JPH07175862A - Manufacture management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve work efficiency when control software in a managing terminal is revised in a manufacture management system. CONSTITUTION:A work control means WT provided at every manufacture process of a manufacture line, a storage means FSn which preserves data, a managing terminal MTn which manages the data processing of the data, and a control software storage file F8 which stores the control software read in when the managing terminal MTn is started up are connected with each other via networks N1, N2, and a developing terminal DT which developes new control software and a control file F9 controlled by the terminal DT and which switches connection between the managing terminal MTn and the networks N1, N2 are provided at the networks N1, N2, and replacement between the developing terminal DT and the managing terminal MTn is performed by activating/inactivating the managing terminal MTn from the developing terminal DT by the control file F9.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a manufacturing control system used in a manufacturing line for vehicles and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in manufacturing lines for vehicles and the like,
FA (Factory Automation) technology in which all work related to product manufacturing, such as vehicle transportation and assembly control, is performed under the control of a computer for the purpose of improving product quality, reducing manufacturing costs, and improving productivity. The production system which introduced is adopted. In such a production system, a vehicle is sequentially transported to various assembling machines under the control of a computer, and each assembling machine is provided with control data determined in accordance with product specifications and the like. In this way, the target product is automatically produced without any human labor.

For processes requiring strict control, for example, the results of work performed by the assembly machine, such as the tightening condition of bolts, are measured by sensors, and the measurement results are obtained for each product or each part. It is inspected whether or not it matches the common set value prepared in. Then, only the object to be assembled that has passed the inspection is flown to the next step. In this way, the work and the monitoring thereof are carried out as a unit, and a high quality product is stably produced.

In such a production system, each manufacturing process is connected by a network, work commands to each manufacturing process, saving of work results in each manufacturing process, etc.
It is designed to be governed by the network. In this case, data exchange with the manufacturing process is generally managed for each manufacturing line by a management terminal which is also arranged in the network, and the management terminal is incorporated in the inside thereof. According to the management software, the data to be transmitted and received are processed.

[0005]

By the way, in the management terminal, correction of existing management software, addition of new functions, etc. are carried out as necessary. And
Before the management software is revised or abolished, it is necessary to perform a test run of the management software. As a method of conducting a test run of the management software, there is a method of directly replacing the management software in the management terminal, or a method of connecting a development terminal, which has the same function as the management terminal and has new management software, to the network. Conceivable.

However, the former method has a disadvantage that the manufacturing line must be stopped every time the management software is replaced even if the management software is partially modified. The latter method avoids the inconvenience of the former, but when the management terminal and the development terminal are simultaneously connected to the network, the terminal that first receives the data transmitted from the manufacturing process starts processing. Therefore, it may be unclear which one is processing. Therefore, when adopting this method, it is necessary for the worker who is trying to connect the development terminal to the network before connecting the development terminal after turning off the power supply of the management terminal and disconnecting from the network. is there. However, while the management terminal is located near the manufacturing line, the development terminal is often located in a computer room that is isolated from the manufacturing line and is air-conditioned in the factory. There is an inconvenience that the worker has to make a round trip between the management terminal and the development terminal.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a manufacturing management system capable of improving the work efficiency when the management software of the management terminal is abolished.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a work control means provided for each manufacturing process of a manufacturing line, and is transferred between the work control means and the manufacturing process. In a system in which a storage unit that stores data, a management terminal that manages data processing in the storage unit, and a management software storage file that stores management software read when the management terminal is activated are connected via a network Proposes a manufacturing management system in which the network is provided with a development terminal for developing new management software in the management terminal, and a control file which is controlled by the development terminal and switches the connection between the management terminal and the network. ing.

[0009]

According to the manufacturing management system of the present invention, the management software read from the management software storage file at the time of starting the management terminal collects data from the manufacturing process by the work control means provided for each manufacturing process of the manufacturing line. Various data are processed and stored in the storage means via the network. When testing the new management software developed in the development terminal, the control file is operated from the development terminal via the network to stop the function of the management terminal, and the development terminal is operated as the management terminal. When a new management software is adopted as a result of the test, the management terminal is restarted by registering the management software in the management software storage file and switching the control file. The software will be installed in the management terminal.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the manufacturing control system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a manufacturing control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This manufacturing control system
Safety equipment (Supplemental Restrai
nt System: Hereinafter, abbreviated as SRS. ) Assembling SR
It is applied to the S assembly line, and is installed in the factory along with equipment for performing each work on the line.

