JPH04348853A - Production control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a production control system which is suitable for unmanning and the increase of the efficiency of the whole of a production line regarding products of various kinds and has abundant general purpose properties. CONSTITUTION:A production control system comprises a plurality of processes 2 containing a cell 1 of a plurality of processing systems being respectively alone or equal to each other, a storage means 3 to temporarily contain an object to be processed and a conveying means 4 to convey the object to be processed between the cell and the storage means. The production control system is provided with a plurality of cell controllers 5 to respectively control the cells, a physical distribution control system 6 to control the conveying means, and a charge control system 7 to send an input demand and an output demand from the cell controller and send a conveyance command to the physical distribution control system based on a conveyance completion announcement from the physical distribution control system.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001] (Table of Contents) Industrial applications Conventional technology Problems that the invention aims to solve Means to solve problems action Example Effect of the invention

0002

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to manufacturing equipment, testing equipment,
The present invention relates to a production control system applied to a production line equipped with processing equipment such as repair equipment and logistics equipment, and particularly relates to a production control system suitable for efficient high-mix, low-volume production.

[0003] In recent years, in the field of electronic equipment, products have become smaller, lighter, and more multifunctional, and the printed wiring board units constituting these products have also become more densely packaged. As a result of this, the number of mounted parts has increased and the parts have become smaller and more complex, making it difficult to mount parts manually, and many automatic parts insertion and mounting machines have been introduced in factories. . Furthermore, due to the rise in labor costs in factories, there is a demand for the expensive equipment that has been introduced to be operated efficiently and unmanned as much as possible. On the other hand, as customer needs become more diversified and product life cycles become shorter, factories are forced to increase the number of products in smaller quantities and shorten delivery times, creating demands for unmanned production lines and higher efficiency. .

0004

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various attempts have been made to make each piece of equipment installed in a production line unmanned and highly efficient for each type of product. However, the current situation is that a system that comprehensively makes the entire line unmanned and highly efficient for a wide variety of products has not yet been put into practical use.

[0005]

[Problem to be solved by the invention] As a method for comprehensively unmanning and increasing the efficiency of a system including the entire line, the logistics and processing (assembly, testing, modification, etc. ). However, in systems where so-called sequential control is applied throughout, it is not possible to quickly respond to changes in product types, making it difficult to realize efficient high-mix, low-volume production. be.

The present invention was created in view of the above circumstances, and is a highly versatile production control system suitable for making the entire production line comprehensively unmanned and highly efficient for a wide variety of products. The purpose is to provide a system.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] FIG. 1 is a principle block diagram showing the basic configuration of the present invention.

The production control system of the present invention includes a plurality of processing means 2 each including a cell 1 of a single or equivalent plurality of processing equipment, a storage means 3 for temporarily storing an object to be processed, and a cell 1. A transport means 4 that transports objects to be processed between each other or between the cells 1 and the storage means 3, a plurality of cell controllers 5 that respectively control each cell 1, a logistics control system 6 that controls the transport means 4, and a cell controller. The loading control system 7 sends a transport command to the physical distribution control system 6 based on a carry-in request and a carry-out request from the physical distribution control system 5 and a conveyance completion notification from the physical distribution control system 6. In the following description, the processing means may be referred to as a "process".

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, one of the plurality of processing means is equipped with a component mounting machine as the cell, and the object to be processed is a rack in which printed wiring boards are housed for each product type. and a pallet in which a plurality of cartridges each having a large number of the same mounted components are provided in accordance with the processing performed by the component mounting machine.

0010

[Operation] According to the configuration of the present invention, it becomes possible to transfer the objects to be processed between each processing equipment and the storage means, and to input the objects to be processed appropriately according to the situation of the production line. Therefore, expansion of the system can be handled without requiring large-scale program changes. In other words, it is possible to provide a production control system that is highly versatile. Furthermore, it becomes possible to quickly respond to abnormal situations such as equipment failure.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a component mounting machine is supplied with a rack containing printed wiring boards of each product type and a pallet having a plurality of cartridges each containing a large number of mounted components. This not only makes it possible to automate component mounting, but also automates the supply of components to a component mounting machine, which greatly contributes to the establishment of unmanned production lines suitable for high-mix, low-volume production.

0012

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below. Note that the same reference numerals represent the same objects throughout the figures. Also, different symbols may be given to the same object for convenience.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a production line suitable for implementing the present invention. Reference numerals 11 to 22 indicate cells of processing equipment constituting each process of this production line, and the specific functions of each cell are as follows.

The ID assigning machine 11, which is the first step, attaches ID labels to the supplied printed wiring boards 28, stores them in racks 34 for each product type, and carries them out.

The automatic organizing device 12 stores the supplied cartridges 35 in a predetermined order on a pallet 36 and carries them out.

The solder printing machine 13 screen prints solder cream (solder paste) onto a printed wiring board.

Adhesive applicator 14 applies adhesive to the printed wiring board for temporarily fixing the components when mounting the components on the back side of the printed wiring board. This adhesive applicator 14 is not used when components are mounted only on one side (front side) of the printed wiring board.

