JP3971754B2 - Numerical controller - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a numerical control device, and relates to prevention of unauthorized use of information set in the numerical control device.

  In the numerical control device, the manufacturer side previously stores setting information specific to the numerical control device such as an operating system and various parameters necessary for drive control, application programs, and optional parameters for enabling optional functions of the numerical control device. In general, it is stored in a storage means or the like and shipped.

In this numerical control device, the setting information data stored in the storage means may be abnormal or damaged due to a write operation or an overwrite operation due to a memory protection error due to a malfunction or erroneous operation of the numerical control device on the user side. . In preparation for such a case, since it is necessary to smoothly restore the numerical control device, the data stored in the storage means is backed up and saved on an external storage medium such as a memory card on the user side. ing.
FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining backup and re-setup of setting information of the numerical control device.

  In FIG. 9A, the numerical controller 101A includes a circuit board 102A on which a storage unit 103A is mounted, and data such as setting information 110 is stored in the storage unit 103A. The data of the setting information 110 is read out and saved in the external storage medium 107. In FIG. 9B, when the data in the storage unit 103A is damaged, data recovery is performed by re-setting the setting information 110 backed up in the external storage medium 107 into the storage unit 103A.

By re-setup this backup information in the numerical controller, the numerical controller can be used in the same state as at the time of shipment.
However, porting this backup information to a numerical control device other than a regular numerical control device may be an illegal copying act. In FIG. 9C, the setting information 110 backed up in the external storage medium 107 can be freely set up in the storage means 103B of the numerical control device 101B different from the original numerical control device 101A. This is not a preferable state, and even setting information that is not permitted to be copied is set up freely, and illegal copying may occur.
The backup information may include information relating to confidentiality such as non-public source code, and there is a demand for a mechanism that permits regular copying but does not allow unauthorized copying.

  In a numerical controller, as a method to prevent unauthorized copying of setting information, unique information that is different for each numerical controller is added when setting information is backed up. A method of permitting restoration is known (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining prevention of unauthorized copying using unique information.
In FIG. 10A, a numerical control device 101A includes a circuit board 102A on which a storage unit 103A is mounted. In the storage unit 103A, in addition to setting information data such as an option parameter for enabling an optional function, each numerical value is displayed. Stored is unique information 111a uniquely set in the control device. In backup of the setting information 110, the unique information 111 a is backed up to the external storage medium 107 together with the setting information 110. In FIG. 10B, when the data in the storage unit 103A is damaged, the setting information 110 backed up in the external storage medium 107 is re-setup in the storage unit 103A. The stored unique information 111a is collated with the unique information 111a stored in the storage means 103A.

  In the verification of the unique information, if the two unique information matches, storage of the setting information 110 in the storage unit 103A is permitted. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10C, when re-setup is performed for a different numerical control apparatus 101B, the unique information 111a stored in the external storage medium 107 and the unique information 111b stored in the storage unit 103B Are not matched, storage of the setting information 110 in the storage unit 103B is not permitted and setup is not performed. As a result, porting of illegal setting information can be prevented.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-254519 JP 11-249967 A

However, in the above-described method based on the verification of specific information, when hardware such as a circuit board storing the specific information is replaced for maintenance or the like, the setting information cannot be returned to the circuit board after replacement. There's a problem.
This is because when the hardware such as a circuit board is replaced as a unit for maintenance or the like, the storage unit 103 of the new replaced circuit board stores the unique information 111 stored in the backed-up external storage medium 107. This is because the setting information backed up in the external storage medium 107 cannot be set up because it is determined that the setup is incorrect based on the mismatch of the unique information.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to enable resetting of setting information regardless of prevention of illegal setting of setting information using unique information in replacement of a circuit board by maintenance.

  The present invention has maintenance information dedicated to maintenance that permits or disallows resetting of setting information separately from the unique information in the storage means of the numerical control device, so that even if the collation result of the unique information does not match, By making it possible to reset the setting information with this maintenance information, it is possible to reset the setting information even in a situation where the unique information cannot be matched by exchanging the circuit boards.

  A numerical control apparatus according to the present invention is a numerical control apparatus having a function of resetting setting information of an externally output numerical control apparatus, and includes a storage unit and a resetting unit. The storage means stores setting information, unique information set uniquely for each numerical control device, and maintenance information that determines whether or not to reset the setting information. Further, the resetting means determines whether or not the setting information output externally based on the collation result of the unique information externally output together with the setting information and the specific information stored in the storage means or the resetting of the setting information externally output based on the maintenance information to the storage means. Only when the determination and the resetting is permitted by this determination, the setting information is reset in the storage means.

