JP2005292962A - Method for material management, and automatic marker/labeler for use in same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for material management that can automate cutting position marking and labeling operations on a parent material and prevent the generation of products deviating from manufacturing specifications, in a process of cutting a parent material to manufacture child materials, and provide an automatic marker/labeler for use therein. <P>SOLUTION: The method for material management has a process of a portable terminal requesting marking information and label information about a parent material from a host computer and starting the automatic marker/labeler; a process of the automatic marker/labeler measuring the length of the parent material and requesting length determination and marking information corresponding to the measured length from the host computer; a process of the automatic marker/labeler marking the parent material with cutting positions and affixing labels thereto according to the marking information; a process of the portable terminal reading the labels affixed to cut and stacked child materials and sending them to the host computer; and a process of a CCD camera reading the labels affixed to the child materials passed to a post-cutting process to match them against child material numbers recognized by the host computer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

The present invention relates to a material management method in a process of manufacturing a child material by cutting a parent material.
Specifically, for example, in a process of cutting a parent slab into a child slab and performing a heat treatment to produce a steel material, a material management method capable of preventing the generation of a product different from the production specification and automatic scoring & It relates to a labeler device.

As a process of cutting a parent material to manufacture a child material, for example, there is a process of cutting a parent slab to form a child slab and performing a heat treatment to manufacture a steel material.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a conventional slab manufacturing process.
In FIG. 8 , 3 is a parent slab, 3 'is a child slab, 8 is a table roller, and 9 is a heating furnace.
First, on the basis of a cutting instruction from a host computer (not shown), the operator performs so-called ruled writing with ink on the cutting position of the long parent slab 3, and marks the child slab number.
Next, the scribing position is cut by a cutting machine to form a child slab 3 ′, and the operator cleans the outer surface of the child slab called “slot removal” and marks the missing child slab number again.

Next, the operator performs a mountain arrangement in which the child slabs 3 'are stacked according to material and size, and inputs the order of the stacked child slabs to the host computer.
Then, the crane operator fries the child slab 3 ′ on the table roller in the specified order and inserts it into the heating furnace 9.
As described above, in the conventional slab manufacturing process, since the actual product management of the slab is performed by marking the slab by the operator, when the operators make a transcription mistake or reading the marking, for example, “1” and “7” may be misread, and as a result, there is a problem of generation of a so-called different material in which a product in which the manufacturing instruction from the host computer is different from the actual product is generated.
In addition, conventionally, since the operator manually performed the marking and marking of the cutting position on the parent slab, it takes time and labor, and the marking and marking may be mistaken.

Various management systems using barcodes have been proposed.
For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-197965, a two-dimensional barcode is affixed to a steel plate and a strip, and an operator can read the two-dimensional barcode in the attachment process to know the working accuracy of each part. A method is disclosed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-132145 discloses a two-dimensional bar code reader in a medical institution that moves a sticker or card printed with a two-dimensional bar code along with medical material ordering, delivery, and dispensing operations. Discloses a method for managing medical materials by reading information contained in the document.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-39420 discloses a code reading that recognizes the presence of a target code, points the camera to the position where the code is, increases the magnification of the camera so that the code information can be read sufficiently, and performs focusing. An apparatus is disclosed.
However, none of the above-described conventional techniques disclose a material management method in a process of manufacturing a child material by cutting a parent material, which is an object of the present invention.
As for the label sticking device, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-54524 discloses a device for sucking and sticking a label to a predetermined part of a work, but like the automatic scoring & labeling device used in the present invention, There was no device having a scoring function based on the measured value of the parent material length.
JP-A-11-197965 JP 2003-132145 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-39420 JP 2003-54524 A

  The present invention solves the problems of the prior art as described above, and in the process of cutting the parent material to manufacture the child material, the cutting position marking and labeling work on the parent material are automated, and the operator It is an object of the present invention to provide a material management method and an automatic scoring & labeling device used therefor, which can prevent the generation of products different from manufacturing specifications due to marking mistakes or misreading.

  The present invention has been made as a result of intensive studies in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and in the process of manufacturing a child material by cutting the parent material, a scribing and labeling operation of the cutting position on the parent material In addition, the label with the child material number is output from the host computer and affixed to the child material, and this is read by a portable terminal or a CCD camera to perform a collation check. The present invention provides a material management method capable of preventing the production of products different from manufacturing specifications due to differences, and an automatic scoring & labeling device used therefor, the gist of which is as follows: Content.

