the URL of the information server but also the electronic file itself is stored in the electronic manual DB 24, the electronic file such as the electronic manual downloaded from the information server by the file transfer means 34 of the client personal computer 31 is stored in a step. It may be transmitted to the information management device 21 in ST23. In that case, the information management device 2
1 stores an electronic file such as an electronic manual received from the client personal computer 31 in step ST24 in the electronic manual DB 24.

Next, when the maintenance manager performs the maintenance management of the production system, the operation will be described by taking as an example a recovery operation when an alarm occurs in a machine tool or the like. When the machine tool generates an alarm, the connected information collection terminal notifies the information collection means 29 in the information management device 21 of the occurrence of the alarm of the machine tool. The information collecting means 29 uses the alarm notifying means 30 to notify the maintenance manager of the occurrence of the alarm of the machine tool by e-mail or pager,
Using the registration means 28, the alarm time, the alarm number, and information indicating that no action has been taken are registered in the corresponding device portion of the maintenance history information DB 23.

When the maintenance manager is notified of the occurrence of the alarm of the machine tool, the maintenance manager accesses the information management apparatus 21 using the Web browser 33 of the client personal computer 32 (step ST101). The information management device 21 is
Upon receiving the request from the browser 33, an HTML file stored in advance is transmitted to the client personal computer 32 (step ST102). The Web browser 33 of the client personal computer 32 displays a screen as shown in FIG. 11A (step ST103). When the maintenance manager selects "display alarm information", the client personal computer 32 transmits the selected information to the information management device 21 (step ST104).

The information management device 21 displays "alarm information display".
Is received, the maintenance history information DB
23 for unprocessed alarm information (step ST
105), creates an HTML file including the search result, and sends it to the client personal computer 32 (step S)
T106). The Web browser 33 of the client personal computer 32 displays a screen as shown in FIG. 11B (step ST107). When the maintenance manager selects the alarm of the device E, the client personal computer 32 transmits the selected information to the information management device 21 (step ST10).
8).

When the information management apparatus 21 receives the information that the alarm information of the device E has been selected, the information management device 21 searches the XML information file 22 for the device management ID of the device E (Step S).
T109), using the obtained device management ID, search the maintenance history information DB 23 for a failure history of the device E (if there are many, the number of cases determined in advance is the newest one) (step ST110), and search for the current alarm An HTML file described with the information is generated and transmitted to the client personal computer 32 (step ST111).

Web browser 33 of client personal computer 32 displays a screen as shown in FIG. 11C (step ST112). When the maintenance manager selects "see maintenance manual", the client personal computer transmits the selected information to the information management device 21 (step ST11).
3). When the information management apparatus 21 receives the information indicating that the user has selected to refer to the maintenance manual of the device E, the maintenance history information DB 23
From the manufacturer and model number of the device E (step ST
114), the maintenance manual of the device E stored in the electronic manual DB 24 is transmitted from the obtained manufacturer and model number (step ST115).

As shown in FIG. 11D, the Web browser 33 of the client personal computer 32
Display the maintenance manual for. When the treatment is completed with reference to the maintenance manual, the maintenance manager selects the “treatment completed” button in FIG. 11D. The client personal computer 32 transmits the selection information to the information management device 21 (step S
T117).

The information management device 21 sends the pre-stored HTML file for filling in treatment details to the client personal computer 32 (step ST118). The Web browser 33 of the client personal computer 32 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (e), the received HTML file is displayed (step ST119). The maintenance manager uses the Web browser 33 to input the cause of the alarm occurrence, the details of the treatment, and the name of the person in charge (the name of the maintenance manager who performed the operation), and selects the OK button (step ST120).

The information management apparatus 21 inputs the information input by the maintenance manager into the maintenance history information DB 23 using the DB registration means 28, obtains the current time, and obtains the "processed"
And If the action by the maintenance manager is not completed in step ST116, "contact support" is selected.
The client personal computer 32 transmits the selected information to the information management device 21 (step ST124).

