JPH0441161A - Control device for process - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Purpose of the Invention (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to a process control device used, for example, in a machining shop or an assembly line, and particularly relates to a process control device for storing process control information on a portable information recording medium. The present invention relates to a process control device that performs process control using a pallet as a receiver, and performs independent and autonomous control of a computer section and an equipment section.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, in a process control device used in a machining shop or an assembly line, for example, a manufacturing control computer such as a process computer communicates with each equipment in the system, process input/output device, transmission device, etc. Based on a certain database, we perform process progress management, process performance management, transport control between processes, and perform centralized control to realize the production of system objects.

By the way, in such conventional centralized control methods for manufacturing control computers, in order to manage and control each piece of equipment at the manufacturing site, the manufacturing control computer issues work instructions and transfers through communication means such as process input/output devices and transmission devices. It gives instructions and receives process progress and process performance data. In other words, in addition to process control functions, the manufacturing control computer also provides interface functions with workstations distributed within the factory managed by the system, and factory management functions that create production plans at the factory management level located above the manufacturing control computer. It has many functions such as an interface function with a computer.

Therefore, manufacturing control computers have a wide variety of functions, often have an increased load, and often cause problems such as response delays in process control that requires real-time processing.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, the conventional process control apparatus has the problem that the load on the manufacturing control computer is heavy and the productivity of the system is low.

Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to reduce the load on the manufacturing control computer by distributing process control functions to pallets, and to create an extremely reliable system that can significantly improve system productivity through timely production. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a process control device.

[Configuration of the Invention (Means for Solving the Problems)] In order to achieve the above object, a process control device according to the present invention includes a factory management computer that creates process control information, and a portable information recording medium read/write system. A manufacturing management system that is equipped with a device and has a function of writing process control information to a portable information recording medium attached to the read/write device and reading work completion information from the portable information recording medium after the manufacturing process is completed. A computer section consisting of a computer, a function of reading and analyzing process control information when a portable information recording medium is installed, outputting transport instruction information to the target equipment and outputting work instruction information, and a portable A central processing unit that has a function of writing work completion information on an information recording medium, and a pallet that transmits transport instruction information to the transport device, transmits work instruction information to the equipment side, and receives work completion information from the equipment side. A pallet consisting of a side communication control device, an equipment side communication control device that receives work instruction information from the pallet and transmits work completion information from the equipment main body, and a plurality of equipment that performs work according to the work instruction information. are doing.

(Function) Therefore, in the process control apparatus of the present invention, process control information is received from the computer section using a portable information recording medium, and when this portable information recording medium is mounted on a pallet,
The central processing unit inside the pallet analyzes the process control information, recognizes which equipment must perform which work, automatically transports the pallet to the relevant equipment, and sends work instruction information to the equipment via the communication control device. and the work is done. As a result, by removing the interface between the computer section and each piece of equipment in the system and removing the process control function from the computer section, it is possible to perform individual, independent control.

That is, the functions of the manufacturing control computer are only to write process control information to a portable information recording medium and to read performance information from the portable information recording medium after all manufacturing processes are completed.

During this time, the central processing unit installed on the pallet reads process control information from the portable information recording medium, sends work instructions to each piece of equipment, communicates actual results, and performs process control for manufacturing. . Therefore, the process control function with the highest load can be removed from the manufacturing management computer, and the load on the manufacturing management computer can be significantly reduced.

In addition, since centralized control is not performed by a manufacturing control computer, from the perspective of the entire system, there are no unnecessary stoppages such as equipment waiting for data due to transmission delays due to increased load on the manufacturing control computer, making it even more effective. .

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a process control device according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the process control apparatus of this embodiment has a computer section 1 and an equipment section 2 that are independent of each other.

The computer part 1 includes a factory management computer 11;
It consists of a manufacturing control computer 14 connected via an interface 13 to an IC card read/write device 12 which is a portable information recording medium read/write device into which an IC card can be attached. On the other hand, the equipment section 2 includes a pallet 3 and a plurality (n) of equipment 4. Further, as a detailed configuration example is shown in FIG. 2, the pallet 3 consists of a central processing unit 31 consisting of an input/output section 31A and a CPU section 31B, and a memory 32, and has a pallet body into which an IC card can be attached. It comprises a pallet side communication control device 33. Furthermore, each equipment 4 is provided with an equipment-side communication control device 41, respectively.

Here, the factory management computer 11 creates process control information at the manufacturing site.

Furthermore, when the IC card 5 is installed in the IC card read/write device 12, the manufacturing control computer 14
It has a function of writing the process control information to the IC card 5 via the card read/write device 12 and reading work completion information from the IC card 5 after the manufacturing process is completed.

