JPH1115506A - Group management system for molding machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To manage in real time the molding result of a molding equipment which includes a molding machine having on-line connection to a group management device and a molding machine having off-line connection to the group management device. SOLUTION: A molding machine group 2 having on-line connection to a group management device 1 and a molding machine group 3 having off-line connection to the device 1 are applied to a system which is managed by the device 1. A quantity management controller 4 is connected to the group 3 via a signal line 33a to produce the result information on the group 3 based on the signal showing the operating state led via the line 33a and also to send the produced result information to the device 1. The device 1 manages the results of the group 3 based on the result information received from the controller 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an online molding machine connected to a group management device via a communication line, and an offline molding machine not connected to the group management device via a communication line, using the group management device. The present invention relates to a group management system for a molding machine that performs group management.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a factory where molding such as extrusion molding is performed, for example, as shown in FIG. And a group management device 91 including a department host device 93 for managing the production progress.

On the other hand, in a factory where such molding as extrusion molding is performed, a group of molding machines 96 connected online to the group management device 91 by a communication line, and a group of molding machines not connected online to the group management device 91. 97 may be operating together. In this case, the result information of the molding machine group 96 connected online to the group management device 91 is collected and managed in real time by the group management device 91 via a communication line. However, since the molding result information of the molding machine group 97 that is not connected online to the group management device cannot be sent to the group management device 91 via a communication line, a method of manually collecting the performance information has been adopted. I have. That is,
The molding results of the molding machine group 97 are collected in a fill-in daily report format or the like. When the molding for one day is completed, the molding result written in the daily report is input as result information from a terminal device (not shown) and transmitted to the group management device 91 (this is referred to as the first conventional technique). And).

On the other hand, when the number of peripheral devices of a molding machine connected online increases, the load on a controller for controlling the operation of the molding machine increases, and the control program of the controller becomes complicated. A conventional technique for avoiding this complication is proposed as Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-13491 (this is referred to as a second conventional technique).

That is, in the second technique, an auxiliary controller is provided in order to relay communication between a peripheral device provided in a molding machine and a host computer unit which performs group management. Further, the auxiliary controller and the host computer are connected by a newly provided communication line. That is, the relay of the communication between the peripheral device and the host computer is assigned to the auxiliary controller. Accordingly, the central controller that controls the operation of the molding machine is separated from the relay operation of communication, so that the burden is reduced. That is, the control program of the central controller is prevented from becoming complicated.

[0006]

However, when the above-mentioned conventional technique is used, the following problems have occurred.

That is, in the first prior art, the performance information of the molding machine group 97 that is not connected to the group management device 91 online is data collected manually and input manually. Therefore, human error is likely to occur when collecting and inputting the performance information, and the input performance information may be erroneous. The result information is transmitted to the group management device 91 after the completion of the molding operation for one day. Therefore, the record information transmitted to the group management device 91 is not real-time data. Therefore, the group management device 91 can execute the molding machine group 97 in real time.
Therefore, there is a problem that if a problem occurs during molding, it cannot be dealt with immediately.

On the other hand, the second prior art reduces the burden on the central controller of the molding machine by making the auxiliary controller that relays the communication share the relay of the communication.
In other words, the technology reduces the load on the host computer and the central controller connected online. Therefore, a molding machine including a peripheral device does not have a communication function, and only outputs a signal indicating an operation state, such as outputting one pulse each time molding of one product is completed. In this case, even if the auxiliary controller is used, it is not possible to collect the actual molding information. Therefore, in order to collect the above-described performance information of the molding machine and transmit it to the host computer unit, manual operation is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to create performance information of a molding machine based on a signal indicating an operation state of the molding machine. By providing a quantity control controller, molding can manage in real time the molding results of molding equipment in which a molding machine that is connected online with the group management device and a molding machine that is not connected online with the group management device are mixed. An object of the present invention is to provide a machine group management system.

[0010] An object of the present invention according to claim 2 is that, in addition to the above-mentioned object, a quantity management controller creates performance information of a molding machine connected online to a group management apparatus, and the flow of the performance information is integrated with one system. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a group management system for molding machines that can simplify transmission and management of performance information.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a group management system for a molding machine.
Group management of a molding machine that uses an online molding machine connected to a group management device by a communication line and an offline molding machine that is not connected to the group management device by a communication line using the group management device. Applied to the system, connected with the offline molding machine and a signal line, based on a signal indicating the operation state of the offline molding machine guided through this signal line, to create the molding result information of the offline molding machine, A quantity management controller that transmits the created performance information to the group management device is provided, and the group management device is configured to manage the molding performance of the offline molding machine based on the performance information transmitted from the quantity management controller. .

