JP7413839B2 - Tool replacement time display device and tool replacement time display method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a cutting tool replacement time display device and a cutting tool replacement time display method for a plurality of processing equipment equipped with a plurality of cutting tools.

Processing lines with multiple processing equipment are required to improve operating rates in order to minimize equipment stoppages and increase the number of products processed. Other than equipment failures, replacing blades that are nearing the end of their service life is the biggest reason for equipment shutdowns, so minimizing the time required to replace blades will improve operating efficiency.

Generally, the lifespan of the cutter ends at a certain period, and replacement of the cutter itself is unavoidable, but in order to confirm that the replacement of the cutter does not affect the product quality, product quality should be checked before and after replacing the cutter. It is common practice to carry out Furthermore, in automatic product transport lines, robot transport may stop during quality checks, so quality check work must be kept to a minimum.

When a large amount of cutting tool replacement work is required, a large number of tool replacement support personnel (hereinafter referred to as "mizumasashi") are required to minimize equipment stoppages.

Furthermore, in addition to improving the efficiency of cutting tool replacement work, in order to reduce costs and improve operating rates, it is necessary to use the cutting tools to the maximum extent possible until they are close to their service life, and to take measures to extend their service life.
Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for increasing the efficiency of cutting tool replacement by acquiring information on a plurality of cutting tools from a plurality of processing equipment and staggering the replacement time.
In addition, Patent Document 2 describes a technology that aims to improve the efficiency of cutting tool replacement and improving the operating rate by acquiring information on multiple pieces of cutting tools from multiple processing equipment, grouping the cutting tools in a predetermined manner, and staggering the replacement times. It is published as.

JP2004-130451 Japanese Patent Publication No. 06-222825

However, in the method of Patent Document 1, the lifespan of the cutting tool varies depending on the cutting tool, the tool, and the cutting part, so the replacement time may vary. In this case, there was a risk that the operating rate of the processing equipment would decrease.
Furthermore, since the blades are replaced ahead of schedule, the blades may be replaced before the maximum lifespan of the blades is reached.

Furthermore, in the method of Patent Document 2, the lifespan of the cutting tool varies depending on the cutting tool, the tool, and the cutting part, so the replacement time may vary. Furthermore, it is assumed that a plurality of pieces of equipment will be in the same group with the same cutting tool replacement timing, which may reduce work efficiency.

Therefore, the present invention provides a tool replacement time display device and a tool replacement time display method that allow the tool replacement to be carried out efficiently and systematically, and also to maximize the life of the tool.

The cutter replacement time display device of the present invention is a cutter replacement time display device for displaying the cutter replacement time of a plurality of processing equipment equipped with a plurality of cutters, and includes a collection unit that collects the number of times each cutter is used. , a calculation unit that calculates the timing for replacing two or more of the blades at once based on the set lifespan and the number of times of use set for each of the blades in advance; and displaying the timing calculated by the calculation unit. and a display unit , and the set lifespan of each of the cutting tools is set to a multiple of the minimum set lifespan of each of the cutting tools .

The cutting tool replacement timing display method of the present invention is a cutting tool replacement timing display method for displaying the cutting tool replacement timing of a plurality of processing equipment equipped with a plurality of cutting tools, and includes a collecting step of collecting the number of times each of the cutting tools is used. , a calculation step of calculating the timing for replacing two or more of the blades at once from the set lifespan and the number of uses set for each of the blades in advance; and displaying the timing calculated in the calculation step. and a display step of displaying the cutter, and the set lifespan of each of the cutters is set to be a multiple of the minimum set lifespan of each of the cutters .

