JP7338601B2 - Management device and management method - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to management devices and methods, and more particularly to management of casting using sand molds.

With the introduction of IoT (Internet of Things) in factories, efforts are being made to improve the productivity and quality of products by associating products with information about the products. For example, Patent Literature 1 proposes a method of ensuring traceability by marking a product with a product management code.

WO2018/117120

However, when marking the management code on the surface of the casting product by engraving or laser processing, if the shape of the product is complicated, the size of the product is minute, or the surface of the product is not clean, etc. , it is difficult to mark the managed code on the product. Therefore, in such a case, it is difficult to identify the products individually, and it is difficult to ensure the traceability of the products.

The present disclosure has been made against the background of the above circumstances, and aims to provide a management device and a management method that can ensure the traceability of objects without marking the objects with codes.

One aspect of the present disclosure for achieving the above object is a management device that manages casting using a sand mold, comprising: a registered pattern acquisition unit that acquires information on the surface pattern of the sand mold for registration; a registration control unit for controlling to associate and store the information on the surface pattern acquired in the above with the management information of the casting to be cast using the sand mold having the surface pattern; A reference pattern acquisition unit that acquires information, the information on the surface pattern stored in association with the management information, and the information on the surface pattern acquired for inquiry are collated to store the information. and an information extraction unit for extracting from the management information the management information about the object from which the surface pattern information acquired for the inquiry is obtained.
According to this management device, an object is identified by the surface pattern of the sand mold, and management information corresponding to the object is extracted. Therefore, the traceability of the object can be ensured without marking the object with a code.

In one aspect described above, the obtained surface pattern information is information obtained from a sand mold.
By doing so, it is possible to ensure the traceability of the object using the surface pattern obtained directly from the sand mold.

In one aspect described above, the acquired surface pattern information is information acquired from a casting cast using a sand mold.
By doing so, the traceability of the object can be ensured by using the surface pattern of the sand mold transferred to the casting.

In one aspect described above, the management information is information on casting conditions for the casting on which the surface pattern is formed.
By doing so, it is possible to easily confirm the casting conditions of each casting.

In the above aspect, the management information is information on the manufacturing conditions of the sand mold in which the surface pattern is formed. can be confirmed.

Another aspect of the present disclosure for achieving the above object is a management method for managing casting using a sand mold, which acquires information on the surface pattern of the sand mold for registration, and acquires information on the surface pattern of the sand mold for registration. The information of the surface pattern and the management information of the casting to be cast using the sand mold having the surface pattern are stored in association with each other, the information of the surface pattern of the sand mold is acquired for inquiry, and the information is associated with the management information. By collating the surface pattern information stored in the management information stored in the The management method extracts the management information about the object from which the surface pattern information is obtained.
According to this management method, an object is identified by the surface pattern of the sand mold, and management information corresponding to the object is extracted. Therefore, the traceability of the object can be ensured without marking the object with a code.

Advantageous Effects of Invention According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a management device and a management method capable of ensuring traceability of an object without marking the object with a code.

1 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a management device according to an outline of an embodiment; FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing an example of the flow of processing in the management method according to the outline of the embodiment; It is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a management device according to an embodiment. 4 is a table showing an example of information stored in an information storage unit; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the steps from manufacturing a casting to shipping it to the market. 6 is a flow chart showing an example of the flow of processing of the management device according to the embodiment; It is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware constitutions of the management device concerning an embodiment.

For clarity of explanation, the following descriptions and drawings are omitted and simplified as appropriate. In each drawing, the same reference numerals are given to the same or corresponding elements, and redundant description will be omitted as necessary for clarity of description.

<Overview of Embodiment>
Prior to detailed description of the embodiments, an outline of the embodiments will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a management device 1 according to the overview of the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the management device 1 includes a registered pattern acquisition unit 2, a registration control unit 3, an inquiry pattern acquisition unit 4, and an information extraction unit 5, and manages casting using a sand mold. is.

