JPH02232129A - Assembling schedule control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To restrain the lowering of assembling efficiency by performing the delivery control of parts by intermediate information processing control parts capable of the self-control of each assembling schedule in a device for controlling the conveyed state of the parts supplied to an assembling line. CONSTITUTION:This assembling schedule control device 10 is provided with a central information processing control device 11, and intermediate information processing control devices 12 are connected to the control device 11 in the state of enabling signal transmission. A bar code attaching device 14 connected to a sequencer 15 is for attaching bar codes indicating the form of a part and the work sequence. The control device 11 performs the batch sequence control of parts in each assembling schedule on the basis of signals from the control device 12 positioned at each assembling schedule part. The control device 12 receives the command from the control device 11 and performs the conveyance control of the parts by means of a bar code reader 18 positioned at the following assembling schedule part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an assembly process control device, and more particularly, to a device for controlling the conveyance state of parts supplied to an assembly line. (Prior Art) As is well known, in the engine assembly process, the engine cylinder block is placed on a conveyor belt along an assembly line, and various necessary parts are assembled onto the cylinder block while being conveyed. We are now assembling the engine as a product.

For this reason, on the above-mentioned assembly line, workers can assemble predetermined parts at multiple predetermined positions.
A parts stocker is arranged to supply the predetermined parts onto the assembly line, and the parts are fed out from this parts stocker and used for assembly.

That is, in FIG. 4 showing an example of an assembly line, the above-mentioned parts stocker is located at the starting end side of the assembly line A in the moving direction, and carries a conveyor belt along the assembly line A for carrying a predetermined number of cylinder blocks as one lot. It is designed to roll out to 1. By the way, in the case of the above-mentioned production line, there are cases where one assembly line is shared as an assembly line for different types of engines in order to improve the operating efficiency of the equipment.

That is, for example, a gasoline engine and a diesel engine with substantially the same displacement can share a cylinder block, although their cylinder heads are different.
Furthermore, even in the case of a gasoline engine only, the cylinder block can be shared between the O}Ic type and the DOHC type of supply/exhaust valves, although the cylinder heads are different.

Therefore, if the displacements are approximately the same, the assembly line for diesel engines and gasoline engines, or the assembly line for gasoline engines when the valve train type is OHC type and DOHC type, for example, This makes it possible to centralize the head assembly process, which is advantageous in terms of equipment costs and factory floor space compared to setting up assembly lines for each engine model. For this reason, for example, a magnetic card that magnetically records information such as the model and the work procedure corresponding to the model is attached to the parts introduced to the assembly line, and the information on the magnetic card is read and assembled. It is designed so that instructions such as the type of engine to be used and work procedures can be given to the operator.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the assembly line described above, the equipment necessary for the work is acquired by reading the magnetic card attached to the parts being transported, in this case the cylinder block of the engine. This will determine preparations for changeovers and work procedures, so if the model of the engine that has been delivered is different from the one that was previously delivered, that information will be read from the magnetic card and the setup will be set. The assembly line will be halted during this period. Therefore, if the transportation of parts on the assembly line is interrupted in this way, there will be loss time within the operating hours of the assembly line, and there is a risk that assembly efficiency will deteriorate. In addition, in the assembly line mentioned above, as shown in Figure 4, process control in each assembly process, that is, monitoring of the transportation status of parts and operation management of equipment, etc., is carried out by a central information control processing unit. Because of this, if a problem occurs during some assembly processes, such as parts not being fed out from the parts stock, the system will wait until the problem is resolved. The transportation of parts in other assembly processes within the assembly line is also interrupted, and as a result, as in the case described above, there is a risk that loss time will occur in the time required for the assembly process and assembly efficiency will decrease.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned problems with the conventional assembly process control apparatus, an object of the present invention is to provide an assembly process control apparatus that does not deteriorate assembly efficiency in the assembly process. (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a device that is located near a conveyor belt disposed along an assembly line, and that is configured to handle the types or types of parts conveyed on the conveyor belt. A barcode affixing device that affixes a barcode that instructs the work procedure according to the model, a barcode reader that reads the barcode before the part reaches the assembly process for the part to which the barcode is affixed, and the above barcode reader. A barcode reader is connected to the input side, and a drive unit that displays equipment drive timing commands and work procedures according to the barcode information is connected to the output side, and also manages the entire assembly line. and an intermediate information processing control device having a signal transmission relationship, the intermediate information processing control device feeding parts to the assembly line according to instructions from the central information processing device. If this is not done, the central information control processing unit switches the parts transport management to the parts transport management under its own management, performs offline processing of the parts that were not fed out, and uses the central information This proposal proposes that the control processing device continue to manage the transportation of parts other than those that have not been fed out.

