JP2723713B2 - Control method of injection molding machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling an injection molding machine, and more particularly to a method for controlling an injection molding machine which detects vibrations caused by an earthquake or the like and controls the machine in accordance with the degree of the vibrations. Things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent injection molding machines controlled by a microcomputer, a microcomputer serving as a machine controller executes an automatic molding operation based on a molding process control program created in advance and setting condition data set by an operator. And this gives 2
It enables four-hour driving and unmanned driving. In addition, during the above-mentioned automatic molding operation, data from sensors provided in the respective parts is taken in, actual measurement operation data is monitored to determine a good / defective product, and abnormality judgment processing is performed from the taken actual measurement data and the like. Then, emergency stop control of the machine (injection molding machine) is performed.

[0003]

By the way, in public vehicles such as trains, subways, elevators, etc., there is a system in which vibration caused by an earthquake is detected and an emergency stop is performed. , Vibrations caused by an earthquake, etc., are reflected in the process of determining good / defective products,
There is not yet a machine that performs an emergency stop of the machine. However, recent injection molding machines manage and control operating conditions in detail to perform precision molding.
For this reason, when vibration occurs due to an earthquake or construction around a machine (injection molding machine), or vibration occurs in the machine itself, there is a high possibility that a molded product becomes defective, and in particular, a CD or The frequency of defective products due to vibration increases as products with severe precision molding conditions (molded products) such as lenses and the like increase. However, conventional injection molding machines have no means to sense vibration, so vibrations due to earthquakes etc. Could not be detected and reflected in the pass / fail determination process. In addition, even if the vibration of pumps, motors, mechanical working parts, etc. becomes large due to poor maintenance, aging, failure, etc. of the machine itself, and it becomes difficult to obtain good molded products, there is no means to sense the vibration. There is also a problem that it is difficult to determine whether or not the defect is caused by the defect, and it takes time to analyze the cause of the defective molding.

Further, when a large earthquake occurs,
Since a machine (injection molding machine) has a heater and a hydraulic control system, there is a danger of a secondary disaster such as a fire if the machine is not stopped or the heater power is not shut off. As described above, since there was no means for sensing vibration, it was not possible to immediately stop the machine and turn off the power immediately when a large earthquake occurred.

It is to be noted that, regardless of the magnitude of the vibration, the machine (injection molding machine) is always stopped and the power is turned off, regardless of the magnitude of the vibration, regardless of whether the vibration is small or large. However, in the case of public vehicles, there is no way to put safety first, with human life as the first priority.However, in the case of injection molding machines, even with slight vibration, the machine stops operating at that point. As a result, when the unattended automatic molding operation is performed for 24 hours, there is a problem that the operating efficiency of the machine is significantly reduced.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above points,
The purpose is to be able to automatically perform appropriate countermeasures according to the degree of vibration, thereby making it possible to more appropriately determine good / defective products and to improve safety. To provide a control method for an injection molding machine with high reliability.

[0007]