The information management device 21 is an electronic manual DB2
4 to retrieve a support contact, generate an HTML file, and send it to the client personal computer 32 (step ST125). The Web browser 33 of the client personal computer 32 receives the received H as shown in FIG.
The TML file is displayed (step ST126). The maintenance manager looks at the screen of the Web browser 33, contacts support, and solves the problem.

As is apparent from the above, the first embodiment
According to the configuration, when the device information disclosure request is received from the client personal computer 31, the configuration information is searched from the XML information file 22 for the address of the site where the device information is stored. 1
There is an effect that electronic information of operation manuals and maintenance manuals can be downloaded from the information servers 11a to 13a of each maker without managing the URL addresses of 1a to 13a.

When an alarm occurs in the production system 41, the client computer 32 can refer to the electronic manual and the past alarm history of the device using the Web browser 33, so that the alarm processing can be performed efficiently. It can be performed. When the alarm processing is completed, the client PC 32 is used,
The maintenance history information DB 23 can be updated on the spot,
This eliminates the need for the maintenance manager to perform the DB update operation again, eliminates omission of input to the DB, and reduces entry errors.

Embodiment 2 In the first embodiment, when an alarm is generated in a device in the production system 41 and the maintenance manager completes the countermeasure, the maintenance manager issues a problem using the screen shown in FIG. Enter the occurrence part, comment, treatment details, and the name of the person in charge of the treatment.
This screen is changed to a screen as shown in FIG. 12, and a change is made so as to input the manual and page referred to when dealing with the alarm.

The maintenance history information DB 23 also adds items for inputting a reference manual and the number of pages as shown in FIG. Also, the processing from step ST8 onward in FIG. 4 is replaced with the processing from step ST201 onward in FIG.

Upon receiving the device selection information from the client personal computer 31, the information management device 21 creates an HTML file for asking the maintenance manager which information about the device A is to be browsed.
(Step ST201).

The client personal computer 31 receives the HTML file from the information management device 21 and displays a screen as shown in FIG. 15A (step ST202). Then, the client personal computer 31 is operated by the maintenance manager as shown in FIG.
When "reference purpose" is selected from the screen of (a), the selected information is transmitted to the information management device 21 (step ST20).
3).

Upon receiving the selection information indicating that "reference purpose" has been selected from the client personal computer 31, the information management device 21 generates and transmits an HTML file for allowing the maintenance manager to select the cause of the alarm (reference purpose). (Step ST204). Client PC 31 is HT
Upon receiving the ML file, a screen as shown in FIG. 15B is displayed.

When the maintenance manager selects a reference purpose (here, a program for convenience of explanation) from the screen of FIG. 15B, the client personal computer 31 transmits the selected information to the information management apparatus 21 (step S1). ST20
6). Upon receiving the information that “program” has been selected, the information management device 21 searches the maintenance history information DB 23 for the alarm history of the device A, and extracts the alarm history whose cause is “program” (step ST2).
07), an HTML file is generated and transmitted to the client personal computer 31 (step ST208).

The client personal computer 31 receives the HTML file and displays a screen as shown in FIG.
As a result, there is an effect that the maintenance manager can specify the purpose of acquisition and obtain the related manual and page.

Embodiment 3 In the first embodiment, when the maintenance manager inputs the URL of the information server storing the manual of the device A on the screen of FIG.
The URL is transmitted to the information management apparatus 21 to download the manual of the device A. However, when the user purchases the device A and registers the user with the manufacturer, the device A
May be downloaded, and the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

FIG. 16 is a configuration diagram according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In the third embodiment, the electronic manuals D are stored in the information servers 11a to 13a configured according to the first embodiment.
B61, a customer information DB 62 is added, and the information server 11
b to 13b. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an information management method according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of the customer information DB 62.
2 is customer ID, password, customer information (company name, address,
Phone number, FAX number, e-mail address, information management device address, purchased product).

