JP2006221463A - Universal design environment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a means for surely notifying an operator in a factory facility of warning. <P>SOLUTION: A machine tool 12 in a factory facility is provided with an abnormality detection part 14 for detecting abnormality, and for transmitting a start signal and a warning generator 16 for receiving the start signal from the abnormality detection part 14 to generate warning. The start signal from the abnormality detection part 14 is received by a radio interface 26. The radio interface 26 receives the start signal from the abnormality detection part 14, and transmits a radio signal 28. The radio signal 28 transmitted from the radio interface 26 is received by an oscillation generator 30 which an operator 32 in the factory facility is wearing. The vibration generator 30 which has received the radio signal 28 generates vibration, and notifies an operator 32 wearing the vibration generator 30 of warning. In this universal design environment, the operator is notified of warning according to vibration, so that it is possible to surely notify the operator of warning. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a universal design environment.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a mechanism for detecting an abnormality such as wear and life of a machine in a factory facility, such as a grinding tool, and notifying an operator of an alarm has been widely used (for example, see Patent Documents 1 to 3). The alarm is notified to the worker by turning on an alarm lamp or generating an alarm sound. The alarm lamp can detect an alarm without being separated from a hearing impaired person or a healthy person, but often cannot detect the alarm until the direction of the alarm lamp is viewed. In addition, an alarm cannot be detected when the user is away from a machine with an alarm lamp.

  In the case of a healthy person, the alarm sound can be almost detected if it is in the vicinity of the alarm speaker, but an operator who wears earplugs in the noise may miss the alarm sound. Moreover, in the case of a hearing-impaired person, since the alarm sound cannot be detected, this leads to closing the employment opportunity at the manufacturing site by the machine. Furthermore, considering the safety and functionality of older workers, systems that rely on sound need to be reviewed. In addition, it is necessary to respond to the recent revision of the law accompanying the barrier-free approach. In any case, unlike in homes or offices, there is a limit to the effect of information transmission by sound, regardless of hearing, at a manufacturing site that uses a machine tool that generates noise.

  As a signal for informing a worker with hearing impairment of an alarm or the like, a patrol light using light is recommended (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1). However, the alarm using light has a drawback that the operator cannot sense the alarm until the direction of the alarm lamp is viewed.

  On the other hand, there are many notification systems using a vibrator function, typically mobile phones (see, for example, Patent Documents 4 to 9). As these features, the interface between a vibration generator such as a mobile phone having a vibrator function and an activation mechanism that sends an activation signal to the vibration generator at the time of alarm notification is a proprietary territory and is provided as an option. Even in such a case, it is necessary to set it according to the model of the mobile phone manufacturer, so that it cannot be used as a common subsystem arranged in the factory facility. In addition, factory facilities that are manufacturing sites surrounded by machines often have closed structures that shield radio waves, and the use of a mobile phone system that must pass through a switch outside the facility is completely effective. (For example, see Patent Document 10).

There is also a method of receiving a specific sound such as an alarm sound in a living environment and converting such audio data into another form of data that is easily perceived by the user. Such a system is a technique for people who are in a car or a hearing impaired person, and is a technique for people who cannot sense sound (for example, Patent Documents 11 to 17). However, these technologies are not intended for use in factory facilities. Moreover, there is no interface conversion mechanism with a general alarm notification facility, and it is limited to in-house similar models for a proprietary interface. Therefore, general factory facilities are not versatile.
JP-A-56-33256 JP 58-90445 A JP 62-94250 A JP-A-7-111678 Japanese Patent Application No. 8-126061 JP-A-9-261733 JP-A-9-247722 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-224074 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-113065 JP 2000-41288 A JP-A-2-274007 JP 2001-175986 A JP 2004-61932 A Registered Utility Model No. 3042026 Japanese Patent No. 3043730 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-168381 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-75438 "Hearing Impairment Promotion Manual for Persons with Hearing Disabilities", Study Group on Development of Techniques for Promoting Workplace Fixation for Persons with Disabilities, December 1995

As described above, it is difficult for the conventional alarm notification system in the factory facility to reliably notify the operator of the alarm.
In view of such a situation, the present invention intends to provide means for reliably notifying an operator of an alarm in a factory facility.