According to the present invention, in order to attain the above object, an automatic molding operation is executed by a machine controller which controls an entire injection molding machine, and various information can be displayed by being controlled by the machine controller. In a control method of an injection molding machine having a display device, a vibration sensor is provided in the vicinity of the injection molding machine or the injection molding machine, and the machine controller determines the magnitude of vibration based on detection information from the vibration sensor, If the vibration is above the first level and below the second level during the automatic forming operation,
The machine controller causes an alarm message to be displayed on the display device to determine a defect in the molded product of the shot, but continues the automatic molding operation. During the automatic molding operation, the vibration exceeds the second level and the third If the vibration level exceeds the third level during the automatic molding operation, the machine controller displays an alarm message on the display device to temporarily suspend the automatic molding operation. The controller stops the automatic molding operation and turns off the power.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the machine controller (microcomputer) determines whether the vibration level is small, medium, or large based on the measurement information from the vibration sensor. And
When the vibration is at a small level, it is determined that the molding is defective, and the molded product of the shot at the time of occurrence of the vibration is transported to a defective product storage by, for example, an automatic product removal machine, and an alarm message is displayed on a display device. Automatic operation is continued. In addition, when the vibration is at a moderate level, the molding operation of the machine is immediately suspended,
An alarm message is displayed on the display device, and thereafter, for example, when the automatic restart mode is selected, the automatic forming operation is restarted when it is confirmed that the vibration has stopped. If the vibration is at a large level, the machine is immediately stopped to turn off the power, and an alarm message is displayed on the display device by, for example, battery operation, and the operator is waited for inspection.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a control system of an injection molding machine according to one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a machine controller (microcomputer) that controls the operation of the entire machine (injection molding machine), 2 denotes a sensor group including a large number of sensors provided in each section of the machine, and 3 denotes each section of the machine. A driver group composed of a large number of driver circuits for driving and controlling a large number of arranged driving sources;
Is a key input device disposed on the front of the machine, and 5 is a display device such as a color CRT display and a color LCD disposed near the key input device 4.
Note that the sensor group 2 includes an acceleration sensor (for example,
Japan Aviation Electronics Industry, Ltd .: MA101 accelerometer, J
A-5V type accelerometer) is included. In this embodiment, the vibration sensor 2a is mounted in a machine, but may be arranged on a floor or the like near the machine in some cases. May be.

The machine controller 1 controls the entire molding process such as a charging operation, an injection operation, a mold opening / closing operation, and an eject operation, calculates and stores measured data, determines a good / defective product, and determines an abnormality. And the control process of the output image of the display device 5 and the like. This machine controller 1 actually has various I / Os
It is mainly composed of a microcomputer having an O interface, a ROM, a RAM, a CPU, etc., and executes various processes by various programs created in advance. The following description will be given assuming that the apparatus includes the process control unit 7, the measured value storage unit 8, the monitor data processing unit 9, the abnormality determination unit 10, and the display control unit 11.

Various operating condition values input by the key input device 4 and the like are stored in the molding condition setting storage unit 6 in a rewritable form. As the operation condition values, for example, the relationship between the screw position and the screw rotation speed and the back pressure during the charge stroke, suckback control conditions,
Injection speed conditions and injection pressure conditions from the injection start point (position) to the holding pressure switching point (position), secondary injection pressure (holding pressure) conditions from the holding pressure switching time to the holding pressure end time, band heaters of each part Temperature, mold closing (mold closing) stroke and speed control conditions, mold clamping force, mold opening stroke and speed control conditions, eject control conditions, control conditions of automatic product unloading machine, and the like.

The molding process control unit 7 is configured to control the sensor group provided in each part of the injection molding machine based on a molding process control program created in advance and setting condition values stored in a molding condition setting storage unit 6. The driver group 3 (motor) is referred to by referring to data from an actually measured value storage unit 8 that captures measurement information from a position sensor 2, a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, and the like in real time, and time measurement information from a clock incorporated therein. A corresponding driving source is driven and controlled via a driver, a hydraulic cylinder driver, a heater driver, and the like, and a series of molding steps are executed.

The actually measured value storage section 8 stores all actually measured data of preset monitor items during continuous automatic operation over a predetermined number of consecutive shots. The monitored items to be captured include a time monitoring item, a position monitoring item, a rotation speed monitoring item, a speed monitoring item, a pressure monitoring item, a temperature monitoring item, a power monitoring item, and the like. Are almost overlapped. Further, in the present embodiment, the measurement information by the vibration sensor 2a is also taken into the actually measured value storage unit 8, whereby the machine controller 1 can detect the vibration caused by the earthquake, construction around the machine, or the like, and the machine The generated vibration is sensed and its level is determined.