The registered pattern acquisition unit 2 acquires information on the surface pattern of the sand mold for registration. This surface pattern is an irregular pattern formed on the surface by fine unevenness caused by sand.
The registration control unit 3 performs control so that the surface pattern information acquired for registration and the management information of a casting cast using a sand mold having the surface pattern are stored in association with each other. For example, the registration control unit 3 may store the information in a storage device (not shown) included in the management device 1, or may store the information in another storage device communicably connected to the management device 1 via a network or the like. may be stored.

In general, the pattern on the surface of the sand mold differs from individual to individual. In general, the sand mold used for casting is destroyed after the pouring process, so that it cannot be reused, and a new solid is required each time a product is cast. Focusing on such characteristics of the sand mold, the management device 1 uses the surface pattern of the sand mold as identification information.

As the management information stored in association with the surface pattern information of the sand mold, arbitrary information required for managing castings, that is, products can be used. For example, the management information may be casting manufacturing conditions. Here, the manufacturing conditions for the casting may be, for example, the casting conditions for the casting, or the manufacturing conditions for the sand mold used when casting the casting.

The inquiry pattern acquisition unit 4 acquires surface pattern information of the sand mold for inquiry.
The information extraction unit 5 collates the surface pattern information stored in association with the management information and the surface pattern information acquired for the inquiry. Accordingly, the information extraction unit 5 extracts the management information about the object from the stored management information. The object here is the object from which surface pattern information is acquired for inquiry, and may be a sand mold or a casting.

The surface pattern information acquired by the management device 1 may be information acquired from a sand mold, or may be information acquired from a casting cast using a sand mold. More specifically, the information obtained from the sand mold is information of the surface pattern of the sand mold formed on the sand mold, that is, information obtained directly from the surface of the sand mold. In addition, the information obtained from a casting cast using a sand mold refers to the information of the surface pattern of the sand mold transferred to the casting cast using the sand mold, that is, by transferring the sand mold pattern, It is the information of the pattern formed on the casting.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing in the management method according to the outline of the embodiment. The flow of processing will be described below with reference to FIG.

In step S1, the registered pattern acquisition unit 2 acquires information on the surface pattern of the sand mold for registration.
Next, in step S2, the registration control unit 3 performs control so that the surface pattern information acquired in step S1 and the management information of a casting cast using a sand mold having the surface pattern are stored in association with each other. .
Next, in step S3, the reference pattern acquisition section 4 acquires surface pattern information of the sand mold for reference.
Next, in step S4, the information extraction unit 5 extracts management information from the stored management information by collating the surface pattern information.

As described above, in the management device 1, an object is identified by the surface pattern of the sand mold, and management information corresponding to the object is extracted. Therefore, the traceability of the object can be ensured without marking the object with a code.

<Details of Embodiment>
Next, details of the embodiment will be described.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the management device 100 according to the embodiment. The management device 100 corresponds to the management device 1 in FIG. 1 and is a device for managing casting using a sand mold. As shown in FIG. 3, the management device 100 includes a registered pattern acquisition unit 101, a manufacturing condition acquisition unit 102, an inquiry pattern acquisition unit 103, a registration control unit 104, an information storage unit 105, and an information extraction unit 106. , and an output control unit 107 .

A registered pattern obtaining unit 101 corresponds to the registered pattern obtaining unit 2 in FIG. 1, and obtains surface pattern information of a sand mold for registration. In the present embodiment, the registered pattern acquisition unit 101 acquires surface pattern information of a sand mold from a sand mold or from a casting cast using the sand mold. Specifically, the registered pattern acquisition unit 101 acquires an image of the surface of a sand mold or a casting photographed by a camera as surface pattern information. In other words, the registered pattern acquisition unit 101 acquires the sand mold image or the casting image as surface pattern information. The sand mold image is a surface image of a predetermined portion of the sand mold, and the casting image is a surface image of a predetermined portion of the casting. For example, the registered pattern acquisition unit 101 may acquire the surface pattern information by receiving it from another device such as a camera or from a client terminal or the like. It may be obtained by reading out the surface pattern information.