That is, the signal indicating the operation state of the off-line molding machine is, for example, a pulse signal appearing on the output signal line each time molding of one product is completed, and a molding operation appearing on the pause signal line being suspended. , A pulse signal appearing on the production switching signal line when switching the type of product to be molded, and the like. The quantity management controller
Based on these signals, the quantity per unit time, pause time,
The result information including information indicating the change of the product to be formed and the like is created. Therefore, the created performance information is performance information indicating the performance of the offline molding machine in real time. Since the result information is transmitted to the group management device, the result information of the offline molding machine can be obtained in real time for the group management device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the group management system for a molding machine, the quantity management controller is connected to an online molding machine by a signal line.
On the basis of a signal indicating the operation state of the online molding machine guided through the signal line, a result record of molding of the online molding machine is created, and the created result information is transmitted to the group management device, and the group management is performed. The apparatus is configured to manage the molding result of the online molding machine based on the result information transmitted from the quantity management controller.

That is, the quantity management controller creates performance information of the online molding machine and transmits it to the group management device. Therefore, for the group management apparatus, two types of result information, that is, the result information of the offline molding machine and the result information of the online molding machine, are both obtained from the quantity management controller. That is, there is only one entrance for the performance information.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electric configuration of an embodiment of a group management system for a molding machine according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a group management device 1 is a block for group management of a molding machine group 2 connected online and a molding machine group 3 not connected online. For this purpose, a production plan creation device 11, a department host device 12, and a molding management device 13 connected by a network 14 are provided.

The production plan creating device 11 is a block for creating a production plan, and transmits the created production plan to the department host device 12 (the data flow is indicated by a broken line 52). Also, based on the production plan, the molding machines 22a, 22a
, b,... and the molding machines 32a,... are created and transmitted to the molding management device 13 (the data flow is indicated by a broken line 51).

The department host device 12 is based on the production switching information transmitted from the quantity management controller 4 and the actual information such as the number of moldings per unit time and the production plan given from the production plan creating device 11. This is a block for managing process progress. In addition, to the molding management device 13, an operation condition of the molding machine and an instruction to switch the molding condition are transmitted, and at the same time, a production result, production progress information, and a process switching instruction are transmitted (the data flow is indicated by a broken line 53. ).

The molding management device 13 is a block for managing the molding machine group 2 connected online. That is,
The operation control data created according to the process plan transmitted from the production plan creation device 11 is transmitted to the molding machine control devices 21a and 21a.
1b,... (A data flow is indicated by a broken line 56). Also, the molding machine controllers 21a, 21b,.
-Collects the operating state information and alarm information output from (the data flow is indicated by a broken line 57), and
The data is transmitted as facility operation information to the department host device 12 (the data flow is indicated by a broken line 54).

The signal converter 5 includes a molding machine controller 21a,
When the communication is performed between the molding management devices 13 and 21b, the block converts the hardware specifications of the communication line and converts the data format.

The molding machine group 2 includes communication lines 24a, 24b,.
.. Is a block composed of molding machines 20a, 20b,... Connected to the group management device 1 via the signal converter 5 and the molding machines 20a, 20b,. Compatible with online molding machines. For this reason, the molding machine 2
, 0a, 20b, ... are molding machine main bodies 22a, 22b,
.. And the molding machine control devices 21a, 21b,.

The molding machine bodies 22a, 22b,... Are blocks for performing extrusion molding. Also, the molding machine control device 21
are blocks provided with a communication function for controlling the operation of the molding machine main bodies 22a, 22b,... and monitoring the state.

The molding machine group 3 is a block composed of molding machine bodies 32a,... Which are not connected to the group management device 1 by a communication line.
It corresponds to the off-line molding machine according to claim 1.

The molding machine main bodies 32a,... Are blocks for performing extrusion molding, and are old equipment, and therefore, a control device having a communication function and the like is not provided. For this reason, the molding machine main bodies 32a,... Are only molding machines capable of outputting a signal indicating an operation state to the outside.

Signal lines 23a, 23b,... Output from the molding machine bodies 22a, 22b,... And indicating the operating states of the molding machine bodies 22a, 22b,. From the molding machine main body 32a,
The signal lines 33a,... Indicating the operating states of... Are each composed of three signal lines, namely, an output signal line, a pause signal line, and a production switching signal line.

The quantity management controller 4 includes a molding machine 20a,
Are connected to the molding machine main bodies 32a,... By signal lines 33a,.
Then, the molding machines 20a, 20b, 20a, 20b,.
.. are created and transmitted to the group management device 1. Also, based on the signal indicating the operation state guided via the signal lines 33a,.
Is created and transmitted to the group management device 1. In addition,
A broken line 55 indicates the flow of the created result information.

As described above, the group management system according to the present embodiment has a configuration in which the data paths 56 and 57 for operation control, operation state information, and alarm information are different from the data path 55 indicating actual information. Has become.

Next, the operation of the embodiment having the above configuration will be described. When the molding is performed, as shown in FIG. 2, each time the molding of one product is completed,
One pulse appears. Therefore, the quantity management controller 4 counts, for example, the number of pulses that appear during the period t1 of 10 minutes. Then, the count result is stored in an internal storage table. Also, the count result is used as information indicating the number of moldings per unit time as the department host device 1.
Send to 2.