Specifically, the production system supplier purchases the device A (step ST31), and the production system supplier operates the client personal computer 31 to operate the information server 1 of the manufacturer.
1b (steps ST32 and ST3)
3) Since the information server 11b requests input of the customer ID, the production system operator operates the client personal computer 31 to input "new" if this is the first registration. If you have registered before, customer ID at that time
(Including information such as a password) is input (steps ST34 and ST35).

When the information server 11b receives "new" from the client personal computer 31, it transmits a request for inputting customer information to the client personal computer 31 (steps ST36 and ST37). Client PC 31
When a production system supplier inputs customer information in accordance with an input request for customer information, the customer information is transmitted to the information server 1.
1b (steps ST38 and ST39). Upon receiving the customer information from the client personal computer 31, the information server 11b issues a new customer ID (step ST
40), the client personal computer 31
Then, a new customer ID is obtained from b (step ST41).

When the information server 11b issues a new customer ID, the information server 11b issues an input request for a product name to the client personal computer 31.
(Step ST42). When the production system supplier inputs a product name in response to a product name input request, the client personal computer 31 displays the product name on the information server 1.
1b (step ST43).

When the information server 11b receives the product name from the client personal computer 31, it sends an address input request of the file transfer means 25 of the information management device 21a to the client personal computer 31 (step ST44). When the production system supplier inputs the address of the information management device 21a according to the address input request, the client personal computer 31 transmits the address to the information server 11b (step ST45).

When receiving the address of the information management device 21a from the client personal computer 31, the information server 11b updates the customer information DB 62 using the address (step ST46). A manual related to the device A as a purchased product is searched from the electronic manual DB 61, and the obtained manual is transferred to the file transfer unit 25 of the information management apparatus 21a using the file transfer unit 15 (step ST47). The information management device 21a is a device A
When the manual is received, the manual is stored in the electronic manual DB 24 (step ST48).

Embodiment 4 In the third embodiment, the manual for the device A is downloaded. However, when the information server that provides the manual for the device A revises the manual, the revised manual is downloaded to the information management device, and the information is updated. The management device may update the manual stored in the electronic manual DB.

FIG. 17 is a configuration diagram according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the fourth embodiment, the information server in the first embodiment has an electronic manual DB 61 and a customer information DB 6
2. Add the update notification transmitting means 71 and add the information server 11c
To 13c, and an update notification receiving unit 72 is added to the information management apparatus according to the first embodiment to update the information management apparatus 21b.
Is configured. FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing an information management method according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing update notification contents.

Next, the operation will be described. Information server 1
The update notification transmitting means 71 of 1c is waiting for the update information of the electronic manual (step ST301). An electronic manual DB in the information server 11c when the manufacturer of the device or the device is used.
When the newly revised manual is stored in 61 and the update of the electronic manual is notified to the update notification transmitting means 71, a list of products related to the electronic manual is obtained by searching the electronic manual DB 61 (step ST302). . Using the obtained product list, the customer information DB 62 is searched, and customer information (including notification mail address information) that purchased a product related to the electronic manual is searched.
A list is obtained (step ST303). According to the obtained customer list, an electronic manual update notification is transmitted to all customers (step ST304).

Information management device 2 in each production system supplier
1b, the information server 1 via the update notification receiving means 72
Upon receiving the electronic manual update notification transmitted from 1c (step ST305), it is determined whether or not the content is an electronic manual update notification according to a predetermined format (step ST306), and is determined to be an electronic manual update notification. In this case, the file transfer unit 15 of the information server 11c described in the update notification
Then, the information such as the address, user name, and password is extracted, and the information server 11c is accessed using the file transfer means 25 (ST307).

File transfer means 15 of information server 11c
Authenticates whether the user is a correct user for access from the information management apparatus 21b (step ST308), and transfers the updated electronic manual to the information management apparatus 21b (step ST309). The file transfer means 25 of the information management device 21b receives the updated electronic manual (step ST310), obtains the manufacturer, model name, manual name, and revision date and time information of the update notification content, and updates the electronic manual DB 24 (step ST310). ST311). Alternatively, in the configuration shown in the third embodiment, the updated electronic manual may be transferred to the information management device 21b when the information server receives a notice of revision of the electronic manual.