  Accordingly, the setting information is reset in the storage unit based on the match between the externally output unique information and the unique information stored in the storage unit, and even if the unique information does not match, the storage unit If the maintenance information set in is set in a state permitting resetting, the setting information can be reset in the storage means.

Since this maintenance information is set in the storage means of the circuit board that receives the resetting of the setting information, the setting information can be reset regardless of the setting state of the specific information.
The maintenance information includes a setting state in which the setting information can be reset and a setting state in which the setting information is not allowed. When the setting information is reset by the resetting means, the maintenance information is changed from a resettable setting state to a resettable setting state.

The maintenance information can be changed by maintenance information changing means for changing the maintenance information. The maintenance information changing means can reset the maintenance information based on the setting information output from the resetting means to the storage means. Change from a setting state to a setting state that cannot be reset.
The maintenance information can be changed by a change signal, and can be changed from a setting state where resetting is impossible to a setting state where resetting is possible when the setting information is reset.

The numerical control apparatus of the present invention can also include maintenance information changing means as means for changing the maintenance information. The maintenance information changing means is configured to change the setting state of the non-resettable and the setting state of the resettable based on the change signal. Change the setting state between.
The change signal can be an external signal input to the numerical control device or an input signal from an input means included in the numerical control device.

Further, the maintenance information can be flag information, and a setting state in which the setting information can be reset and a setting state in which the setting information is disabled can be determined by the setting value of the maintenance flag.
A maintenance flag is provided separately from the unique information on the hardware side such as a circuit board on which the storage means storing the unique information is mounted. For maintenance hardware such as a maintenance circuit board used for replacement when a hardware failure occurs, for example, “1” is set in the maintenance flag. Only when the maintenance flag is set to “1”, even if the unique information stored in the storage means and the unique information added to the backed-up setting information are different, the setting information can be reset and returned. After the setting information is restored, the maintenance flag is changed from “1” to “0”, so that the setting information can be reset and returned only once. As a result, the setting information can be easily reset even when hardware such as a circuit board is replaced in recovery from a hardware failure.

Note that the hardware maintenance flag shipped in the numerical controller is shipped with a setting of “0”, and the maintenance flag cannot be changed by normal operation. Reset the setting information.
However, the maintenance flag setting can be changed by a predetermined operation permitted by a service person or the like. This can be done by allowing only the change operation that has been authenticated by the maintenance information changing means. For example, by inserting an authentication card held only by an authorized operator such as a service person into the memory card slot of the numerical control device and performing authentication, the hardware maintenance flag is changed to reconfigurable setting information. be able to.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reset setting information regardless of prevention of illegal setting of setting information using unique information in replacement of a circuit board by maintenance.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of a numerical control apparatus according to the present invention. The numerical controller 1 includes a circuit board 2 on which the storage unit 3 is mounted, an output unit 4 that outputs data such as setting information and unique information stored in the storage unit 3 to the external storage medium 7, and the external storage medium 7 stores the data. There is provided resetting means 5 for resetting the set information in the storage means 3.

  The storage means 3 is a means for storing setting information 10 unique to the numerical control device such as an operating system and various parameters necessary for drive control, application programs, and optional parameters for enabling optional functions of the numerical control device. Yes, the manufacturer stores these data in advance when the numerical control device 1 is manufactured. For example, a storage medium such as SRAM can be used as the storage unit 3.

In addition to the setting information 10 described above, the storage unit 3 stores unique information 11 and maintenance information 12.
The unique information 11 and the maintenance information 12 are information used for determining whether or not the setting information is backed up when resetting the setting information backed up to the external storage medium, and independently determine whether or not the setting information is permitted.
The unique information 11 is information set uniquely for each numerical control device 1, and the numerical control device 1 and the unique information 11 correspond one-to-one. This unique information 11 is stored in the storage means 3. When the setting information set in the storage unit 3 is backed up and stored in the external storage medium 7, the unique information 11 is also backed up and stored in the external storage medium 7 together with the setting information 10.

Thus, both the numerical controller 1 and the external storage medium 7 have the same setting information 10 and unique information 11.
In this state, when the setting information stored in the storage unit 3 is lost due to a failure or the like on the numerical control device 1 side, the setting information 10 stored in the external storage medium 7 is used to set in the storage unit 3. Information can be set again. In this resetting, the resetting means 5 takes in the unique information 11 stored in the external storage medium 7 and collates with the unique information 11 stored in the storage means 3. At this time, if the collation results are the same, it is confirmed that the setting information 10 stored in the external storage medium 7 is the backed-up setting information output from the same numerical controller 1. On the other hand, when the collation results are not the same, it is confirmed that the setting information 10 stored in the external storage medium 7 is not the setting information output from the same numerical control device 1.

Therefore, when the origin of the setting information 10 is confirmed based on the collation result of the unique information 11, the setting information is reset in the storage unit 3.
The unique information 11 can be stored in a storage means different from the storage means in which the setting information 10 is stored.

  In the resetting of the setting information using the unique information described above, the unique information 11 for confirming the origin of the setting information can be used when the circuit board 2 on which the storage unit 3 is mounted is replaced. Disappear. Therefore, the numerical control apparatus of the present invention enables the setting information to be reset using the maintenance information 12 in the storage means 3 separately from the unique information.

  The maintenance information 12 is set in the storage unit 3 mounted on the circuit board 2 and can take two states: a setting state where setting information can be reset and a setting state where setting information is not allowed. The resetting unit 5 determines whether or not the setting information 10 stored in the external storage medium 7 is permitted or not by determining the setting state of the maintenance information 12. If the maintenance information 12 is set to a setting state that allows resetting of the setting information, the setting information 10 is allowed to be reset, and the maintenance information 12 is set to a setting state that disables the resetting of the setting information. If it is set, the resetting of the setting information 10 is not permitted.

The resetting based on the maintenance information can be performed independently of the resetting based on the unique information determination described above, and even if the unique information 11 stored in the storage unit 3 is lost. If the maintenance information is in a setting state permitting resetting, the setting information 10 stored in the external storage medium 7 can be reset in the storage unit 3.
If re-setting is performed repeatedly with this maintenance information, it may lead to unauthorized leakage of the setting information, and it is necessary to allow it only in a limited case such as replacing a circuit board for maintenance. .

  Therefore, the numerical control apparatus 1 of the present invention includes maintenance information changing means 6. When the resetting means 5 resets the setting information, the maintenance information changing means 6 changes to a setting state in which the resetting of the maintenance information stored in the storage means 3 is impossible. As a result, once resetting is performed, setting is performed so that resetting cannot be performed again, and resetting multiple times can be prevented.

The maintenance information changing means 6 can also be configured to change the setting state by a change signal or external input so that only an authorized person such as a service person can change the setting state of the maintenance information.
The change signal can be unique information that can be known only by an authorized person from input means (not shown) included in the numerical controller 1. Further, when changing the setting state of the maintenance information by external input, for example, the unique information is stored in the authentication memory card 8.

The maintenance information changing means 6 can change the setting state of the maintenance information 12 only when these change signals and unique information from the authentication memory card 8 are input.
The numerical control apparatus of the present invention backs up the setting information to the external storage medium by the backup process, and resets the setting information backed up by the restore process in the storage unit. In addition, maintenance information that has been changed to a setting state incapable of resetting by resetting the setting information can be returned to a setting state in which resetting is possible.

Hereinafter, each processing operation of the backup processing, the restoration processing, and the maintenance information resetting processing of the numerical control apparatus of the present invention will be described.
First, backup processing for externally outputting data including setting information stored in the storage means to an external storage medium will be described with reference to FIGS.
In backup of data including setting information such as option parameters, data including setting information 10 stored in the storage means 3 of the numerical controller 1 is backed up to an external storage medium 7 such as a memory card (step S1). In addition, after adding the specific information 11 of the numerical control device to the backup data (step S2), it is output to the external storage medium (step S3), thereby completing the data backup (step S4).

  The setting information 10 is all data stored in the storage means 3 such as an operating system, various parameters, application programs, etc. necessary for drive control, in addition to optional parameters for enabling the optional function of the numerical control device. You can also. The unique information 11 can also use a MAC address or the like.

Next, a restore process for resetting data including setting information backed up in an external storage medium in the storage means of the numerical controller will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the restoration of data including setting information such as option parameters, when the data backed up to the external storage medium 7 such as a memory card is restored to the numerical controller 1 (step S11), the data to be restored is backed up. The unique information added at the time of reading is read (step S12), and it is checked whether the unique information matches the unique information stored in the numerical controller 1.

As shown in FIG. 5A, when the unique information matches (step S13), all data including setting information such as option parameters can be restored (step S14).
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the unique information does not match (step S13), the maintenance flag is checked. FIG. 5B shows a case where the circuit board is replaced with a maintenance circuit board 8. The unique information 11 c set in the replaced maintenance circuit board 8 is different from the unique information 11 stored in the storage means 3 of the circuit board 2 when backed up in the external storage medium 7. For example, a maintenance flag “1” is set as maintenance information on the maintenance circuit board 8. Here, the maintenance flag “1” represents a setting state in which resetting is permitted, and the maintenance flag “0” represents a setting state in which resetting is not permitted (steps S15 and S16).

