JP5010976B2 - production management system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a production management system for managing the quality of workpieces produced by a production line.

  Conventionally, quality information related to production of each workpiece is stored in a memory medium transported along with the workpiece, and the quality information is managed, so that thorough quality control of each workpiece is performed. In recent years, ID tags (storage media configured to be readable and writable in a non-contact manner) capable of non-contact wireless communication have been used, and ID tags are placed on a pallet on which workpieces are placed for work management. The production quality information of the workpiece is stored in the ID tag by attaching.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a production management system using an ID tag. In FIG. 5, 90 is a conveyor of a production line for processing a workpiece, 91 is a pallet that holds the workpiece by being conveyed by the conveyor 90, 92 is an ID tag attached to the pallet 91, and 93 is not in contact with these ID tags 92 The ID antenna configured to be able to read and write to the ID tag 92 as quality information by recording work contents in each process, 94 is a host information processing apparatus that manages the production management system, and 95 is on the production line at arbitrary intervals The information collecting device is arranged along the ID antenna 93 to transfer quality information from the ID tag 92 to the host information processing device 94. Reference numeral 96 denotes a communication line that connects the host information processing device 94 and each information collecting device 95.

  In the conventional production management system shown in FIG. 5, the information collection device 95 can periodically transfer work quality information to the host information processing device 94, and the storage area in the ID tag 92 can be erased and released. Even when the storage capacity of the ID tag 92 is limited, sufficient quality information can be collected using the ID tag 92. In this specification, transfer does not mean copying information, but means movement, that is, deleting the original storage area and releasing it together with information transmission.

  However, an abnormality such as a failure of the host information processing device 94 and a failure of the communication line 96 may occur and a communication failure may occur. In some cases, the conveyor 90 of the production line is operating even while this communication failure occurs. The quality information sequentially taken out from the ID tag 92 while such a communication failure has occurred cannot be transferred to the host information processing device 94 and disappears. For this reason, the higher-level information processing device 94 cannot collect quality information and may not be able to perform quality control of workpieces during this time.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems. Even when an abnormality such as a failure of a higher-level information processing device or a communication circuit occurs, the quality information of the workpiece is stored to ensure reliable quality control. It is an object to provide a production management system that can be performed.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a host information processing apparatus that manages the quality of workpieces produced by a production line, and is connected to the host information processing apparatus via a communication line and arranged along the production line. A primary storage that temporarily stores the quality information that the information collection device transfers from the ID tag, the information collection device sucking out the quality information about the workpiece from the ID tag conveyed with the workpiece and transferring it to the host information processing device A memory, a transmission unit that transmits the quality information stored in the primary storage memory to the higher-level information processing apparatus and confirms the completion of transmission, and then erases the quality information in the primary storage memory; and the transmission of the quality information can be completed. a nonvolatile memory for storing so as to sequentially store the other quality information to the transmission of the quality information is completed if no, the transmission unit Monitoring means for monitoring the communication state, and the quality stored in the non-volatile memory when this monitoring means detects that communication is not performed for a time longer than the transmission interval of quality information during production line operation. A retransmission means for sequentially transferring information to the host information processing apparatus, a series of processing relating to quality information using the primary storage memory, the transmission unit and the nonvolatile memory, and a series of quality information using the monitoring means and the retransmission means A production management system characterized by executing processes in parallel is provided.

  According to the configuration, the information collection device sucks quality information from the ID tag carried together with the work by wireless communication, and transfers the quality information to the host information processing device via the communication line. At this time, the quality information sucked out from the ID tag is temporarily stored in the primary storage memory, and the quality information stored in the primary storage memory is transmitted to the higher-level information processing apparatus by the transmission unit, and after the transmission completion is confirmed, the primary information is stored. Erase quality information in storage memory. On the other hand, this quality information can be preserve | saved by memorize | storing so that the quality information which could not complete transmission was stored in a non-volatile memory sequentially.

