JP5665561B2 - Production equipment and production system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a production system that performs a predetermined operation on a target article, and a production system that combines a plurality of production facilities.

Multifunctionality and efficiency have been conventionally performed in production facilities for processing and assembly.
For example, the robot processing line system according to Patent Document 1 includes a server that arranges a plurality of processing cells in which a processing machine and a plurality of robots are combined, and installs a program that standardizes product movement instructions in the robot. As a result, the load for teaching the individual robots is greatly reduced, so that it is possible to efficiently prepare for machining.
In the case of Patent Document 1, since the arrangement relationship between robots is only an equilateral triangle, and teaching to the robot is a method of downloading a program from the server, the selection range is narrow and limited in adopting the robot. It becomes a processing line. In addition, when changing the processing line, it was necessary to modify the server program and teach each robot again.

In addition, the product assembly system according to Patent Document 2 includes a transport container provided with product attribute data, a transport facility such as a circulation type conveyor for flowing a transport container on which a product (printed circuit board) is placed, and a product that reads product attribute data. An assembly facility group for processing and assembling and a synchronization facility for avoiding the competition of the transfer container. A centralized controller that comprehensively controls the entire line manages and controls the operation of each facility.
In the case of Patent Document 2, since the reuse of the program for the centralized controller used for management and control of each facility is not taken into consideration, the load of program correction is large at the time of line change.

In addition, in the cell system according to Patent Document 3, an assembly facility group is installed in parallel with a transport facility such as a conveyor, and a work station such as a lift that temporarily loads a product is provided between each assembly facility and the transport facility. Install. As a result, the work station can pick up the product from the transfer facility and temporarily hold the product, so that the flow of the product on the transfer facility can proceed smoothly even if the work time (tact) of the assembly facility is different.
In the case of Patent Document 3, it is impossible to avoid the cost and man-hour load caused by having to install a large number of work stations in order to smoothly assemble. In addition, it is considered difficult to handle large products compared to small products such as printed circuit boards. Furthermore, the load of program correction for the centralized controller is large when the line is changed.

In addition, the production cell according to Patent Document 4 arranges a plurality of production cells in which a work facility capable of a plurality of operations including a group of devices that perform different single function operations such as processing and assembly and a robot that performs a transfer operation are arranged, An information processing apparatus that sends work unit instructions that are a sequence of work commands to all production cells, and a production cell that can execute the work unit instructions performs work in response to the instructions. In addition to teaching the robots in each production cell in advance, the operation program corresponding to each work unit instruction is stored in advance in the work equipment, and by changing the work unit instruction, high-mix low-volume production can be performed. Become.
In the case of Patent Document 4, it is necessary for an information processing device functioning as a centralized controller to access each production cell to inquire whether or not work unit instructions can be executed, and whenever there is a change in work contents and a change in work order, The work unit instructions have to be edited and processed by manpower, and the program correction for the centralized controller is necessary as in the above-mentioned Patent Documents 1-3. In addition, since the work unit instruction includes a plurality of work contents of the production cell, it must be dedicated for each production cell, and it is practically difficult to reuse it as a generalized work unit instruction. Further, since cooperation between production cells such as product movement order and timing is not considered, it is necessary to incorporate another mechanism in order to realize the cooperation. Furthermore, each production cell is intended for general-purpose machining to a certain extent although it is a dedicated production. Therefore, it is necessary to use a robot that is a device having a somewhat useless function instead of a transfer device such as a conveyor.

Japanese Patent No. 4507767 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-279692 JP 11-49349 A JP 2004-185228 A

  Of Patent Documents 1 to 4 described above, Patent Document 4 seems to be the most flexible production system, but it is a configuration that controls each facility in a centralized manner using a centralized controller. Similarly, there is a problem that the man-hour load for correcting the centralized controller program is still high.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and eliminates the need for a centralized controller for comprehensively controlling the entire production system and its program, thereby enabling a program for building a production line and changing its configuration. It is an object of the present invention to provide a production facility that eliminates the need for creation and correction, can be separated and rearranged flexibly, and a production system that combines a plurality of production facilities.

