JP2006120032A - Production facility management system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a production facility management system which prevents the generation of defective products and the interruption of production facilities, based on measurement values obtained from the results of inspection of products. <P>SOLUTION: An actual bottle inspection machine 4F inspects the positions of labels which a labeler 3E pastes, and the positions of the labels are collected in a data collection means 11, as the measurement values indicating their ratios to a reference label position, by a control terminal 5F. A determination means 12 classifies the collected measurement values into inspection levels corresponding to the degrees of the measurement values and makes a monitor 14 and the control terminal 5F raise an alarm when the inspection levels are collected, with a prescribed generation frequency, by the data collection means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a production facility management system, and more particularly to a production facility management system provided with data collection means for collecting measurement values of articles inspected by an inspection facility.

Conventionally, a production line such as a beverage filling line has been provided with an inspection facility for inspecting an empty bottle and inspecting a beverage filling amount and a label attached to a container. The contents are collected by the data collection means of the production facility management system that manages the production line.
As this production facility management system, one having a controller as the data collection means is known, and the controller collects inspection data from a camera or various sensors provided in the inspection facility, and inspects the inspected article. Calculations and the like are performed, and each inspection data is converted into a defect level value and stored. (Patent Document 1)
When the defect level value becomes a light defect level value or a heavy defect level value, the controller regards the article as a defective product and issues a warning or performs control such as forcibly stopping the production line. It has become.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-254536

However, when the inspection result is processed as a measurement value like the defect level value, there is a so-called “good product close to a defective product” that does not reach the light defect level value or the heavy defect level value.
Before the occurrence of the alarm or the stop of the production line, there is a case where such a “good product close to a defective product” frequently occurs as a precursor, and in Patent Document 1, such a product is also regarded as a good product. As a result, it was impossible to know the warning signs of the alarm, and it was impossible to prevent the occurrence of defective products and the stoppage of production facilities.
In view of such problems, the present invention provides a production facility management system capable of preventing the occurrence of defective products and the stoppage of production facilities from the measured values of the inspection results of the inspected articles. .

That is, the production facility management system according to the present invention is a production facility management system including a data collection unit that collects measurement values of articles inspected by the inspection facility.
The measured value is divided into at least three levels of inspection levels according to the degree of the measured value, a predetermined number of occurrences is determined for each inspection level, and the measured value corresponding to the predetermined inspection level is at the inspection level. It is characterized by comprising a determination means for outputting an alarm when the data collection means collects a predetermined number of occurrences.

  According to the above-described invention, even if the measurement value is an article corresponding to “good product close to defective product”, if the inspection level is set for “good product close to defective product”, the inspection level is a predetermined number of occurrences. Since alarms are output at the time of collection, it is possible to predict the occurrence of defective products and stop of production equipment, and to prevent the occurrence of defective products and abnormalities in production equipment.

The illustrated embodiment will be described below. FIG. 1 shows a bottling line 1 for filling a container as an article with a beverage and a production facility management system 2 for managing the bottling line 1.
First, the bottling line 1 includes a production machine 3 for a bottle washing machine 3A for cleaning an empty container, a filler 3C for filling a beverage, a capper 3D for capping, and a labeler 3E for attaching a label to the container.
The bottling line 1 includes an empty bottle inspection machine 4B for inspecting empty containers between the bottle washing machine 3A and the filler 3C, and an inspection of beverage products whose labeling has been completed downstream of the labeler 3E. An inspection facility 4 such as an actual bottle inspection machine 4F is provided.
The production facility 3 and the inspection facility 4 are provided with control terminals 5A to 5F such as programmable controllers (PLC), respectively, to control the production facility 3 and the inspection facility 4, and the state of each production facility 3 And the inspection results by the inspection facility 4 are collected in the production facility management system 2 via these control terminals 5A to 5F.