  If the maintenance flag, which is maintenance information, is checked and the maintenance flag is set to “1”, the hardware (maintenance circuit board 8) storing the specific information is valid (eg, maintenance of a defect). After determining that the data has been exchanged and restoring and resetting all data including setting information such as option parameters (step S17), the maintenance flag is cleared to "0" (step S18).

If the unique information does not match and the maintenance flag is not raised (step S16), the setting information such as option parameters is not reset. Note that data other than setting information such as option parameters may be reset and restored (step S19).
As a result, it is possible to prevent unauthorized copying of setting information such as option parameters while considering convenience during maintenance.

FIG. 6 shows a state where the setting information data is not reset by any verification of the unique information and the maintenance information.
In the numerical control device 1B of the restore destination, it is assumed that the unique information 11b is set in the storage unit 3B included in the circuit board 2B, and the maintenance flag of the maintenance information is set to “0”. At this time, if the unique information 11a is stored in the external storage medium 7 to which the setting information is backed up, the unique information 11a and 11b do not match and the maintenance flag is set to “0”. In either case, resetting is not performed.

Next, the resetting of the maintenance information will be described with reference to FIGS.
This maintenance information can be reset by resetting a maintenance flag by a service person. The service person inserts a dedicated authentication memory card 9 owned only by the service person into the memory card slot of the numerical controller 1 (step S21), and sets a maintenance flag on the maintenance hardware by the maintenance information changing means 6. Can be reset.

  When resetting the maintenance flag (step S22), a process for confirming whether resetting of the maintenance flag is permitted is performed (step S23). When resetting of the maintenance flag is permitted (step S24), The maintenance flag is reset (step S25), and the resetting process is terminated (step S26).

  In addition to the method of using an authentication memory card, the maintenance flag can be reset by shorting a specific jumper plug on the circuit board. When the power is turned on, a specific key operation known only by service personnel such as simultaneous pressing of a specific key is performed, and a mode in which the maintenance flag can be reset can be activated.

It is a figure for demonstrating the example of 1 structure of the numerical control apparatus of this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the backup process by this invention. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing for demonstrating the backup process by this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the restore process by this invention. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing for demonstrating the restore process by this invention. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing for demonstrating the restore process by this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating resetting of the maintenance flag by this invention. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing for demonstrating resetting of the maintenance flag by this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating backup and re-setup of the option parameter of a numerical controller. It is a figure for demonstrating prevention of the unauthorized copy using specific information.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Numerical control apparatus 2 Circuit board 3 Memory | storage means 4 Output means 5 Reset means 6 Maintenance information change means 7 External storage medium 8 Maintenance circuit board 9 Authentication memory card 10 Setting information 11 Specific information 12 Maintenance information

Claims (8)

In the numerical control device having a function of resetting the setting information of the numerical control device output externally,
Storage means for storing the setting information, unique information uniquely set for each of the numerical control devices, and maintenance information for determining whether or not to reset the setting information;
Based on the collation result between the unique information externally output together with the setting information and the specific information stored in the storage means, or based on the maintenance information, it is determined whether or not to reset the externally output setting information in the storage means, A numerical control device comprising: resetting means for resetting only when resetting is permitted.   The numerical control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the maintenance information includes a setting state in which the setting information can be reset and a setting state in which the setting information is not allowed.   3. The numerical control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the maintenance information is changed from a setting state in which resetting is possible to a setting state in which resetting is impossible when the setting information is reset by the resetting unit. Maintenance information changing means for changing the maintenance information,
The maintenance information changing means changes the maintenance information from a resettable setting state to a non-resettable setting state based on the setting information output from the resetting means to the storage means. Or the numerical control device according to any one of 3;   The numerical control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the maintenance information can be changed by a change signal. Maintenance information changing means for changing the maintenance information,
The numerical control device according to claim 2, wherein the maintenance information changing unit changes a setting state between a setting state where resetting is impossible and a setting state where resetting is possible based on the change signal. .   The numerical control device according to claim 5, wherein the change signal is an external signal input to the numerical control device or an input signal from an input unit included in the numerical control device. 8. The maintenance information is flag information, and a setting state in which setting information can be reset and a setting state in which the setting information is disabled are determined according to a setting value of the maintenance flag. Numerical control unit.

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