JPH05197646A - Managing system by infrared network - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the managing system by an infrared network, which can easily expand the system and enables speedy information collection and countermeasure execution by providing a portable function at a terminal equipment. CONSTITUTION:This system is composed of plural portable terminal equipments 2 provided with infrared units, infrared receivers 4 arranged at plural points for infrared communication with the terminals, data transmission part 5 connecting the receivers by a cable and host computer with built-in evaluation program connected to the transmission part, the data of the respective terminal equipments are transferred to the receivers by infrared transmission and transferred through the transmission part to the host computer, the data are evaluated by the host computer, and an instruction based on the processed result is transmitted through the reverse passage to the terminal equipments.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention uses a terminal equipped with an infrared unit and constitutes an infrared network in which the terminal and a data transmission section are connected by infrared communication, and is used in a factory production process or the like. Management system by infrared network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a management system using a computer network, terminals are installed and fixed at fixed points in a controlled area, and a plurality of these terminals are connected and connected by a network cable to be installed in a separate room. A host computer is connected to the network cable. Then, the administrator who collects the required management information moves to the installation location of the terminal machine and uses this terminal machine to transmit the collected various data to the host computer via the network. Next, the transmitted data is evaluated by the host computer, and based on the evaluation result, a comprehensive judgment for achieving a preset goal is made. Then, based on this judgment, an instruction for required improvement or state maintenance is transmitted from the host computer to each terminal through the network, and the administrator takes measures and manages it. In addition, if the collected data cannot make an appropriate decision, the terminal may give a request to collect missing data or new data.

[0003]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional management system, a predetermined space is required for installing each terminal, and it takes time to install such as securing a power source, which increases the number of terminals. However, there has been a problem that the scale of the management system has expanded and it has become practically difficult to expand the system.

Since the terminal is fixedly installed,
When the information collection point and the information transmission point where the terminal is installed are separated from each other in distance, the administrator moves this distance, which causes loss time, and the latest data cannot be immediately transferred to the host side. There was a problem that the host side could not grasp the latest situation of the management place.

Further, when the improvement instruction is transmitted from the host side to the management site, if the transmission point and the treatment execution point are separated in the same manner, even if the above-mentioned information collection point and the treatment execution point are the same or near each other. Even if there is, there is a problem that it takes time to move back and forth between the transmission point and it is difficult to take prompt measures. Therefore, for example, when this system is used in a production process such as a flow production in a factory, even during this loss time, a defective product is produced or the quality is deteriorated, and the productivity cannot be improved.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a management system using an infrared network, which has a portable function in a terminal and can easily expand the system, and at the same time, can collect information quickly and take countermeasures. It is intended to be provided.

[0007]

A management system using an infrared network according to the present invention comprises a plurality of portable terminals equipped with an infrared unit, and infrared receivers arranged at a plurality of points for infrared communication with the terminals. And a data transmission unit in which the receiver is connected by a cable, and a host computer connected to the transmission unit and having a built-in evaluation program. The data of each terminal is transferred to the receiver by infrared transmission, and the transmission unit The data is transferred to the host computer via the host computer, the data is evaluated by the host computer, and an instruction based on the processing result is transmitted to the terminal by a reverse route.

[0008]

Since the terminal that communicates infrared rays with the network is used, the number of terminals can be arbitrarily increased by simply installing more receivers, and the system can be easily expanded and expanded.

By using a terminal that is portable and can communicate with the host computer at all times, each manager has his or her own mobile terminal and transfers information using this terminal. The point and the transmission point do not have to be separated, the information can be transmitted to the host side immediately after the information is collected, and the speed of information transmission can be improved. Further, when the instruction is transmitted from the host computer side to the terminal, the information transmission point and the execution point of the instruction will be located at or near the same point, so that the instructed action can be executed promptly. it can. Therefore, it becomes possible to grasp the management information in real time (real time) and quickly take countermeasures based on this information.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below based on the embodiments shown in FIGS. In addition, in the present embodiment, description will be given of a case of using in a factory where flow production is performed by a belt conveyor.

As shown in FIG. 1, a management system 1 using an infrared network according to this embodiment includes a plurality of terminals 2,
Each terminal 2 is composed of a data transmission unit 5 having a plurality of infrared receivers 4 connected by a network cable 3 for infrared communication with the terminal 2, and a host computer 6 connected to the data transmission unit 5. The collected data is transferred to the host computer 6 via the data transmission unit 5 to perform data processing, and based on the processing result, appropriate instructions are transmitted to each terminal for management.

As shown in FIG. 2, the terminal 2 has a large-area display section 7 provided on the terminal body 2a, an IC card 8, an input section 9, and a code 2b on the terminal body 2a.
It is composed of an infrared communication unit 10 which is connected via an infrared communication with the receiver 4. The terminal body 2a is formed in a small and lightweight notebook size so that it can be carried and operated with one hand, and has a built-in power source such as a battery.