The SRS assembling line has a plurality of steps for assembling the parts such as the dashboard sensors R, L, and SRS units, and each step basically has one type of work. Is supposed to do. There are various types of vehicles to which the SRS is attached (hereinafter, this type of vehicle is referred to as an SRS specification vehicle), and the configuration of the SRS to be attached differs depending on each specification. In this SRS assembly line, each time a vehicle arrives at each process, the vehicle is identified, and based on the identification result, whether or not the parts prepared for the process should be assembled to the vehicle. Judgment is made. Also, indicate the difference in the assembly parts due to the difference in specifications. By such control, only the parts required by each vehicle can be assembled to each vehicle.

A serial number is attached to each of the above-mentioned components by a bar code, and the serial number is collected when the component is assembled in a vehicle. In addition, when each part is assembled in each process, such as bolt tightening work, fitting work, etc., information indicating the result of the work such as tightening torque value, fitting state, etc. is collected. There is.

In this manner, the manufacturing control system according to the present embodiment collects the serial numbers of the respective parts and the work status at the time of assembling them as work result data, and manages the collected work result data for each vehicle. Is. In the manufacturing management system of the present embodiment, first to third SRS assembly lines are installed in the factory.
Each vehicle carried into the factory is put into any one of these lines, and the SRS is assembled as needed.

The structure of the manufacturing control system of this embodiment will be described below. The manufacturing control system of this embodiment is
As shown in FIG. 1, communication terminals CT1 and CT2, work terminals WT, management terminals MT1 to MT3, development terminals DT, intermediate inspection terminals MIT, complete inspection terminals FIT, maintenance terminals MET,
It has terminals such as a form terminal BT, an adjustment terminal ADT, and a reexamination terminal RT, and file servers FS1 to FS3. N1 and N2 are token ring networks, respectively, and are used as data transmission paths between the terminal devices in the manufacturing control system.

The communication terminals CT1 and CT2 are ALC (Assemble Line Cont) for controlling the entire automobile manufacturing line.
rol; assembly line control) Host computer H
It is connected to ST via a communication line. Communication terminal CT1
Two CT2s are provided to make the communication function duplex, and are hereinafter collectively referred to as a communication terminal CTn. When a vehicle is loaded into the SRS assembly line, AF-ON data, which is received data regarding the loaded vehicle, is transmitted from the host computer HST. The communication terminal CTn receives the AF-ON data thus transmitted. When the vehicle is line-off from the SRS assembly line, the history information about the vehicle on the SRS assembly line is transmitted from the communication terminal CTn to the host computer HST as AF-OFF data.

The work terminals WT are arranged one by one for each process forming each line, and have the following functions in the processes under their control. Control of work to be performed in each process under its control. This control includes the identification of incoming vehicles, the determination of work availability,
This includes control of an ETC (electrical torque control) wrench or constant torque wrench that performs work content determination, assembly part determination, and tightening work. Confirmation of the work contents actually performed in each process under their control, specifically the value of the torque in the tightening work,
Collects the state of the mating part after the mating work and the serial number of assembly parts. Formation of work result data based on the above collection results. Judgment as to whether or not work has been performed in a manner satisfying predetermined criteria and display of judgment results.

The management terminal MTn (n = 1 to 3) is installed for each line n and manages various files corresponding to each line. These files are stored in the file server F in order to store information for controlling the work performed by each line or the work result data.
It is held in Sn (n = 1 to 3). As shown in FIG. 2, the file provided in each file server FSn includes an ALC as a management file for each line n.
There are a reception file F1, an ALC transmission file F2, a trigger file F3, an SRS work table F4, a terminal operation confirmation file F5, an inspection machine data file F6, a storage data file F7, a management software storage file F8, and a management terminal control file F9. .

Among these management files, the specific contents mainly related to the present embodiment will be described below. (1) SRS work table F4 The SRS work table F4 defines work contents when assembling SRS parts to a vehicle in this SRS assembly line, and is a data table of tightening data and the like fetched by each work terminal WT. have.

(2) Inspection machine data file F6 This inspection machine data file F6 stores work data corresponding to each vehicle to be put into the SRS assembly line. These work data are created by the management terminal MTn each time new AF-ON data is written in the ALC reception file F1. Each area in this work data is reserved for recording the result of work performed on the vehicle. Therefore, it is filled with a space having no content at the time of being created by the management terminal MTn, and the work terminal W is used when the vehicle passes through each process.
The work result data (part number, tightening data, fitting data) collected by T is sequentially written. In addition, data corresponding to various inspection processes and adjustment processes, such as the middle inspection determination date, ..., the complete inspection determination date, ..., the adjustment determination date, ... It is adapted to be written in the file F6.