When the production equipment according to claim 1 of the present invention exchanges the target article with another production equipment, the production equipment represents the permanent information of the target article and uses the cooperation information for use in performing the work with the other production equipment. Information exchange means for exchanging between and a work control means for controlling work operation using the cooperation information acquired by the cooperation information exchange means , the cooperation information is information indicating the presence or absence of the target article, The means starts the operation of the own production facility when the cooperation information acquired from the production facility in the subsequent process is information indicating that there is no target article in the production facility in the subsequent process.

When the production facility according to claim 2 of the present invention exchanges the target article with another production facility, the production facility represents the permanent information of the target article and uses the cooperation information to be used for performing the operation with the other production facility. Information exchange means for exchanging between and a work control means for controlling work operation using the cooperation information acquired by the cooperation information exchange means, the cooperation information is information indicating the presence or absence of the target article, The means starts the operation of the self-production facility when the cooperation information acquired from the production facility in the previous process is information indicating that the target article exists in the production facility in the previous process.

The production facility according to claim 3 of the present invention comprises connection detection means for detecting a connection of another production facility that exchanges the target article with the self-production facility, and the linkage information exchange means includes the connection detection means. Coordinate information is exchanged with the detected production equipment.

In the production facility according to claim 4 of the present invention, the linkage information is information indicating the transfer position of the target article with reference to the position of the own production facility or other production facilities, and the work control means is the transfer indicated by the linkage information. The conveyance work is controlled based on the position.

In the production facility according to claim 5 of the present invention, the cooperation information exchanging means exchanges the cooperation information through the cooperation information holding means connected to the own production equipment and the other production equipment.

A production system according to claim 6 of the present invention is a combination of a plurality of the above production facilities.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a production system comprising linkage information holding means for holding linkage information exchanged between production facilities, wherein the production facility is linked with other production facilities via the linkage information holding means. Information is exchanged.

According to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the cooperation information is exchanged together with the target article between the self-production facility and the other production facilities, and the work operation is controlled using the cooperation information. A centralized controller that controls the entire system and its program can be eliminated. For this reason, there is no need to create and modify a program at the time of construction and configuration change of the production line, it is possible to provide a production facility that can be flexibly separated from and rearranged with other production facilities , and Since the work is started using the linkage information indicating the presence or absence of the target article, the conveyance timing and operation timing of the target article can be adjusted and linked between the production facilities, and the production line is constructed and the configuration is changed. Sometimes it is not necessary to program and modify production equipment and it can be reused.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the connection of other production equipment that exchanges the target article with the own production equipment is detected, the construction of the production line, the separation of the production equipment, or the rearrangement is performed. In this case, new connections can be automatically detected to exchange exchange information, and flexibility can be improved.

According to claim 4 of the present invention, since the conveyance work is controlled using the cooperation information representing the conveyance position of the target article, the position of the target article can be adjusted and coordinated between the production facilities. There is no need to create and modify a production facility when a production line is constructed and its configuration is changed, and it can be reused.

According to claim 5 of the present invention, since the linkage information is exchanged via the linkage information holding means, the possibility that the linkage information is lost due to a defect derived from the production facility can be reduced, and for data utilization. Information collection becomes easy.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, since a production system is constructed by combining a plurality of production facilities as described above, a centralized controller and its program can be made unnecessary, and the separation and recombination between production facilities can be flexibly performed. A production system that can be performed can be provided. In addition, the production systems can be easily linked.