The display section 7 has a large display area and is formed of a large number of pixels, and is capable of displaying characters such as figures and tables and Chinese characters. Therefore, the evaluation result data on the host side can be displayed on the display unit 7 as visualization information such as a graph similarly to the host side, and can be easily understood. Further, the inspection contents described later can also be displayed as inspection items including figures and tables so that the inspection contents can be easily understood. Furthermore, by displaying an outline drawing of the inspection object, pointing to a problem occurrence point on this drawing with a touch pen 11 which will be described later, and at the same time, inputting the contents of this problem by characters.
The cause of trouble can be pointed out accurately.

The IC card 8 is a thin card-shaped large-capacity auxiliary storage device and is detachably incorporated in the main body 2a. The card 8 stores a plurality of inspection patterns composed of various inspection items, and inputs the inspection pattern number to selectively call the inspection pattern so that the contents to be inspected are displayed on the display unit 7. .. Therefore, by performing the inspection in accordance with the displayed contents, it is possible to prevent an inspection error such as forgetting to perform the inspection, save the labor of carrying a plurality of inspection lists, and perform the inspection easily. Moreover, since the inspection can be changed within the range of the number of inspection patterns stored in the IC card 8, flexible operation is possible. Further, when it is desired to perform an inspection using an inspection pattern that is not stored, a new inspection pattern can be transferred from the host side to the terminal device 2 via the data transmission unit 5 to be described later, so that the operation flexibility is further increased. ..

The input unit 9 is composed of a touch pen 11 and a key input unit 12, and characters can be input by the touch pen 11. That is, an icon (mark) 13 for switching to the handwriting input mode is displayed in the right corner of the display unit 7. When the icon 13 is touched with the touch pen 11, the handwriting input mode is switched, and the lower side of the display unit 7 is displayed. The input area 14 is displayed.
Then, when a kana character is drawn in the input area 14 using the touch pen 11, the kana character is read, kana-kanji converted, and kanji is input. Therefore, this handwriting input allows you to input characters including kanji etc. in messages and report items, and if there are special notes that you want to add in addition to the above inspection items, you can easily add additional input using this handwritten character input. .. Further, when inputting the inspection result, a plurality of answer items can be displayed, and the item desired to be selected among these answer items can be directly touched with the touch pen 11 to make a selective input, thereby reducing input errors. Further, the key input unit 14 is provided with a numerical key, and the numerical result can directly input an accurate numerical value as the inspection result. Reference numeral 15 is a transmission key provided in the input unit 9, and when the transmission of the inspection result is completed, the transmission key 15 is pushed to
The infrared communication unit 10 can transmit infrared inspection data collectively.

This infrared communication unit 10 uses an infrared light emitting element having a capability of about 10 to 15 m as a reach distance of emitted infrared rays, that is, a range that can be received by the receiver 4. Also, this unit 10
Is connected to the terminal body 2a through the cord 2b, and by mounting the unit 10 on the chest or head of the holder, it is possible to always perform good infrared communication regardless of the posture of the terminal body 2a. It has become. The infrared unit 10 may be provided integrally with the terminal body 2a to enhance the portability of the terminal 2.

Unlike the case where a plurality of workers operate a single terminal because each worker owns such a terminal 2, the operator and the terminal 2 are always in a one-to-one correspondence. As a result, the reachability of information is improved and good communication can be performed.

The infrared data transmission section 5 includes a plurality of infrared receivers 4, a network cable 3 connecting the infrared receivers 4 and a network controller 16 arranged at the end of the cable 3 for controlling the data transmission section 5. The data transfer between each terminal 2 and the host computer 6 is performed bidirectionally.

As shown in FIG. 3, the receiver 4 is arranged in the vicinity of each inspection point along the production line A in which a belt conveyor is used for flow production, and is connected to each other by a cable 3. ing. Further, it is attached to a high place such as a ceiling in a room so that an obstacle is not caught between the terminal 2 and the receiver 4 and the communication is not disturbed. Furthermore, the infrared communication distance between the two is about 10 to 1
Since it is limited to 5 m, the installation interval L of each receiver 4 is 2 in order to cover a certain range without interruption.
It is set to 0 to 30 m. Therefore, since the range of communication is limited, the content of communication does not leak outside this range, and confidentiality can be protected.

Further, by defining the communication areas which are the receiving areas of the receivers 4 so as not to overlap each other, it is possible to determine which communication area the sender is in.
The position of the inspector can be easily confirmed on the host side.