The monitor data processing section 9 fetches the data of the molding condition setting storage section 6 and the actual measurement value storage section 8 and within the upper and lower limits set in advance for each monitor item (permissible for assuring non-defective product molding). It is determined for each shot whether or not all the measured data is within the range), and this determination result is sent to the molding process control unit 7 and the display processing unit 11 as necessary. That is, based on the determination result of the monitor data processing unit 9, the molding process control unit 7
Drives and controls an automatic product take-out machine (not shown) so that the product is placed on, for example, a conveyer for non-defective products if the product is judged to be good, and the product is carried to, for example, a defective product storage if the product is judged to be defective. .

The abnormality judging section 10 fetches the data of the molding condition setting storage section 6 and the actual measurement value storage section 8 and refers to the contents of an abnormality judgment table (not shown) which has been subjected to a case study in advance to determine that no abnormality has occurred. Is constantly monitored. Then, when the abnormality determination unit 10 recognizes the occurrence of the abnormal situation,
For example, a warning sound is generated, and corresponding message information is extracted from an alarm message storage unit (not shown), and the display control unit 11 forcibly displays an alarm message on the display device 5. Also,
If the content of the abnormality is determined to be equal to or higher than the predetermined level, a signal indicating this is sent from the abnormality determination unit 10 to the molding process control unit 7 so that the molding process control unit 7 stops the machine in an emergency. Has become. In the present embodiment, the abnormality determination unit 10 determines the level of the vibration measurement information by the vibration sensor 2a and determines whether the vibration exceeds the first level and is equal to or lower than the second level (whether the vibration is a small level). If the vibration is above the second level and below the third level (whether the vibration is at a moderate level),
(Vibration level is large), and a control signal corresponding to the vibration level is sent to each unit.

That is, when the vibration is at a small level, the abnormality determination unit 10 makes the molding process control unit 7 and the display control unit 11 recognize this fact, and causes the molding process control unit 7 to perform The molded product of the above shot is transported to the defective product storage by the automatic product takeout machine, the display controller 11 is caused to display an alarm message on the display device 5, and an audible alarm is generated by an audible alarm generator (not shown). Let it. In this case, the automatic molding operation is continued. When the vibration is at a medium level, the abnormality determination unit 10 causes the molding process control unit 7 and the display control unit 11 to recognize this fact, and causes the molding process control unit 7 to temporarily stop the machine. At the same time, the display control unit 11 causes the display device 5 to display an alarm message, and generates a warning sound by a warning sound generating means (not shown). When the vibration is at a large level, the abnormality determination unit 10 makes the molding process control unit 7 and the display control unit 11 recognize this fact, causes the molding process control unit 7 to stop the machine immediately, Further, a power supply circuit (not shown) is used to turn off the power of the machine, the machine is switched to the battery drive state, the display control unit 11 is caused to display an alarm message on the display device 5, and an alarm sound generating means (not shown) Generates an alarm. At this time, the alarm message information is stored in an alarm history storage unit (not shown) which is backed up by a battery (of course, even if the vibration is at a small or medium level, the alarm message is stored in the alarm history storage unit). Alarm message information is stored in the alarm history storage unit).

The display control section 11 receives a display screen selection command from the operator through the key input device 4,
One of a number of mode screens created in advance with reference to a screen creation table (not shown) is displayed on the display screen of the display device 5, and the molding is performed as necessary according to the selected screen mode. The data stored in the condition setting storage unit 6, the actual measurement value storage unit 8, and the monitor data processing unit 9 or the processed output data are appropriately taken in, and various condition setting mode screens, current shot state monitoring mode screens, various actual measurement A graphic or numerical display mode screen of data, various statistical mode screens, and the like are displayed. Further, when an abnormality occurs in the display state of the above-mentioned arbitrary screen mode, the display control unit 11 extracts corresponding message information from an alarm message storage table (not shown) and forcibly displays an alarm message. I have.