The manufacturing condition acquisition unit 102 acquires information on casting manufacturing conditions for registration. Specifically, the manufacturing condition acquisition unit 102 acquires information on casting conditions for castings or information on manufacturing conditions for sand molds used in casting castings. The manufacturing condition acquisition unit 102 can acquire arbitrary conditions related to casting of castings as casting conditions of castings. For example, the casting conditions of the casting to be obtained are the conditions of the pouring process (for example, the temperature of the metal when pouring the molten metal into the mold, the rate at which the molten metal is supplied to the mold, the speed of the molten metal into the mold). supply pressure, etc.), or the material of the casting (ie, the type of metal that constitutes the casting). In addition, the manufacturing condition acquisition unit 102 can acquire any conditions related to sand mold manufacturing as sand mold manufacturing conditions. For example, the acquired sand mold manufacturing conditions may include sand mold materials, time for mixing materials, injection speed or pressure when molding sand molds by injection molding, temperature during molding, and the like. Differences in sand mold manufacturing conditions affect the strength of the sand mold and the amount of gas generated from the sand mold during the pouring process. Therefore, the sand mold manufacturing conditions can affect the casting quality. Therefore, it is important to control not only the casting conditions for castings but also the conditions for manufacturing sand molds in order to control the quality of castings. For example, the manufacturing condition acquisition unit 102 may acquire information on the manufacturing conditions for castings via an input device such as a keyboard connected to the management device 100, or may acquire the information by receiving it from a client terminal or the like. Alternatively, the information may be obtained by reading information stored in a storage medium or the like connected to the management device 100 .

The reference pattern acquisition unit 103 corresponds to the reference pattern acquisition unit 4 in FIG. 1, and acquires surface pattern information of the sand mold for reference. In the present embodiment, the inquiry pattern acquisition unit 103 acquires surface pattern information of a sand mold from a sand mold or from a casting cast using a sand mold. Specifically, the reference pattern acquisition unit 103 acquires an image of the surface of a sand mold or a casting photographed by a camera as surface pattern information. In other words, the inquiry pattern acquisition unit 103 acquires the sand mold image or the casting image as surface pattern information. For example, the reference pattern acquisition unit 103 may acquire surface pattern information by receiving the information from another device such as a camera or from a client terminal or the like. It may be obtained by reading out the surface pattern information.

The registration control unit 104 corresponds to the registration control unit 3 in FIG. (information on casting conditions for castings, or information on manufacturing conditions for sand molds) is associated and stored in the information storage unit 105 .

In addition, in the present embodiment, the registration control unit 104 compares the surface pattern information acquired by the reference pattern acquisition unit 103 with the surface pattern information stored in the information storage unit 105 to determine the pouring pattern. Information (surface pattern information or sand mold manufacturing conditions information) in the information storage unit 105 corresponding to the sand mold used in the process is specified. More specifically, as will be described later, the registration control unit 104 uses the surface pattern information of the sand mold used in the pouring process acquired by the inquiry pattern acquiring unit 103 for collation, so that the sand mold used in the pouring process can be used in the pouring process. Among the sand molds whose surface pattern information is stored in the information storage unit 105, the sand mold to be used is specified. When the registration control unit 104 identifies the sand mold to be used, that is, identifies the information in the information storage unit 105 corresponding to the sand mold used in the pouring process, this information and the casting information using this sand mold ( (Casting image or casting condition information) are associated with each other and stored in the information storage unit 105 .

The information storage unit 105 is a storage device that stores information associated by the registration control unit 104 . FIG. 4 is a table showing an example of information stored in the information storage unit 105. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the information storage unit 105 stores a sand mold image that is information on the surface pattern of the sand mold acquired from the sand mold, information indicating the manufacturing conditions of the sand mold, information indicating the casting conditions of the casting, and information indicating the casting conditions of the casting. is stored in association with the casting image, which is the information of the surface pattern of the sand mold acquired from.

The information extraction unit 106 corresponds to the information extraction unit 5 in FIG. 1, and compares the surface pattern information stored in the information storage unit 105 with the surface pattern information acquired by the inquiry pattern acquisition unit 103. Thus, information is extracted from information stored in the information storage unit 105 . The information to be extracted is, for example, information on manufacturing conditions of castings (that is, casting conditions of castings or manufacturing conditions of sand molds) for the object from which surface pattern information acquired for inquiry is acquired. However, it may be surface pattern information (casting image or sand mold image). Further, the object from which the surface pattern information obtained for inquiry is obtained is, for example, a casting, that is, a product, but it may also be a sand mold.