Each of the production facilities 3 of the bottle washing machine 3A, filler 3C, capper 3D, and labeler 3E is well known in the art and will not be described in detail. However, whenever a change occurs in the state of the production facility 3, that state Production-related data regarding changes is collected in the production facility management system 2 via the control terminal 5 of each production facility 3.
As this production-related data, for example, “alarm data” indicating an abnormality that has occurred in the production facility 3, “preparation lot number”, “raw material input amount” of the beverage filled in the filler 3C, “supply start date / time” “ “Supply end date / time”, “Material lot number”, “Use start date / time”, “Use end date / time”, “Material manufacturer name”, “Date and time of delivery”, etc. for caps and labels used in the capper 3D and labeler 3E Collected.
In addition, each production facility 3 makes a pass / fail judgment on the container to be processed, and the container determined to be defective is rejected in the production facility 3, and each control terminal 5 receives the container determined to be nondefective every predetermined time. The number of non-defective products and the number of rejected containers determined as defective products are counted, and the cumulative number of non-defective products and the cumulative number of discharged products in each production facility 3 are collected from the control terminal 5 to the production facility management system 2.
And about the rejected container, the exclusion reason data about the exclusion reason is collected and stored by the production facility management system 2.

Next, the inspection equipment 4 will be described. The empty bottle inspection machine 4B takes an image of an empty container washed by the bottle washing machine 3A with a camera, and the control terminal 5B scratches the surface of the container from the taken image. And the like are detected, and the quality of the container is determined.
The container determined to be non-defective is supplied to the filler 3C located on the downstream side, and the container determined to be defective is rejected by the empty bottle inspection machine 4B.
The actual bottle inspection machine 4F takes a picture of a container having been filled, capped, and labeled with a camera by the filler 3C, capper 3D, and labeler 3E.
Then, the control terminal 5F detects the foreign matter in the beverage from the photographed image, compares the photographed image with a pre-registered reference image, and determines whether the beverage filling amount and the label sticking position are acceptable. The container determined to be a non-defective product is supplied to the production facility 3 located downstream of the actual bottle inspection machine 4F, and the container determined to be defective is rejected.

In the above pass / fail judgment, various measured values obtained by quantifying an abnormality occurring in the container and an error with respect to a reference image are used.
For example, in the control terminal 5F of the actual bottle inspection machine 4F, the position of the liquid level of the beverage and the deviation of the label position with respect to the pre-registered reference image are used as the measurement values, for example, the position of the label attached to the container However, if the deviation is 22% with respect to the reference image, the control terminal 5F sets the measurement value for this label position to 22%.
Further, the control terminal 5F makes a pass / fail judgment according to the measured value. In this embodiment, when the measured value exceeds 15% with respect to the label position, the container is determined to be defective, and in particular, the measured value. When the amount exceeds 20%, the container is determined to be defective and the actual bottle inspection machine 4F is stopped.
The production facility management system 2 collects the measured values from the control terminal 5 as inspection result data for each container.
In addition to the ratio to the reference image, various numerical values such as scratches on the container surface and foreign substances in the beverage can be used as the measured value.

Next, the production facility management system 2 is communicably connected to each of the control terminals 5 via a communication line 6 such as a LAN, collects production related data and inspection result data from the control terminal 5, and these data are collected. Is collected in the data file 11a, and the measurement value of the inspection result data recorded and stored in the data file 11a is classified into the following inspection levels, and the number of occurrences is counted for each inspection level. When the number of occurrences reaches a predetermined number of occurrences, the judgment means 12 that outputs an alarm, the search means 13 that performs various searches on the state of the bottling line 1 from the data file 11a, and the following alarm issued by the judgment means 12 and the search by the search means 13 And a monitor 14 for displaying the result.
The above inspection level is a step-by-step classification of the state of the container including the non-defective product as a result of the inspection by the empty bottle inspection machine 4B and the actual bottle inspection machine 4F. The measurement value for each inspection item in the inspection facility 4 is divided into a plurality of stages for each predetermined range.
As an example, when the inspection level about the label position by the said real bottle inspection machine 4F is shown, the measured value regarding a label position is 0-5%, 5-10%, 10-15%, 15-20%, 20%, respectively. It is divided into each super range.
That is, in the present embodiment, even if the measured value related to the label position is determined to be non-defective by the actual bottle inspection machine 4F, the container is classified into a plurality of inspection levels.
Needless to say, the range of measurement values set at this inspection level can be set freely.

