JPH0364347B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a quality control system for automobiles in which quality information as the inspection result of a workpiece at an inspection station is stored in association with the workpiece.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, this type of quality control system is as shown in FIG. 4, for example. In this process, an inspector 3 inspects a vehicle body 2 transported to an inspection station by a conveyor 1 in an inspection line on predetermined inspection items at the inspection station.
An inspection card 4 on which the inspection results (good/bad) are written is attached to the vehicle body 2 of the inspector 3. and,
After completing the inspection at each inspection station in this way, a worker at the final station of the inspection line determines whether the vehicle body 2 is good or defective based on the inspection results written on the inspection card 4 attached to the vehicle body 2. By operating the destination setting board 5 and activating the branching device 6, normal car bodies 2 are sent to the next process, and defective car bodies 2 are sent to the repair lane 7. It should be noted that the vehicle bodies 2 assigned to the repair lane 7 are corrected for the defective items written on the inspection card 4, and after the corrections are completed, they are returned to the inspection line and inspected again. This technique is described, for example, in Automotive Engineering Complete Book, Volume 19, "Automobile Manufacturing Method," published by Sankaido on April 20, 1980, on page 241, lines 4 to 15.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional automobile quality control system as described above, the inspection card 4, which describes the inspection results at each inspection station and is affixed to the vehicle body 2, is There was a risk that the inspection card 4 would be peeled off and lost, and there was also a risk that if the inspection card 4 were damaged or the like, the written contents would become unclear. Furthermore, even if automatic inspection equipment is introduced into the inspection line, it is difficult to automatically manage the workpieces based on their quality information (distribution of good/defective, etc.), and automatic statistical processing of quality information, etc. Automatic management of quality information itself was also difficult.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and makes it possible to reliably store quality information as an inspection result of a workpiece in an inspection station in association with the workpiece. In addition, the purpose is to provide an automobile quality control system that can easily realize automatic management of the workpiece based on the quality information of the workpiece and automatic management of the quality information itself, and in order to achieve this purpose, The present invention
Each inspection station receives inspection command information stored in a storage device in a mobile communication device attached to a workpiece on an automobile inspection line, and issues an inspection command to the workpiece at the inspection station based on the inspection command information. In the quality control system for automobiles, a fixed communication device having a transmission means for transmitting a readout signal of inspection command information and an input signal of inspection result information to the mobile communication device is installed at each inspection station. ,
If the mobile communication device identifies whether the signal from the fixed communication device is a test information readout signal or a test result information input signal, and the command signal from each of the fixed communication devices is a test result information input command; sequentially input test result information at the test station into the storage device based on the input designation,
At the final inspection station, the inspection result information input to the storage device is read out to determine the quality of the inspection results for the inspection line.

[Operation] Quality information as the inspection results at each inspection station is transmitted from the fixed communication device to the mobile communication device attached to the workpiece, and the mobile communication device that receives this quality information stores the quality information in its internal storage means. Remember. Thereafter, the quality information of the workpiece can be confirmed by reading the contents of the storage means.

[Embodiments of the Invention] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram conceptually showing an example of an inspection process employing the automobile quality control system according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a conveyor within the inspection line, and vehicle bodies 2 as workpieces to be inspected are sequentially moved by the conveyor 1 as in the conventional system.

A mobile communication device 10 is attached to the vehicle body 2 (attached before being carried into the inspection line, etc.), and this mobile communication device 10 has a memory element (hereinafter referred to as RAM) that can write received data at any time. It is equipped with

On the other hand, each work station includes a keyboard device 21a and a display device 21b, through which the inspector 3 inputs inspection results (quality information) for inspection items determined at the inspection station.
A control device 22 for process management, a fixed communication device 23,
A transmitting/receiving antenna 24 is installed, and a control device 22
The fixed communication device 23 and the mobile communication device 10 attached to the vehicle body 2 communicate data with each other via the transmitting/receiving antenna 24 according to the control operation of the keyboard device 21a. The quality information input through the operation is written to the RAM in the mobile communication device 10 via the fixed communication device 23.

Furthermore, a transmitting/receiving antenna 25, a fixed communication device 26, and a control device 27 for process management are arranged at the final station of the inspection line.
The fixed communication device 26 and the mobile communication device 10 communicate data with each other via the transmitting/receiving antenna 25 according to the control operation of the fixed communication device 26. Based on this, the mobile communication device 10 transmits the quality information stored in the internal RAM to the fixed communication device 27. Then, the control device 27 controls the branching device 2 of the conveyor 1 based on the quality information from the mobile communication device 10 via the fixed communication device 26.
8. In addition, code 7 in the figure
is a refurbished lane, similar to the previous system.

Next, the operation will be explained according to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The control flow of the control device 22 at each inspection station is shown in FIG. conveyor 1
When the vehicle body 2 is transported to the inspection station, a reading command is issued, and based on this command, the reading command is transmitted from the fixed communication device 23 to the mobile communication device 10. When the mobile receiving device 10 receives this read command, it reads the quality information written in the previous inspection station from the internal RAM according to the command, and transmits the read quality information to the fixed communication device 23. . When the fixed communication device 23 receives quality information from the mobile communication device 10 and further inputs this received information to the control device 22, it is determined whether the quality information can be read normally (information parity check, etc.). If the quality information can be read normally, the quality information is displayed on the display device 21b and the keyboard device 21
Wait for operation input from a. If the quality information cannot be read normally in the above process, an abnormality alarm is output, and an alarm buzzer (not shown) is sounded or an alarm is displayed on the display device 21b. When a predetermined inspection of the vehicle body 2 is completed at the inspection station, and the inspector 3 inputs the inspection results (quality information) through the keyboard device 21a, it is determined whether the input is normal, and if it is normal, Adding the quality information at the inspection station to the quality information read from the mobile communication device 10 as described above to create new quality information,
The quality information is transmitted from the fixed communication device 23 to the mobile communication device 10 together with a write command. When the mobile communication device 10 receives this information from the fixed communication device 23, the quality information is written into the internal RAM in accordance with the write command. Then, the control device 22 determines whether the quality information has been written normally (by re-reading the contents in the RAM, etc.), and if it is normal, outputs an end signal and displays an end indication on the display device 21b. In the above process, if the input from the keyboard device 21a is not normal, a message such as information input standby is displayed on the display device 21b, prompting the inspector 3 to input the operation again, and the quality information is If the writing is not normal, an abnormality alarm is output and an alarm buzzer or the like is sounded.