As a result, the maintenance manager can always refer to the latest manual. Also, by controlling the transmission of the update notification, the download load on the information server can be equalized. Also, if you have multiple information servers, by notifying you to download evenly from multiple information servers,
The load between information servers can be equalized.

Embodiment 5 In the third embodiment, when the device A is purchased and user registration is performed with the manufacturer, the device A
Is described in the third embodiment when the device A is incorporated into the production system 41 (for example, when the information of the device A is stored for the first time in the information collecting means 29). By automating the procedure, an information server that provides a manual for the device A may download the manual to the information management device 21 and the information management device 21 may store the manual in the electronic manual DB 24. This allows
When the device A is incorporated into the production system, the manual of the device A is automatically downloaded.

[0075]

As described above, according to the present invention, upon receiving a device information disclosure request from a client terminal,
Since the search means for searching the address of the site where the device information is stored from the storage means is provided, the inspection worker or the like does not manage the URL address of the Web server of each manufacturer, and the Web server of each manufacturer can be used. The electronic information of the operation manual and the maintenance manual can be downloaded from the computer.

According to the present invention, when searching for an address of a site in which device information is stored, if the search means receives a purpose of obtaining device information from the client terminal, the device information corresponding to the obtained purpose is stored. Since the system is configured to search for the address of the site, the effect is that the maintenance manager can refer to the manual according to the purpose of acquisition.

According to the present invention, when a request for disclosing device information is received from a client terminal, a search means for searching for device information from a database is provided, so that an inspection worker or the like can check the Web server of each manufacturer. There is an effect that the electronic information of the operation manual and the maintenance manual can be referred to without managing the URL address.

According to the present invention, when a site that provides device information revises the device information, the registration unit downloads the revised device information and updates the device information registered in the database. Therefore, there is an effect that the maintenance manager can always refer to the latest device information.

According to the present invention, when the equipment constituting the production system is incorporated in the production system, the registration means downloads the equipment information from the site providing the equipment information and registers the equipment information in the database. Therefore, when the device is incorporated into the production system, the device information of the device is automatically downloaded.

According to the present invention, when a request for disclosure of device information of a device constituting the production system is received from the client terminal, the address of the site is searched from the information file storing the address of the site providing the device information. Therefore, the inspection operator can download the electronic information of the operation manual and the maintenance manual from the Web server of each manufacturer without managing the URL address of the Web server of each manufacturer. is there.

According to the present invention, when searching for the address of the site where the device information is stored, when the purpose of obtaining the device information is received from the client side terminal, the site storing the device information according to the obtained purpose is stored. Since the configuration is made to search for the address, there is an effect that the maintenance manager can refer to a manual that meets the purpose of acquisition.

According to the present invention, when the device information disclosure request is received from the client terminal, the device information is searched from the database, so that the inspector can manage the URL address of the Web server of each manufacturer. There is an effect that the electronic information of the operation manual and the maintenance manual can be referred to without performing.

According to the present invention, when a site that provides device information revises the device information, the revised device information is downloaded and the device information registered in the database is updated. This has the effect that the maintenance manager can always refer to the latest device information.

According to the present invention, when a device constituting a production system is incorporated in the production system, the device information is downloaded from a site that provides the device information, and the device information is registered in a database. With the configuration, when the device is incorporated into the production system, the device information of the device is automatically downloaded.

According to the present invention, when a request for disclosure of device information is received from a client terminal, a search processing procedure for searching for an address of a site in which device information is stored is recorded from the contents stored in the storage processing procedure. Since the inspection is performed, the URL of the Web server of each manufacturer
The electronic information of the operation manual and the maintenance manual can be downloaded from the Web server of each maker without managing the address.