(3) Management software storage file F7 This management software storage file F7 contains the management terminal MT.
The management software that manages each of the above-mentioned files by being loaded into the management terminal MTn when the n is started is registered.

(4) Management terminal control file F8 This management terminal control file F8 includes a development terminal DT which will be described later in order to turn on / off the function of the management terminal MTn.
The instructions from are written. Therefore, the management terminal MTn constantly monitors the contents of the management terminal control file F8. The command from the development terminal DT is composed of, for example, binary values such as 0 or 1, and if 0 is written in the management terminal control file F8, the management terminal M
The function of Tn is stopped, and when it becomes 1, it is activated.

The development terminal DT is a terminal that mainly develops and tests various kinds of software used for the SRS assembly line and the like. For example, by incorporating management software, the development terminal DT is equivalent to the management terminal MTn. It is designed to function. In addition, the development terminal DT
As described above, the function of the management terminal MTn is turned on and off.
The command for FF can be written in the management terminal control file F8. Then, at the same time when this command is written, the connection of the development terminal DT itself to the network is turned on and off, so that the actual management terminal in the SRS assembly line is switched between the management terminal MTn and the development terminal DT. Is able to.

The operation of the manufacturing control system of this embodiment thus constructed will be described below. By turning on and initializing the power supply of each terminal in the SRS assembly line, the manufacturing management system becomes operable. Here, when an operation for initialization is performed on the work terminal WT, the work table F4 is accessed by the work terminal WT via the file server FSn,
Of the data in the table, the data corresponding to the process to which the work terminal WT belongs is read. After that, the work terminal WT of each process controls the tightening work or the fitting work in the process according to the read tightening data or fitting data. Further, the work terminal WT stores the order of each data when reading the data from the work table, and writes the work result data collected in each process on the work data according to the order. That is, when the work terminal WT of a certain process reads the third part data in the work table F4, the work terminal WT thereafter writes the serial number extracted from the part in the work data as the third part data.

When an operation for initialization is performed on the management terminal MTn, the management terminal MTn accesses the management software storage file via the file server FSn and stores it in the management software storage file. Loaded management software. After that, the management terminal MTn
Manages each file with its management software.

With each terminal initialized, the SRS
When a vehicle is inserted into the assembly line, the AF-ON data, which is the reception data regarding the vehicle, is transmitted from the host computer HST to the communication terminal CTn. Communication terminal CT
When n receives this AF-ON data, it reads the line number in the data and sends the AF-ON data to the file server corresponding to the line number in the file server FSn. As a result, the received AF-ON data is written in the ALC reception file F1 held by the file server.

The management terminal MTn uses the ALC reception file F
The determination of the presence or absence of new data in 1 is always repeatedly executed. Then, when the management terminal MTn discovers new AF-ON data, it creates work data in the inspection machine data file F6.

The host computer HST sends AF-ON data to the manufacturing management system and then issues a manufacturing history management table for vehicles to be inserted into the SRS assembly line. A bar code representing the frame number of the vehicle to be put into the SRS assembly line is printed on the manufacturing history management table. This bar code is also printed on the assembly specifications. The manufacturing history management table issued by the host computer HST is put into the corresponding vehicle.

The vehicle is transported by a conveyor and the SRS
Sequentially sent to each process in the assembly line. In each step, the process described below is performed every time a vehicle arrives. First, when the vehicle arrives in front of the work terminal WT, the barcode of the assembly specification is scanned by the barcode reader,
The frame number represented by the barcode is read and displayed on the display screen of the work terminal. However, if the assembly specifications are broken, the bar code on the manufacturing history management table inside the vehicle can be read.

Next, the work terminal WT searches the work data in the inspection machine data file F6 using the frame number read by the bar code reader as a key. Then
Based on the search result, the work table data corresponding to the SRS symbol of the work data is read out, and it is determined whether or not the parts forming the SRS should be assembled to the vehicle.

When the incoming vehicle is an SRS specification vehicle and the work is to be performed in the process, the work data corresponding to the frame number read by the bar code reader is the inspection machine data file F6.
The work data is read from the work terminal WT and written into the work data storage area in the memory built in the work terminal WT. Further, the contents of this work data are displayed on the screen of the work terminal WT, and the assembling work is performed by the worker.