  The host information processing apparatus is preferably a computer system having a function of collecting quality information of a production management system, and the communication line is preferably a LAN. Note that the production line managed by the production management system of the present invention is in a broad sense including, for example, a line for processing and / or assembling a workpiece. The communication line is stable because it is wired and is not easily affected by surrounding electromagnetic waves, but the communication line may be wireless to facilitate the arrangement of the production management system.

  The information collection device is preferably a control panel configured to be connectable to the communication line, and the primary storage memory has a capacity capable of storing quality information stored in at least one ID tag and has high speed. A memory that can be accessed is preferred.

  On the other hand, the nonvolatile memory is large enough to store the quality information stored in the ID tag conveyed on the production line in a state where the quality information cannot be transmitted to the host information processing apparatus. It is preferable to have a capacity, for example, to store all quality information collected by the information collection device in a period of about one week as a time required for recovery when a host information processing device or communication line malfunctions It is preferable that it has a capacity that can be For example, a flash memory can be used as the nonvolatile memory.

  The nonvolatile memory is preferably a memory card that is detachably connected to the information collecting device. A removable memory card for storing quality information is removed from the information collection device and inserted into a memory card reader connected to the restored higher level information processing device, thereby transferring the quality information to the higher level information processing device. Is possible.

  According to the above configuration, when the monitoring unit detects that communication is not performed for a time longer than the transmission interval of the quality information during the production line operation, that is, in a state where the production line is stopped, the communication line It is possible to determine that the amount of information (traffic) communicated via the network is small, and the retransmission means sequentially transfers the quality information stored in the nonvolatile memory to the higher-level information processing apparatus. In other words, since the information collection devices arranged along the production line do not transmit quality information when the production line is stopped, almost nothing is communicated to the communication line without measuring traffic. Therefore, it is possible to transfer a large amount of information stored in the nonvolatile memory.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the quality information that could not be transferred is stored in the non-volatile memory even when an abnormality occurs when the quality information about the workpiece is extracted from the ID tag and transferred to the host information processing apparatus. And the loss of quality information can be prevented.

  In addition, when the information collecting device includes a retransmission means for sequentially transferring the quality information stored so as to be stored in the nonvolatile memory to the higher-level information processing device, the production line stops the quality information recorded in the nonvolatile memory. Since it can be transferred to the higher-level information processing apparatus in this state, the quality information transfer is not forgotten, and more reliable quality control can be performed.

  1-4 is a figure which shows the structure of the production management system 1 which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a production management system 1 according to the first embodiment is connected to a host information processing apparatus 2 that manages the quality of work produced by a production line, and to the host information processing apparatus via a communication line 3. And a plurality of information collecting devices 4 arranged along the production line. In addition, in the following description, when it is necessary to distinguish each information collection device 4, it will be referred to as information collection devices 4A to 4C.

  The said production line L has the conveyor 6 which conveys the workpiece | work W mounted in the pallet 5 so that it can process sequentially in the process areas A1-A8 of each process by conveying the pallet 5 in the predetermined direction X. In addition, the process with respect to a workpiece | work includes the assembly process which assembles some members. Each pallet 5 is provided with an ID tag (storage medium configured to be readable and writable in a non-contact manner) 7 capable of storing quality information Iq1 to Iq8 of the workpiece W, and is attached to each processing area A1 to A8. Is provided with an ID writer 8 for writing quality information Iq1 to Iq8 for managing the quality of the workpiece W, such as details of the processing status in each process, to the ID tag 7. In the following description, when distinction is unnecessary, the quality information Iq1 to Iq8 is collectively referred to as quality information Iq.

  The host information processing apparatus 2 is a computer that constitutes a part of a production management system that performs production management of work W, and the communication line 3 is a network system such as a LAN. Since the operation of the LAN constituting the communication line 3 is stable because it is wired, it goes without saying that a wireless LAN may be used.

  The information collection device 4 is a control panel having a communication port that can be connected to a LAN. The information collecting device 4 is preferably arranged intermittently along the production line L, and the quality information Iq added to the ID tag 7 in each processing area A1 to A8 is periodically added to the upper information processing device 2. By transferring to, the storage area in the ID tag 7 is released. It should be noted that the interval at which the information collection device 4 is provided can be selected as appropriate. For example, the information collection device 4 may be provided only in the final part of the production line L.