According to the present invention, it is possible to perform the cutting tool replacement work systematically and efficiently, and the operating rate can be improved.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a processing line used to explain the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a cutting tool replacement time display device in an embodiment. It is an example of a flowchart of a method of displaying a cutting tool replacement time in an embodiment. This is an example of a display output to a display device in the embodiment.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

The processing line 100 shown in FIG. 1 is equipped with processing equipment 101 to 105 and a display device 111, as shown in the schematic diagram of its overall configuration. In the processing line 100, for example, one worker is in charge of changing the cutting tools. Furthermore, there are multiple machining lines, and depending on the cutting tool replacement load situation, it is possible to implement cutting tool replacement work support using water rinsing.

The processing equipment 101 to 105 refers to machine tools such as machining centers (hereinafter referred to as M/Cs) and lathe processing machines, and one processing equipment is equipped with a plurality of cutting tools, for example 10 to 20. The display device 111 can be configured using, for example, a tablet terminal, a personal computer, a touch panel monitor, or the like.

Furthermore, the processing equipment 101 to 105 and the display device 111 are connected via a local area network 110. Note that the connection between the processing equipment 101 to 105 and the display device 111 is not limited to a local area network, and may be made using serial communication, wireless communication, or the like.

[Blade replacement time display device]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the cutting tool replacement time display device in this embodiment. Here, the setting unit sets a lifespan for each cutting tool for a plurality of processing equipment provided with a plurality of cutting tools. A collection unit 202 collects the set lifespan and number of times of use of cutting tools of processing equipment. The calculation unit 203 calculates the timing for replacing a plurality of blades at once based on the set lifespan of the collected blades and the number of times they have been used. The display unit 204 displays the calculated information together with the identification information of the processing equipment/cutting tool.

[How to display tool replacement time]
Next, an example of a method for displaying the cutter replacement time will be described using the flowchart of FIG. 3 and the display example of FIG. 4.

(Setting process)
First, in step 301, for each processing equipment, the set life of each of a plurality of cutting tools is set to be a multiple of the set life of the cutter with the smallest set life among all the cut tools. Step 301 is not performed every day, but only when there is a change in the set lifespan. Note that the setting of the tool life for each processing equipment is not performed individually, but a device that can be set all at once may be used.

Here, the above-mentioned multiple of the minimum lifespan will be explained by giving an example. When the minimum life of a cutting tool is set to 20 machining cycles, the lifespan of other cutting tools is set such that the number of machining cycles is a multiple of 20, such as 40, 60, 80, 100, 1000, etc.
This makes it possible to match the timing of tool replacement, which can lead to more efficient tool replacement and improved operating rates.

(Collection process)
Next, in step 302, the tool number, set lifespan, and number of uses are read out and collected from each processing equipment via the local area network 110. Data acquisition from the processing equipment may be performed from a device installed in the processing equipment, such as an NC, or from a centrally managed device.

(calculation process)
Next, from step 303 (start of loop) to step 307 (end of loop), loop processing is performed the number of times that the expected cutter replacement time is calculated. This loop process corresponds to the number of times displayed in the replacement time No. column 411 in the expected cutter replacement time display section 410. The number displayed in the replacement time No. column 411 represents the number of times the expected cutter replacement time is predicted, and the number displayed, that is, the number of loop processing times, is changed depending on the environment of the installation site and the operation method. FIG. 4 shows the results when loop processing is performed three times.
By increasing the number of loops, the number displayed in the No column 411 is increased, and it becomes possible to display, for example, the cutting tool exchange timing after shift exchange.

In step 304, the number of remaining machining parts is calculated from the set lifespans and number of uses of all the cutting tools read and collected in step 302, and the cutting tool with the smallest number of remaining machining parts, that is, the cutting tool with the closest cutting tool replacement timing, is extracted. The number of remaining machining is calculated by the following formula (1): Remaining machining = Set life - Number of uses...(1)

In step 305, the expected cutting tool replacement time of the cutting tool with the smallest number of remaining machining parts is calculated. The expected cutting tool replacement time is calculated using the following formula (2).
Expected cutting tool replacement time = current time + number of remaining machining × (shift time ÷ standard number of machining)... (2)

Note that the number of machining operations per shift is calculated and imported in advance from the shift time 402 and the standard number of machining operations 403 as follows. Here, the shift time 402 refers to the working time for each shift. Further, the standard number of processes is defined as a standard number of processes during the shift time. The number of processes per shift is calculated using the following formula (3).
Number of processes per shift = shift time 402 ÷ standard number of processes 403 (3)
The number of machining operations per shift is used to calculate the estimated cutting tool replacement time.
The shift time 402 and the standard number of processes 403 can be changed depending on changes in working hours and operating rate.