When the molding operation is stopped due to the replacement of the mold or the like, the level of the pause signal line 62 becomes
The level changes from the L level to the H level. Therefore, when the pause signal line 62 goes high, the quantity management controller 4 measures a period t2 until the pause signal line 62 returns to the low level. Then, the measured period t2 is stored in an internal storage table. The period t2 is transmitted to the section host device 12 as the suspension period information.

In the measurement period, for example, 10 minutes is one delimiter. And the 10
The period during which the pause signal line 62 is at the H level is measured in minutes. Each time a measurement result is obtained, the measurement result is transmitted to the department host device 12. Therefore, the pause period information is a value in the range of 0 to 10 minutes, and is information transmitted at 10-minute intervals.

When the type to be molded is changed, a pulse appears on the production switching signal line 63. For this reason,
When a pulse appears on the production switching signal line 63, the quantity management controller 4 sets the value of the storage table to 1.
Further, it transmits production switching information indicating the switching of the type of molding to the department host device 12.

The pulse count appearing on the output signal line 61 and the period t2 during which the pause signal line 62 is at the H level have a pulse appearing on the production switching signal line 63 even if the time is not 10 minutes apart. When the pulse appears, the measurement result is transmitted to the department host device 1
Send to 2.

As described above, the quantity management controller 4 transmits the result information indicating the molding result (information indicating the quantity of molding, information on the downtime, and the information on production switching) to the department host device 12 at intervals of 10 minutes. I do. Moreover, the performance information includes the molding machine main body 32a that is not connected online.
・ ・ Result information is included. Therefore, in the department host device 12, all the molding equipment (the molding machines 20a, 20b,... And the molding machine main bodies 32a,
..) Can be obtained in real time. The department host device 12 transmits the obtained result information
Store in database.

Further, the department host device 12 performs the progress management of the volume, the inventory management of the work-in-progress, and the like based on the performance information obtained in real time. Further, a process switching instruction indicating the operating conditions of the molding machine, switching of the molding conditions, and the like is transmitted to the molding management device 13. The molding management device 13 switches the operating conditions and the internal management table according to an instruction from the department host device 12.

On the other hand, when the department management apparatus 13 requests the department host apparatus 12 for the result information to be displayed, the department host apparatus 12 transmits the real-time result information stored in the database to the molding management apparatus 13. Therefore,
As shown in FIG. 3, real-time performance information is displayed on the screen of the molding management device 13 as reference data.

[0036]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a group management system for a molding machine, wherein the online molding machine connected to the group management device via a communication line is not connected to the group management device via a communication line. An offline molding machine is applied to a system that performs group management using the group management device, is connected to the offline molding machine by a signal line, and outputs a signal indicating an operation state of the offline molding machine guided through the signal line. On the basis of the result information of the molding of the offline molding machine, and comprises a quantity management controller to transmit the created performance information to the group management device, the group management device, the performance information transmitted from the quantity management controller On the basis of,
It is configured to manage the molding results of the offline molding machine. That is, the performance information transmitted from the quantity management controller to the group management device is performance information indicating the performance of the offline molding machine in real time. Therefore, the group management apparatus can obtain the result information of the offline molding machine in real time. Therefore, it is possible to manage, in real time, the molding results of molding equipment in which a molding machine that is connected online to the group management device and a molding machine that is not connected to the group management device online are mixed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a group management system for a molding machine, wherein the quantity management controller is connected to an online molding machine by a signal line.
On the basis of a signal indicating the operation state of the online molding machine guided through the signal line, a result record of molding of the online molding machine is created, and the created result information is transmitted to the group management device, and the group management is performed. The apparatus is configured to manage the molding result of the online molding machine based on the result information transmitted from the quantity management controller. Therefore,
For the group management device, two types of result information, that is, the result information of the offline molding machine and the result information of the online molding machine, are both obtained from the quantity management controller. That is, since the flow of the performance information is one system, the management of the performance information can be simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of an embodiment of a group management system for a molding machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a signal indicating an operation state of a molding machine.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a display screen of a molding management device.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 group management device 4 quantity management controller 20a, 20b online molding machine 23a, 23b signal line 24a, 24b communication line 32a offline molding machine 33a signal line 61-63 A signal indicating the operating state of the molding machine

Claims (2)

[Claims] An online molding machine connected to a group management device by a communication line and an offline molding machine not connected to the group management device by a communication line are group-managed using the group management device. In the molding machine group management system, the offline molding machine is connected to the offline molding machine by a signal line, and based on the signal indicating the operating state of the offline molding machine guided through the signal line, the molding result information of the offline molding machine is created. And a quantity management controller for transmitting the created performance information to the group management device, wherein the group management device manages the molding performance of the offline molding machine based on the performance information transmitted from the quantity management controller. A group management system for a molding machine. 2. The amount management controller is connected to an online molding machine by a signal line, and based on a signal indicating an operation state of the online molding machine guided through the signal line, information on a molding result of the online molding machine. And transmitting the created performance information to the group management device, wherein the group management device manages the molding performance of the online molding machine based on the performance information transmitted from the quantity management controller. The group management system for a molding machine according to claim 1, wherein