Small component mounter 15 and irregularly shaped component mounter 1
6 automatically mounts small components and irregularly shaped components on a printed wiring board. Many small parts have the same specifications (
For example, a belt-shaped component case containing 1,000 to 2,000 components at equal intervals in the longitudinal direction is delivered in the form of a reel. The reel 31 containing a large number of small components is attached to a cartridge 35, and is supplied to a component mounting machine while being housed in the aforementioned pallet 36.

The reflow oven 17 performs reflow soldering on a printed wiring board with components mounted on its front surface. The entire surface cleaning machine 18 cleans the printed wiring board that has been subjected to reflow soldering. The curing furnace 19 cures the adhesive applied to the printed wiring board by the adhesive applicator 14.

The visual inspection device 20 visually inspects the soldered printed wiring board optically or by using X-rays. The manual correction device 21 is the visual inspection device 20
The printed wiring board is supplied to a position near the worker who manually corrects defective products, etc., or the printed wiring board is discharged from the position.

[0021] The discharge station 22, which is the final step, discharges the printed wiring board unit, which has been inspected and corrected and is a completed product, by a belt conveyor or the like.

Reference numeral 23 denotes a rack/pallet storage in which racks and pallets are temporarily stored. Each cell 11
The racks and pallets are transported between the loading and/or unloading ports 22 to 22 or between the ports and the storage 23 by a transporting device 24.

The transport device 24 includes a rail 25 installed between each cell and the storage, and a single or multiple self-propelled vehicle 26 that carries racks or pallets and runs on the rail 25.
and a transport control system 27 that controls the operation of the self-propelled vehicle 26.
It consists of

The printed wiring board 28 delivered to the factory is
After the data is input into the PC 29 for managing board arrival, it is temporarily stored in the component storage shelf 30. Further, after the data of parts (or parts assemblies) such as the reel 31 is inputted into a personal computer 32 for managing the arrival of parts, an ID label 33 is affixed and the parts are stored in the parts storage shelf 30.

The printed wiring boards supplied to the line from the ID assigning machine 11 are transported by a self-propelled vehicle 26 between each cell except the automatic organizing device 12 and the storage 23 while being accommodated in a rack 34 .

Further, the reel 31 is supplied to the automatic knitting device 12 while being attached to the corresponding cartridge 35,
This reel 31 and cartridge 35 are attached to a pallet 36
are supplied to the line in a predetermined order. This pallet 36 is transported between the automatic organizing device 12, the small component mounting machine 15, and the storage 23 by the self-propelled vehicle 26.

The arrangement of each cell in the line and the number of cells constituting each process are determined as appropriate depending on the length of processing time in the process, etc., and are changed as appropriate when the line is expanded. For example, assuming that cells are added, a conventional sequential control system would require large-scale changes to the control program, as described above.

Therefore, in this embodiment, a cell controller is provided in each cell, and the transportation of racks and pallets is controlled based on the exchange of information between the cell controller and the loading control system. In addition, the number of cells constituting each process can be easily changed according to the production plan, etc., to enable efficient line operation (described later).

Referring to FIG. 3, an overview of one function of the cell controller will be explained by taking a small component mounting machine as an example. The rack 34 carried from the self-propelled vehicle to the small component mounter 15 is supplied onto a lifter 42 by a supply belt conveyor 41, and a desired printed wiring board 28 is sent to the small component mounter 15 by a pusher 43. It will be done. In the small component mounting machine 15 , small components 46 supplied from the cartridge 35 carried in by the pallet 36 are mounted at predetermined positions on the printed wiring board 28 . The printed wiring board 28 on which the component mounting has been completed is returned to the rack 34 and carried out to the self-propelled vehicle by the discharge conveyor 44.

The cell controller 45 monitors the above-described series of operations, and sends requests for loading and unloading racks and pallets to the small component mounting machine 15 to the loading control system, which will be described below.

FIG. 4 is a process relationship diagram showing the relationship between processes and tables (or the relationship between processes in some cases) in the input control system. The part surrounded by the broken line 51 in the figure corresponds to the input control system.

The import/export request from the cell controller 45 is sent to the import/export receiving process 54 through the socket reception process 52 and command distribution process 53 in this order.

Rack unloading requests and rack loading requests from the loading/unloading receiving process 54 are stored in a rack unloading request table 55 and a rack loading request table 56, respectively, and these loading/unloading requests are monitored by a rack request monitoring process 57. ing.

Reference numeral 58 is an in-storage rack table that stores information regarding racks accommodated in the storage. Reference numeral 60 denotes a rack master table in which information regarding the process route through which the rack is to be transported is stored.

The storage contents of the rack carry-out request table 55, the rack carry-in request table 56, the in-storage rack table 58, and the rack master table 60 are updated by the rack table update process 59 based on the transfer completion notification etc. from the transfer completion reception process 82. Updated sequentially.