  The present invention is a universal design environment for informing a worker in a factory facility of an alarm, provided in a machine in the factory facility, an abnormality detection unit for detecting a machine abnormality and transmitting a start signal, and an abnormality detection An alarm notification mechanism for receiving an activation signal from a section and generating an alarm, and a radio signal that is arranged in a factory facility and transmits a radio signal when the abnormality detection section detects a machine abnormality And a vibration generator that can be worn by an operator in a factory facility and that generates a vibration by receiving a wireless signal from the wireless interface.

  According to this configuration, when the abnormality detection unit of the alarm notification mechanism detects an abnormality of the machine, the wireless interface transmits a wireless signal, and the vibration generator worn by the worker receives this wireless signal and generates vibration. Therefore, an alarm can be reliably notified to the worker in the factory facility. In the present invention, the alarm generator only needs to have a function of generating an alarm when the activation signal is received, and it is not always necessary to actually generate an alarm by an alarm sound or an alarm light. In the present invention, a machine abnormality does not necessarily mean a machine failure, but includes all information generated when the machine is in an unusual state, such as machine wear or completion of machine process operations. Shall be.

  In this case, it is preferable that the vibration generator notifies the type of alarm by a change in either the amplitude or the frequency of the generated vibration. According to this configuration, the operator can obtain information such as the location where an abnormality has occurred or the type of abnormality, for example, based on a change in at least one of the amplitude and frequency of the generated vibration.

  In this case, the wireless interface can receive an activation signal from the abnormality detection unit and transmit a wireless signal. According to this configuration, since the wireless interface receives the activation signal from the abnormality detection unit and transmits the wireless signal, the vibration generator worn by the operator can generate vibration when the abnormality of the machine occurs.

  Further, in this case, the wireless interface can receive the activation signal distributed from the activation signal sent from the abnormality detection unit to the alarm generator. According to this configuration, since the wireless interface receives the activation signal distributed from the activation signal sent from the abnormality detection unit to the alarm generator, the alarm generator receives the activation signal and generates an alarm, At the same time, the wireless interface can receive the distributed activation signal and transmit the wireless signal to generate vibration in the vibration generator worn by the operator. For this reason, it is possible to simultaneously perform both alarm notification using an alarm sound or the like and alarm notification using vibration.

  Alternatively, the wireless interface can receive an alarm from an alarm generator and emit a wireless signal. According to this configuration, since the wireless interface receives an alarm from the alarm generator and transmits a wireless signal, the vibration generator worn by the operator can generate vibration when a machine abnormality occurs.

  According to the present invention, a means for reliably notifying an operator of an alarm in a factory facility is provided.

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

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a universal design environment according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The universal design environment 10 of the present embodiment is configured as a system that notifies an alarm to the worker 32 in the factory facility. The universal design environment 10 according to the present embodiment is not particularly intended for the hearing impaired person, but is a general manufacturing site using the machine tool 12, and whether or not there is information generated by the machine tool 12 without depending on hearing, 32 is a means for transmitting to 32. The universal design environment 10 of the present embodiment has a wireless communication function and a vibration function instead of an alarm sound that may be overlooked in noise when an abnormality occurs such as a signal for completion of work, failure of a machine tool, wear, life, etc. Is used.

