JPH0656221A - Equipment operating state monitor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the number of workers proportional to equipment scale from increasing and provide labor saving for the workers by mounting a products information stay period monitoring means, and reduce equipment operating loss remarkably by finding out an abnormal equipment condition automatically. CONSTITUTION:A products information stay period monitoring means 4 receives, from a products information operating means 2, a monitoring start signal which is a timing signal where products information moves a products information memory region between different equipment and reads scheduled stay period from a scheduled stay period memory means 3 to start monitoring stay period. When the products information stay period monitoring means 4 receives a monitoring termination signal during the scheduled stay period, the equipment is judged to be in an normal condition to indicate it on an indication means 5 normally. If the monitoring termination signal has not been received from the products information operating means even after the scheduled stay period, the equipment is judged to be in an abnormal condition, an abnormal equipment indication signal is transmitted to the indication means 5 to indicate the abnormal condition and report the generation of the abnormal equipment to a worker.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a physical distribution management system equipped with various kinds of equipment such as conveyors for various purposes, automatic guided vehicles, automatic warehouses, etc. for receiving, storing and shipping a large number of products. The equipment operation status monitoring device that monitors the equipment operation status can prevent an increase in the number of workers in proportion to the equipment size and save labor, and automatically detect equipment abnormalities to operate the equipment. The present invention relates to an equipment operating state monitoring device capable of significantly reducing loss.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a physical distribution management system equipped with various kinds of equipment such as conveyors for various purposes, automated guided vehicles, automated warehouses, etc. for receiving, storing and shipping a large number of products, There is no known method to automatically monitor the operating status, whether the worker can judge from experience based on experience.
Or, an abnormality is found due to the congestion of the product flow.

However, in such an equipment operating state monitoring method based on the empirical intuition of the worker, the larger the size of the distribution facility, the more the number of workers must be increased, and the system can be smoothly operated. There is a problem that it is impossible to maintain operation.

On the other hand, as a sensor for detecting the position of a product in a distribution system that handles a large number of products of a large number of types, a sensor based on light reflection is generally used, and it is expensive due to the price of the product and the number of sensors. In many cases, the function of the sensor cannot be fulfilled, such as the fogging of the reflecting mirror, the vibration of the conveyor, and the shift of the optical axis of the sensor due to the collapse of the conveyed product due to temperature and humidity. Therefore, even if a monitoring device configured by a hardware mechanism is used, it cannot be realized due to the above physical restrictions.

[0005]

As described above, in the conventional equipment operating state monitoring method, the number of workers must be increased in proportion to the equipment scale, and labor saving of workers cannot be achieved. Furthermore, there was a problem that equipment operation loss was large.

An object of the present invention is to prevent an increase in the number of workers proportional to the scale of the facility and to save the labor of the workers, and to automatically detect an abnormality in the facility to significantly reduce the facility operation loss. It is to provide an extremely reliable equipment operating state monitoring device that is possible.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a conveyor for various purposes such as receiving, storing, and shipping a wide variety of products in large quantities, a conveyor for various purposes, an automated guided vehicle, an automated warehouse, and the like. In a facility operation monitoring device for monitoring the operating state of each facility in a distribution management system including each facility, a product information storage unit having a product information storage area for storing product information where each product is located, for each facility, The product information in the product information storage means is moved based on the timing signal from the equipment, and when the product information is moved to the new product information storage area, the monitoring start signal is transmitted, and the next product information is stored in the new product information storage area. Product information operation means that sends a monitoring stop signal when moving to the product information storage area with a timing signal from the equipment, product information between the conveyor and the automated guided vehicle, between the conveyor and the automated warehouse, etc. Monitoring from the product information operation means and the planned stay time storage means that pre-stores the planned product information movement time when the product information storage area between different equipment is moved based on the timing signal from the equipment Based on the start signal, the monitoring stop signal, and the planned stay time from the planned stay time storage means, it is monitored whether the product information stays longer than the planned stay time, and the scheduled stay time is exceeded. In this case, it comprises a product information stay time monitoring means for transmitting an equipment abnormality display signal and a display means for receiving and displaying the equipment abnormality display signal from the product information stay time monitoring means.

Here, in particular, as the product information stay time monitoring means, when the monitoring start signal from the product information operating means is received, the planned stay time is read from the planned stay time storage means to start the stay time monitoring, Equipment normality display signal when the monitoring stop signal from the product information operation means is input during the stay time, and equipment abnormality display signal when the monitoring stop signal from the product information operation means is not input even after the planned stay time I am trying to send you.