  The pallet 5 is provided with a workpiece support mechanism configured to be able to change the posture of the workpiece W, and improves the work efficiency for the workpiece W in each of the processing areas A1 to A8. The conveyor 6 can appropriately perform operations in the processing areas A1 to A8 by conveying the workpiece W at a predetermined speed. The time interval (hereinafter referred to as line tact) for writing quality information Iq to each ID tag 7 or sucking quality information Iq from the ID tag 7 is determined by the conveying speed of the conveyor 6 and the interval between the workpieces W. The ID tag 7 has a memory configured so that information can be written, read and erased by wireless communication, and is a tag-like body that does not require a power supply unit. 5 records the quality information Iq related to the workpiece W mounted.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the main part of the production management system 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the information collection device 4 includes a transmission unit 10 connected to the higher level information processing device 2 via the communication line 3, a primary storage memory 11 connected to the transmission unit 10, and the primary storage memory 11. An interface 12 connected to the storage memory 11 and an ID antenna 13 connected to the interface 12 are provided. The information collecting device 4 is connected to the primary storage memory 11 and the storage means 14 connected to the transmission unit, a memory interface 15 connected to the storage means 14, and the memory interface 15 so as to be freely inserted and removed. A non-volatile memory 16. Further, the information collecting apparatus 4 includes a monitoring unit 17 connected to the transmission unit 10 and a retransmission unit 18 connected to the monitoring unit 17 and the memory interface 15 and also to the transmission unit 10.

The transmission unit 10 is a communication port that can be connected to the communication line 3 including the LAN. In the present embodiment, the transmission unit 10 transfers the quality information Iq to the higher-level information processing device 2. Also, Shin portion 10 feed in this embodiment, not only the communication port only, is intended to include a transfer process steps by software, when unable to complete the communication to determine whether transmission quality information Iq could be completed Also included is a process of outputting an error flag E when necessary by an error processing step by software.

  The primary storage memory 11 is preferably a memory having a capacity capable of storing quality information Iq stored in at least one ID tag 7 and capable of being accessed at high speed. For example, an arithmetic processing unit in the information collecting device 4 Can be divided into a part of the memory configured to be readable and writable. However, the primary storage memory 11 may be configured by hardware such as a buffer for storing quality information Iq input via the interface 12.

  The interface 12 is an input port that is electrically connected to the ID antenna 13 so as to be able to input quality information Iq. Further, the ID antenna 13 transmits an electromagnetic wave as power to the ID tag 7, transmits a command for transmitting the quality information Iq in the memory 7 b to the control circuit 7 a in the ID tag 7, and receives the quality received from the ID tag 7. A receiving circuit for receiving the information Iq is provided.

  The storage unit 14 transfers the quality information Iq recorded in the primary storage memory 11 to the nonvolatile memory 16 via the memory interface 15 when the transmission unit 10 outputs the error flag E. Then, it is realized by a storage processing step by software.

  The memory interface 15 is a receptor that is electrically connected to the nonvolatile memory 16, and includes a terminal that matches the shape of the nonvolatile memory 16. The non-volatile memory 16 is, for example, a flash memory, and is collected by the information collecting device 4 in a period of about one week, for example, as a time required for recovery when a failure of the upper level information processing device 2 or the communication line 3 occurs. It is preferable to have a capacity sufficient to store all the quality information Iq.

  The monitoring means 17 monitors the interval at which the transmission unit 10 transmits the quality information Iq, and outputs a retransmission command C when the transmission interval continues for the line tact or longer. In the present embodiment, the monitoring unit 17 is realized by a monitoring process step by software.

  The retransmission means 18 reads the quality information Iq from the nonvolatile memory 16 via the memory interface 15 when the monitoring means 17 outputs the retransmission instruction C, and outputs the quality information Iq to the transmission unit 10 to store it in the nonvolatile memory 16. The quality information Iq recorded in this way is transferred to the higher-level information processing device 2. In the present embodiment, the retransmission means 18 is realized by a software retransmission process step.