As mentioned above, the quality information as the inspection results at each inspection station is stored in the RAM in the mobile communication device 10.
When the vehicle body 2 reaches the final station of the inspection line by the conveyor 1, the control operation is performed according to the flowchart of FIG.
That is, a read command is sent from the fixed communication device 26 to the mobile communication device 10 based on a read command from the control device 27, and when the mobile receiving device 10 receives this read command, data is read from the internal RAM according to the command. The quality information is read out, and the quality information is transmitted from the mobile communication device 10 to the mobile communication device 10.
is transmitted from the station to the fixed communication device 26. When the control device 27 inputs the quality information received by the fixed communication device 26, it determines whether or not it can be read normally based on the input information, and if the reading is normal, it decodes the quality information and transfers it to the vehicle body. quality judgment,
Specifically, it is determined whether the vehicle body 2 is a good product or a defective product. Note that the mobile communication device 10 in the above process
If the reading of information from the internal RAM is not normal, an abnormality alarm will be output and an alarm buzzer will sound.

In the quality judgment of the car body 2, if the car body 2 is determined to be a good product, the control device 27 issues a distribution command to the branching device 28 to transport the car body 2 to the next normal process, and the branching device 28 based on the instruction The vehicle body 2 is transported to the next process by the operation. In addition, in the above quality judgment, if the product is determined to be defective,
The control device 27 controls the branching device 28 to control the vehicle body 2.
The vehicle body 2 is transferred from the normal lane to the recovery lane 7 by the operation of the branching device 28 based on the instruction. Further, if the above quality determination is impossible, the control device 27 issues a command to stop the conveyor 1, outputs an alarm, and sounds an alarm buzzer or the like to prompt the operator to confirm.

A fixed communication device is installed at a predetermined station in the repair lane 7 for mutually transmitting information with the mobile communication device 10 attached to the vehicle body 2, and when the vehicle body 2 reaches the station in the repair lane 7, Then, the quality information written in the RAM in the mobile communication device 10 is read out via the fixed communication device, and the defective part is corrected based on the read quality information, that is, the defect information. When the correction is completed, the quality information written in the RAM in the mobile communication device 10 is erased by a command from the fixed communication device, and then the vehicle body is returned to the inspection line and inspected again. It is done.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the quality information of the vehicle body 2 is transmitted from the fixed communication device 23 at each inspection station and stored in the RAM in the mobile communication device 10.
The quality information written in the RAM in the mobile communication device 10 at the final station of the inspection line is read out via the fixed communication device 26, and the quality of the vehicle is judged based on the read quality information. Therefore, quality information regarding the vehicle body 2 can be reliably provided to the vehicle body 2, and the number of personnel for quality control of the vehicle body 2 can be reduced.
In addition, the quality information to be input to the control device 27 via the fixed communication device 26 at the final station of the inspection line is transmitted from the control device 27 to a higher-level control device (computer), and the higher-level control device transmits the quality information to the control device 27 via the fixed communication device 26. If the quality information is statistically processed, the quality information itself for the vehicle body 2 can be automatically managed.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, a mobile communication device identifies whether a signal from a fixed communication device is a signal for reading test information or an input signal for test result information, and If the command signal from the device is a command to input test result information, sequentially input the test result information at the test station into a storage device in the mobile communication device based on the input command;
At the final inspection station, the inspection result information input to the storage device is read out and the inspection results on the inspection line are judged to be pass/fail, making it possible to reliably store the quality information for the workpiece in association with the workpiece. Based on the stored quality information, it becomes possible to perform automatic quality control of the workpiece, and also to automatically manage the quality information. As a result, it becomes possible to achieve a higher level of labor savings in the quality control of automobiles.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram conceptually showing an example of an inspection process employing the automobile quality control system according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of control operations at the inspection station in FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of control operations at the final station in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a diagram conceptually showing an example of an inspection process employing a conventional automobile quality control system. 1...Conveyor, 2...Car body, 3...Inspector,
7... Repair lane, 10... Mobile communication device (with built-in RAM), 21a... Keyboard device, 21
b... Display device, 22, 27... Control device, 23, 26... Fixed communication device, 24, 25...
...Transmission/reception antenna, 28... Branching device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Inspection command information stored in a storage device in a mobile communication device attached to a workpiece on an automobile inspection line is received at each inspection station, and the workpiece is inspected at the inspection station based on the inspection command information. In an automobile quality control system configured to issue instructions, a fixed communication device having a transmission means for transmitting a readout signal of inspection command information and an input signal of inspection result information to the mobile communication device is installed at each inspection station. At the same time, the mobile communication device identifies whether the signal from the fixed communication device is a test information read signal or a test result information input signal, and the command signal from each fixed communication device is a test result information input command. In some cases, the test result information at the test station is sequentially input into the storage device based on the input command, and the test result information input into the storage device is read out at the final test station to determine the quality of the test result in the test line. An automobile quality control system characterized by: