JP2019207543A - Equipment operation monitoring device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide equipment operation monitoring device that is less likely to be affected by installation environment and is highly reliable.SOLUTION: An equipment operation monitoring device is attached to a display lamp S that is turned on in a lighting condition corresponding to an operating state of equipment and comprises: a body unit 2; a light-receiving unit 3 provided facing a portion where light emerges from the display lamp S; and a light guide unit 4 by which the light-receiving unit 3 and the body unit 2 are connected and light of the display lamp S, received by the light-receiving unit 3, is guided to the body unit 2. The body unit 2 comprises: an optical sensor that detects light guided from the light guide unit 4; a processing unit that processes a detection result from the optical sensor; a power supply unit that supplies power required for a process in the processing unit; and a transmission unit by which a processing result from the processing unit is emitted outside by a radio signal.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a facility operation monitoring apparatus that can monitor the operating state of various facilities such as production facilities.

  Conventionally, there has been an apparatus that can check the operating state of a production facility (for example, see Patent Document 1). This is to confirm the operating state of the production facility by observing the lighting state of the laminated indicator lamp provided in the production facility in real time so as to be lit according to the operating state of the production facility.

  A plurality of embodiments are described in Patent Document 1, and among them, in FIG. 8 of Patent Document 1, a photosensor is attached to each stage display unit in the laminated display lamp, and the detection result of the photosensor is shown. A form that can be wirelessly transmitted from the transmitter is described. In this embodiment, the optical sensor and the transmission unit are connected by an electric wire.

JP 2002-132324 A

  However, in a factory, for example, electromagnetic waves may be generated around production equipment, and the detection result of the optical sensor may be affected by noise caused by the electromagnetic waves. In this case, there is a possibility that the reliability related to confirming the operating state of the production facility is lowered.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a highly reliable equipment operation monitoring apparatus that is not easily affected by the installation environment.

  The present invention is attached to an indicator lamp that lights in a lighting state according to the operating state of equipment, a main body portion, a light receiving portion provided facing a portion where light appears in the indicator lamp, the light receiving portion and the main body And a light guide part that guides light of the indicator lamp received by the light receiving part to the main body part, and the main body part detects light guided from the light guide part. A processing unit that processes the detection result of the optical sensor, a power supply unit that supplies power required for processing in the processing unit, and a transmission unit that transmits the processing result in the processing unit to the outside by a radio signal. Equipment operation monitoring device.

  According to this configuration, the light receiving section and the main body section are connected by the light guide section, and the light guided from the light guide section reaches the main body section as light. For this reason, even if electromagnetic waves are generated around the production facility, noise caused by the electromagnetic waves is not mixed in the detection result of the optical sensor.

  The light receiving unit may include a reflecting unit that changes a traveling direction of the light by reflecting the light of the indicator lamp.

  According to this configuration, the light of the indicator lamp received by the light receiving portion is reliably guided toward the main body portion.

  Moreover, the said light guide part is provided with an optical fiber, and the outer peripheral surface of the said optical fiber can also be covered with the film which suppresses permeation | transmission of light.

  According to this structure, it can suppress that the light which is not related to the detection of an optical sensor mixes in a light guide part.

  The main body may be further provided with a spacer arranged away from the surface of the indicator lamp.

  According to this configuration, for example, a main body can be attached to a speaker-integrated indicator lamp without closing the speaker.

  The power supply unit may include a solar cell exposed to the outside of the main body unit.

  According to this configuration, since no external power source is required, it is not necessary to connect an electric wire to the outside.

  In addition, the processing unit temporarily enters a sleep state when there is no change in the lighting state of the indicator lamp, and the sleep state is canceled when a change in the lighting state is detected through the optical sensor. Can be done.

  According to this configuration, the power consumption of the processing unit can be saved by setting the sleep state when there is no change in the lighting state.

  In addition, when it is detected that the lighting state has changed, the processing unit counts the number of input edges related to light detection in a certain period of time, and lights up, flashes, or turns off according to the counted number of times. The three states can be determined.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to reliably perform the determination at a constant time period.