The inspection level for each of these inspection items is registered in advance in the determination value setting unit 15 connected to the determination unit 12, and the determination unit 12 receives the inspection result from the control terminal 5 of the inspection facility 4. When the data is collected, it is determined to which inspection level the measurement value included in the inspection result data is set in the determination value setting means 15.
The determination value setting means 15 is registered in advance with a predetermined number of occurrences for each inspection level, and the determination means 12 monitors the collected inspection result data, and the number of occurrences of the corresponding measurement value for each inspection level. And the count value is stored.
When the measurement values corresponding to the predetermined inspection level are collected a predetermined number of times, the determination means 12 issues an alarm to the monitor 14 and the control terminal 5 of the inspection facility 4 where the inspection level is detected. It is supposed to let you.
For example, regarding the inspection of the label position by the actual bottle inspection machine 4F, the determination means 12 counts the number of occurrences of each inspection level occurring in one day, and the measured value of 5 to 10% is 50 times / day, 10 to 15 % Measurement value is 20 times / day, 15 to 20% measurement value is 10 times / day, and every time a measurement value exceeding 20% is generated, an alarm is generated.
In addition, regarding the inspection of the label position by the actual bottle inspection machine 4F, the determination unit 12 collects how many times each inspection level is generated continuously, and the measured value of 5% or more is continuously 10 times or more than 10%. The measured value is continuously generated 5 times, the measured value of 15% or more is continuously 3 times, and the measured value exceeding 20% is generated each time an alarm is generated.
Further, regarding the inspection of the label position by the actual bottle inspection machine 4F, the determination means 12 collects how often each inspection level occurs, and a measurement value of 5% or more is a ratio of 25 out of 100. 10% or more of the measured values are 10 out of 100, 15% or more of the measured values are 5 out of 100, and more than 20% of the measured values are generated every time they occur. It has become.
The inspection level is not limited to the above-described measurement value range, and the number of occurrences until an alarm is generated is not limited to the above-described method.
Furthermore, it is not necessary to register all of the above-described conditions for generating an alarm in the determination unit 12, and it is sufficient that at least one of the conditions is registered.

The alarm generated by the determination means 12 is set with an alarm level corresponding to each inspection level. For example, inspections where the measured value of the label position is 5 to 10% and 10 to 15%. The alarm about the level is “mild”, and the alarm about the inspection level corresponding to the measured value of 15 to 20% and over 20% is displayed on the monitor 14 or the like that the alarm level is “severe”. ing.
In the present embodiment, the alarm level is divided into two levels, “mild” and “severe”, but can be further classified.

The data collection means 11 collects the production-related data, the number of non-defective products, and the number of rejects from the control terminal 5 of the production facility 3, and collects the measurement value for each container from the control terminal 5 of the inspection facility 4. The inspection level data determined by the determination means 12 based on the measured value is associated and stored in the data file 11a.
The search means 13 searches the data file 11a created by the data collection means 11 for the relationship between the inspection level and the production related data, and the search results shown in FIGS. To be displayed.
2 and 3 will be described in detail later. FIG. 2 shows the result of the aggregation for the inspection level for each label manufacturer, and FIG. 3 shows the result of the aggregation for the inspection level for each label lot. .

Hereinafter, operations of the bottling line 1 and the production facility management system 2 will be described. In accordance with the beverage products to be produced, materials such as beverages, labels and caps to be filled are supplied to each production equipment 3 in advance, and data such as production lot numbers and preparation lot numbers are also controlled by each production equipment 3. Input to the terminal 5.
When the bottling line 1 is operated from this state, an empty container is taken out from the inside of the case by an unillustrated answerer, and the empty container is supplied to the bottle washing machine 3A.
In the bottle washing machine 3A, the empty bottle is washed, and the washed container is supplied to the empty bottle inspection machine 4B.
The empty bottle inspection machine 4B inspects the container for flaws and cracks, the control terminal 5 obtains the measured values for the condition of the flaws and cracks in the container, and the production equipment management system 2 inspects the result of the inspection together with the time at which the container is inspected. Collect as data.
Here, if the measured value of the inspected container for scratches or cracks exceeds a predetermined value, that is, if the container has scratches or cracks, the container is determined to be defective and an empty bottle. It is rejected by the inspection machine 4B.

Further, the container supplied from the empty bottle inspection machine 4B to the filler 3C is filled with a beverage in the filler 3C, and when an abnormality such as defective filling occurs in the filler 3C, the container is rejected as a defective product.
The container filled with the beverage by the filler 3C is capped by the capper 3D, and when an abnormality such as a winding failure occurs in the capper 3D, the container is rejected as a defective product.
The container capped by the capper 3D is labeled by the labeler 3E. When an abnormality such as a sticking failure occurs in the labeler 3E, the container is rejected as a defective product.