[0009]

Therefore, in the equipment operating state monitoring apparatus of the present invention, the product information stay time monitoring means moves the product information in the product information storage area between different equipment such as between the conveyor and the automatic guided vehicle, between the conveyor and the automatic warehouse, and the like. When the monitoring start signal, which is the timing signal, is received from the product information operating means, the planned stay time is read from the planned stay time storage means and the stay time monitoring is started.

When the product information stay time monitoring means receives a monitoring stop signal due to the movement of product information from the product information operating means during the planned stay time, it is judged that the equipment is normal, and the equipment normal display signal is displayed on the display means. By transmitting and displaying the normality, it is possible to inform the worker that the equipment is normal.

Further, when the monitoring stop signal from the product information operating means is not received even after the scheduled stay time, it is judged that the equipment is abnormal, and the equipment abnormal display signal is transmitted to the display means to display the abnormality. The operator can be notified of the occurrence of equipment abnormality.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration example of an equipment operating state monitoring apparatus according to the present invention. That is, the equipment operating state monitoring apparatus of the present embodiment is
Product information storage means 1, product information operation means 2, planned stay time storage means 3, product information stay time monitoring means 4,
It comprises a display means 5.

Here, the product information storage means 1 stores the product information, which is the location of various products, in equipment (conveyance, storage, and shipment of various types of products in large quantities, a conveyor for various purposes, an automated guided vehicle, It has a product information storage area that is stored for each facility such as an automated warehouse.

Further, the product information operating means 2 moves the product information in the product information storage means 1 based on the timing signal A from each equipment, and monitors when this product information moves to a new product information storage area. The start signal B is transmitted, and the monitoring stop signal C is transmitted when a new product information storage area is moved to the next product information storage area by a timing signal from the equipment.

Further, the planned stay time storage means 3 moves the product information in a product information storage area between different equipments such as a conveyor and an unmanned guided vehicle, a conveyor and an automatic warehouse based on a timing signal A from the equipment. The planned product information movement time is stored in advance as the planned stay time.

On the other hand, the product information stay time monitoring means 4 uses the product start information B from the product information operating means 2 and the monitor stop signal C, and the planned stay time D from the planned stay time storage means 3 to determine product information. Monitor whether or not the user stays longer than the planned stay time D, and when the monitoring stop signal C from the product information operating means 2 is input during the planned stay time D, the equipment normality display signal E, The equipment abnormality display signal F is transmitted when the monitoring stop signal C from the product information operating means 2 is not input even after the planned stay time D has elapsed. Further, the display means 5 receives and displays the equipment normality display signal E and the equipment abnormality display signal F from the product information stay time monitoring means 4. Next, the operation of the equipment operating state monitoring apparatus of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described using the flow chart shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1, the planned stay time storage means 3 stores in advance the product information stay time when the product information storage area between the equipments having different product information is moved based on the timing signal A from the equipment. There is.

From the time when the product information operating means 2 receives the timing signal A from the equipment and transmits the monitoring start signal B to the product information stay time monitoring means 4, the equipment operating state is monitored by the flow of FIG. It operates according to the procedure shown in the figure.
That is, first, in step S1, the planned stay time D is read from the planned stay time storage means 3. next,
In step S2, the product information stay time monitoring means 4 starts measuring the stay time.

Next, in step S3, it is checked whether or not there is a monitoring stop signal C, and if there is a monitoring stop signal C as a result, in step S4 a facility normality display signal is transmitted to the display means 5, and the display means is displayed. 5 indicates that the equipment is normal.

If there is no monitoring stop signal C, it is checked in step S5 whether the planned stay time D has not elapsed. When it is determined in step S5 that the planned stay time D is exceeded, an equipment abnormality display signal is transmitted to the display means 5 in step 6. When it is determined in step S5 that the planned stay time D is not exceeded, step S2 is performed again.
Return to time measurement.

As described above, the equipment abnormality is not detected by the operator's experience based on the sensory judgment or the product flow is congested, but the equipment abnormality is displayed by the display means 5 by the equipment abnormality display. Can be automatically discovered.