  In addition, the processing unit immediately transmits the determination result of the three states through the transmission unit immediately after the start of the interrupt, and when each of the three states is continued, Compared to the lighting state for a certain time before the time point, if there is a change in status, the status after the change is transmitted through the transmitter, and if there is no status change, the transmission itself is not performed .

  According to this configuration, since the number of transmissions of the transmission unit can be reduced, power can be saved in the transmission unit.

  In the present invention, noise caused by electromagnetic waves is not mixed in the detection result of the optical sensor. Therefore, it is possible to provide a highly reliable equipment operation monitoring apparatus that is not easily affected by the installation environment.

It is the perspective view seen from the right side in the front and plane side which shows the state with which the equipment operation | movement monitoring apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention was mounted | worn with the indicator light. It is the perspective view seen from the right side in the front and plane side which shows the said equipment operation | movement monitoring apparatus. It is the perspective view seen from the left side in the front and bottom side which shows the said equipment operation | movement monitoring apparatus. The said equipment operation | movement monitoring apparatus is shown, (a) is a front view, (b) is a rear view. The said equipment operation | movement monitoring apparatus is shown, (a) is a top view, (b) is a bottom view. The said equipment operation | movement monitoring apparatus is shown, (a) is a right view, (b) is a left view. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the said equipment operation | movement monitoring apparatus. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the processing content in the process part regarding light detection in the said equipment operation | movement monitoring apparatus.

  Next, the present invention will be described by taking up embodiments.

  The equipment operation monitoring apparatus 1 of this embodiment is attached to equipment (not shown) such as production equipment in a factory, for example. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the facility has an indicator lamp S that is lit in a lighting state corresponding to the operating state of the facility. The production equipment is equipment for performing production activities, for example, a machine tool. The indicator lamp S is provided with a light emitting unit (not shown) inside, for example, a stack formed by stacking a plurality of lighting layers S1 that are lit in different colors (yellow, red, green, blue, etc.). An indicator lamp (an example of a product name is “Signal Tower” (registered trademark of Patlite Co., Ltd.)). The laminated display lamp as the display lamp S has, for example, a columnar shape (cylindrical shape, prismatic shape, etc.) that is long in the vertical direction, and the lighting layers S1 of each color are arranged in the vertical direction. The light emitting unit may be provided in a fixed manner, or may be provided so as to rotate while being lit inside the indicator lamp S. In addition, the “lighting” includes, for example, a case where the light is continuously lighted and a case where the light blinks in various patterns. In addition, the indicator lamp S may naturally be turned off.

  The facility operation monitoring apparatus 1 of this embodiment is configured as shown in FIGS. 2 to 7, and mainly includes a main body 2, a light receiver 3, and a light guide 4. The main body 2 includes an exterior case 21 made of, for example, a hard resin, an electrical component that is provided in the exterior case 21 and performs processing on the light of the indicator lamp S, a circuit board, and the like. Since the equipment operation monitoring device 1 may be installed in a dusty place such as in a factory, it is preferable that the outer case 21 is configured to be dustproof so that dust does not enter inside. In this embodiment, the main-body part 2 is fixed to the upper end surface of the indicator lamp S made into columnar shape (columnar shape). The main body 2 can be fixed to the indicator lamp S by various means. For example, the main body 2 can be fitted and fixed to the upper end surface portion of the indicator lamp S. In the present embodiment, the main body 2 is fixed via a spacer 5 described later. The spacer 5 is not essential in the present invention, and the spacer 5 may not be used. Moreover, it can also fix using the fixing means (fixing means which exhibits elasticity, or the fixing means which exhibits fixing force) separate from the main-body part 2, such as a screw, a clamp, a rubber band, and a wire. Moreover, it can also fix using a double-sided tape or an adhesive agent.

