JP2010140333A - Production system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a production system which can surely refer to the necessary information in a short amount of time when a worker carries out an assembling work to a body to be assembled to. <P>SOLUTION: The production system includes: an assembly line 3 that transports the body to be assembled to 1 and carries out the assembling work for the body to be assembled 1; an information retaining section 4 which is transported integrally with the body to be assembled to 1 by the assembly line 3 and retains the production information for the body to be assembled 1; a reading means 5 for reading the production information from the information retaining section 4; and a display unit 6 that displays the work information corresponding to the production information that is received through the reading means 5. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  This invention is used in, for example, automobile manufacturing factories, etc., in particular, so-called mixed varieties that continuously produce a plurality of types of products having similar process sequences and work methods, and mix them into a single line. The present invention relates to a production system suitable for use in a line.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, for example, in an engine assembly line in which a workpiece 1 as an assembly is continuously and randomly flowed on a conveyor 2 in order to produce a plurality of types of engines for vehicles and the like. The worker S who assembles a part to each workpiece 1 refers to the work procedure manual 50 in which the assembling method of the part and precautions for assembling are entered. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the worker S confirms the product number (“015” in the illustrated example) of the work 1 that has flowed on the conveyor 2, and a plurality of work instructions posted on the assembly line. The work procedure manual 50 having the same product number as that product number is identified from among the 50 and the assembly work is performed with reference to the work procedure manual 50.

JP 2006-350773 A JP 2007-11832 A

  However, each worker S needs to finish a predetermined assembling work on the work 1 within a predetermined transport tact (tact time), and in particular, the skilled work in terms of experience and proficiency of the assembling work. In the case of newcomers (newcomers) or temporary workers who are inferior to the elderly, there is a tendency that the act of referring to the work manual 50 becomes a bottleneck and causes problems.

  For example, the worker S may erroneously refer to the work procedure manual 50 to be referred to. In this case, an assembly failure occurs and extra time is required for reworking, or due to inappropriate assembly work. There is a risk of an accident. In addition, if the worker S spends too much time referring to the work manual 50, there is a high possibility that the assembly work will not end in the transport tact and the assembly line will be stopped. If the assembly work is performed in a hurry, an assembly failure or an accident may occur as in the case where the operation manual 50 is misidentified.

  Furthermore, since the work space allocated to each worker S is limited, for example, the type of engine to be manufactured from the work 1 and the number of parts assembled to the work 1 are large, and the type and number of work instructions 50 are large. In many cases, not all of them can be posted side by side in the work space. In such a case, posting several work manuals 50 or filing the work manual 50 as a handbook only increases the time spent on identifying the work manual 50. In addition, there is a possibility that the work procedure manual 50 may unexpectedly turn over, and there is a possibility that the problem of the misrecognition of the work procedure manual 50 may be promoted.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned matters, and the purpose of the present invention is to provide a production system that enables an operator to reliably reference information necessary for performing assembly work on a body to be assembled in a short time. It is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, a production system according to the present invention includes an assembly line for transporting an assembly and an assembly operation for the assembly, and the assembly by the assembly line. Corresponding to the production information received via the reading means, an information holding part that is transported integrally with the information holding part and holds the production information of the assembly, a reading means for reading the production information from the information holding part And a display device for displaying work information (claim 1).

  The production system may include a host device that is connected to the display device and changes the work information stored in the display device.

  Furthermore, the production system may include switching means for switching a region to be displayed on the display device in the work information to another region.

  In the invention according to claim 1, it is possible for the worker to refer to the information necessary for the assembly work on the assembly body in a short time, and therefore the proper assembly work can be performed quickly. Therefore, a production system that contributes to high-quality production can be obtained.

  Moreover, in the invention which concerns on Claim 1, the frequency | count of generation | occurrence | production of the stop of the assembly line by exceeding a conveyance tact (tact time) can also be reduced.

  Furthermore, when a tool or the like used during assembly work is suspended from the ceiling side toward the assembly site, for example, as shown in FIG. It is easy to happen that a hose of a tool, a string for hanging, etc. are caught on any work manual 50 and the reference to the work manual 50 is hindered. However, the invention according to claim 1 can display necessary work information at each assembly place on one display device. Therefore, if the display device is arranged at an appropriate position, the above problem can be easily achieved. It can be avoided.