In step 306, the cutting tool to be replaced at the same time as the cutting tool with the smallest number of remaining machining parts is calculated. The calculated information becomes the information displayed in the column 413 of the cutting tool to be replaced. In this embodiment, the tool with the smallest number of remaining machining parts and the difference in the number of remaining machining parts of 3 or less are displayed as simultaneous replacement targets, but depending on the lifespan and cost of the cutting tool, a master etc. that manages the number of simultaneous replacements is displayed. It can be varied using

(Display process)
The display method 308 of the data calculated in steps 303 to 307 will be explained.
First, the cutting tool number 421, set life 422, and number of uses 423 read from the processing equipment in step 302 are displayed on the processing equipment information display section 420. Next, based on the information calculated in step 306, each replacement timing, which is the time to replace the cutter, is displayed as an expected cutter replacement time display section 410.
In the cutter replacement expected time display section 410 shown in FIG. 4, the cutter number 1 and cutter number 4 of the processing equipment 1, which are the plurality of cutlers to be replaced next time, and the cutter number 1 and cutter number 4 of the processing equipment 3, are shown in the replacement time No. 1. , the cutting tool number 3 of the processing equipment 5 is displayed. Next, in replacement time No. 2, the tool number 1, the tool number 2, the tool number 4, the tool number 14, and the tool number 15 of the processing equipment 3, which are a plurality of tools to be replaced one after another, are displayed. In this way, the cutting tools are classified and displayed according to their replacement timing.

In this embodiment, the background color, shading, and ruled line type of the processing equipment information display section 420 and the expected cutting tool replacement time display section 410 can be changed and displayed. In the display example of FIG. 4, the screen is shaded and ruled line type (thick frame line, thick frame broken line, thin frame broken line) to make it easier to understand the linkage on each display section. This makes it possible for the operator to visually recognize the number of blades to be replaced, making it possible to determine setup time and whether or not water rinsing is necessary. In this embodiment, the background color, shading, and ruled line type are changed, but it is also possible to use a method that is easily recognized visually, such as changing the font.

100 Processing lines 101 to 105 Processing equipment 110 Local area network 111 Display device 401 Current time 402 Shift time 403 Standard number of processes 410 Estimated cutting tool replacement time display section 411 Replacement time No. column 412 Estimated replacement time column 413 Cutting tool to be replaced (processing) Column 420 (Equipment, cutting tool number) Processing equipment information display section 421 Cutting tool number 422 Set life 423 Number of uses

Claims (2)

A cutter replacement time display device for displaying the cutter replacement time of a plurality of processing equipment equipped with a plurality of cutters, the device comprising:
a collection unit that collects the number of times each of the blades is used;
a calculation unit that calculates the timing for replacing two or more of the blades at once from the set lifespan and the number of uses set for each of the blades in advance;
and a display unit that displays the time calculated by the calculation unit ,
The set life of each said cutter is set to a multiple of the minimum set life of each said cutter.
A cutter replacement time display device characterized by: A cutter replacement time display method for displaying the cutter replacement time of a plurality of processing equipment equipped with a plurality of cutters, the method comprising:
a collection step of collecting the number of times each of the blades has been used;
a calculation step of calculating the timing for replacing two or more of the blades at once from the set lifespan and the number of uses set for each of the blades in advance;
a display step of displaying the time calculated in the calculation step ,
The set life of each said cutter is set to a multiple of the minimum set life of each said cutter.
A method for displaying when to replace a cutting tool.