  The light receiving unit 3 is provided facing a portion where light appears in the indicator lamp S. When the indicator lamp S is a laminated indicator lamp, the portion where the light appears is the outer peripheral surface made of a colored transparent resin or the like in each lighting layer S1. In addition, in the case of a laminated display lamp, each lighting layer S1 is lit in a different color, so that a lighting state corresponding to the operating state of the equipment is realized. In order to grasp this lighting state, At least one light receiving unit 3 is provided. In this embodiment, since four lighting layers S1 are provided, a total of four light receiving units 3 are provided. For the purpose of improving reliability, two or more light receiving units 3 may be provided for each lighting layer S1.

  As shown in FIG. 3 and the like, the light receiving unit 3 of the present embodiment includes a frame portion 31 and a reflecting portion 32 disposed inside the frame portion 31. The reflection unit 32 has a function of changing the traveling direction of light by reflecting the light of the indicator lamp S. By this reflecting portion 32, the light of the indicator lamp S can be reliably guided to the main body portion 2 through the light guide portion 4. Although the detailed shape is not illustrated, the reflection part 32 of this embodiment is a prism made of transparent resin. The prism reflects light at a substantially right angle, and is disposed at a position where light can be transmitted to both the portion where the light appears in the indicator lamp S and the light guide unit 4. As shown in FIG. 1, the light receiving unit 3 is fixed by, for example, a band 33 (resin band or metal band) surrounding the outer periphery of the indicator lamp S. Correspondingly, a projection 311 is formed on the outer side of the frame 31 with respect to the indicator lamp S, and the band 33 can be hooked so as not to be displaced in the vertical direction. By using a transparent resin band as the band 33, it is possible to fix the light receiving unit 3 so as not to stand out. Furthermore, by using a soft resin band that exhibits elasticity, the light receiving unit 3 can be simply fixed simply by attaching the band 33 so as to surround the outer periphery of the indicator lamp S. In some cases, the light receiving unit 3 can be fixed by an adhesive.

  The light guide unit 4 connects each light receiving unit 3 and the main body unit 2 and is a portion extending in the vertical direction in the present embodiment. The light guide 4 is provided in correspondence with the light receiver 3. For this reason, in this embodiment, the four light guide parts 4 are provided. By the light guides 4, the light of the indicator lamps S received by the light receiving parts 3 can be guided to the main body 2 as it is (without being converted into current or the like). The light guide unit 4 of the present embodiment includes an optical fiber 41, and the lower end portion of the optical fiber 41 is connected so that light passes through the reflection unit 32 (prism) in the light receiving unit 3. Are connected to the optical sensor 22) so that light can pass through.

  The light guide 4 can transmit the light from the indicator lamp S to the main body 2 as it is. By the way, the structure which guides the detection signal of a photosensor to the main-body part 2 by electrical wiring can be considered by providing a photosensor facing the part where light appears in the indicator lamp S. In such a configuration, it is considered that the electrical wiring exposed to the outside of the main body 2 is affected by electromagnetic waves generated from an apparatus such as a machine tool, so that noise is mixed in the detection signal and adversely affects the detection accuracy. It is done. On the other hand, in the light guide unit 4 of this embodiment, since light is transmitted as it is, noise mixing as in the above configuration does not occur. Moreover, even if it is a case where a countermeasure against noise is taken, it may be taken only in the main body 2. For this reason, this embodiment has an advantage that the detection accuracy can be maintained while having a simple configuration.

  In the light guide unit 4 of the present embodiment, the outer peripheral surface of the optical fiber 41 is covered with a resin coating 42 that suppresses light transmission. By providing the coating 42 in this way, it is possible to suppress external light from entering the optical fiber 41 from the outer peripheral surface, that is, mixing of light that is not related to detection by the main body 2. Therefore, detection accuracy can be increased.