The output control unit 107 controls to output the information extracted from the information storage unit 105 by the information extraction unit 106 . For example, the output control unit 107 may control to display on a display, or may control to transmit to another device such as a client terminal.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the steps from manufacturing a casting to shipping it to the market. Hereinafter, an example of the process flow and acquisition timing of surface pattern information will be described with reference to FIG.

In step S10, a dissolution process is performed. That is, the metal that is the material of the casting is melted.

In S20a and S20b, a sand mold material kneading step is performed. That is, kneading of sand, which is the material of the sand mold, and a binder is performed. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the material for the sand mold main mold is kneaded in S20a, and the material for the core sand mold is kneaded in S20b.

In steps S30a and S30b, a sand mold forming process is performed. That is, a step of forming a sand mold into a predetermined shape is performed. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the main mold is molded in S30a, and the core is molded in S30b. When the sand mold is formed, an image of the sand mold is taken in order to register the information of the surface pattern of the sand mold, and the registered pattern acquisition unit 101 acquires this image. The acquired sand mold image is stored in the information storage unit 105 together with the sand mold manufacturing conditions by the registration control unit 104 . As a result, data in which the sand mold image is associated with the sand mold manufacturing conditions is stored in the information storage unit 105, such as the second data or the third data in the table shown in FIG. In this example, only the manufacturing conditions of the sand mold are associated with the sand mold image, but if the casting conditions of the casting have already been acquired, the casting conditions of the casting may also be associated at this point. . In the example shown in FIG. 5, information on the surface pattern of the core, that is, the image of the core is obtained, but information on the surface pattern of the main mold, that is, the image of the main mold may be obtained. In steps S30a and S30b, a plurality of sand molds are manufactured and the manufactured sand molds are stored as intermediate inventory in preparation for manufacturing a plurality of castings.

In step S40, a pouring step is performed. That is, a step is performed in which the metal melted in step S10 is placed in a mold that is a combination of the molds formed in steps S30a and S30b. At this time, sand molds picked up from intermediate inventory are used. In order to specify which of the sand molds whose surface pattern information is stored in the information storage unit 105 corresponds to the picked-up sand mold, surface pattern information of the picked-up sand mold is collected before the pouring process. , that is, an image is obtained by the reference pattern obtaining unit 103 . In the example shown in FIG. 5, information on the surface pattern of the core, that is, the image of the core is acquired. The registration control unit 104 uses the image acquired by the inquiry pattern acquisition unit 103 to identify information in the information storage unit 105 corresponding to the sand mold used in the pouring process. For example, the registration control unit 104 identifies that the second data in the table shown in FIG. 4 is information corresponding to the sand mold used in the pouring process.

In step S50, after the pouring process, when the metal has cooled and solidified, a demolding process is performed. That is, a step of breaking the sand mold used in the pouring step and taking out the casting is performed.
Also, in step S60, a shot process is performed. That is, the sand adhering to the casting is removed by colliding the shot ball against the surface of the casting.

Then, in step S70, a deburring/inspection process is performed. That is, unnecessary burrs are removed and inspections are performed to ensure that the castings produced meet predetermined standards. When it is confirmed that the manufactured casting satisfies the standard, a casting image is photographed in order to register the information of the surface pattern of the sand mold transferred to the casting, and a registered pattern acquisition unit 101 acquires this image. The acquired casting image is stored in the information storage unit 105 together with the casting conditions of the casting by the registration control unit 104 . At this time, the registration control unit 104 further associates the casting image and the casting conditions with information corresponding to the sand mold picked up in the pouring process among the information stored in the information storage unit 105 . As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, in the information storage unit 105, the sand mold image, the information indicating the manufacturing conditions of the sand mold, the information indicating the casting conditions of the casting, and the casting image are stored in association with each other. Become.

In step S80, a painting process is performed as necessary. That is, the casting is painted. The castings are then shipped to the market.