According to claim 7 of the present invention, since the linkage information is exchanged via the linkage information holding means, the possibility that the linkage information is lost due to a defect derived from the production facility can be reduced, and data utilization It is possible to provide a production system that can collect information easily.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the production facility which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a production system according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the connection detection means of the production facility which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the cooperation information holding means of the production facility which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the modification of the production facility which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure explaining the workpiece conveyance timing control method of the production system which concerns on Embodiment 1, and shows the example of pull control. It is a figure explaining the workpiece conveyance timing control method of the production system which concerns on Embodiment 1, and shows the example of push control.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a production facility 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The production facility 1 is a device that performs a predetermined operation on a component or a product obtained by processing and assembling the component (hereinafter, these target articles are referred to as workpieces), and a production line between the production facility 1 and another production facility 1a. Connection detection means 2 for detecting connection, linkage information exchanging means 3 for exchanging linkage information with other production equipment 1a, which is information representing the state of a workpiece and used for work execution, and linkage information. And a work control means 4 for controlling the work operation. Further, the cooperation information exchanging means 3 of the production facility 1 can access the cooperation information holding means 6 included in the storage device 5, and by reading and writing the cooperation information held by the cooperation information holding means 6, the cooperation information exchanging means 3 can communicate with the equipment apparatus 1 a. Send and receive linkage information.

  In FIG. 1, one production facility 1a is shown as another production facility connected to the production facility 1, but it can be connected to a plurality of production facilities. Although these production facilities 1 and 1a have the same configuration, “a” is added to the reference numerals of the respective units of the other production facilities 1a for the sake of explanation.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a production system (cell), in which a plurality of production facilities are arranged adjacent to each other. Production equipment includes a component supply device 10 that supplies workpieces, a conveyor that transfers workpieces, a robot 11 that transfers and assembles workpieces, and a dedicated work device 12 such as a soldering iron that processes workpieces. In the production system of the illustrated example, the component supply device 10 and the robot 11 and the robot 11 and the dedicated work device 12 are connected to form a production line. The component supply device 10 performs an operation of supplying a workpiece to the adjacent robot 11, and the robot 11 performs an operation of conveying the workpiece to the adjacent dedicated work device 12, and the dedicated work device 12 is transferred from the adjacent robot 11. Perform soldering work on the workpiece. At this time, cooperation information is exchanged between the production facilities along the work flow between the production facilities, and work of each production facility is executed using the cooperation information.

Next, details of the production facility 1 will be described.
The connection detection means 2 detects a connection with the production facility 1a that is a target for transferring workpieces on the production line, and performs individual identification and position specification.
For example, the production facility 1a is provided with an individual identification ID (barcode, mark, pattern, etc.), and the connection detection means 2 is configured with a sensor and image processing to detect the individual identification ID of the adjacent production facility 1a. Determine the connection.
Further, for example, the connection detecting means 2 is constituted by a sensor such as a proximity sensor, a laser displacement meter, and an image processing camera, detects the relative position of the adjacent production facility 1a, and based on detection information such as the position and distance of the production facility 1a. The connection is determined and individual identification is performed.
Further, for example, the connection detection means 2 may be configured by a storage device, and identification information and position information of other production equipment 1a to be connected to the housing 1 when a production system is constructed may be set in advance.

  Further, for example, the connection detecting means 2 is configured by a physical communication terminal, and the position of the production facility 1a is determined by the communication terminal provided in which direction the other production facility 1a is connected, and individual identification is performed by communication. Do. FIG. 3 shows a connection detection method in the case where the connection detection means 2 is composed of communication terminals. The production facilities 1, 1a, 1b, and 1c having the same configuration have the same external shape, work table height, and the like so that communication terminals can be easily connected. As shown in FIG. 3 (a), the production facility 1 is provided with convex portions 20, 21 and a concave portion 22 that are combined with the other production facilities 1a, 1b, 1c on the side surface in the direction in which the workpiece is conveyed. And a communication terminal is arrange | positioned at these convex parts 20 and 21 and the recessed part 22, respectively. Similarly, the production facilities 1a, 1b, and 1c are also provided with concave portions 23 and 24 and convex portions 25, and communication terminals are arranged respectively. As the type of communication, Ethernet (registered trademark), USB (Universal Serial Bus), short-range wireless communication, or the like is used.