The container after filling, capping and labeling of the beverage is transported to the actual bottle inspection machine 4F, where the actual condition of the liquid level of the beverage, the presence or absence of foreign matter in the beverage, the position of the label, etc. A pass / fail judgment is made.
For example, when the measured value for the label position is 15% or less, if there is no problem with the height of the liquid level, this container is transported as a non-defective product to the production facility 3 located on the downstream side by a caser or palletizer (not shown). Packed and shipped.
Conversely, if the measured value exceeds 15%, the container is rejected. If the measured value exceeds 20%, the container is rejected and the actual bottle inspection machine 4F is stopped. It has become.
In parallel with these, the control terminal 5 of each production facility 3 and inspection facility 4 counts the number of non-defective products every time each production facility 3 and inspection facility 4 treats the container as a non-defective product, and calculates the number of emissions each time it is rejected. By counting, the data collection means 11 collects the number of non-defective products and the number of discharges every predetermined time.

Next, the production facility management system 2 performs the following processing on the inspection result data collected from the control terminal 5 provided in the inspection facility 4.
First, the case where the measurement value related to the label position included in the inspection result data in the actual bottle inspection machine 4E is 8% will be described as an example. At this time, the actual bottle inspection machine 4E determines that the container is a non-defective product and supplies the container to the downstream production facility 3 without rejecting the container.
When the inspection result data is collected by the data collection unit 11, the determination unit 12 searches the determination value setting unit 15 based on the collected data, and the measurement value for the label position is 5 to 10%. The data collection means 11 adds the inspection level data to the inspection result data and stores it in the data file 11a.
On the other hand, the determination unit 12 monitors the contents of the inspection result data collected by the data collection unit 11, and a predetermined occurrence such as the inspection level of 5 to 10% of the measurement value is collected 50 times a day. When the number of times is collected, the determination unit 12 causes the monitor 14 and the control terminal 5F to display an alarm having an alarm level of “mild”.

In this way, even if the actual bottle inspection machine 4F is a container that is not rejected as a defective product, an alarm is generated if the measured value of the container corresponds to a predetermined inspection level and the inspection level is collected a predetermined number of times. It is supposed to be.
The alarm level of the alarm generated here is “mild”, but the occurrence of this “mild” alarm level means that “good products close to defective products” are processed many times by the labeler 3E. Is shown.
If the occurrence of this “good product close to a defective product” is left as it is, there is a high possibility that a container that will be rejected by the actual bottle inspection machine 4F will be generated, which may eventually lead to a stop of the actual bottle inspection machine 4 itself. End up.
Therefore, by generating an alarm when a “non-defective product close to a defective product” is generated a predetermined number of times, the labeler 3E can be adjusted in advance to prevent the occurrence of defective products, and further, a real bottle inspection machine. It becomes possible to prevent the stop of 4F.

Next, the case where the measurement value relating to the label position of the inspection result data corresponds to the inspection level of 15% to 20% will be described. At this time, the actual bottle inspection machine 4E determines that the container is defective and rejects the container.
When the inspection result data is collected by the data collection unit 11, the determination unit 12 searches the determination value setting unit 15 based on the collected data, and the measurement level for the label position is 15% to 20%. The data collection means 11 adds the inspection level data to the inspection result data and stores it in the data file 11a.
When the measurement value corresponding to the inspection level is collected ten times a day, for example, when the predetermined number of occurrences is collected, the determination unit 12 gives the alarm level “severe” to the monitor 14 and the control terminal 5F. An alarm is displayed and the real bottle inspection machine 4F is forcibly stopped.
In this way, even when a defective product is generated, an alarm with a “severe” alarm level is displayed, and the actual bottle inspection machine 4F is forcibly stopped so that a “severe” alarm level thereafter. As a result, the container that leads to is not processed, and the amount of defective products generated can be reduced.
Furthermore, in the shipping inspection process that is performed at the time of shipment, it is possible to perform, for example, a intensive inspection of the label position by checking the content of the alarm that has occurred, and the occurrence of defective products after shipment. It can be reduced as much as possible.

The data collection means 11 stores the inspection result data and inspection level data for each container inspected by the inspection equipment 4 in the data file 11a, and the search means 13 uses the data file 11a. Thus, the tables shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 are created.
The table in FIG. 2 shows the number of occurrences and the rate of occurrence at each inspection level for each label manufacturer, regarding the inspection results of the actual bottle inspection machine 4F on the label position on July 1, 2004. Yes.
In addition, the table in FIG. 3 shows the number of occurrences and the rate of occurrence for each inspection level for each material lot in the label maker “CCC” regarding the inspection result of the actual bottle inspection machine 4F on the label position on July 1, 2004. Is shown.