(Function) According to the present invention, by reading the barcode attached to the parts that are fed out onto the assembly line before the parts are assembled, instructions for equipment setup and work procedures can be given.
The assembly process is performed by a central information control processing unit that manages the entire assembly process, and if the relevant parts are not fed out according to the instructions from this central information control processing unit, each assembly process is performed separately from the central information control processing unit. An intermediate information processing control device equipped for this process puts the parts that were not fed out under self-control and performs so-called offline processing, and the barcodes of the parts that were fed out are checked to remove the parts that were not fed out. , performs assembly process control on the parts that are in the order of being delivered next after that part, transmits the results to the central information control processing unit, and allows the central information control processing unit to continue parts management throughout the assembly line. .

(Embodiment) Hereinafter, details of an embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an assembly process control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The assembly process control device 1o in this embodiment includes a central information processing control device 11 that manages parts transportation throughout the assembly line. A processing controller 12 is connected to enable signal transmission.

The above-mentioned intermediate information processing control device i! ! As shown in Fig. 2, the equipment 12 is placed in each assembly process section in the entire assembly line, and includes the equipment 1 necessary to carry out the assembly process.
3, a work procedure display device (not shown) using, for example, a CrlT display device, and a sequencer 15 for controlling the egg movement of the barcode pasting device 14, which will be described later. has been done.

Barcode pasting device 1 connected to sequencer 15
Reference numeral 4 is for attaching a bar code that instructs the model of the parts to be delivered to the assembly line, the setup of the equipment according to the model, and the work procedure. And this barcode pasting device ii! In the overall configuration of the assembly line shown in FIG. 2, 14 is, for example, disposed near the parts holding force -17 of the cylinder block A1 disposed on the starting end side in the moving direction of the conveyor belt 16 located along the assembly line. According to a command from the central information processing control unit 11, a label displaying a bar code is affixed to the cylinder block AI fed out from the bar stocker 17.

In addition, the above-mentioned sequencer IS is arranged in each assembly process section, and includes parts, in this case cylinder block AI.
A barcode reader 18 (see Figure 2) is connected to read the barcode label affixed to the barcode label, and the reading result is sent to the intermediate information processing control device ii! It is designed to output to 12. The central information processing control device 11 shown in FIG. 1 performs batch sequence control of component management in each assembly process based on signals from the intermediate information processing control device 12 located in each assembly process section. It is.

An intermediate information processing control device 1 manages each assembly process based on instructions from the central information processing control device 11.
2 is a barcode reader 8 located in the next assembly process section.
The controller manages the transport of parts until the barcode of the part is read, and while monitoring the transport state of parts during the assembly process, the state is monitored based on commands from the central information processing control unit 11. If the results are met, the results are output and the assembly process is controlled via the sequencer 1. Also, when the parts are being transported and managed based on the instructions, the results are output. If the part is not fed out, the part is not outputted to the central information processing control unit 11, and the part is subjected to off-line processing under its own management control.