  FIGS. 3 and 4 are diagrams for explaining the operation of the production management system 1. The flowcharts shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 show the operation of the program configured to be executable by the information processing apparatus in the information collecting apparatus 4. As will be described, these operations may be realized by the movement of hardware.

  In FIG. 3, S <b> 1 is a step of reading the ID tag 7. That is, the quality information Iq is input from the ID antenna 13 via the interface 12, and the memory 7b in the ID tag 7 is simultaneously erased so that the next quality information Iq can be recorded on the ID tag 7. If the ID tag 7 is outside the effective area of the ID antenna 13 at the time of executing step S1, the quality information Iq is not input.

  S2 is a step for checking the state of the error flag E and branching. The error flag E is 0 in the state where no error has occurred since the default is reset. If the error flag E is 0 in this branch (that is, when it is normal), the next step S3 is executed. If the error flag E is set (that is, if an abnormality has occurred in the upper level), the process jumps to step S7 described later. To do.

  S 3 is a step of storing the input quality information Iq in the primary storage memory 11. If the quality information Iq is not received, it is not necessary to perform anything in the following steps S3 to S6, and the process can directly return to step S1.

  S4 is a step of setting the error flag E to 1. That is, the error flag E is set when the operation is stopped due to any abnormality.

  S5 is a step of transmitting the quality information Iq in the primary storage memory 11 to the higher level information processing apparatus 2. At this time, not only the quality information Iq is transmitted to the communication line 3 side, but also whether or not the quality information Iq has been transmitted can be determined. For example, it is possible to confirm whether or not the transmission is successful by transmitting and receiving a check code such as a Sum check or CRC check of the quality information Iq.

  S6 is a step for resetting the error flag E to 0 when transmission is completed normally. That is, once the error flag E is set, it is confirmed that the transmission has been completed normally, and then the error flag E is reset, so that the transmission completion of the quality information Iq can be confirmed more safely. On the other hand, when the quality information Iq cannot be normally transmitted, the error flag E remains at 1. That is, the transmission unit 10 is connected not only to the communication port connected to the communication line 3 so as to be able to transmit the quality information Iq, but also to error processing steps S2 to S6 for detecting transmission errors shown in steps S2 to S6 described above. This is realized by executing the program.

  S7 is a step in which when the error flag E is not 0 in step S2, that is, when a transmission abnormality has occurred, this is determined as an upper fault.

  S8 is a storage processing step for storing the quality information Iq in the nonvolatile memory 16 at the time of the abnormality. At this time, the quality information Iq is preferably transferred to the nonvolatile memory 16 via the primary storage memory 11, but the quality information Iq input directly from the interface 12 may be transferred to the interface 15 as it is. That is, this storage processing step S8 is means for realizing the storage means 14.

  That is, while the quality information Iq transferred from the ID tag 7 can be normally transmitted to the higher-level information processing apparatus 2, the processes of steps S1 to S6 are repeated, and the input quality information Iq is sequentially transmitted to the higher-level information processing apparatus 2. Send. On the other hand, when a transmission error occurs, an error flag E is set. Therefore, by repeating the processes of steps S1, S2, S7, and S8, the quality information Iq that cannot be transmitted to the higher level information processing apparatus 2 is stored in the nonvolatile memory 16. The quality information Iq can be stored in the nonvolatile memory 16 so as to be stored.

  As described above, even if a failure of the host information processing apparatus 2 or the communication line 3 occurs, all the quality information Iq during that time is stored so as to be sequentially stored in the nonvolatile memory 16. Is extracted from the information collection device 4 and inserted into a card reader 2a or the like attached to the restored higher-level information processing device 2, so that all the quality information Iq stored in the nonvolatile memory 16 is stored in the higher-level information processing device 2. Can be transferred.