Next, the operation of this embodiment having the above configuration will be described. Now, when vibration occurs due to an earthquake or the like while the machine is performing continuous molding in the automatic molding operation mode, the vibration level is detected by the vibration sensor 2a, and the vibration level is taken into the measured value storage unit 8, and the measured value is stored in the measured value storage unit 8. The level determination of the vibration data is performed by the abnormality determination unit 10. Then, as a result of the level determination by the abnormality determination unit 10,
When the vibration exceeds the first level and is equal to or lower than the second level (when the vibration is at a small level), the abnormality determination unit 10
Sends a signal indicating that the vibration is "small" to the molding process control section 7, and causes the molding process control section 7 to use the automatic product take-out machine to form a molded product of the current shot (when vibration is generated). Is transported as a defective product to a defective product storage. Further, a signal indicating that the vibration is “small” is also sent from the abnormality determination unit 10 to the display control unit 11, whereby the display control unit 11 retrieves the corresponding message information from the alarm message storage table, and For example, an alarm message as shown in FIG. Furthermore, the abnormality determination unit 10 generates an audible alarm by an audible alarm generator (not shown). In the present embodiment, the molded products for which the defect has been determined are transported to the defective product reservoir by the automatic product take-out machine.However, a suitable molded product sorting means for separating the molded products released from the mold is provided. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that an automatic product dispenser can be substituted.

When the level of the actually measured vibration data exceeds the second level and is equal to or lower than the third level (when the vibration is at a medium level), the abnormality determination unit 10 sets the vibration to “medium”.
Is sent to the molding process control unit 7, and the molding process control unit 7 immediately suspends the automatic molding operation to ensure safety. at the same time,
The abnormality judging unit 10 also sends a signal indicating that the vibration is “medium” to the display control unit 11, whereby the display control unit 1
1 retrieves the corresponding message information from the alarm message storage table and causes the display device 5 to forcibly display an alarm message as shown in FIG. 3, for example. Further, the abnormality determination unit 10 generates an audible alarm by an audible alarm generating unit (not shown). Here, in the present embodiment, it is confirmed that the transition from the above-described operation suspension (interruption) to the automatic molding operation resumption is performed in the manual resumption mode in which the automatic molding operation is resumed by a manual operation, or that the vibration has stopped. At this point, it is possible to select whether or not to perform the automatic resuming mode in which the machine controller 1 automatically resumes the automatic molding operation. When the user designates one of the resuming modes in advance, the manual operation is performed. It is possible to select whether to restart the operation by automatic operation or automatic restart. This is because in an operating situation where there is an operator near the machine and it can be assumed that the machine will be manually restarted in a short time, it is better for the operator to manually restart the machine after checking the machine when it is temporarily stopped. It is possible to further enhance safety, and on the other hand, in the case of unmanned operation at night, for example, automatic restarting increases production efficiency, so that the manual restart mode and the automatic restart mode can be selected on a case-by-case basis. This is because user convenience is better. FIG. 3 shows an alarm message when the above-described automatic restart mode is selected. In this automatic restart mode, the machine controller 1 controls the automatic molding operation by the molding process control unit 7 when the vibration stops and a predetermined time elapses. Automatically restart. If the manual restart mode is selected, a message such as "Please confirm the safety before restarting the operation manually" is displayed, and the operator performs appropriate key operations to control the molding process. The section 7 restarts the automatic molding operation.

When the level of the actually measured vibration data exceeds the third level (when the vibration is at a large level),
The abnormality determination unit 10 sends a signal indicating that the vibration is “large” to the molding process control unit 7 and the display control unit 11, and performs an automatic molding operation by the molding process control unit 7 in order to secure safety. Immediately stop the machine so that each part of the machine is in a stopped state. Also, a power supply circuit (not shown) is used to turn off the power of the machine and switch the machine to the battery drive state, thereby backing up only the main control circuit system of the machine. . The battery-backed display controller 11 retrieves the corresponding message information from the alarm message storage table, and forcibly displays an alarm message as shown in FIG. L
A CD can be backed up with a small power battery.) Further, the abnormality judging section 10 generates an alarm by an alarm sound generating means (not shown) also backed up by a battery, and the alarm message information at this time is stored in an alarm history storage section (not shown) backed up by a battery. To be. When such a large level of vibration occurs and the machine is completely stopped and the power is turned off, the operator is always required to wait for inspection, and after the operator inspects each part of the machine and finds that there is no abnormality, The automatic molding operation is restarted when the power is turned on and the operator issues an instruction to restart the operation by key operation as appropriate.