  At the time of construction of the production system, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), the communication terminals of the convex portion 20 of the production facility 1 and the concave portion 23 of the production facility 1a are connected to each other, and the connection detection means 2, 6a (non- By communication between the production equipment 1, the relative position of the production equipment 1 a of the other party is determined according to which communication terminal is connected, and the information on each other is exchanged using the communication path. Individually recognizes whether or not the kind of equipment is connected. Similarly, the production facility 1 connects the communication terminals of the convex portion 21 and the concave portion 24 and connects the communication terminals of the concave portion 22 and the convex portion 25 to detect the relative positions and types of the production facilities 1b and 1c. .

  The linkage information exchanging means 3 is a communication interface that communicates with the storage device 5, and attribute information that indicates a state necessary for work transfer coordinated with the production facility 1 a detected by the connection detection means 2, And the cooperation information including the control information necessary for the work execution accompanying the work is exchanged with the production facility 1a via the cooperation information holding means 6. More specifically, the link information exchanging means 3 uses the link information holding means 6 to link the link information accompanying the work moving from the self production facility 1 to the adjacent production facility 1a and the individual identification information of the self production facility 1. It is written so that the adjacent production facility 1a can be acquired. On the contrary, when the workpiece moves from the adjacent production facility 1a to the self-production facility 1, the cooperation information exchanging means 3 of the self-production facility 1 receives the cooperation information written to the cooperation information holding means 6 by the other production equipment 1a. read out.

  Since a general-purpose communication program can be prepared by standardizing the format of the linkage information in advance, the communication interface of the linkage information exchanging means 3 can also be defined in advance. In addition, since the communication interface is defined in advance, communication is possible by connecting to another production facility 1a equipped with the same type of communication interface. Furthermore, it is possible to communicate by connecting with production equipment of other production systems equipped with the same type of communication interface.

The storage device 5 is a storage device having a communication function and a function capable of changing contents from the outside, and is configured by a computer, for example.
Alternatively, the storage device 5 may be configured by an IC (Integrated Circuit) and pasted on a workpiece, and moved between production facilities together with the workpiece.

  FIG. 4 shows a configuration example when the production system combines two or more production facilities. In the example of FIG. 4, the workpiece moves from the production facility 1 to the production facility 1d. Therefore, one link information holding means is provided between two production facilities where the workpiece is moved. Linkage information associated with the workpiece is exchanged between the production facilities 1 and 1a via the linkage information holding means 6 of the storage device 5, and exchanged between the production facilities 1a and 1b via the linkage information holding means 6a. It is exchanged between the production facilities 1b and 1c via the linkage information holding means 6b of 5a, and is exchanged between the production facilities 1c and 1d via the linkage information holding means 6c. For example, the cooperation information exchanged between the production facilities 1 and 1a and the cooperation information exchanged between the production facilities 1a and 1b may be the same type of information, or may be different types of information. . Further, the linkage information may be exchanged not only between two production facilities but also between a plurality of production facilities. For example, the linkage information passed from the production facility 1 to the production facility 1a further flows to the production facilities 1b, 1c, 1d. You may comprise so that it may go.

  Also, in FIG. 4, the linkage information holding means 6 and 6a are distributed as one storage device 5, and the linkage information holding means 6b and 6c are distributed as one storage device 5a. However, the configuration may be arbitrary, for example, one storage device. One linkage information holding means 6 may be provided in the device 5, or all the linkage information holding means 6, 6a, 6b, 6c may be provided in one storage device 5.

  With the configuration as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, since the cooperation information is held on the storage device 5 different from the production facility 1, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the cooperation information is lost due to a defect derived from the production facility 1. In addition, information collection for data utilization such as data storage and statistical data becomes easy.