  A machine tool 12 is installed in the factory facility. In general, the machine tool 12 includes, as existing equipment, an abnormality detection unit 14 that detects an abnormality such as wear and life and transmits an activation signal, and receives an activation signal from the abnormality detection unit 14 and receives an alarm light. Alternatively, an alarm notification mechanism including an alarm generator 16 for generating an alarm by an alarm sound is provided. In the present embodiment, the activation signal from the abnormality detection unit 14 is received by the wireless interface 26 from the bus connector 18 via the extension cable 20, the A / D converter 22, and the signal cable 24. When the wireless interface 26 receives the activation signal from the abnormality detection unit 14, the wireless interface 26 transmits a radio wave signal 28. The radio wave signal 28 transmitted from the wireless interface 26 is received by the vibration generator 30 worn by the worker 32 in the factory facility. The vibration generator 30 that has received the radio wave signal 28 generates a vibration so that an alarm can be notified to the worker 32 wearing the vibration generator 30.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing connections in the machine tool according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The general machine tool 12 includes a machine tool drive unit 38 for performing main functions as a machine tool such as grinding, cutting, drilling, and conveyance. Abnormalities such as work completion, wear, life, and failure in the machine tool drive unit 38 are detected by the abnormality detection unit 14 as machine monitor information. Specifically, the abnormality detection unit 14 includes a sensor, an amplifier, a comparator, a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like that detect heat, light, electricity, sound, pressure, smoke, and the like in the machine tool driving unit 38. The activation signal from the abnormality detection unit 14 includes identification information indicating the end of work, wear, life, failure, and the position where they occurred. If the activation signal from the abnormality detection unit 14 is a conventional device, the alarm generator 16 is connected from the bus 34 on the abnormality detection unit 14 side through the bus connector 18 and the bus 34 on the alarm generator 16 side as indicated by a broken line. Sent to. The alarm generator 16 receives an activation signal, emits an alarm sound from an alarm speaker, and emits alarm light from an alarm lamp. In the present embodiment, the connector 18 on the abnormality detection unit 14 side is removed from the bus 34 connecting the abnormality detection unit 14 and the alarm generator 16, and is connected to the extension cable 20 following the A / D converter 22. As a result, the activation signal from the abnormality detection unit 14 is sent to the wireless interface 26 via the A / D converter 22 and the signal cable 24.

  In the example of FIGS. 1 and 2, when the activation signal from the abnormality detection unit 14 is an analog signal, it is A / D converted into a digital signal as shown, but depending on the case, the A / D converter 22 is not used. The abnormality detection unit 14 and the wireless interface 26 may be directly connected by the signal cable 24. That is, A / D conversion is unnecessary when the activation signal from the abnormality detection unit 14 uses a digital signal. Further, even when the activation signal from the abnormality detection unit 14 does not use a digital signal, the A / D conversion may not be necessary because the wireless interface 26 does not require digital processing. Alternatively, D / A conversion may be necessary. The main point of this embodiment is not a conversion technique, but a method of sending an activation signal to the wireless interface 26.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the wireless interface according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The wireless interface 26 of the present embodiment is configured in accordance with the HomeRF-SWAPIEE 802.11 series interface standard, and includes an alarm range setting device 40, an alarm sensing device 42, a signal converter 44, and a vibration generating radio wave transmitter 46. . Here, a wireless interface can be configured using wireless communication means other than HomeRF. However, for example, a method using a mobile phone is not preferable because communication via an exchange outside the closed site is required even if the communication interface is broadband. Infrared communication IrDA is not preferable in the field where a large number of machine tools are installed, because there is a strong possibility of being blocked by the machine.

  The alarm area setting device 40 of the wireless interface 26 includes a filter circuit, a comparator, a counting circuit, and the like, and selects an activation signal to be sent to the alarm sensing device 42 from the received activation signals by appropriately setting the alarm area. Be able to. The alarm sensing device 42 includes an RF converter, a synthesizer, a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like. The alarm sensing device 42 recognizes the activation signal sent from the alarm area setting device 40, and in accordance with the type of the activation signal, the subsequent signal converter 44. The vibration generating radio wave transmitter 46 can be controlled. The signal converter 44 is configured to be able to perform baseband processing, and includes a transmission processing unit control register unit, a test function unit, and the like. The vibration generating radio wave transmitter 46 includes an RF circuit, a peripheral macro, a host interface, and a wireless LAN interface so that a radio wave signal 28 corresponding to the type of the signal can be transmitted by a signal from the signal converter 42. Has been. The function required for the vibration generating radio wave transmitter 46 is only to activate the vibration generator, there is no need to confirm the response and to synchronize, and the purpose can be achieved with only a simple function without monitoring.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the vibration generator according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The vibration generator 30 of the present embodiment can be worn by an operator in a factory facility, and includes a vibration generating radio wave receiver 48, a signal determination unit 50, a drive circuit 52, and a vibrator 54. The vibration radio wave receiver 48 is mainly composed of an RF circuit, and receives the radio wave signal 28 from the wireless interface 26 and converts it into an electric signal. The signal discriminating unit 50 includes a filter circuit, a comparator, a counting circuit, etc., discriminates the type of the electric signal from the vibration generating radio wave receiver 48, and drives the driving circuit 52 according to the type of the electric signal. A signal is given. The drive circuit 52 causes the vibrator 54 to generate a vibration having an amplitude and a frequency corresponding to the drive signal from the signal determination unit 50.