As described above, the equipment operation state monitoring apparatus of this embodiment is used for various kinds of equipment such as conveyors for various purposes, automatic guided vehicles, automatic warehouses, etc. for receiving, storing and shipping a large number of products. In a physical distribution management system including a product information storage means 1 having a product information storage area for storing product information where various products are located for each facility, and a product information storage means 1 based on a timing signal A from each facility. When the product information of is moved to a new product information storage area, a monitoring start signal B is transmitted, and from the new product information storage area to the next product information storage area, a timing signal from the equipment is sent. The product information operating means 2 for transmitting the monitoring stop signal C when the product is moved, and the product information storage area between the equipment where the product information is different between the conveyor and the automatic guided vehicle, the conveyor and the automatic warehouse, etc. A planned stay time storage unit 3 that stores in advance a planned stay time of product information when moving based on the imaging signal A, and a monitoring start signal B and a monitoring stop signal C from the product information operation unit 2. ,
Based on the planned stay time D from the planned stay time storage means 3, it is monitored whether or not the product information stays longer than the planned stay time D, and the product information operating means 2 is monitored during the planned stay time D. From the incoming product information stay time monitoring means 4 even if the planned stay time D has passed after the monitoring stop signal C from the product information operating means 2 and the monitoring stop signal C from the product information operating means 2 have been input. The product information stay time monitoring means 4 for transmitting the equipment abnormality display signal F when the normal display signal E and the equipment abnormality display signal F are not received and displayed, and the equipment normal display signal E from the product information stay time monitoring means 4 ,
The display means 5 receives and displays the equipment abnormality display signal F. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the number of workers from increasing in proportion to the scale of the facility, and it is possible to reduce the labor of the workers.

Further, as in the conventional case, the equipment abnormality is not detected by the operator's experience based on the sensory judgment or the product flow is congested, but the equipment abnormality is displayed by the display means 5. It is possible to detect abnormalities automatically and significantly reduce equipment operation loss. Further, since the apparatus of this embodiment depends on the software function of the computer, it can be extremely easily constructed on the equipment that has been used conventionally.

In the above embodiment, the product information stay time monitoring means 4 inputs the monitoring stop signal C during the planned stay time D based on the monitoring start signal B, the monitoring stop signal C and the planned stay time D. In this case, the equipment normality display signal E is transmitted, and the equipment abnormality display signal F is transmitted when the monitoring stop signal C is not input even after the planned stay time D has been described, but the invention is not limited to this. The facility abnormality display signal F may be transmitted only when the stop signal C is not input even after the planned stay time D has elapsed.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent an increase in the number of workers in proportion to the scale of the facility and to save labor in the worker, and to automatically detect an abnormality in the facility to operate the facility. It is possible to provide an extremely reliable equipment operation state monitoring device capable of significantly reducing loss.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of an equipment operating state monitoring apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the equipment operating state monitoring device in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Product information storage means, 2 ... Product information operation means, 3 ... Scheduled stay time storage means, 4 ... Product information stay time monitoring means,
5 ... Display means.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An operation state of each facility in a physical distribution management system including various types of conveyors, automated guided vehicles, automated warehouses, etc. for receiving, storing, and shipping a wide variety of products in large quantities. In an equipment operating state monitoring device for monitoring, product information storage means having a product information storage area for storing product information where various products are located for each equipment, and the product information storage means based on timing signals from each equipment. When the product information of the above is moved, a monitoring start signal is transmitted when the product information is moved to a new product information storage area, and a timing signal from the equipment is sent from the new product information storage area to the next product information storage area. Product information operation means that sends a monitoring stop signal when the product moves, and product information is stored between different equipment such as between the conveyor and the automated guided vehicle, between the conveyor and the automated warehouse, etc. A planned stay time storage unit that stores in advance a planned product information movement time when the area is moved based on a timing signal from the equipment, a monitoring start signal from the product information operation unit, and a monitoring stop Based on the signal and the planned stay time from the planned stay time storage means, it is monitored whether or not the product information stays longer than the planned stay time, and the equipment is provided when the product stay exceeds the planned stay time. An equipment operation state monitoring device comprising: a product information stay time monitoring means for transmitting an abnormality display signal; and a display means for receiving and displaying an equipment abnormality display signal from the product information stay time monitoring means. . 2. The product information stay time monitoring means, when receiving a monitoring start signal from the product information operating means, reads the planned stay time from the planned stay time storage means to start the stay time monitoring, Equipment when the monitoring stop signal from the product information operating means is input during the stay time and the equipment normal display signal and the monitoring stop signal from the product information operating means are not input even after the scheduled stay time elapses The equipment operating state monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein an abnormality display signal is transmitted.