On the other hand, in the pallet 3, when the IC card 5 is installed, the CPU section 31B reads and analyzes the process control information via the input/output section 31A, outputs transport instruction information to the target equipment, and outputs the information on the transfer instruction to the target equipment. It has a function of outputting instruction information and a function of writing work completion information to the IC card 5 via the input/output section 31A. In addition, the memory 32
is for storing process control information read through the input/output unit 31A. Furthermore, the pallet side communication control device 33 transmits the above-mentioned transport instruction information to a transport device (not shown), transmits work instruction information to the equipment 4 side, and receives work completion information from the equipment 4 side. . Furthermore, the equipment side communication control device 41 receives work instruction information from the pallet 3 and transmits work completion information from the equipment 4.

Next, the operation of the process control apparatus of this embodiment configured as described above will be explained using the flow diagram shown in FIG.

First, in the manufacturing control computer 14, the process control information contained in the receipt database from the factory control computer 11 is transferred to the IC card read/write device 12.
(STI).

Next, the IC card 5 on which process control information has been written is attached to the pallet 3 (5T2), and the pallet 3 is put into the line by the operator's instruction to input the line (S T
3) In the pallet 3 that has been put into the line by the operator's line input instruction, the process control information from the IC card 5 is read through the input/output unit 31A, and the process control information is read by the CPU unit 31.
(Sr1). Then, the presence or absence of work is determined from the process control information (Sr1), and if there is work, target process information in the process control information is read out, and transport instruction information to the target equipment is output to the transport device ( Sr6
), and if there is no work, a line-out instruction is output to the transport device and line-out is performed (STII).

Next, on the pallet 3 that has arrived at the facility by transportation (Sr1), the work instruction information is sent to the pallet side communication control device 33,
It is transmitted to the equipment 4 side through the equipment side communication control device 41 (
After the transmission is completed, the work is started by the setting W14 (Sr1).

After the work is completed, the pallet 3 receives work completion information from the equipment 4 through the equipment side communication control device 41 and the pallet side communication control device 33 (STIO), and the current process is completed and the next work is started again based on the process control information. Return to the check (Sr1) to see if there is one.

As described above, each process in the process control information is completed in sequence according to Sr1 to Sr5TIO, and the desired product is obtained when all process operations are completed.

As mentioned above, in the process control device of this embodiment,
The pallet 3 is not just used for placing workpieces on the pallet as in the past, but is equipped with a central processing unit 31 that analyzes and processes input information, determines its destination, and sends work instructions to the equipment 4. Since the process control function can be distributed to the pallet 3 and the process control function can be removed from the computer section 1, the computer section 1 and the equipment section 2 can perform independent and autonomous control. At the same time, the manufacturing control computer 1
4 can be significantly reduced. Furthermore, response delays and the like will not occur in process control that requires real-time processing, and system productivity can be significantly improved through timely production. Furthermore, since the manufacturing control computer 14 is not aware of the interface with the equipment section 2, any system from a simple system to a complex system can be constructed without changing the configuration of the computer section 1. becomes possible.

In the above embodiment, the case where an IC card is used as the portable information recording medium is described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to use other portable information recording media such as an optical card or a magnetic card. be.

[Effect of the invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the process side a at
a. Since the processes are distributed in multiple locations, it is possible to provide an extremely reliable process control device that can reduce the load on the manufacturing control computer and significantly improve the productivity of the system through timely production.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the process control device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration example of a pallet in the embodiment, and Fig. 3 shows the flow of the work process in the embodiment. It is a flow diagram for explanation. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Computer department, 2... Equipment department, 3... Pallet, 4... Equipment, 11... Factory management computer, 12... IC card read/write device, 13...
...Interface, 14...Manufacturing control computer, 31...Central processing unit, 31A...Input/output unit,
31B...CPU section, 32...Memory, 33...
Pallet side communication control device, 41...Equipment side communication control device, 5...IC card. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Prisoner No. 1

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A process control device that performs control based on process control information to obtain a desired product, which is equipped with a factory management computer that creates process control information and a portable information recording medium read/write device, /A manufacturing control computer having a function of writing the process control information to a portable information recording medium attached to the write device and reading work completion information from the portable information recording medium after the manufacturing process is completed. a computer unit, a function of reading and analyzing the process control information when the portable information recording medium is installed, outputting transport instruction information to the target equipment and outputting work instruction information; and a function of outputting the work instruction information; a central processing unit having a function of writing work completion information on a recording medium; and a central processing unit that transmits the transport instruction information to the transport device, transmits the work instruction information to the equipment side, and receives work completion information from the equipment side. a pallet comprising a pallet-side communication control device; a plurality of pieces of equipment comprising an equipment-side communication control device that receives work instruction information from the pallet and transmits work completion information from the equipment body, and performs work according to the work instruction information; A process control device comprising: (2) The process control apparatus according to claim (1), wherein an IC card is used as the portable information recording medium.