  The operation of the universal design environment according to this embodiment will be described below. First, when the abnormality detection unit 14 detects an abnormality and transmits an activation signal as machine monitor information during operation of the machine tool 12, the transmitted activation signal is transmitted via the extension cable 20, the AD converter 22, and the signal cable 24. Is received by the alarm range setting device 40 of the wireless interface 26 (S10). The alarm zone setting device 40 determines whether or not the activation signal is a designated signal (S12), and if it is a designated signal, sends the activation signal to the alarm sensing device 42 (S14). If it is not a signal, the operation is terminated. In the alarm sensing device 42, a signal corresponding to the type of the activation signal is sent to the vibration generating radio wave transmitter 46 via the signal converter 44 (S16). The vibration generating radio wave transmitter 46 sends the radio wave signal 28 to the vibration generator 30 worn by the worker 32 in the factory facility (S18). The vibration generator 30 that has received the radio wave signal 28 causes a vibration having an amplitude and a frequency corresponding to the radio wave signal 28 (S20). Thereby, the worker 32 is notified of the type of alarm such as the location of the failure and the content thereof.

  In the universal design environment according to the first embodiment described above, since the worker in the factory facility is notified of the alarm by vibration, the alarm is reliably notified even in the factory facility where the noise is large. In addition, since the wireless interface of this universal design environment is versatile, it can be installed as it is in most of existing factory facilities.

  Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the connection between the machine tool and the wireless interface according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the connection in the machine tool according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, the wireless interface 26 receives the activation signal distributed from the activation signal sent from the abnormality detection unit 14 to the alarm generator 16. Is different. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the bus 34 from the abnormality detection unit 14 is connected to the hub 36, and the bus 34 from the hub 36 is connected to the alarm generator 16. A signal cable 24 from the hub 36 is connected to the wireless interface 26. In the present embodiment, an activation signal is sent to the alarm generator 16 of the machine tool 12 in addition to the wireless interface 26 by such connection. For this reason, it is possible to simultaneously notify the alarm by the alarm sound from the alarm generator 16 and the alarm by the vibration generation from the vibration generator 30.

  Hereinafter, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the present embodiment, the wireless interface is different from the first and second embodiments in that it directly receives an alarm from an alarm generator of a machine tool and transmits a radio signal to the vibration generator. In the present embodiment, the machine tool 12 including the abnormality detection unit 14 and the alarm generator 16 is not modified at all. In the vicinity of the alarm generator 16 of the machine tool 12, an alarm sound sensor 56 that detects an alarm sound from the alarm generator 16 is disposed. The alarm sound sensor 56 is connected to the same wireless interface 26 as that in the first and second embodiments described above by the signal cable 24. In the present embodiment, the wireless interface 26 can receive the alarm from the alarm generator 16 and transmit the radio signal 28 by the above configuration.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of an alarm sound sensor according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The alarm sound sensor 56 of this embodiment includes a microphone unit 58, a sound range determination unit 60, a control unit 62, and a signal converter 64. The microphone unit 58 includes a microphone that senses an alarm sound, a microphone amplifier that amplifies a signal, and the like. The sound range discriminating unit 60 includes a filter circuit, a comparator, and the like, and sends only an audio signal having a frequency within a predetermined threshold to the subsequent stage. The control unit 62 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and sends a signal corresponding to the audio signal from the sound range determination unit 60 to the subsequent stage in the form of an activation signal. The signal converter 64 includes an A / D converter or a D / A converter, and converts the signal into a format corresponding to the processing format of the wireless interface 26.