Note that the production facility 1 and the linkage information holding means 6 may not be configured separately, but the linkage information holding means 6 may be provided in the production facility 1. An example is shown in FIG.
In the example of FIG. 5, the cooperation information exchanging means 3 of the production facility 1 includes the cooperation information holding means 6, and the cooperation information exchanging means 3a of the other production equipment 1a also includes the cooperation information holding means 6a. When the cooperation information is exchanged, the cooperation information exchange means 3 and 3a of the production facilities 1 and 1a communicate directly. That is, the cooperation information exchange means 3 is a communication interface for exchanging cooperation information with the cooperation information exchange means 3a of another production facility 1a. As described above, since a general-purpose communication program can be prepared by previously standardizing the format of the linkage information, the communication interface of the linkage information exchanging means 3 can also be defined in advance. In addition, since the communication interface is defined in advance, communication is possible by connecting to another production facility 1a equipped with the same type of communication interface.

If configured as shown in FIG. 5, communication becomes local, so that it is easy to specify a communication partner. Further, the communication wiring is shorter than the configuration of FIGS. 1 and 4. Also, the amount of communication data per communication line is small.
Here, the communication data amount will be briefly described. In the case of a bus-type communication path such as a LAN (Local Area Network) such as Ethernet (registered trademark), a plurality of communications are performed in a time-sharing manner, and data is transmitted from the transmission side to all nodes on the communication path. become. However, since the destination is given to the data, if the destination is different from its own address, the receiving side discards it.
In the first embodiment, for example, when the bus system is used as in the configuration shown in FIG. 4, one linkage information holding unit 6 (storage device 5) is connected to the production facilities 1, 1a, 1b (each connected in order). The data transmitted from the production facility 1 to the production facility 1a is also received by the production facility 1b that is not directly connected. During this time, even if the production facility 1b wishes to communicate, it will stand by. As a result, there is no problem as long as the number of production facilities is small and the amount of communication data is small. However, if the number of production facilities increases or the amount of communication data increases, the chances of communication collision and standby increase, and communication delays. Leads to.
On the other hand, when the local communication method is used as in the configuration shown in FIG. 5, the communication path is configured only between the production facilities 1 and 1a that are directly connected. There is an advantage that communication does not occur and the amount of communication data per communication wiring is reduced. In addition, since communication collision and standby are inevitably reduced, there is an advantage that communication delay is less likely to occur.

  The work control means 4 is a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller), a robot controller, or the like that controls the work of the self-manufacturing facility 1. The work control means 4 refers to the cooperation information acquired by the cooperation information exchanging means 3 to determine the operation start, stop, operation method, and the like, and executes the work according to an operation program given in advance. Although details will be described later, the work control means 4 creates cooperation information as necessary or updates the cooperation information based on the result of executing the work, and outputs it to the cooperation information exchange means 3.

Next, the operation of the production system will be described.
Here, a work conveyance timing control method will be described as an example.
FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a work conveyance timing control method by the production system, and shows an example of pull control. The workpiece is conveyed in the order of the three production facilities 1, 1a, 1b, and a workpiece presence / absence flag (cooperation information) is exchanged between the production facilities. One workpiece presence / absence flag is used for one workpiece. A white circle (◯ in the figure) indicates a state without a workpiece, and a black circle (● in the drawing) indicates a state with a workpiece.

  Here, the production facility 1 configured by the component supply device supplies two workpieces to the production facility 1a, and the production facility 1a configured by the robot assembles the two workpieces into one workpiece and converts it into the production facility 1b. The production facility 1b that conveys and processes the single workpiece. In the pull control, the work is started when the workpiece presence / absence flag is in a state of “No (O)” with the production equipment in the subsequent process.

  In the steady state of FIG. 6A, in the pull control, there is a work in each production facility in advance, and a work presence flag is set in the cooperation information holding means 6 and 6a. First, the production facility 1b performs processing using a workpiece. At this time, the cooperative information exchanging means (not shown) of the production facility 1b sets the work presence / absence flag of the cooperative information holding means 6a to “None (O)”, and transitions to the state of FIG.