After shipment, if a casting has a problem, the information of the surface pattern of the sand mold transferred to the casting, i.e., the casting image, is obtained by the inquiry pattern obtaining unit 103 in order to confirm the management information such as the manufacturing conditions of the casting. be. As a result, the information extraction unit 106 collates the surface pattern information stored in the information storage unit 105 with the surface pattern information acquired by the inquiry pattern acquisition unit 103 . Then, the information extraction unit 106 extracts information corresponding to the defective casting from the information stored in the information storage unit 105 . The extracted information is output under the control of the output control unit 107 .

In the example shown here, the casting image for registration is acquired immediately after the deburring/inspection process. may Also, the casting image for inquiry does not necessarily have to be an image of a casting with a problem. Also, the acquisition timing is not limited to after shipment. For example, the casting image for inquiry may be at any time after the casting image for registration is acquired.

Next, the flow of processing by the management device 100 will be described with reference to a flowchart. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing by the management device 100. As shown in FIG.

In step S100, the manufacturing condition acquisition unit 102 acquires information on sand mold manufacturing conditions.
Next, in step S101, the registered pattern acquisition unit 101 acquires surface pattern information (sand mold image) from the sand mold manufactured according to the manufacturing conditions acquired in step S100.
Next, in step S102, the registration control unit 104 associates the information on the manufacturing conditions of the sand mold acquired in step S100 with the information on the surface pattern acquired in step S101, and stores them in the information storage unit 105. FIG.

Next, in step S103, the inquiry pattern acquisition unit 103 acquires surface pattern information (sand mold image) from the sand mold used in the pouring process.
Next, in step S104, the registration control unit 104 identifies the sand mold to be used by comparing the surface pattern information acquired in step S103 with the surface pattern information stored in the information storage unit 105. do.

Next, in step S105, the manufacturing condition acquisition unit 102 acquires information on casting conditions for castings to be cast using the sand mold specified in step S104.
Next, in step S106, the registered pattern acquisition unit 101 acquires surface pattern information (casting image) from the casting cast according to the casting conditions acquired in step S105. That is, the registered pattern acquisition unit 101 acquires information on the surface pattern of the sand mold transferred to the casting.
Next, in step S107, the registration control unit 104 associates the information on the casting conditions of the casting acquired in step S105 with the information on the surface pattern acquired in step S106, and stores the information in the information storage unit 105.

Next, in step S108, the reference pattern acquisition unit 103 acquires surface pattern information (casting image) of the sand mold transferred to the casting whose manufacturing conditions are to be confirmed.
Next, in step S109, the information extracting unit 106 compares the surface pattern information stored in the information storage unit 105 with the surface pattern information acquired in step S108, thereby extracting information on casting manufacturing conditions. to extract
Next, in step S110, the output control unit 107 controls to output the information extracted from the information storage unit 105 by the information extraction unit 106 in step S109.

The flow of processing has been described above with reference to flowcharts, but the execution order of the processing shown in the flowcharts is merely an example, and the execution order can be changed as appropriate as long as there is no technical contradiction.

Finally, an example of the hardware configuration of the management device 100 will be explained. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the management device 100. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7 , management device 100 includes input/output interface 150 , memory 151 and processor 152 .

The input/output interface 150 is an interface for wired or wireless communication with other devices. For example, the input/output interface 150 is used to obtain information from other devices and output information to other devices.

Memory 151 may comprise any combination of volatile and non-volatile memory. Memory 151 may include multiple memories. Memory 151 is used to store software (ie, a computer program including one or more instructions) and the like that is executed by processor 152 . The information storage unit 105 described above is realized by a storage device such as the memory 151, for example.

The processor 152 reads and executes software (computer program) from the memory 151 to obtain the above-described registered pattern acquisition unit 101, manufacturing condition acquisition unit 102, inquiry pattern acquisition unit 103, registration control unit 104, information extraction unit 106, and the processing of the output control unit 107 are realized. In this way, the management device 100 functions as a computer. The processor 152 may be, for example, a microprocessor, an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), or a CPU (Central Processing Unit). Processor 152 may include multiple processors.