The number of racks in the line monitoring process 62 monitors the number of all racks in the line based on transport completion notifications, etc., and uses the rack unloading request table to prevent the total number of racks in the line from exceeding the allowable value. A flag is set on the part corresponding to the first step of step 55. This prevents racks from being carried in from the first process, and maintains the total number of racks within the allowable value.

Reference numeral 63 is a load calculation process provided to suppress input, which will be described later. time), and sets a flag to suppress loading in the rack loading request table 56 by referring to parameters 65 such as equipment operating time inputted from the input device 64.

Reference numeral 61 denotes a rack number management table in which information regarding racks belonging to a group that satisfies a certain condition, which will be described later, is stored. Reference numeral 66 denotes an ID assignment completion process that is involved in ID assignment through interprocess communication with the rack request monitoring process 57 based on data from the database 67.

In order to perform pallet loading control corresponding to rack loading control, a pallet unloading request table 68, a pallet loading request table 69, a pallet request monitoring process 70, a storage Pallet table before use in storage 71, pallet table after use in storage 72, pallet queue by cell 73, pallet table update process 74, pallet master table 75, number of pallets management table 7
6 and a palletization completion process 77 are provided.

The transport requests from the rack request monitoring process 57 and the pallet request monitoring process 70 are sequentially accumulated in the transport request queue 78, and a transport command is sent to the transport control system 27 via the socket transmission process 79 according to the contents.

The conveyance completion notification from the conveyance control system 27 passes through a socket reception process 80 and a command distribution process 81 in this order, and then is sent to a pallet table update process 74, a rack table update process 59, and a line via a conveyance completion reception process 82. Internal rack number monitoring process 6
2 and the database update process 83. A database update process 83 updates the database 67 as necessary.

Now, as shown in FIG.
1, 2, 3, ..., N is a plurality of cells 1-1, 2, 3, ...,
Assume a case where n is provided. In such a case,
A process route master 91 that stores information regarding the process route that each rack should pass according to the product type for each rack, and a queue 92 that stores information regarding the standby status of racks in storage for each process are provided. route master 9
It is desirable that the transport command be issued based on the stored contents of the cell 1 and the queue 92 as well as requests for loading and unloading from each cell.

The carry-in request and carry-out request from each cell are stored in the rack carry-in request table 56 and the rack carry-out request table 55, respectively, in FIG. 4. Note that the process route master 91 is included in the rack master table 60 in FIG. 4, and the queue 92 is also included in the in-storage rack table 58 in FIG.

According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, transport commands can be issued based on real-time judgments regarding loading/unloading requests from each cell, thereby reducing the idle time of each cell and increasing production efficiency. You will be able to do this.

This will be explained with reference to FIG. 6, which shows the division of processing in a process consisting of two cells. In the queue of the process consisting of cells 1-1 and 2, there are groups 93-1 and 2 consisting of data regarding five racks.
A group 93-2 consisting of data regarding two racks,
3, and group 9 consisting of data about three racks.
It is assumed that 3-4 and 5 are input in this order. It is assumed that each cell has the same processing capacity for one rack.

In this case, first, group 93-1 is inserted into cell 1-1. Following this, group 93-2 is loaded into cell 1-2. Since cell 1-1 is still in operation when the processing for group 93-2 is completed, group 93-3 is input to cell 1-2.

Similarly, since cell 1-1 is still in operation when the processing for group 93-3 is completed, group 93-4 is input to cell 1-2. The last group 93-5 is input to cell 1-1 after the processing for group 93-1 in cell 1-1 is completed.

As described above, according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of cells in the same process can be operated efficiently and smoothly, thereby increasing production efficiency.

[0049] By the way, when different product types are passed through a production line in order to carry out high-mix low-volume production,
In each process, it is necessary to set or change processing conditions, that is, to make preparations such as adjusting equipment and replacing materials.

For example, when setting up a small component mounting machine, replacing pallets requires a large amount of man-hours, so it is desirable to process racks that can be processed under the same set-up as much as possible. Therefore, the racks are grouped based on such conditions such as setup, and loading is performed for each group.

FIG. 7 is a process-related diagram of a loading control system that enables loading of racks for each group. In the figure, 101 is a request receiving process that sends a rack loading request from the cell controller 45 to the rack loading request table 56, and this process corresponds to the socket receiving process 52 and command distribution process 53 in FIG.

Reference numeral 103 is a rack progress table also included in the rack master table 60 in FIG. , information regarding which processing condition group the processing conditions for the rack in each process belong to, and information regarding which process in the process path the rack has progressed to are stored.

61A is an intra-group rack number table that stores information regarding the number of racks belonging to the same group for each group, and 61B is an intra-product type rack number table that stores information regarding the number of racks belonging to the same product type for each product type. This is a rack number table. These tables 61A and B are shown in FIG.
It is included in the rack number management table 61 in .

[0054] Then, the information regarding the progress from the rack progress table 103 and the number of racks in the group table 61A
A constraint condition is imposed on the carry-in request based on the information about the number of racks from the number of racks within product type table 61B, and this constraint condition is stored in the constraint condition table 102.