  However, the production management system 1 of the present embodiment can automatically transfer the nonvolatile memory 16 to the upper information processor 2 without removing the nonvolatile memory 16 from the information collector 4 when the upper information processor 2 or the communication line 3 is restored. It is configured as follows.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of internal processing for automatically transmitting the quality information Iq stored in the nonvolatile memory 16 to the higher-level information processing device 2 when the higher-level information processing device 2 or the communication line 3 is restored. And is executed in parallel with the program shown in FIG.

In FIG. 4, S10 is a monitoring processing step for comparing the time when the error flag E is 0 with the line tact. That is, when the quality information Iq to be transferred to the higher-level information processing device 2 is input to the information collecting device 4, the error flag E is once set to 1, so that the error flag E continues continuously over one line tact. It can be said that there is no quality information Iq transmitted by the transmitter 10. That is, in this embodiment, the program of the monitoring process step S 10 shows an example of realizing by software the monitoring means 17.

  If it is determined in step S10 that the time during which the error flag E is 0 is shorter than the line tact, the process in step S10 is repeated. The line tact is set according to the operation speed of the production line L and the interval between adjacent pallets 5.

  S11 is a step that is executed when the period during which the error flag E is 0 in step S10 continues beyond the line tact and determines whether the production line is stopped.

S 12 is a step of transmitting at least one quality information Iq in the nonvolatile memory 16 to the higher-level information processing device 2. In other words, while the production line L is stopped, the quality information Iq in the nonvolatile memory 16 can be sequentially transferred from the ID tag 7 to the higher-level information processing device 2 to the higher-level information processing device 2. Moreover, it is preferable to erase the non-volatile memory 16 after the transfer as it has been transferred.

  S13 is a retransmission processing step for deleting a corresponding portion of the nonvolatile memory 16 that has completed transmission of the quality information Iq. In this embodiment, the retransmission processing step S13 realizes the retransmission means 18 by software processing.

Therefore, if the time during which the error flag E is 0 is shorter than the line tact , the process is repeated in step S10. On the other hand, when the period during which the error flag E is 0 continues beyond the line tact , the process of steps S10 to S13 is repeated so that the production line L is stopped and the traffic on the communication line 3 has a margin. In addition, the quality information Iq stored in the nonvolatile memory 16 can be transmitted to the upper information processing apparatus 2.

  Therefore, when the quality information Iq is transferred to the higher-level information processing device 2 in accordance with the operation flow shown in FIG. 4, the quality information Iq is transferred to the higher-level information processing device 2 by moving the nonvolatile memory 16. Therefore, more reliable quality information Iq can be managed.

It is a figure which shows the whole structure of the production management system of this invention. It is a figure which shows the principal part structure of the said production management system. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of the said production management system. It is another figure explaining operation | movement of the said production management system. It is a figure which shows the whole structure of the conventional production management system.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Production management system 2 High-order information processing apparatus 3 Communication line 4 Information collection apparatus 7 ID tag 10 Transmission part 11 Primary storage memory 16 Non-volatile memory 17 Monitoring means 18 Retransmission means Iq Quality information L Production line W Work

Claims (1)

A host information processing device that manages the quality of workpieces produced by the production line;
An information collecting device that is connected to the higher level information processing apparatus via a communication line and arranged along the production line, and sucks quality information about the work from an ID tag conveyed with the work and transfers it to the higher level information processing apparatus. ,
A primary storage memory for temporarily storing quality information transferred from the ID tag by the information collecting device;
A transmission unit that transmits the quality information stored in the primary storage memory to the higher-level information processing apparatus and confirms the completion of transmission and then deletes the quality information in the primary storage memory;
Non-volatile memory that stores the quality information in order to store other quality information sequentially until transmission of the quality information is completed when transmission of the quality information is not completed ;
Monitoring means for monitoring a communication state by the transmission unit;
When this monitoring means detects that communication has not been performed for a time longer than the quality information transmission interval during production line operation, the stored quality information is sequentially transferred to the higher-level information processing device so as to be stored in the nonvolatile memory. Resending means for
A production management system for executing in parallel a series of processes related to quality information using a primary storage memory, a transmission unit, and a non-volatile memory, and a series of processes related to quality information using a monitoring unit and a retransmission unit .

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