  The main body 2 mainly includes an optical sensor 22, a processing unit 23, a power supply unit 24, and a transmission unit 25 as shown in FIG. The optical sensor 22 functions as a light detection unit that detects light guided from each light guide unit 4. In the optical sensor 22 of the present embodiment, an LED 221 (specifically, RGB three-color LED) that functions as a light receiving element that generates electricity when receiving light, and a current detection IC 222 that detects a current generated by the LED 221 are combined. . With this configuration, light detection is always performed. In addition, the structure of the optical sensor 22 is not limited to this, It can be set as various structures. In the present embodiment, the number of the optical sensors 22 matches the number of the light receiving units 3.

  The processing unit 23 processes the detection result of the optical sensor 22. In this embodiment, the processing unit 23 is provided as a part of a microcomputer (see FIG. 7), which is a component of the control unit C included in the main body unit. In the processing unit 23, each state of lighting (continuous lighting), blinking (non-continuous lighting), and extinguishing in each lighting layer S1 of the laminated indicator lamp as the indicator lamp S based on the detection result of the optical sensor 22. Determine.

  An example of processing in the processing unit 23 relating to light detection is shown in FIG. In order to operate with low power consumption, this process is “standby” in the sleep state to be described later, and each lighting layer S1 changes from the lighting state to the extinguishing state, or changes from the extinguishing state to the lighting state (FIG. 8). (Change indicated by an arrow in FIG. 5) is detected by interruption, and only the change is counted (and stored), and when it enters a sleep state, it returns to “standby” again. Thus, when the lighting state does not change, the power consumption of the processing unit 23 can be saved by setting the sleep state.

  In the processing unit 23, the interrupt is started (in FIG. 8, the first second (the first change, this is also referred to as “interrupt” for convenience), the second 0.5th, the 34th)), Counts the number of input edges every certain time (3 seconds in this embodiment) after the start of an interrupt, that is, when the light is turned on or when the light is turned off. , Blinking, and extinguishing. Thereby, the determination in a fixed time period can be performed reliably.

  In the example of FIG. 8, it is determined as “lighting state” when there is one rise in the determination period (3 seconds), or when there is one rise in the previous determination period and there are no falls. Further, it is determined as “flashing state” when rising and falling are performed three times in the determination period. In addition, when there is one falling in the determination period, or there is one falling in the previous determination period and the rising is zero, it is determined as “light-off state”.

  The determination result of the three states is immediately transmitted to the outside of the main body unit 2 through the transmission unit 25 when the continuation of the predetermined time is the first time. On the other hand, when each of the three states is continued, a comparison is made with the state of the determination period (3 seconds) (lighting, blinking, and extinguishing states) before the time of the determination. In this case, the transmission unit 25 transmits data related to the changed state, and when there is no state change, the transmission itself is not performed. By reducing the number of times of transmission processing as much as possible, the power consumption of the equipment operation monitoring device 1 as a single unit can be reduced as much as possible. In addition, the reference time for performing the light detection and the counting process is made to correspond to the interrupt process of the first one channel among a plurality of channels (four channels in this embodiment).

  As described above, with regard to the processing in the processing unit 23, if only the detection of lighting or extinguishing is performed, the transmission processing can be performed immediately without delay, but since it is also necessary to detect blinking, in this embodiment By performing the above processing, low power consumption operation is realized while minimizing delay.

  The power supply unit 24 is a part that supplies power necessary for the main body unit 2, and supplies at least power required for processing in the processing unit 23. The power source unit 24 includes a solar cell 241 (solar panel) exposed to the outside of the main body unit 2. Since the installation location of the facility is mostly in a room such as a factory, the panel area of the solar cell 241 is determined according to the brightness of the installation location. According to this configuration, the provision of the solar cell 241 eliminates the need for an external power supply, and therefore does not require a wired connection to the outside with respect to the power supply required for processing in the processing unit 23. Therefore, it is possible to install the equipment operation monitoring device 1 simply by “place” the indicator lamp S without physically deforming the indicator lamp S or electrical wiring work for the power supply on the production facility side. The merit is great in that it can be mounted very easily. The power supply unit 24 is provided with a power storage element 242 that can store electricity generated by the solar cell 241. Examples of the power storage element 242 include a capacitor and a secondary battery. In the present embodiment, a primary battery 243 such as a button battery is also provided in case the generated power of the solar battery 241 is insufficient. The power supply control circuit 244, which is one component of the control unit C, monitors the power of the solar battery 241 and switches the power supply source to the primary battery 243 when the power is reduced. However, in the case of the configuration including the primary battery 243 as described above, the battery needs to be replaced after a certain period of time. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a battery case or the like on the premise of battery replacement.