The rack request monitoring process 57 issues a transport command to the transport control system via the transport command output process 104 based on the stored contents of the rack progress table 103, the rack import request table 56, the constraint table 102, and the queue 92. Send to 27th.

The transport command output process 104 corresponds to the transport request queue 78 and the socket transmission process 79 in FIG. Additionally, the rack table update process 59 includes:
In the function of this embodiment, the transport control system 27
The transport completion notification sent from the transport completion reception process 82, the rack progress table 103, the number of racks in a group table 61A, and the product type rack number table 6
Each table is updated based on the stored contents of 1B.

An example of the rack progress table 103 is shown in FIG. 10A.
This is explained by: Rack numbers correspond to individual racks on a one-to-one basis, and in this example, six rack numbers from R1 to R6 are set.

[0058] The product type represents the type of product in which the completed printed wiring board unit is used, and is sometimes referred to as a "drawing number" in the sense of a number common to the design drawings of the components of the product.

[0059] The product types of rack numbers R1 and R2 are common to Z1, and the product types of rack numbers R3 and R4 are common to Z2,
The product types of rack numbers R5 and R6 are Z3 and Z4, respectively.

[0060] The group number is a grouping of racks that can perform common processing in each process. In process 1, rack numbers R1 to R4 belong to group G1, and rack number R5 belongs to group G2. ,
Rack number R6 belongs to group G3. In step 2, rack numbers R1, R2, R5, and R6 belong to group G4, and R3 and R4 belong to group G5.

As described above, the grouping of racks differs depending on the process. For example, in a small component mounting process, racks are grouped together so that processing can be performed without replacing pallets. Regarding the progress status, it indicates that the racks specified by rack numbers R1 and R2 have completed process 1 and process 2, and rack number R3
This indicates that the rack specified by ~R6 has completed step 1.

FIG. 10B is a diagram showing an example of the rack number table within product type. In this example, the number of racks belonging to product type Z1 is 2 (rack numbers R1, R2), and product type Z
The number of racks belonging to product type Z3 is 2 (rack numbers R3, R4), the number of racks belonging to product type Z3 is 1 (rack number R5), and the number of racks belonging to product type Z4 is 1 (rack number R6). ) is remembered.

FIG. 10C is a diagram showing an example of a rack number table within a group. In this example, the number of racks belonging to group number G1 is 4 (R1, R2, R3, R4), the number of racks belonging to group number G2 is 1 (R5), and the number of racks belonging to group number G3. is 1(R6
), and the number of racks belonging to group number G4 is 4 (
R1, R2, R5, R6), and the number of racks belonging to group number G5 is 2 (R3, R4).

FIG. 10D is a diagram showing an example of a constraint table. The constraint table is set for each process and each cell, and in the illustrated example, the racks that can be loaded into cell No. 1 in process 2 are limited to those belonging to group number G4.

In other words, when considering the storage contents of the constraint table as described above, in relation to the storage contents of the rack progress table in FIG. 10A, rack numbers R1, R2, R5, and R6 are It can be seen that one of the racks is being processed in cell No. 1 in process 2.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the rack request monitoring process. First, in step 201, a loop is entered to monitor import requests. If it is determined in step 202 that there is a request, the process advances to step 203 and constraints are checked.

[0067] If it is determined that there are group and product type constraint conditions (step 204), step 205
Then, the racks of the same group and product type are taken out from the queue and a transport command is issued.

If it is determined that there are group constraints (step 206), the process proceeds to step 207, where the racks of the same group are taken out from the queue and a transport command is issued.

If there are no constraint conditions (step 208), the process advances to step 209, where the first rack is taken out of the queue and a transport command is issued.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the table update process in this embodiment. First, in step 301, a loop is entered to wait for notification of completion of conveyance. If there is a notification (step 302), the process advances to step 303, and the data regarding the progress in the rack progress table 103 is updated.

[0071] Next, the process advances to step 304, and the status of the rack corresponding to the conveyance completion notification is checked. If the rack is the first of the group (step 305), then
Proceeding to step 306, constraints regarding the group and product type are written into the constraint table 102.

If the rack is in the middle of the group and is the last of the product type (step 307), step 3
Proceed to step 08 and release the constraints on the product type.

If the rack is in the middle of the group and at the beginning of the product type (step 309), step 3
Proceed to Step 10, and write the constraint conditions regarding the product type into the constraint table.

If the rack is the last in the group (
In step 311), the process proceeds to step 312 to release the constraints on the group and product type.

FIG. 11 shows the process No. extracted from FIG. 10A.
．． FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a rack loading unit in No. 1; When loading racks in groups, group G
Racks R1, R2, R3, and R4 that are common to product type Z1 should be continuously introduced, and when racks are to be introduced by product type, racks R1 and R2 that are common to product type Z1 should be continuously introduced. , Rack R3, R common to product type Z2
It is indicated that 4 should be continued.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the loading order of racks according to any of the loading units shown in FIG. 11. now,
It is assumed that the order of loading racks into the input buffer 111 corresponding to a queue is R1, R5, R3, R4, R2, and R6. When loading racks in groups, as is clear from the contents shown in FIGS. 10A and 11, the racks are placed in R1, R1,
Insert R2, R3, R4, R5, and R6 in this order.