In the present embodiment, the actually measured vibration data taken into the actually measured value storage section 8 is stored separately for a horizontal component and a vertical component. It is possible to display the data on the display device 5 or output the data to a printer as necessary, so that it is possible to analyze, for example, the relationship between the measured vibration data and the quality of the molded product.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a control processing flow based on vibration detection executed by the machine controller. In step S1 shown in the figure, it is determined whether or not there is vibration. If YES, the process proceeds to step S2, and if NO, the process proceeds to step S8 to continue the automatic forming operation. In step S2, it is determined whether the sensed vibration is at the "small" level. If NO, the process proceeds to step S3. If YES, the process proceeds to step S7 to generate a molding failure signal and generate an alarm as shown in FIG. After the display, the process proceeds to step S8. In step S3, it is determined whether the sensed vibration is at the "medium" level. If NO, the process proceeds to step S4. If YES, the process proceeds to step S10. In step S10, the operation is temporarily stopped, an alarm is displayed as shown in FIG. 3 and the process proceeds to step S11, and after a predetermined time after confirming that the vibration has stopped in step S11, a molding operation automatic restart signal is generated. Step S above
Proceed to 8. On the other hand, in step S4, the machine is stopped and the power is turned off, the alarm is displayed as shown in FIG. 5 by driving the battery, and the alarm message is stored in the RAM or the like, and the process proceeds to step S5. In step S5, it is asked whether an operation restart command signal has arrived after the power is turned on. If NO, the process returns to step S4. If YES, the forming operation is restarted in step S6, and then the process proceeds to step S8. After step S8, the process proceeds to step S9. In step S9, it is determined whether or not the end timing of the automatic molding operation has been reached. If NO, the process returns to step S1, and if YES, the process ends.

[0023]

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, an appropriate countermeasure process can be automatically performed according to the degree of vibration, so that a good / defective product can be determined more appropriately. It is possible to provide a highly safe control method for an injection molding machine, and the value of the seed injection molding machine is great.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a control system of an injection molding machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an alarm message screen when vibration is at a low level according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an alarm message screen when vibration is at a medium level according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an alarm message screen when vibration is at a large level according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a control processing flow based on vibration detection executed by the machine controller according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Machine controller 2 Sensor group 2a Vibration sensor 3 Driver group 4 Key input device 5 Display device 6 Molding condition setting storage part 7 Molding process control part 8 Actual measurement value storage part 9 Monitor data processing part 10 Abnormality judgment part 11 Display control part

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] The present invention relates to an injection molding machine having an automatic molding operation performed by a machine controller that controls the entire operation of the injection molding machine and a display device controlled by the machine controller to display various information. Alternatively, a vibration sensor is provided in the vicinity of the injection molding machine, the machine controller determines the magnitude of the vibration based on the detection information from the vibration sensor, and the vibration exceeds the first level during the automatic molding operation.
If below level 2, the machine controller
Display an alarm message on the display device and
Despite making a defective judgment on the shot molded product, the automatic molding operation is continued.
The vibration exceeds the second level during the automatic forming operation and
If below level 3, the machine controller
Automatically display an alarm message on the display device
When the molding operation is temporarily interrupted and the vibration exceeds the third level during the automatic molding operation
The machine controller stops the automatic molding operation.
And turning off the power supply . 2. The machine controller according to claim 1 , wherein after the automatic molding operation is temporarily interrupted, a manual restart mode in which the automatic molding operation is resumed by a manual operation, and when it is confirmed that the vibration has subsided. Wherein the user can select an automatic restart mode for automatically restarting the automatic molding operation.