  In the state of FIG. 6B, the cooperation information exchanging means (not shown) of the production facility 1a detects that the work presence / absence flag of the cooperation information holding means 6a has become “none”, and the two works Are assembled to produce one workpiece and supply it to the production facility 1b. At this time, the cooperation information exchanging means of the production facility 1a sets the workpiece presence / absence flag corresponding to the two used workpieces to “No (O)” and sets the workpiece presence / absence flag corresponding to the manufactured workpiece to “Yes (●)”. And transition to the state of FIG.

  In the state of FIG. 6C, the cooperation information exchanging means (not shown) of the production facility 1 detects that the two workpiece presence / absence flags of the cooperation information holding means 6 are “none” (O), Two works are supplied to the production facility 1a. At this time, the cooperation information exchanging means of the production facility 1 sets the work presence / absence flag corresponding to the two supplied works to “present (●)”, and transitions to the state of FIG.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a work conveyance timing control method by the production system, and shows an example of push control. In push control, work is started when the presence / absence flag of the workpiece is set to “present (●)” with the production equipment in the previous process.

  In the steady state of FIG. 7A, in the push control, there is no work in each production facility, and a no work flag (◯ in the figure) is set in the cooperation information holding means 6 and 6a. First, the production facility 1 supplies two workpieces to the production facility 1a. At this time, the cooperation information exchanging means (not shown) of the production facility 1 sets the two work presence / absence flags of the cooperation information holding means 6 to “present (●)”, and transitions to the state of FIG.

  In the state shown in FIG. 7B, the cooperation information exchanging means (not shown) of the production facility 1a detects that the work presence / absence flag of the cooperation information holding means 6 is “present (●)”, and the production facility 1 The two workpieces supplied from the assembly are assembled to produce one workpiece, which is supplied to the production facility 1b. At this time, the cooperation information exchanging means of the production facility 1a sets the workpiece presence / absence flag corresponding to the two workpieces used to “No (O)” and sets the workpiece presence / absence flag corresponding to one manufactured workpiece to “Yes (●). ) "And the state transitions to the state of FIG.

  In the state of FIG. 7C, the cooperation information exchanging means (not shown) of the production facility 1b detects that the work presence / absence flag of the cooperation information holding means 6a is “present (●)”, and the production facility 1a Machining is performed using the workpiece supplied from At this time, the cooperation information exchanging means of the production facility 1b sets the work presence / absence flag corresponding to the used work to “None (O)”, and transitions to the state of FIG.

  The production equipment 1, 1 a, 1 b can take out a workpiece when the workpiece presence / absence flag of the linkage information holding means 6, 6 a is “Yes” in both the pull control of FIG. 6 and the push control of FIG. , The workpiece can be transported when “no”. Conversely, it must not be transported when it is “present” and cannot be removed when it is “not present”. For this reason, only one of the transfer operations can be performed according to the state of the flag. Therefore, the workpiece presence / absence flag has an interlock function in the transfer control between the production facilities.

In this way, since the operation timing of each production facility and the workpiece transfer timing can be controlled by exchanging the workpiece presence / absence flag between the production facilities, the operation timing and transfer timing of each production facility are previously set in the centralized controller as in the past. There is no need to set. Further, when the centralized controller is used, it is necessary to change the setting on the centralized controller side each time the work contents and order of the production system are changed. However, in the first embodiment, the centralized controller itself can be made unnecessary.
Moreover, in this Embodiment 1, also when changing the production equipment structure of a production system, the connection detection means 2 detects the adjacent production equipment connected (or deleted) after the change, and exchanges cooperation information. Since the connection relationship is redefined, there is no need to manually change the definition. In addition, by standardizing this linkage information and standardizing it regardless of the type of production equipment such as parts supply equipment, robots, dedicated work equipment, etc., it is possible to exchange linkage information between different types of production equipment, Recombination into production facilities becomes easier, and the scope of application is expanded.
Further, when a new production system is connected to the production system, the connection detection means 2 detects the connection between the last production facility of the production system in the previous process and the first production facility in the production system in the subsequent process. Thus, cooperation can be achieved by cooperation through exchange of cooperation information by the cooperation information exchange means 3.