That is, FIG. 3 shows the conveyance state of parts for explaining the off-line processing in the intermediate information processing control device 12 mentioned above, in which (A) shows the normal conveyance state, and (CB) shows the normal conveyance state. indicates an abnormal condition, in this case a case where the cylinder block, which is a component, was not delivered to the assembly process section. In the normal state shown in FIG. 3(A), the central information processing control device 11 that manages the entire assembly process controls, for example, 4 intermediate information processing control devices 12 in one assembly process.
The intermediate information processing control system issues a command to feed out cylinder blocks AI as one lot, and based on this, the intermediate information processing control system!
At step 12, the feeding state of the part is determined based on whether the bar code of the part can be read within a preset sequence processing time, and the result is outputted to the central information processing control unit 11 as a tracking signal.

On the other hand, if an abnormality occurs in the conveyance state of the parts, as shown in Figure 3 (B), among the parts scheduled to be continuously fed out, for example, one lot from the 9th to the 12th lot will be If the intermediate information processing control device 12 determines that the part has not been fed out based on the output result of the signal from the barcode reader 18 within the above-mentioned sequence time, the central information processing control device 11 determines that the part has not been fed out. ,
The control is switched to part transport management in the assembly process in which the feeding is not performed, and the so-called online control by the central information processing control unit 11 is switched to offline control. Therefore, on the central information processing control unit II side, sequence control is omitted for parts transportation management for processes in which parts could not be fed out of the overall process on the assembly line, and other than this process It is now possible to continuously manage the transportation of parts for each process.

Then, when switching to offline control by the intermediate information processing control device 12, the central information processing control device Ml
In this case, it is necessary to memorize which part is managing the transportation of parts in the relevant assembly process, and when the situation in which parts were not delivered is resolved, the operator can, for example, Normal transport management 5 occurs when a part is manually fed out and the transport speed of the part is set to match that of other parts by operating a push button switch.
So-called online control has been restored.

Therefore, in the entire assembly process, transport management by the central information processing control unit 1l is not performed only for the process in which parts are not fed out, and the transport management of parts in other assembly processes is Online control will continue to be performed by the information processing control device 11.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, an intermediate information processing control device that can self-manage each assembly process is provided for the central information processing control device that manages the parts conveyance state in the overall assembly process, and the intermediate information processing control device that can self-manage each assembly process is provided. The feeding of parts is managed by reading the barcodes attached to the parts by the processing control device, and if the parts are not fed out, the parts management in the assembly process is checked to determine the cause of the unfeeding. Until the problem is resolved, the central information processing control unit can continue to manage the transport status of parts in other assembly processes, excluding that assembly process. Even if a trouble occurs, such as parts not being fed out in one assembly process, the entire assembly line will not have to be stopped, thereby suppressing a decrease in assembly efficiency.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an assembly process control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a model diagram showing the overall configuration of an example assembly line to which the assembly process control device shown in FIG. 1 is applied, FIG. 3 is a model diagram for explaining the operation of the assembly process control device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. It is a model diagram. 10... Assembly process control device, 11... Central information processing control device, 12... Intermediate information processing control device, 13...
・Equipment, l 14... Barcode pasting device, No. 1... Conveyor belt, 18... Barcode reader as barcode reading device Fig. π No.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A device located near a conveyor belt disposed along an assembly line, and instructs the type of parts to be conveyed on the conveyor belt or the work procedure or setup of equipment to be used according to the type. A barcode affixing device that affixes the barcode to be affixed to the part, a barcode reader that reads the barcode before the part reaches the assembly process for the part to which the barcode is affixed, and the barcode reader connected to the input side. The output side is connected to a drive unit that displays equipment drive timing commands and work procedures according to the barcode information, as well as a central information processing control unit that manages the entire assembly line and a signal control unit. and an intermediate information processing control device having a communication relationship, and the intermediate information processing control device is configured to: when parts are not delivered to the assembly line according to an instruction from the central information control processing device, Switching the transport management of parts by the central information control processing device to transport management of parts under its own management, performing offline processing of the parts that were not fed out, and performing offline processing of the parts that were not fed out in the central information control processing device. An assembly process management device characterized by continuing transport management of other parts.