The vehicle which has passed through the respective steps and completed the assembly of the SRS parts is then carried to the intermediate inspection step and arrives before the intermediate inspection terminal MIT in the step. Then, the manufacturing history management table is retrieved from the vehicle, the matching work data is searched from the work data in the inspection machine data file F6, and the work data obtained by the search is displayed. Then, the worker determines whether or not the SRS assembly work is normally performed. If this determination result is "Yes", the work data is printed on the manufacturing history management table. In the case of “No”, the medium inspection terminal MIT indicates “passing stop” as the item of the medium inspection determination of the work data in the inspection machine data file F6.
Write information that means. Then, the worker makes a comprehensive judgment as to whether or not the work is normally completed. This judgment result is written in the intermediate inspection judgment item of the work data in the inspection machine data file F6.

Then, the work data of the vehicle that has undergone the intermediate inspection is read by the management terminal MTn, and AF-OFF data to which other necessary history information is added is created, and ALC is set.
Write to the transmission file F2. Then, the AF-OFF
Data is sent to the host computer H by the communication terminal CTn.
Sent to ST.

A vehicle which has passed the result of the intermediate inspection is put into a completed vehicle inspection process and arrives in front of the complete inspection terminal FIT in the process. Then, the worker confirms the manufacturing history management table and makes a comprehensive judgment as to whether or not the work is normally completed. If a defect is found as a result of this determination, information that means “pass acceptance” is written as an item for the complete inspection determination of the work data. The inspection result is AF-O at the same time as the intermediate inspection.
The FF data is transmitted to the host computer HST, and the host computer HST determines whether or not the vehicle may be shipped.

A case where it becomes necessary to revise the management software of the management terminal in such a manufacturing management system will be described below. If you want to make some modifications to the management software installed in the management terminal MTn, use the development terminal DT to change the file server FS.
Read the management software in the management software storage file via n and make appropriate modifications. After this, the management terminal MT is stored in the management terminal control file F8 from the development terminal DT.
A code for stopping the function of n is written, and the management software is test-run on the development terminal DT. As a result, the function of the management terminal MTn in the SRS assembly line is stopped, and the development terminal DT functions as the management terminal having the modified new management software.

As a result, if there is no problem in the corrected management software, the development terminal DT to the file server FSn
The new management software is registered in the management software storage file via the
A code for activating the management terminal MTn is written therein, and the function of the development terminal DT as the management terminal MTn is stopped. Then, when the code is read by the management terminal MTn, the management terminal MTn is restarted, and new management software is installed in the management terminal MTn from the management software storage file via the file server FSn. Be done. As a result, the management terminal M in the SRS assembly line
Tn is replaced again, and the management terminal MTn performs its original function. Further, even in the case of performing a test run before registering the newly developed management software in the management terminal MTn, it is possible to carry out according to the above.

[0036]

As described above, the manufacturing control system according to the present invention includes the work control means provided for each manufacturing process of the manufacturing line, the storage means for storing data, and the management for managing the data processing. A terminal and a management software storage file that stores the management software that is loaded when the management terminal is started are connected via a network, and a development terminal that develops new management software on the network, and a management terminal and a network controlled by the development terminal Since the control file for switching the connection with and is provided, the following effects are achieved. Since the development terminal functioning as a management terminal is provided on the manufacturing line, a new management software test can be easily performed by switching between the management terminal and the development terminal. The management software is stored in the management software storage file connected by the network, and when the management terminal switched by the control file is started, the management file is read from the management software storage file. It is possible to easily replace the management software between the two. Since it was decided to stop and start the function of the management terminal by the operation on the development terminal, it is possible to easily modify or abolish the software without making a round trip between the development terminal and the management terminal arranged at the remote location. You can

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a manufacturing management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a relationship between various management files and respective terminals that handle them in the same embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 MT1 to MT3 management terminal WT work terminal (work control means) DT development terminal FS1 to FS3 file server (storage means) F4 work table F6 inspection machine data file F8 management software storage file F9 management terminal control file (control file) HST host computer

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A work control means provided for each manufacturing process of a manufacturing line, a storage means for storing data transmitted and received between the work control means and the manufacturing process, and managing data processing in the storage means. In a system in which a management terminal that operates and a management software storage file that stores management software read when the management terminal is started are connected via a network, new management software in the management terminal is developed in the network. A manufacturing management system, comprising: a development terminal; and a control file which is controlled by the development terminal and switches a connection between the management terminal and a network.