[0077] In addition, when inputting by product type, 1
According to the input order indicated by 12B, place the racks in R1 and R.
2, R5, R3, R4, and R6 in this order. On the other hand, if it is not necessary to input the racks in units of groups or drawing numbers, as shown by 112C, the racks are input in the input order that matches the order in which they arrive at the input buffer 111, that is, in units of racks.

Taking the production line shown in FIG. 2 as an example,
A cell that requires input in units of groups is the small component mounting machine 15, a process that requires input in units of product types includes the solder printing machine 13, and a cell that requires input in units of racks is the reflow oven 17. etc.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the flow of racks in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 to 12. cell a
1a and cell b1b belong to process A, and cell c1c
It is assumed that cell d1d belongs to process B.

58A represents an in-storage rack table for process A, and 58B represents an in-storage rack table for process B.

When there is a carry-out request from cell a1a, if there is a cell (cell c1c) that has raised a carry-in request that matches the constraint conditions in the next process (process B),
As shown by arrow 113, the rack carried out from cell a1a is carried directly into cell c1c.

On the other hand, when there is an unloading request from cell a1a, if there is no cell that has raised an unloading request that matches the constraint conditions in the next process, as shown by arrow 114, the unloading request from cell a1a is The rack is temporarily stored in the storage 23. Information at this time is stored in the in-storage rack table 58B for process B.

On the other hand, when there is a carry-in request from the cell c1c, if information about racks that match the constraint conditions is stored in the in-storage rack table 58B for process B, as shown by arrow 115, , transfer the corresponding rack from the storage 23 to cell c1
Carry it into c.

[0084] By grouping the racks according to the processing conditions of each process and loading the racks into the small-sized component mounting machine in units of groups, the number of setups can be kept low and the operating efficiency of the equipment can be increased.

Next, the conveyance of pallets between the pallet organizing process (equipped with an automatic organizing device as a cell) and the component mounting process (equipped with a small component mounting machine as a cell) will be explained. Information necessary for transporting pallets is stored in each table as follows. This will be explained with reference to FIG.

[0086] The pallet master table 75 stores information regarding the organization contents of pallets. The unused pallet table 71 stores information regarding unused pallets (filled with cartridges) stored in the storage. The used pallet table 72 stores information regarding used empty pallets stored in the storage for each cell. The cell-by-cell pallet queue 73 stores information regarding the pallet whose destination has been determined for each cell. The pallet carry-in request table 69 stores information regarding pallet carry-in requests from the component mounting process and the pallet organization process. The pallet carry-out request table 68 stores information regarding pallet carry-out requests from the component mounting process and the pallet organizing process.

Pallet transport control based on these stored contents will be explained with reference to FIG. In the figure, cell a1a
Cell b1b is an automatic organizing device in the pallet organizing process, and cell c1c and cell d1d are small component mounting machines in the component mounting process. 72a is the used pallet table for cell a1a, and 72b is the used pallet table for cell b.
This is the used pallet table for 1b, and 73c
is the cell-by-cell palette queue for cell c1c,
73d is a cell-by-cell palette queue for cell d1d. Reference numeral 121 denotes an empty pallet conveyor as a buffer means for temporarily storing empty pallets.

(1) Conveyance control in response to unloading requests from pallet organization process

[0089] When a pallet on which a predetermined cartridge is loaded is carried out from the cell a1a, this pallet is temporarily stored in the storage 23, and as shown by an arrow 122, the corresponding data is stored in the pre-use pallet table 71.
is memorized. After that, when the group to be loaded into each cell in the parts mounting process is determined, that is, when the first rack of the group is decided to be carried in, the data corresponding to the pallet used in that group is stored in the pre-use pallet table 7.
1 and stored in the cell-by-cell palette queue.

(2) When an empty pallet is carried out from the cell a1a, this empty pallet is carried onto the empty pallet conveyor 121 as shown by an arrow 123.

(2) Transport control in response to unloading requests from component mounting process

■ Regarding the pallet that is about to be carried out from cell c1c, the pallet table in the cell (assumed to be cell a1a) in the pallet forming process in which the pallet was formed is empty and there is no carry-in request from cell a1a. If it has risen, as shown by arrow 124, it is carried out to cell a1a.

■ If the conditions of ■ are not met,
Storage 23 of the pallet as indicated by arrow 125
After the corresponding cell is used, the data is stored in the pallet table.

(3) Conveyance control in response to import requests from the pallet organization process

[0095] If pallets are stored in the used pallet table, the pallets are carried from the storage 23 to the cell a1a as indicated by an arrow 126.