(1) A material management method in a process of manufacturing a child material by cutting a parent material, the step of outputting a cutting instruction form from a higher-level computer, and the marking information of the parent material from a portable terminal to the higher-level computer Requesting label information, starting the automatic scoring & labeling device, measuring the length of the parent material with the automatic scoring & labeling device, determining the length to the upper computer and scoring information for the actual measuring length A process that requires
The automatic scoring & labeling device based on the scoring information performs a scribing and labeling of the cutting position on the parent material;
A step of reading a label attached to a pile of child materials after cutting using a mobile terminal and transmitting the label to a host computer;
A material management method comprising: reading a label affixed to a child material proceeding to a processing step after cutting using a CCD camera, and collating it with a child material number recognized by a host computer.
(2) The material management method according to (1), wherein the label is a label describing a two-dimensional barcode.
(3) The material according to (1) or (2), wherein the parent material and the child material are a parent slab and a child slab, and the processing step after the cutting is a charging step into a heating furnace. Management method.
(4) An automatic scoring & labeling device used in the material management method according to any one of (1) to (3), in which the length of the parent material is measured and the scribing and labeling of the cutting position on the parent material An automatic scoring and labeling device, which has a function of performing pasting and uses a writing brush for scoring the cutting position on the parent material based on the scoring information for the measured length of the parent material.

  According to the present invention, in the process of manufacturing a parent material by cutting the parent material, the cutting position marking and label affixing work to the parent material are automated, and the label describing the child material number is output from the host computer A material management method that can prevent the occurrence of products that differ from the manufacturing specifications due to mistakes in marking description or misreading by the operator by performing a verification check by affixing to the child material and reading it with a portable terminal or CCD camera In addition, there are significant industrially useful effects such as providing an automatic scoring & labeling device used therefor.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a flow of a material management method in the present invention.
The present invention relates to a material management method in a process of manufacturing a child material by cutting a parent material.
Specifically, for example, the present invention relates to a material management method in which a product different from manufacturing specifications is generated in a process of cutting a parent slab into a child slab and performing a heat treatment to manufacture a steel material.
First, a disconnection instruction form from the host computer is output (S-1).
Since the length of the child material is determined by the cutting position of the parent material, a cutting instruction indicating the cutting position is issued in advance from the host computer. By outputting this cutting instruction form, the actual product can be managed easily and accurately. it can.

Next, the parent computer requests the parental ruled information and label information from the portable computer, and activates the automatic ruled line & labeler device (S-2).
Conventionally, the operator has marked the child material with ink or the like, but there has been a transcription mistake or misreading of misleading characters such as 1 and 7, for example.
Therefore, in the present invention, the operator requests the crease information and label information indicating the crease position of the parent material from the portable terminal to the host computer, and activates the automatic crease & labeler device, thereby making such a transcription error. And misreading can be prevented.
The label information refers to information described in the label such as the child material number, and the label may be a barcode that includes a parallel line that is conventionally used, but a label that describes a two-dimensional barcode This is preferable because it can be read accurately even when a part of the label is lost or the direction of the label is inclined.
Here, the portable terminal means a terminal that has a function of reading a barcode or the like and can be carried by an operator.

Next, the length of the parent material is actually measured by the automatic scoring & labeling device, and length determination and scoring information for the actually measured length are requested from the host computer (S-3).
The host computer has information on the length of the parent material in advance according to the manufacturing specifications. However, the parent material length is measured with an automatic scoring & labeler device using, for example, a laser distance meter, and the upper computer is By requesting the scoring information for the length determination and the actually measured length, it is possible to prevent the error of the length and obtain the scoring information indicating the accurate cutting position based on the actually measured length of the parent material.
In the host computer, for example, the measured length of the parent material is determined based on a criterion such as within ± 30 mm of the manufacturing specification length (S-4). If it passes, the process proceeds to the next process. In step S-9, the ruled line instruction is canceled.

Next, based on the crease information, the automatic crease & labeler device performs crease marking and label sticking on the parent material (S-5).
In the past, the operator performed the actual product management by marking the parent material with chalk or attaching the label, but in the present invention, the automatic scoring & labeler device marks the cutting position on the parent material. In addition, since the label is affixed, it is possible to greatly reduce the labor and time of the operator.
In the present invention, the scoring method is not limited. However, since a firearm such as a burner is used for cutting the parent material, it is preferable not to use ink but also to use a writing brush that is less likely to break than chalk.
Next, the label affixed to the child material piled up after being cut is read using a portable terminal and transmitted to the host computer (S-6).