  The transmission unit 25 transmits the processing result in the processing unit 23 to the outside of the main body unit 2 by a wireless signal. The transmission unit 25 includes, as one component of the control unit C, a transmission module 251 that performs control for transmission, and an antenna 252 that emits radio waves. As the transmission module 251, for example, a module that conforms to the standard of EnOcean (registered trademark of EnOcean, Germany) can be used (but is not limited to this).

  The transmission unit 25 of the present embodiment transmits radio waves at a constant period. However, when there is no change in the lighting state (specifically, the lighting states of all the lighting layers S1) determined by the processing unit 23 between the current time point and the previous time point in the fixed period, the transmission is not performed. Is set. By setting in this way, the number of transmissions of the transmission unit 25 can be reduced, so that the transmission unit 25 can save power.

  Note that regarding the “fixed period”, the control unit C (microcomputer) counts at a predetermined period of time (for example, the period of 3 seconds shown in FIG. 8). However, in this embodiment, as described above with respect to the processing unit 23, after a certain count (for example, 2 counts (6 seconds in the example of FIG. 8)) after the previous transmission of the radio wave, if the lighting state does not change, the sleep is temporarily performed. The state is not counted and the sleep state is canceled when the lighting state is changed as a trigger, and the constant count is started again from there. With this setting, the number of transmissions per fixed time can be reduced as compared with the above case, so that further power saving can be performed in the transmission unit 25. In addition, when the sleep state becomes long, for a life and death monitoring (monitoring whether or not there is a failure) of the control unit C, a constant cycle longer than the above cycle (not particularly limited, for example, about 15 minutes) It may be set such that the transmission unit 25 performs radio wave transmission such as packet transmission at a period). Further, on the condition that the indicator lamp S is completely turned off, the packet transmission period may be set to be longer.

  The radio wave transmitted from the transmitting unit 25 is received by a receiving unit (not shown) provided apart from the equipment operation monitoring device 1, and the received data is displayed and operated by software installed in a personal computer or the like. It can be used for rate counting, status change and monitoring of abnormalities. Furthermore, if the Internet is used, it will be possible to develop existing equipment into IoT, for example, by managing a large number of equipment in factories scattered throughout the country and carrying out maintenance as needed.

  Moreover, the equipment operation monitoring apparatus 1 of this embodiment can further include a spacer 5 that disposes the main body 2 away from the surface of the indicator lamp S (however, the spacer 5 is not essential in the present invention). , You can not prepare). The spacer 5 is configured to be detachable from the main body 2 and is attached to the main body 2 as necessary. Here, for example, a speaker-integrated indicator lamp S exists. The speaker may be opened by providing a large number of small holes so that sound is emitted from the upper end surface which is columnar. Even such an indicator lamp S can be lifted from the main body 2 by the spacer 5, so that it can be mounted on the indicator lamp S without blocking the speaker, and the function of the speaker is not deteriorated. In the present embodiment, the slide rail 6 is provided on the lower surface of the main body portion 2 so that the distance between one of the pair of spacers 5 can be adjusted with respect to the other.

  According to the equipment operation monitoring apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment configured as described above, it is possible to attach the indicator lamp S in the equipment without electrical modification. For this reason, since the equipment operation | movement monitoring apparatus 1 can be attached easily, it is easy to introduce the system which monitors the operation state of an equipment. Moreover, it is not limited to the time of newly installing the equipment, but can be easily retrofitted after a considerable period of time has elapsed after the start of operation. In addition, since no physical or electrical modification on the facility side is required, even the owner of the facility will not be reluctant to introduce the monitoring system.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various change can be added in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.