■ If there are no pallets accumulated on the used pallet table and a request for carrying out has been received from the empty pallet conveyor 121, the empty pallet conveyor 12
1 to cell a as shown by arrow 127.
Transport it to 1a.

(4) Transport control in response to delivery requests from the component mounting process

If a pallet is accumulated in the cell-by-cell pallet queue, the pallet is carried from the storage 23 to the cell c1c that has received a carry-in request, as indicated by an arrow 128.

By executing these series of operations,
It is possible to realize pallet transportation that follows the movement of the rack.

By the way, when actually operating a production line as shown in FIG. 2, there may be cases where it is necessary to suppress the introduction of racks into the process. For example, in the following case.

[0101] If there is a possibility that the total number of racks in the production line exceeds the allowable range, the introduction of racks in the first process should be suppressed.

[0102] [0102] The introduction of racks should also be suppressed for cells that are inoperable due to failure or other reasons.

(2) If there is a limit to the time it takes for printed wiring boards to be processed from one process to another, loading racks into the above-mentioned process should be suppressed. These input suppression controls will be explained below.

[0104] Input control regarding ■

[0105] The total number of racks in progress in each process of the production line and racks stored in the storage is detected, and the input of racks in the first process is suppressed so that the total number of racks does not exceed an allowable value. Specifically, Figure 4
If the total number of racks in the line exceeds the allowable value by the in-line rack number monitoring process 62, a loading suppression flag is set in the section of the rack unloading request table 55 for the leading process (ID assigning machine). By doing this, the total number of racks in the line is controlled within an allowable range, so racks are prevented from becoming stuck in the line.

[0106] Input control regarding ■

[0107] Alarms from each cell controller are analyzed to suppress the insertion of racks in inoperable cells. Specifically, a cell state monitoring process is added that sets an input suppression flag in the carry-out request table and the carry-in request table based on alarm signals from each cell controller distributed in the command distribution process 53 of FIG. This prevents the insertion of racks and the like into cells that are stopped due to failure or the like, and allows the cells to be repaired quickly.

[0108] Input control regarding ■

[0109] If the rack periodically predicts the time from one step to another of each step, and if this predicted time exceeds a predetermined time limit, the above-mentioned step In order to suppress the loading of racks in

[0110] Specifically, the above prediction is executed as follows. In other words, for all processes from one process to another, the time required for the processing of the racks in the process and the racks waiting or scheduled to wait in the queue for the process. The above prediction is performed by accumulating the time obtained by dividing the total time required for processing in the process by the number of cells that the process has. A more detailed explanation is as follows.

For example, in the production line shown in FIG. 2, the time required from printing solder cream on a printed wiring board with the solder printing machine 13 to mounting various parts and completing soldering in the reflow oven 17 is has limitations. The reason for this is that good soldering quality may not be obtained unless soldering is performed within a limited time after printing the solder cream. Therefore, the time required from the printing of solder cream to the completion of reflow is periodically predicted, and if the predicted time exceeds the time limit, loading of racks into the solder printing process is suppressed.

FIG. 15 shows an example of the process route from the printing process to the reflow process. In this example, a printing process 131, a process A132, a process B133, and a reflow process 134 are arranged in this order. Processes A and B are, for example, small component mounting processes. Now, consider a case where it is determined whether or not the rack 34x should be input into the printing process 131. At this point, the queue for the reflow process 134 includes racks 34a and 3.
4b, and there is a rack 34c in the queue for process B133.
, 34d, and 34e, and there is a rack 34f in the queue for process A132.

For example, when simulating the time required for processing in process B133, the time required for processing in process B of the racks in process B (in this example, zero since there are no in-progress racks) and the time required for processing in process B of racks in process B are calculated. The sum of the time required to process the racks 34c, 34d, and 34e waiting in the queue in process B, and the time required to process the racks 34f and 34x in process B that are scheduled to wait in the process B queue. This sum is divided by the number of cells that process B has (for example, 2) to determine the time required for process B. By performing this calculation for each process and finding the cumulative amount of time required for each process, it is possible to easily and with the necessary accuracy simulate the time it takes for a rack inserted into the printing process to complete the reflow process. can.

FIG. 16 shows an example of a simulation result of the time required for the process route from the printing process to the reflow process. If the required time predicted by this simulation exceeds the time limit, loading of racks into the printing process is suppressed. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of defective products due to the printed solder cream exceeding the time limit, and the manufacturing yield is improved.

In carrying out the present invention, for example, an urgent item flag is provided in the rack progress table 103 shown in FIG. It is also possible to preferentially input racks with a value of 1000 to cells that do not have the above-mentioned constraint conditions. This makes it possible to individually perform preferential processing on products whose delivery dates are approaching.

[0116] A customization function should be added so that detailed attributes of each process, including the process configuration and input unit, can be changed according to external factors such as product type, order quantity, and parts configuration used. This makes it possible to flexibly respond to changes in external factors without changing the input control program. A more detailed explanation is as follows.