Since the cut child materials are piled up according to material and size, they are arranged in a different order from the cut order, so use the mobile device to read the labels attached to the piled child materials after cutting. By transmitting to the host computer, the order of the child materials proceeding to the next processing step can be managed.
Next, using a CCD camera, the label affixed to the child material proceeding to the processing step after cutting is read and collated with the child material number recognized by the host computer (S-7).
Since the operator cannot approach the child material during the conveyance of the child material, the label attached to the child material that proceeds to the processing step after cutting from a remote location is read using a CCD camera, and the child recognized by the host computer By comparing with the material number, it is possible to confirm that the product information on the computer matches the child material of the actual product.
As a result of collation with the child material number recognized by the host computer, if a different material is generated, the different material is corrected (S-10) by redoing the manufacturing instruction or the like, and if no different material is generated, the process is terminated.
Thus, according to the present invention, the marking of the cutting position on the parent material and the label sticking operation are automated, and a label with the child material number is attached to the actual child material, and this label is attached to the portable terminal or the CCD. By reading and collating using a camera, it is possible to confirm that the product information recognized by the host computer matches the actual product, thus fundamentally preventing dissimilar materials that have conventionally occurred. Can do.

2 to 6 are views showing an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a slab manufacturing process.
2 to 6, 1 is a form output terminal, 2 is a printer, 3 is a parent slab, 3 'is a child slab, 4 is a label, 5 is a wireless LAN, 6 is a portable terminal, 7 is a CCD camera, and 8 is a table. A roller, 9 is a heating furnace, 10 is a camera remote controller, 11 is a barcode monitor, 12 is a barcode reader terminal, 13 is a light, 14 is an automatic scoring & labeling device, and 15 is a cutting machine.
In FIG. 2, the form output terminal 1 is connected to a host computer (not shown), and outputs a cutting instruction form from the host computer using the printer 2.
The operator requests the parental ruled marking information and label information from the portable terminal 6 to the host computer in accordance with the output cutting instruction form, and activates the automatic marking and labeling device 14.
The automatic scoring & labeler device 14 measures the length of the parent material, requests the host computer for length determination and scoring information for the actually measured length.
Since the automatic scoring & labeling device 14 performs scoring and labeling of the cutting position on the parent material based on the scoring information, the marking and labeling work that has been performed manually by the operator is automated. This can significantly reduce labor and work time.

The label used is preferably, for example, a label on which a two-dimensional bar code indicating a 9-digit number as shown in FIG. 7 is described, and the child slab number from a label affixed at a distance of about several m to 10 m. As in the slab production line, the use environment is bad due to dust or the like, and the child slab number can be accurately recognized even when, for example, 30% of the label is missing.
The specifications of the two-dimensional barcode used in this example are shown on the right side of FIG.
The two-dimensional barcode is a QR (Quick Response) code type, vertical and horizontal 21 x 21 cells, cell size is 2.5 mm x 2.5 mm, and the error correction level is accurate even when 30% of the label is missing as described above. Level H was set so that the slab number could be recognized.

The operator can confirm that the child slab number is correct by reading this label using the portable terminal.
Next, the operator piles up the cut child slabs according to the material and size, and reads the labels attached using the portable terminal 6 again, thereby changing the order of the piled child slabs via the wireless LAN 5. It can be sent to the host computer.
The child slab 3 ′ is fried on the table roller 8 for charging into the heating furnace, which is the next processing step.

Conventionally, an operator for instructing the order of the fried plates to the table roller was necessary, but this operator can be saved by installing a panel computer indicating the fried plate order in the crane operation room. .
Since the operator cannot approach the table roller for safety, the plurality of CCD cameras 7 are used to remotely read the label 4 attached to the child slab 3 '.
This CCD camera is connected to a camera remote controller 10, a barcode monitor 11, and a barcode reader terminal 12.
When the direction of the CCD camera is poor and it is difficult to read the label, the direction of the camera can be corrected or the focus can be adjusted by operating the camera remote controller 10.
The bar code monitor 11 simultaneously displays the child slab number on the computer, the child slab number indicated on the label 4, and the child slab number marked on the child slab 3 'by the operator. Can be checked against.
When the child slab number can be read, a signal indicating completion of reading can be sent to the operator by blinking the light 13 installed in the vicinity of the table roller 8.
The barcode reader terminal 12 automatically checks the child slab number recognized by the host computer and the child slab number read by the CCD camera, so that even if the operator does not monitor, the barcode reader terminal 12 automatically It is possible to check for different materials.