The host computer 6 comprises an interface section, an external storage device, a CPU section, a display section, and an input operation section, and is connected to the data transmission section 5. The interface unit is connected to the network controller 16 of the data transmission unit 5, and the data transmission unit 5
Data is exchanged between the host computer 6 and the host computer 6.
The external storage device is a large-capacity auxiliary storage device, is connected to the interface unit via an internal bus, and sequentially stores and stores the inspection data transferred from each terminal 2, and will be described later. Evaluation data is stored and saved. The CPU section is configured to periodically read the inspection data stored in the external storage device and perform arithmetic processing according to an analysis program prepared in advance to generate evaluation data. The generated evaluation data is again stored and stored in the external storage device for comparison and comparison with future evaluation data and for use as data for the database. Further, this evaluation data is visualized in a graph or the like and displayed on the display section so that it can be easily understood. Further, when the evaluation value exceeds a preset limit value, it indicates that a problem has occurred in the production line, and an alarm is automatically displayed on this display unit to call attention. When a warning is displayed, the input operation unit determines an appropriate improvement action based on the evaluation data, inputs an instruction, and transmits the instruction content to a specific terminal 2. In addition, if the cause of the problem cannot be clarified from the evaluation result, a new inspection may be requested of each terminal 2 to collect the lacking information, so that the problem can be clarified and appropriate improvement measures can be taken. You can do it. Therefore, the state of the production line can be promptly and appropriately determined, and the maintenance of the state at the time of good condition and the improvement of the state at the time of abnormal condition can be distinguished, and the production line can operate efficiently without being confused. improves.

By connecting such a host computer 6 to a host computer via another network,
The accumulated data can be provided to a higher-level computer and used, and can be incorporated into a part of a larger-scale management system.

Next, the operation of the management system 1 using such an infrared network will be described. The worker carrying the terminal device 2 is located at a predetermined inspection point on the production line A, which is indicated by the solid line in FIG. The required inspection number is input to the terminal 2 and the selected inspection content is displayed on the display unit of the terminal 2. The inspection is performed according to this content, and the inspection result is input to the terminal device 2. When the inspection is completed, the transmission key 15 of the terminal device 2 is pushed to immediately transmit the inspection result data by infrared rays. This transmitted inspection data is received by the nearby receiver 4 and transferred to the host computer 6 via the net cable 3. Such procedures are executed by other workers at other points on the production line A at almost the same time or in random order, and the inspection data at each point is transmitted to the host computer 6. These inspection data are temporarily stored in the external storage device of the host computer 6. Next, the accumulated data is periodically evaluated by the CPU unit of the host computer 6 to generate evaluation data. This evaluation data is visualized and displayed on the display unit of the host computer 6 in the form of charts and the like, and if necessary, transferred to the terminal 2 at the inspection site,
Like the host computer 6, it can be displayed on the display unit of the terminal 2. If the evaluation value becomes abnormal, a warning is displayed on the display unit. Then, appropriate improvement measures are determined based on this evaluation data. Next, the details of this treatment are transmitted from the host computer 6 to each terminal 2. Then, according to the content displayed on the terminal, the worker can move from the inspection position shown by the solid line in FIG. 3 to the treatment execution position shown by the virtual line, so that the movement distance can be shortened and prompt treatment can be performed. You can Therefore, the production line A
The state of is quickly and properly grasped, and the state of good time is maintained,
It can be distinguished from the state improvement at the time of abnormality, and the production line A can be efficiently operated without being confused, and the productivity is improved. In addition, since infrared communication is used as a communication means, good communication is possible even in places with a lot of electromagnetic noise such as electric welding in the factory and prime movers, and since it does not become a source of electromagnetic interference, There is no adverse effect on the environment, and the place of use is not limited.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, since a terminal device which communicates with a network by infrared rays is used, the number of terminals can be arbitrarily set by adding a receiver and extending a cable to the receiver. The number can be increased and the system can be easily expanded.

Further, by using a terminal device which can always communicate with a portable host computer, each reporter carries this terminal with him / her and transfers information using this terminal device. The collection point and the transmission point are not separated and the loss time does not occur, the information can be transmitted to the host side immediately after the information is collected, and the speed of information transmission is improved. Further, when the instruction is transmitted from the host computer side to the terminal, the information transmission point and the instruction execution point are the same, or
Since it is located in the vicinity, it is possible to promptly perform the instructed treatment. Therefore, the management information can be grasped in real time (real time), and countermeasures based on this information can be promptly executed, and the efficiency of the management system can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a terminal according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a production line in which this embodiment is installed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Infrared network management system 2 Terminal 3 Network cable 4 Infrared receiver 5 Data transmission unit 6 Host computer 10 Infrared communication unit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location // G05B 19/18 R 9064-3H

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of portable terminals equipped with an infrared communication unit, infrared receivers arranged at a plurality of points for infrared communication with the terminals, and a data transmission unit connecting the receivers with a cable. A host computer that is connected to the transmission unit and has a built-in evaluation program, transfers the data of each terminal to the receiver by infrared transmission, and transfers the data to the host computer via the transmission unit,
An infrared network management system characterized in that the data is evaluated by a host computer and an instruction based on the processing result is transmitted to a terminal by a reverse route.