According to the present invention, when a request for disclosing device information is received from the client terminal, a search processing procedure for searching for device information from the database is recorded. U of server
There is an effect that the electronic information of the operation manual and the maintenance manual can be referred to without managing the RL address.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an information management device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing storage contents of DBs 23 and 24;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing recorded contents of an XML information file 22;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an information management method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an information management method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating operations of the client personal computer 11 and the production management server 16.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an information management method according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration example according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an information management method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an information management method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a display and an operation example of the information management method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing an information input screen according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing an apparatus / equipment maintenance information history DB according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an information management method according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing a display and an operation example of the information management method according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration example according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing an information management method according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing update notification contents according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 20 shows customer information D according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of B.

FIG. 21 is a configuration diagram showing an information management system applied to a conventional information management device.

[Explanation of symbols]

11a to 13a information server, 11b to 13b information server, 11c to 13c information server, 14 Web server 15 file transfer means 21, 21a, 21b information management device, 22 XML information file (storage means), 23
Maintenance history information DB, 24 Electronic manual DB, 25
File transfer means, 26 Web server, 27 DB
Search means, 28 DB registration means, 29 information collection means,
30 alarm notification means, 31, 32 client personal computer, 33 Web browser, 34 file transfer means, 41 production system, 42-44 machine tool, 4
5,46 PLC, 47-49 Information collection terminal, 51,
52 Network, 61 Electronic Manual DB, 62
Customer information DB, 71 update notification transmitting means, 72 update notification receiving means.

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A storage unit for storing an address of a site providing device information of a device constituting a production system, and upon receiving a device information disclosure request from a client terminal, stores the device information from the storage unit. An information management apparatus comprising: a search unit that searches for an address of a site that is located; and a transmission unit that transmits the address searched by the search unit to the client-side terminal. 2. A search means, when searching for an address of a site in which device information is stored, receiving a purpose of obtaining device information from a client terminal, and searching for a site in which device information according to the obtained purpose is stored. 2. The information management device according to claim 1, wherein an address of the information management device is searched. 3. A registration unit for downloading the device information from a site that provides device information of devices constituting the production system, and registering the device information in a database, and receiving a device information disclosure request from a client terminal. Then, an information management apparatus comprising: a search unit that searches for device information from the database; and a transmission unit that transmits the device information searched by the search unit to the client-side terminal. 4. The registering means, wherein when a site that provides device information revises the device information, downloads the revised device information and updates the device information registered in the database. Item 3. The information management device according to Item 3. 5. The registration means downloads device information from a site that provides device information and registers the device information in a database when a device constituting the production system is incorporated into the production system. The information management device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein 6. When a request for disclosure of device information of a device constituting the production system is received from the client terminal, the address of the site is searched from an information file storing the address of the site providing the device information. An information management method for transmitting the address of the client to the client terminal. 7. When retrieving an address of a site in which device information is stored, when the purpose of obtaining the device information is received from the client terminal, the address of the site in which the device information is stored according to the obtained purpose is searched. 7. The information management method according to claim 6, wherein the information is managed. 8. Downloading the device information from a site that provides device information of devices constituting the production system and registering the device information in a database, while receiving a device information disclosure request from a client-side terminal,
An information management method for retrieving device information from the database and transmitting the device information to the client terminal. 9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein when the site providing the device information revises the device information, the device information after the revision is downloaded and the device information registered in the database is updated. Information management method. 10. When a device constituting a production system is incorporated in the production system, the device information is downloaded from a site that provides the device information, and the device information is registered in a database. The information management method according to claim 8 or 9. 11. A storage processing procedure for storing an address of a site providing device information of a device constituting a production system, and upon receiving a request for disclosure of device information from a client-side terminal, the storage device stores the device information based on the storage contents of the storage processing procedure. A record in which an information management program including a search processing procedure for searching for an address of a site in which information is stored and a transmission processing procedure for transmitting the address searched by the search processing procedure to the client terminal is recorded. Medium. 12. A registration processing procedure for downloading device information from a site that provides device information of devices constituting a production system and registering the device information in a database, and issuing a request for disclosure of device information from a client-side terminal. Upon receipt, a record in which an information management program including a search processing procedure for searching for device information from the database and a transmission processing procedure for transmitting the device information searched for in the search processing procedure to the client terminal is recorded. Medium.