The linkage information may be information other than the workpiece presence / absence flag indicating the workpiece presence / absence state. Below, the example of attribute information and control information is shown as cooperation information.
As the attribute information related to the workpiece, there is absolute workpiece position information based on information set in the production facility 1 from the outside when the production system is constructed, or relative workpiece position information calculated from the relative position information with the adjacent production facility 1a. is there. Such position information may be calculated by the work control means 4 using the position information of the production facility 1a detected by the connection detection means 2. Further, for example, the work control means 4 can perform a work in cooperation with the other production equipment 1a, such as transporting the work to the work machining position of the production equipment 1a included in the cooperation information acquired from the other production equipment 1a. .
For example, the attribute information includes information such as the type, shape, size, and weight of the workpiece.

  In addition, as the control information of the work on the workpiece, there is a progress degree of processes such as assembly and processing, or designation of priority or order of assembly and processing. For example, the work control unit 4 may increment a numerical value indicating the degree of progress included in the cooperation information acquired from the production facility in the previous process and pass it to the production facility in the subsequent process through the work information exchange unit 3.

  Further, for example, there is a designation of a workpiece transfer method as the control information. The operation program of the transfer method, such as gripping by the hand and suction by the suction nozzle, is set in the work control means 4 in advance, but selection of which method to transport is specified by the control information. For example, when the production facility 1 conveys a workpiece, flexible conveyance control is possible, such as selecting and conveying a grip, suction, or conveyance method according to control information acquired from another production facility 1a that manufactured the workpiece.

In addition, for example, as control information, a conveyance path (information such as linear interpolation between two points, circular interpolation, a pass point), an allowable operation range (area (area, depth, height, angle) where an external conveyance robot can enter), Information such as passpoints), speed or acceleration of conveyance.
Also, for example, information on the work before the conveyance (twisting, folding, pulling, performing high-precision positioning, etc. when the workpiece is taken out) as control information, or information on the work after the conveyance (twisting, bending, pushing in when the workpiece is placed, predetermined For example, time keeping and high-precision positioning).
Such linkage information may be created based on setting values and operation programs given in advance by the work control means 4, for example. Further, the work control means 4 can perform a transport operation in cooperation with the other production equipment 1a based on the cooperation information acquired from the other production equipment 1a.

  By transmitting and receiving these attribute information and control information in the linkage information, it is possible to communicate and adjust the workpiece transfer position and transfer route between the production facilities 1 and 1a. Therefore, it becomes possible to cooperate between the production facility 1 and the other production facility 1a. Therefore, when the production facility configuration of the production system is changed, it is not necessary to newly create and modify the operation program itself of the production facility 1, and the operation program can be reused.

As described above, when the production facility 1 according to the first embodiment exchanges a workpiece with another production facility 1a, the production facility 1 represents the state of the workpiece, and includes other pieces of cooperation information used for execution of operations such as conveyance, processing, and assembly. Information exchange means 3 exchanged with the production facility 1a and work control means 4 for controlling work operations such as conveyance, processing, and assembly using the cooperation information acquired by the cooperation information exchange means 3. Configured. For this reason, when a production line is constructed or changed for the purpose of producing a variety of products in small quantities, it can be handled only by recombination, increase and reduction of production facilities. As a result, the centralized controller that centrally controls each production facility and its program as in the conventional production system can be eliminated, and the operation program of the production facility can be reused. It is possible to provide a production facility capable of flexibly performing separation and recombination between the two.
Furthermore, if a production system is constructed by combining a plurality of production facilities 1, it is more flexible than a conventional production system based on centralized management, and the range of application for high-mix low-volume production can be expanded. In addition, the production systems can be easily linked and the production system can be reused.

  In addition, according to the first embodiment, the production facility 1 includes the connection detection unit 2 that detects the connection of another production facility 1 a that exchanges workpieces with the self-production facility 1, and the cooperation information exchange unit 3. Is configured to exchange linkage information with the production facility 1a detected by the connection detection means 2, so that a new connection is automatically detected when a production line is constructed, or a production facility is disconnected or reconfigured. Can exchange linkage information and improve flexibility.