  For example, as an installation target of the facility operation monitoring apparatus 1 according to the embodiment, a production facility in a factory is given as an example, but even if it does not fall under the concept of production, it is a facility that performs some processing. Well, not particularly limited. For example, vending machines, car wash machines, commercial washing machines, and commercial dishwashers also fall under the above-mentioned facilities.

  Further, the reflecting portion 32 may be a plate-like mirror other than the prism in the embodiment.

  In addition to the optical fiber 41, the light guide 4 may be a light pipe made of resin.

  In addition, the light guide unit 4 in the embodiment is composed of one optical fiber 41. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and in order to correspond to the size of the indicator lamp S, the light guide unit 4 is composed of a plurality of members (for example, a plurality of optical fibers 41), and is connected to the longitudinal direction as desired. You may be able to do it. Moreover, the light guide part 4 may be provided with an expansion / contraction mechanism, and may be made to have a desired length by extending / contracting.

  As a reference example, a solar cell (separate from the solar cell 241 of the above-described embodiment) is provided facing the portion where light appears in the indicator lamp S, and the solar cell and the main body 2 are electrically connected ( It is also possible to configure so that the current generated in the solar cell can be detected by the main body 2 via the electrical wiring. Although not shown, the form of this reference example is a form in which the light receiving unit 3 shown in FIGS. 1 to 6A and 6B is replaced with a solar cell, and the light guiding unit 4 is replaced with electric wiring. It is. Even if it is the structure which concerns on this reference example, the function similar to the equipment operation | movement monitoring apparatus 1 which concerns on the said embodiment can be exhibited.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Facility operation monitoring apparatus 2 Main-body part 21 Exterior case 22 Optical sensor 23 Processing part 24 Power supply part 241 Solar cell 25 Transmission part 3 Light-receiving part 31 Frame part 32 Reflection part (prism)
4 Light Guide 41 Optical Fiber 42 Coating 5 Spacer S Indicator (Stacked Indicator)

Claims (8)

Attached to an indicator lamp that lights in the lighting state according to the operating state of the equipment,
The main body,
A light receiving portion provided facing a portion where light appears in the indicator lamp;
A light guide section that connects the light receiving section and the main body section and guides the light of the indicator lamp received by the light receiving section to the main body section;
The main body includes an optical sensor that detects light guided from the light guide unit, a processing unit that processes a detection result of the optical sensor, a power supply unit that supplies power required for processing in the processing unit, A facility operation monitoring apparatus comprising: a transmission unit that transmits a processing result in the processing unit to the outside by a radio signal.   The facility operation monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light receiving unit includes a reflecting unit that changes a traveling direction of light by reflecting light of the indicator lamp. The light guide includes an optical fiber;
The facility operation monitoring apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an outer peripheral surface of the optical fiber is covered with a film that suppresses light transmission.   The equipment operation monitoring apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a spacer for disposing the main body portion away from the surface of the indicator lamp.   The facility operation monitoring apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the power supply unit includes a solar cell exposed to the outside of the main body unit.   The processing unit once enters a sleep state when there is no change in the lighting state of the indicator lamp, and the sleep state is canceled when the change in the lighting state is detected through the optical sensor. The equipment operation monitoring apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5.   When it is detected that the lighting state has changed, the processing unit then counts the number of input edges related to light detection in a certain period of time, and lights, blinks, and turns off depending on the counted number. The equipment operation monitoring apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the state is determined. The processing unit obtains the determination result of the three states,
If the continuation of the predetermined time is the first time, immediately send through the transmitter,
When each of the three states is continued, a comparison is made with the lighting state for a certain period of time before the time of the determination, and when there is a change in state, the changed state is transmitted through the transmitter. The facility operation monitoring device according to claim 7, wherein when there is no state change, no transmission itself is performed.