  The operation of the universal design environment according to this embodiment will be described below. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the universal design environment according to the third embodiment of the present invention. First, when the abnormality detection unit 14 detects an abnormality and the alarm generator 16 emits an alarm sound during operation of the machine tool 12, the alarm sound generated by the alarm generator 16 is transmitted to the microphone unit 58 of the alarm sound sensor 56. (S110). Here, the sound range discriminating unit 60 determines whether or not it is the designated sound range (S112), and if it is the designated sound range, sends a start signal to the wireless interface 26 (S114), and if it is not the designated sound range. End the operation. The following operations are the same as those in the first and second embodiments, and the alarm range setting device 40 of the wireless interface 26 determines whether or not the activation signal is a designated signal (S116). If the received signal is an activated signal, an activation signal is sent to the alarm sensing device 42 (S118). If not, the operation is terminated. The alarm sensing device sends a signal to the vibration generating radio wave transmitter 46 (S120). In the vibration generating radio wave transmitter 46, the radio wave signal 28 is sent to the vibration generator 30 (S122). The vibration generator 30 that has received the radio signal 28 causes vibration (S124).

  In the universal design environment according to the third embodiment described above, it is possible to provide a universal design environment in which an alarm is notified by vibration without modifying any alarm notification mechanism installed in an existing machine tool. Can be high.

  It should be noted that the universal design environment of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

  For example, in the universal design environment of the present embodiment described above, the worker in the factory facility is notified of the type of alarm according to the type of vibration. The alarm itself is not necessarily required to be transmitted. Therefore, the vibration is not used for complicated information transmission, but may be a trigger for recognizing the presence or absence of information transmission, and a display device, calculation processing, etc. are not necessarily essential.

It is a figure which shows the universal design environment which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the connection in the machine tool which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the radio | wireless interface which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the vibration generator which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the universal design environment which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the connection of the machine tool which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention, and a radio | wireless interface. It is a figure which shows the connection in the machine tool which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the universal design environment which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the alarm sound sensor which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the universal design environment which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Universal design environment, 12 ... Machine tool, 14 ... Abnormality detection part, 16 ... Alarm generator, 18 ... Bus connector, 20 ... Extension cable, 22 ... A / D converter, 24 ... Signal cable, 26 ... Wireless interface, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 28 ... Radio wave signal, 30 ... Vibration generator, 32 ... Worker, 34 ... Bus, 36 ... Hub, 38 ... Machine tool drive part, 40 ... Alarm zone setting device, 42 ... Alarm sensing device, 44 ... Signal converter, 46 ... vibration generating radio wave transmitter, 48 ... vibration generating radio wave receiver, 50 ... signal discrimination unit, 52 ... drive circuit, 54 ... vibrator, 56 ... alarm sound detector, 58 ... microphone unit, 60 ... sound range discrimination unit, 62: control unit, 64: signal converter.

Claims (5)

A universal design environment that alerts workers in a factory facility,
An abnormality detection unit that is provided in a machine in the factory facility, detects an abnormality of the machine and transmits a start signal, and an alarm generator for receiving a start signal from the abnormality detection unit and generating an alarm An alarm notification mechanism comprising:
A wireless interface that is disposed in the factory facility and that transmits a wireless signal when the abnormality detection unit detects an abnormality of the machine;
A vibration generator that can be worn by an operator in the factory facility and that generates vibration by receiving a wireless signal from the wireless interface;
Universal design environment with   The universal design environment according to claim 1, wherein the vibration generator notifies an alarm type by a change in at least one of an amplitude and a vibration frequency of the generated vibration.   The universal design environment according to claim 1, wherein the wireless interface receives an activation signal from the abnormality detection unit and transmits a wireless signal.   The universal design environment according to claim 3, wherein the wireless interface receives an activation signal distributed from an activation signal sent from the abnormality detection unit to the alarm generator.   The universal design environment according to claim 1, wherein the wireless interface receives an alarm from the alarm generator and transmits a wireless signal.

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