  Moreover, according to Embodiment 1, it comprises so that the workpiece | work presence / absence flag showing the presence / absence of a workpiece | work may be included in cooperation information, and the work control means 4 of the self-production equipment 1 by pull control or push control according to a workpiece | work presence / absence flag. Since operations such as transfer, assembly, and processing are started, work transfer timing and operation timing can be coordinated and coordinated between production facilities, and production facility operations can be performed when manufacturing lines are constructed and the configuration is changed. Reuse is possible without the need to create and modify programs.

  Moreover, according to Embodiment 1, it comprises so that control information showing the conveyance position of a workpiece | work may be included in cooperation information, and the work control means 4 uses the conveyance position which cooperation information represents, and carries out the conveyance operation | work of the self-production facility 1 Because it is controlled, workpiece transfer operations can be coordinated and coordinated between production facilities, and it is not necessary to create and modify production facility operation programs when building a production line or changing its configuration. become.

Further, according to the first embodiment, the work information exchanging means 3 and 3a of the production equipment 1 and 1a receives the cooperation information via the cooperation information holding means 6 connected to the own production equipment 1 and the other production equipment 1a, respectively. It was configured to give and receive. For this reason, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the link information is lost due to a defect derived from the production facility, and it is possible to provide a production system that can easily collect information for data utilization.
Alternatively, the work information exchanging means 3 and 3a may directly exchange the cooperation information. In the case of this configuration, communication becomes local compared to the above configuration, so that it is easy to specify the communication partner. Further, the communication wiring can be shortened and the amount of communication data can be reduced.

  Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment, and the design does not depart from the gist of the present invention. Needless to say, changes and the like are included in the present invention.

1, 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d Production equipment 2, 2a Connection detecting means 3, 3a Cooperation information exchanging means 4, 4a Work control means 5, 5a Storage device 6, 6a, 6b Cooperation information holding means 10 Parts supply device 11 Robot 12 Dedicated working device 20, 21, 25 Convex part 22, 23, 24 Concave part

Claims (7)

A production facility that performs a predetermined operation on a target article,
When exchanging a target article with another production facility, a linkage information exchanging means for exchanging linkage information with the other production facility that represents the state of the target article and is used for performing work;
Work control means for controlling work operation using the cooperation information acquired by the cooperation information exchange means ,
The linkage information is information indicating the presence or absence of the target article,
The work control means starts the operation of the own production facility when the cooperation information acquired from the production facility in the subsequent process is information indicating that there is no target article in the production facility in the subsequent process. Facility. A production facility that performs a predetermined operation on a target article,
When exchanging a target article with another production facility, a linkage information exchanging means for exchanging linkage information with the other production facility that represents the state of the target article and is used for performing work;
Work control means for controlling work operation using the cooperation information acquired by the cooperation information exchange means,
The linkage information is information indicating the presence or absence of the target article,
The working control means, you characterized in that linkage information obtained from the previous step production equipment performs start working of its own production facilities in the case of information indicating that the target object is in the production facilities of the previous step production equipment. Provided with a connection detection means for detecting the connection of other production equipment that exchanges the target article with the self-production equipment,
The production equipment according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the cooperation information exchange means exchanges the cooperation information with the production equipment detected by the connection detection means. The linkage information is information representing the transport position of the target article based on the position of the own production equipment or other production equipment,
The production facility according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the work control means controls the transfer work based on a transfer position represented by the cooperation information. Cooperative information exchange means, the own production facilities and other according to any one of the production through a linkage information holding means connected respectively to the facility to exchange coordination information from claim 1, characterized in claim 4 Production equipment. A production system comprising a combination of a plurality of production facilities according to any one of claims 1 to 4 . The production system includes linkage information holding means for holding linkage information exchanged between production facilities,
The production system according to claim 6 , wherein the production facility exchanges linkage information with another production facility via the linkage information holding unit.

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