3 to 5 are diagrams illustrating an example of the automatic scoring and labeling device used in the present invention. FIG. 3 is an overall view, FIG. 4 is a detailed view of the scoring device, and FIG. 5 is a detailed view of the label device. Show.
The upper part of FIG. 3 shows a plan view of the automatic scoring & labeling device, and the lower part shows an elevation view.
As shown in FIG. 3, the automatic scoring & labeling device includes an X-axis direction that is the longitudinal direction of the slab that is the parent material, a Y1-axis direction that is the width direction of the slab, and a Z1 axis that is the thickness direction of the slab. A scoring device and a label device are mounted on a device composed of a total of three axes. For example, an encoder is used for each axis, a laser distance meter is mounted on this device, and it is run in the X-axis direction. After both end faces are detected and the slab length is actually measured, the marking of the cutting position by the scoring device and the label sticking by the label device are performed in parallel.
The label device and the scoring device can be moved by the three-axis device, and scoring and labeling can be performed at a predetermined position designated by the host computer.

FIG. 4 is a detailed view illustrating a scoring device used in the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 4, a scribing brush is provided at the bottom of the scoring device, and this scribing brush advances the Y2 axis, which is the width direction of the slab, so that it strikes the side surface of the slab and the thickness direction of the slab A ruled line can be drawn by raising the Z2 axis.
Conventional markings generally use ink or chalk. However, since a firearm such as a gas cutter is used to cut the slab, flammable ink cannot be used, and the chalk is easy to break.
In addition, it is possible to confirm that the brush is hit by the sensor and hit the slab and to display an alarm when the brush is gone.
FIG. 5 is a detailed view illustrating a label device used in the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 5, a cushion such as urethane sponge or rubber sponge is provided in the lower part of the label device, and after the label is sucked and pasted, the cushion portion is aligned with the label position and pushed. It is possible to prevent the label from peeling off.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an installation situation of the CCD camera used in the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 6, the CCD camera is installed at a height of about 1200 mm, and can simultaneously image a plurality of child slabs 3 'having different distances from the CCD camera, and the label 4 is the first in the field of view of the CCD camera. When the barcode is entered, the barcode written on the label is read. Once the barcode is read, it is automatically deleted even if the same child slab number is read.
Also, since the direction of the label 4 affixed to the child slab is not necessarily constant, when a plurality of CCD cameras are installed and one of the CCD cameras reads the child slab number, the same child slab number is duplicated thereafter. Even if the data is read, it is possible to prevent duplicate recognition and erroneous recognition by deleting the data.
In addition, in order to read a child slab number correctly, the illumination intensity of 2000 lux or more is required, Preferably the illumination intensity of about 4000 lux is preferable.

It is a flowchart of the management method of the material in this invention. It is a figure which shows the Example which applied this invention to the manufacturing process of a slab. It is a figure which illustrates the whole automatic scoring & labeler apparatus used for this invention. It is detail drawing which illustrates the scoring apparatus which comprises the automatic scoring & labeler apparatus used for this invention. It is detail drawing which illustrates the label apparatus which comprises the automatic scoring & labeler apparatus used for this invention. It is a figure which illustrates the installation condition of the CCD camera used for this invention. It is a figure which illustrates the label used for this invention. It is a figure which shows the conventional slab manufacturing process.

Explanation of symbols

1 Label output terminal 2 Printer 3 Parent slab 3 'Child slab 4 Label 5 Wireless LAN
6 Mobile Terminal 7 CCD Camera 8 Table Roller 9 Heating Furnace 10 Camera Remote Controller 11 Barcode Monitor 12 Barcode Reader Terminal 13 Light 14 Automatic Ruler & Labeler Device 15 Cutting Machine

Claims (4)

A material management method in a process of cutting a parent material to produce a child material,
A process of outputting a cutting instruction form from the host computer;
Requesting the parent material's scoring information and label information from the portable terminal to the host computer, and starting the automatic scoring & labeler device;
The step of measuring the length of the parent material by the automatic scoring & labeling device, requesting the scoring information for the length determination and the actually measured length from the host computer,
The automatic scoring & labeling device based on the scoring information performs a scribing and labeling of the cutting position on the parent material;
A step of reading a label attached to a pile of child materials after cutting using a mobile terminal and transmitting the label to a host computer;
A material management method comprising: reading a label affixed to a child material proceeding to a processing step after cutting using a CCD camera, and collating it with a child material number recognized by a host computer.   The material management method according to claim 1, wherein the label is a label describing a two-dimensional barcode.   The material management method according to claim 1, wherein the parent material and the child material are a parent slab and a child slab, and the processing step after the cutting is a charging step into a heating furnace. . 4. An automatic scoring & labeling device used in the material management method according to claim 1, wherein the length of the parent material is actually measured, and the cutting position scribing and labeling are performed on the parent material. An automatic scriber / labeler device having a function, wherein a scriber is used to scribe the cutting position on the parent material based on the scriber information on the measured length of the parent material.

Images