  Further, since the conventional operation manual 50 is obtained by printing an electronic document created using appropriate software on paper, the format (form) is different if the type of software is different. Depending on the difference, the way of printing display is changed, and depending on the worker S, there is a possibility that a part that is difficult to refer to is formed. However, in the invention according to claim 1, even in such a case, if the format of the electronic document is unified by, for example, a file viewer, the above problem can be easily solved.

  In addition, the invention according to claim 2 has the following effects. That is, in the conventional case using the work procedure 50 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, if there is a change in the process in the assembly line 3, the work procedure 50 is replaced and the types of products and semi-finished products to be produced When added, the operation manual 50 corresponding to this increased type must be additionally attached to all processes. Therefore, the response to the process change and the addition of the type as described above has been limited to holidays when the line stops. However, in the invention according to claim 2, by updating the work information of each display device using the host device, it is possible to flexibly cope with process changes and addition of types in a short time, and such The correspondence is not limited to holidays, but can be implemented, for example, before or after work on weekdays.

  In the invention according to claim 3, even if the amount of work information is large, the worker can easily refer to all the work information by the switching means.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a configuration of a production system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a configuration of a main part of the production system.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the production system according to the present embodiment includes an assembly line 3 that conveys a workpiece 1 as an assembly by a conveyor 2 and performs an assembly operation on the workpiece 1. The work 1 that has passed through the attachment line 3 finally becomes a vehicle engine. Here, the work 1 is a cylinder block, and the assembling work in the assembling line 3 means that parts such as a crank (crankshaft), a head (cylinder head), and a cam (camshaft) are working on the work 1. The work assembled by the person S.

  The production system according to the present embodiment includes an information holding unit 4 that is transported integrally with the workpiece 1 by the assembly line 3 and holds the production information of the workpiece 1, and a reading unit that reads the production information from the information holding unit 4. 5 and a display device 6 for displaying work information (work procedure data in this example) corresponding to the production information received via the reading means 5.

  Here, the information holding unit 4 is a non-contact wireless IC tag such as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), the reading unit 5 is an ID antenna that can exchange information wirelessly with the IC tag, and a display device 6. Is a notebook personal computer (personal computer) having a monitor and electrically connected to the reading means 5. The information holding unit 4 is attached to the pallet P that holds the workpiece 1, while the reading means 5 and the display device 6 are provided in an assembly place (process) that each worker S takes charge of.

  The production information held by the information holding unit 4 is information (for example, a product number or a product code) indicating a product or a semi-finished product to be produced by assembling the work 1.

  Further, the work information displayed by the display device 6 is information indicating the contents of the assembly work for the work 1 indicated by the production information. Specifically, in addition to the parts assembly procedure and quality conditions for the work 1 In this embodiment, the work procedure data is configured to be displayed in the format of the work procedure, including precautions when assembling. That is, the display device 6 provided in the assembly site has the contents of all assembly operations performed in the assembly site as a work information database, and is received from the information holding unit 4 via the reading unit 5. Based on the production information, predetermined work information is retrieved from the work information database and displayed on the monitor.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the display device 6 has a button 7 as a switching means for switching a region to be displayed on the display device 6 in the work information to another region by wire or wirelessly. It is connected. This button 7 is also provided in the assembly place.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of display devices 6 are provided, and each display device 6 has a host for changing the work information (work information database) stored in each display device 6. A device (a desktop personal computer in this example) 8 is electrically connected.

  Next, the operation of the production system having the above configuration will be described.

  In the production system described above, the work 1 is intermittently transported at a predetermined transport tact by the assembly line 3, and when the work 1 reaches the assembly site, the reading means 5 provided in the assembly site includes: Production information (for example, a product number) is automatically read from the information holding unit 4 attached to the pallet P holding the workpiece 1 and transmitted to the display device 6.

  The display device 6 that has received the production information retrieves work information (work procedure data) corresponding to the production information from the work information database and displays it on the monitor.

  Here, when the area that is the display target of the display device 6 in the work information is a part, that is, when the amount of work information is large and displayed on the screen as two or more work instructions, By operating (pressing) the button 7, another area (next page) of work information can be switched and displayed on the display device 6. In this case, after the operation of the button 7 is performed several times and all the work information is displayed on the display device 6, when the operation of the button 7 is further performed, the initial screen display is restored.