It should be noted that the programs described above can be stored and supplied to computers using various types of non-transitory computer readable media. Non-transitory computer-readable media include various types of tangible storage media. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable media include magnetic recording media (e.g., floppy disks, magnetic tapes, hard disk drives), magneto-optical recording media (e.g., magneto-optical discs), Compact Disc Read Only Memory (CD-ROM), CD-ROM. Includes R, CD-R/W, semiconductor memory (e.g. Mask ROM, Programmable ROM (PROM), Erasable PROM (EPROM), Flash ROM, Random Access Memory (RAM)). The program may also be delivered to the computer on various types of transitory computer readable medium. Examples of transitory computer-readable media include electrical signals, optical signals, and electromagnetic waves. Transitory computer-readable media can deliver the program to the computer via wired channels, such as wires and optical fibers, or wireless channels.

The embodiment has been described above. In the management device 100, the object is identified by the surface pattern of the sand mold, and manufacturing information corresponding to the object is extracted. Therefore, the traceability of the object can be ensured without marking the object with a code. In particular, in the present embodiment, casting conditions for castings and sand mold manufacturing conditions are used as manufacturing conditions. Therefore, according to the management device 100, it is possible to easily check the casting conditions of castings and the manufacturing conditions of sand molds. The manufacturing conditions to be managed may be only one of the casting conditions for castings and the manufacturing conditions for sand molds.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, in the above-described embodiments, the main mold is a sand mold, but a metal mold may be used as the main mold as long as the casting uses a core that is a sand mold. That is, the management device described above can be used for various castings using sand molds (eg, low pressure aluminum casting, gravity casting, etc.). Further, in the above-described embodiment, the inquiry pattern acquisition unit 103 acquires a sand mold image in order to specify the information in the information storage unit 105 corresponding to the sand mold used in the pouring process. A sand mold image acquisition may be performed to extract 105 information. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the information to be extracted is specified by matching the casting image acquired for inquiry with the casting image stored in the information storage unit 105. The casting image acquired for inquiry (information on the surface pattern of the sand mold transferred to the casting) and the sand mold image stored in the information storage unit 105 (information on the surface pattern directly acquired from the surface of the sand mold) may be matched.

1 Management device 2 Registered pattern acquisition unit 3 Registration control unit 4 Reference pattern acquisition unit 5 Information extraction unit 100 Management device 101 Registered pattern acquisition unit 102 Manufacturing condition acquisition unit 103 Reference pattern acquisition unit 104 Registration control unit 105 Information storage unit 106 Information extraction Unit 107 Output control unit 150 Input/output interface 151 Memory 152 Processor

Claims (6)

A management device for managing casting using a sand mold,
a registered pattern acquisition unit that acquires information on the surface pattern of the sand mold for registration;
a registration control unit that performs control to associate and store the information of the surface pattern acquired for registration and the management information of the casting that is cast using the sand mold having the surface pattern;
an inquiry pattern acquisition unit for acquiring information of the surface texture of the sand mold for inquiry;
By collating the surface pattern information stored in association with the management information and the surface pattern information acquired for the inquiry, the information for the inquiry is selected from the stored management information. an information extracting unit for extracting the management information about the object from which the surface pattern information is obtained;
A management device having The management device according to claim 1, wherein the acquired surface pattern information is information acquired from a sand mold. The management device according to claim 1, wherein the acquired surface pattern information is information acquired from a casting cast using a sand mold. The management device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the management information is information on casting conditions of the casting on which the surface pattern is formed. The management device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the management information is information on manufacturing conditions of the sand mold on which the surface pattern is formed. A management method for managing casting using a sand mold,
Acquiring the information of the surface pattern of the sand mold for registration,
storing the information of the surface pattern acquired for registration in association with the management information of the casting to be cast using the sand mold having the surface pattern;
Get the sand mold surface texture information for inquiry,
By collating the surface pattern information stored in association with the management information and the surface pattern information acquired for the inquiry, the information for the inquiry is selected from the stored management information. a management method for extracting the management information about an object from which the information on the surface pattern is obtained.

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