Hereinafter, as an example, a procedure in which the search unit 13 counts the number of occurrences for each inspection level for each label manufacturer in FIG. 2 will be described.
First, the search means 13 searches the data file 11a and specifies the use range where the label of the label maker “AAA” was attached to the container.
In the case of the present embodiment, the label of the label manufacturer “AAA” is used for a period until the labeler 3E processes the 50,000th container from the first container, and the labeler is determined from the number of containers processed in this period. The value obtained by subtracting the number of rejected containers rejected by 3E is used as the label usage range of the label manufacturer “AAA” in the actual bottle inspection machine 4F.
When the use range of the label is specified in this way, the search means 13 uses the inspection result data and the inspection level data regarding the container when the container processed in the use range is inspected by the actual bottle inspection machine 4F. And the number of occurrences is counted for each inspection level related to the label position, and the occurrence rate for each inspection level is calculated.
Further, the search means 13 performs the above procedure for the labels of labels makers other than “AAA” and totals the number of occurrences for each inspection level of each label maker, thereby creating the table of FIG.
Also, since the table of FIG. 3 can be created in the same procedure as described above, a detailed description of the creation procedure is omitted.

According to the table of FIG. 2 created in this way, since the number of occurrences corresponding to the inspection level is tabulated for each label maker, for example, an alarm level is attached to a container with a label maker “CCC” attached. It can be seen that the measurement value of the inspection level corresponding to “severe” frequently occurs.
For this reason, the operator who sees this table can examine whether there is no abnormality in the label used in the labeler 3E or whether there is any abnormality in the labeler 3E.
Also, in the shipping inspection process that is performed at the time of shipment, by performing the inspection while checking the contents of this table, for example, it is possible to conduct a intensive inspection for the position of the label, and the generation of defective products after shipment is minimized. It becomes possible to reduce.
In the table of FIG. 3, the number of occurrences corresponding to the inspection level is tabulated for each material lot. By using this table, materials that have generated a large number of inspection levels with an alarm level of “severe”. You can ask the lot label maker to take action.

  In the above embodiment, the measurement value of the container inspected by the inspection facility 4 is classified into the inspection level. However, when the production facility 3 such as the filler 3C and the capper 3D measures the filling amount and the capping torque. Since these production facilities 3 can also be regarded as the inspection facilities 4, it is possible to classify the inspection levels according to the measured values of the filling amount and the capping torque and apply the contents of the above-described embodiment.

The layout concerning the bottling line and production equipment management system which concern on a present Example. A table created by the search means that counts the number of occurrences for each inspection level for each label maker. A table created by the search means that counts the number of occurrences for each inspection level for each label lot.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bottling line 2 Production equipment management system 3 Production equipment 4 Inspection equipment 5 Control terminal 11 Data collection means 12 Judgment means 13 Search means 15 Judgment value setting means

Claims (6)

In a production facility management system having a data collection means for collecting measurement values of articles inspected by an inspection facility,
The above measured values are divided into at least three inspection levels according to the degree of the measured values,
A predetermined number of occurrences is determined for each inspection level, and a determination unit that outputs an alarm when a measurement value corresponding to the predetermined inspection level is collected by the data collection unit for a predetermined number of occurrences at the inspection level. Production equipment management system characterized by that.   The production facility management system according to claim 1, wherein the measurement value is divided into a plurality of inspection levels within a range of measurement values of an article that the inspection facility determines to be non-defective.   2. The determination unit according to claim 1, wherein when the measurement value corresponding to a predetermined inspection level is collected by the data collection unit a predetermined number of times during a predetermined period, an alarm is output. Item 3. The production facility management system according to Item 2.   4. The determination unit according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit outputs an alarm when a measurement value corresponding to a predetermined inspection level is collected by the data collection unit continuously for a predetermined number of occurrences. The production facility management system according to any one of the above.   The determination means outputs an alarm when a measurement value corresponding to a predetermined inspection level is collected by the data collection means a predetermined number of times with respect to the quantity of articles inspected by the inspection facility. The production facility management system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.   6. The production facility management system according to claim 1, wherein the alarm is divided into a plurality of alarm levels according to the inspection level.

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