  In the production system configured as described above, the production information given in advance to the workpiece 1 flowing on the conveyor 2 is automatically read by the reading means 5, and the work information corresponding to this production information is automatically read by the display device 6. Is displayed. Therefore, when the worker S performs the assembling work at the assembling site, information necessary for the assembling work can be reliably obtained in a short time from the display device 6, so that the appropriate assembling work can be performed quickly. As a result, high-quality production can be realized. Further, it is possible to reduce the frequency of line stoppage caused by exceeding the transport tact (tact time).

  Furthermore, when a tool or the like used during assembly work is suspended from the ceiling side toward the assembly site, for example, as shown in FIG. It is easy to happen that a hose of a tool, a string for hanging, etc. are caught on any work manual 50 and the reference to the work manual 50 is hindered. However, in the present embodiment, since the work information is displayed on one display device 6, the above problem can be easily avoided by arranging the display device 6 at an appropriate position.

  Further, in the conventional case using the work procedure 50 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, if there is a process change in the assembly line 3, the work procedure 50 is replaced, and the type of product / semi-finished product is added. In such a case, the operation manual 50 corresponding to the increased type must be additionally attached to all the processes. Therefore, the response to the process change and the addition of the type as described above has been limited to holidays when the line stops. However, in this embodiment, by updating the work procedure data (work information database) of each display device 6 using the host device 8, it is possible to flexibly cope with process changes and addition of types in a short time. In addition, such a response is not limited to a holiday, and can be implemented, for example, before or after work on weekdays.

  Further, since the conventional operation manual 50 is obtained by printing an electronic document created using appropriate software on paper, the format (form) is different if the type of software is different. Depending on the difference, the way of printing display is changed, and depending on the worker S, there is a possibility that a part that is difficult to refer to is formed. However, in this embodiment, even in such a case, if the format of the electronic document is unified by, for example, a file viewer, the above problem can be easily solved.

  Further, for example, when pre-training for newcomers or temporary workers is performed using a training assembly line provided outside the assembly line 3, the display device 6 is brought into the training assembly line and displayed. Pre-education can be easily performed by directly operating the device 6 to display necessary work information.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be implemented with various modifications. For example, although the case where the present invention is applied to an engine production system is illustrated in the above embodiment, it is needless to say that the present invention can also be applied to production systems for other vehicle parts, the vehicle itself, and other devices. Similarly, the assembly target is not limited to the engine.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the ID antenna that performs non-contact communication with the IC tag as the information holding unit 4 is not limited to being used as the reading unit 5. For example, communication with the IC tag by contact is possible. An IC tag reader / writer that performs the above may be used as the reading means 5.

  Furthermore, the information holding unit 4 is not limited to electronically holding production information, and may be, for example, a barcode. In this case, a barcode reader may be used as the reading unit 5.

  In the above embodiment, for example, work information for assembling the cam is not stored in the display device 6 arranged in the assembling place for assembling the crank with respect to the work 1. The work information database included in the device 6 includes only work information necessary at the assembly place where the display devices 6 are arranged. However, in order to improve the compatibility between the display devices 6, a work information database including work information necessary for all assembly sites may be stored in each display device 6. In this case, the reading means 5 provided in each assembling place adds identification information such as position information given in advance to the reading means 5 corresponding to each assembling place to the production information read from the information holding unit 4. In addition, the information may be transmitted to the display device 6, and the display device 6 may be configured to collate the production information with the identification information and search and display the corresponding work information.

  The configuration of the button 7 can be changed as appropriate, for example, by providing a page feed button and a page return button, and a lever or the like can be used as a switching means instead of the button 7. Further, the switching means is not limited to the one that requires the operation of the worker S, and may be configured to automatically switch the screen display of the display device 6 by a timer, for example.

It is explanatory drawing which shows roughly the structure of the production system which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows schematically the structure of the principal part of the said production system. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the conventional production system roughly. It is explanatory drawing which shows schematically the structure of the principal part of the conventional production system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Assembly object 3 Assembly line 4 Information holding part 5 Reading means 6 Display apparatus 7 Switching means 8 Host apparatus

Claims (3)

  An assembly line for transporting the assembly and an assembly operation for the assembly, and an assembly line for transporting the assembly to be integrated with the assembly to hold production information of the assembly A production system comprising: an information holding unit; a reading unit that reads the production information from the information holding unit; and a display device that displays work information corresponding to the production information received via the reading unit.   The production system according to claim 1, further comprising a host device connected to the display device and configured to change the work information stored in the display device.   The production system according to claim 1, further comprising a switching unit configured to switch a region that is a display target of the display device in the work information to another region.

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