FIG. 17 is a process-related diagram showing an embodiment of input control to which a customization function is added. In this embodiment, an external file 141 is provided that stores information regarding the attributes of each process input based on the production plan.
A process configuration table 142 is created based on information from an external file 141 when the input control system is started up.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a process configuration table. The information stored in the process configuration table includes process numbers, process names, cell numbers, and other necessary information. By referring to the registered cell number, the number of cells included in the process can be known.

[0119] In the input unit column, "01" indicates that the input unit is a group, "02" indicates that the input unit is a product type, and "03" indicates that the input unit is a rack. represents.

[0120] In the process type column, "01" indicates that the process is a manufacturing process, "02" indicates that the process is a test process, and "03" indicates that the process is a correction process. "04" indicates that the process is another process.

[0121] The pallet warehousing check required flag is a flag indicating whether or not it is a process in which it is necessary to confirm that pallets are aligned in groups. The loader presence/absence flag is a flag indicating whether or not a loader (carry-in conveyor) is present. The unloader presence/absence flag is a flag indicating whether or not an unloader (unloading conveyor) is present. The palletized process flag is a flag indicating whether or not the process uses a pallet.

A flowchart of the rack request monitoring process in this embodiment is shown in FIG. First, step 4
At 01, a loop is entered to monitor import/export requests from each cell. Next, in step 402, the attributes of the next process of the rack for which the unloading request has been issued are checked using the process configuration table. The items to be investigated include ``What is the unit of input?'' ``What is the process type?'' ``Whether or not it is necessary to confirm that the pallets are aligned in each group?''

[0123] Next, the process advances to step 403, and it is determined whether or not there is a carry-in request for the next process and the attributes of the process checked in step 402 match. If there is a carry-in request and a match is made, the process proceeds to step 404, where a transfer instruction between cells is issued. If there is no carry-in request or if matching cannot be achieved, the process proceeds to step 405, where a transfer instruction from the cell to the storage is issued.

[0124] After that, the process proceeds to step 406, and it is determined whether or not there is a matching rack among the racks waiting in the storage for another import request. If there is, the process proceeds to step 407, and the transfer from the storage to the cell is performed. Give transport instructions.

Then, referring to the process configuration table 142, cells are allocated to each process according to the production plan and racks and pallets are loaded into the cells.

[0126] In this way, by creating a process configuration table as appropriate according to orders etc. using external files,
The present invention can be implemented with almost no changes to programs related to input control.

[0127] Also, when switching the type of product, etc.,
By changing the distribution of cells to each process according to the workload, efficient equipment operation becomes possible. Examples of the distribution of cells to each process before and after the change are shown in FIGS. 20A and 20B, respectively.

[0128] Before the change, as shown in FIG. 20A, process numbers are changed from cell No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3. 1, and the process number starts from cell No. 4. 2, and process No. 2 starts from cell No. 5 and No. 6. 3 can be changed, for example, as shown in FIG. 20B.

[0129] In other words, after the change, cells No. 1 and 2
From machine number to process number. 1 becomes, and the process number starts from cell No. 3.
．． 2, and the process number starts from cell No. 4. 3, and process No. 3 starts from cell No. 5. 4, and process N starts from cell No. 6.
o. 5 becomes.

[0130]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention,
This has the effect of making it possible to provide a highly versatile production control system suitable for making the entire production line unmanned and highly efficient for a wide variety of products.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a production line suitable for implementing the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the functions of a small component mounting machine and its cell controller.

FIG. 4 is a process related diagram in the input control system.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment in which each step includes a plurality of cells.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the division of processing in a process consisting of two cells.

FIG. 7 is a system related diagram showing an example of loading control that enables rack loading for each group.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the rack request monitoring process of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the table update process of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10A is a diagram showing an example of a rack progress table.

FIG. 10B is a diagram showing an example of a rack number table within product type.

FIG. 10C is a diagram showing an example of a rack number table within a group.

FIG. 10D is a diagram showing an example of a constraint table.

FIG. 11: Process No. extracted from FIG. 10A. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the input unit in No. 1;

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of the loading order of racks according to the loading unit in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the flow of the rack.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining the flow of pallets.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of a process route from a printing process to a reflow process.

FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining simulation results of the time required for the process route in FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is a process-related diagram showing an example of input control with a customization function added.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of the rack request monitoring process of FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of the process configuration table of FIG. 17;

FIG. 20A is a diagram showing the allocation status of cells to each process before change.

FIG. 20B is a diagram showing the allocation status of cells to each process after change.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 cell 2 Process 3 Storage means 4 Transport means 5 Cell controller 6. Logistics control system 7. Closing control system

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of processing means (2), each comprising a single or equivalent plurality of processing equipment cells (1);
Storage means for temporarily storing objects to be processed (3)
and a transport means (4) for transporting the object to be processed between the cells or between the cells and the storage means;
A plurality of cell controllers (5) that control each of the cells, a logistics control system (6) that controls the transport means, and requests for carrying in and carrying out from the cell controllers, and notifications of completion of transport from the logistics control system. A production control system comprising: an input control system (7) that sends a transport command to the physical distribution control system based on the above. 2. One of the plurality of processing means is equipped with a component mounting machine (15) as the cell, and the object to be processed is a rack (28) in which printed wiring boards (28) are housed for each product type. 34) and a pallet (36) provided with a plurality of cartridges (35) each having a large number of identical mounted components according to processing in the component mounting machine. system. 3. The loading control system includes a process route master (91) that stores information regarding the process route that the rack passes through depending on the product type of the printed wiring board, and a process route master (91) that stores information regarding the process route that the rack passes through depending on the product type of the printed wiring board, and a process route master (91) that stores information regarding the process route that the rack passes through depending on the product type of the printed wiring board, and a process route master (91) that stores a process route that the rack passes through depending on the product type of the printed wiring board, and a process route master (91) that stores information regarding the process route that the rack passes through depending on the product type of the printed wiring board, and a process route master (91) that stores information about the process route that the rack passes through depending on the product type of the printed wiring board, and a process route master (91) that stores information regarding the process route that the rack passes through depending on the product type of the printed wiring board, and and a rack carry-in request table (5) that stores information regarding carry-out requests.
6) and a rack carry-out request table (55), and a queue (92) that stores information regarding the standby status of the rack in the storage means for each of the processing means, and the process route master, the rack carry-in request 3. The production control system according to claim 2, wherein the transport command is sent to the physical distribution control system based on the stored contents of the table, the rack unloading request table, and the queue. 4. The loading control system includes information regarding to which product type the printed wiring board housed in the rack belongs, and to which group of processing conditions the processing conditions for the rack in each of the processing means belong. a rack progress table (103) that stores, for each rack, information regarding which rack it belongs to and information regarding which processing means in the process route the rack has progressed to;
a rack carry-in request table (56) that stores information regarding the rack carry-in request from each cell; and a queue (92) that stores information regarding the standby status of the rack in the storage means for each of the processing means. ), an in-group rack number table (61A) that stores information regarding the number of racks belonging to the same group for each group, and a rack number table (61A) that stores information regarding the number of racks belonging to the same product type for each product type. The number of racks within product type table (61B) stored in A constraint table (10
2) Sending the transport command to the logistics control system based on the stored contents of the rack progress table, the rack import request table, the constraint table, and the queue, and controlling the transport from the logistics control system. 3. The production method according to claim 2, wherein the constraint table is updated based on a completion notification and the stored contents of the rack progress table, the rack number table within a group, and the rack number table within a product type. control system. 5. The total number of racks being processed in each of the processing means and the racks stored in the storage means is detected, and the number of racks in the first processing means is detected so that the total number does not exceed an allowable value. 5. The production control system according to claim 4, wherein input is suppressed. 6. The rack periodically predicts the time it will take from one processing means to another of the processing means, and the predicted time exceeds a predetermined time limit. 5. The production control system according to claim 4, wherein, in some cases, loading of the rack into the certain processing means is suppressed. 7. Regarding all the processing means from the certain processing means to the other processing means, the time required for processing in the processing means of the racks that are in progress in the processing means and the queue of the processing means. The above prediction is made by accumulating the time obtained by dividing the sum of the time required for processing in the processing means of the racks that are waiting or scheduled to wait at the processing means by the number of cells that the processing means has. 7. The production control system according to claim 6, wherein: 8. The certain processing means includes a printing machine for applying the solder cream to the printed wiring board, and the other processing means includes a reflow oven for the printed solder cream, and the processing means includes a reflow oven for applying the solder cream to the printed wiring board. 8. The production control system according to claim 7, further comprising processing means including a component mounting machine for said printed wiring board. 9. Claim 4, wherein an alarm from the cell controller is analyzed to suppress loading of the rack into the cell which is inoperable.
Production control system described in. 10. The rack progress table is provided with an urgent item flag, and when the carry-in request occurs in the cell that does not have the constraint conditions, the rack with the urgent item flag set is prioritized. 5. The production control system according to claim 4, wherein the production control system is configured to input the product into the cell at the same time. 11. An external file (141) for storing information regarding the attributes of each of the processing means inputted based on a production plan, and when the input control system is started up, process control is performed based on the information from the external file. A configuration table (142) is created, and the process configuration table is referred to to allocate the cells to the respective processing means and to charge the objects to be processed into the cells according to the production plan. The production control system according to claim 2. 12. The loading control system includes a pallet master table (75) that stores information regarding the organization contents of the pallets, and a pallet master table (75) that stores information regarding the pallets stored in the storage means before and after use. A pallet table (71) and a used pallet table (72), a cell-by-cell pallet queue (73) that stores information about the pallet whose destination has been determined for each cell, and information about the carry-in request and carry-out request of the pallet. 3. The production control system according to claim 2, further comprising a pallet carry-in request table (69) and a pallet carry-out request table (68) which are respectively stored, and which carries out the conveyance of the pallet following the conveyance of the rack. .