JPH0520227A - Control system for working line - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To provide a processing line control system that allows visual operation of data and allows the line to operate efficiently. [Composition] Data capable of inputting / outputting arbitrary data to / from the database by connecting a multipurpose database for storing various data corresponding to its name to a data communication network, to the main controller and each device controller. Transmission / reception data processing that performs data communication with the input / output device and the data name omitting the contents of each data and the conditional expression to process the data, and analyzes the input contents by these data name and conditional expression by referring to the database An apparatus and a control system for a processing line.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control system for a processing line which is scheduled to be operated.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, many processing lines using FMS or CIM have a data communication network such as LAN, and a main controller and each device controller are connected to this network to perform line control while performing data communication between computers. It is carried out. For example, the main controller may be connected to an automatic programming device to NC
A program is generated and the programs are aggregated to generate a schedule program, and the schedule program is sent to the data communication network. Each device controller connected to the data communication network receives the schedule program sent to itself and controls the connected device while interlocking with other devices. Each device controller also has upper and lower levels,
Necessary data is exchanged between each other.

Here, in transmitting and receiving data between the main controller and each device controller, or between each device controller, in transmitting and receiving raw data, for example, an NC program, the contents of the NC program, that is, the NC sentence is directly transmitted. There is. In addition, raw data is transmitted / received among other data.

In this case, it is possible to make an agreement between computers and send a code such as a data name and specify the data from the code name, not the raw data, but it is troublesome to make the agreement. There is no versatility.

[0005]

However, in the conventional processing line control system as described above,
Since it is basically to send and receive raw data, a large amount of data must be sent in the network, and a relatively large storage device must be provided in each computer device, which causes confusion in data handling. There was a problem.

By the way, for example, on the main controller side, a certain NC program NCPa is made to flow, and b is made to flow in the next processing, so that a large amount of programs a, b, c,
In order to handle d ..., each program data must be managed by the main controller side, the management is difficult, and the amount of data becomes large, so that some of the data must be discarded. Further, even if the main controller is equipped with a large database and manages a large amount of data, it is not possible to receive even the data handled by each device controller, so each computer must be equipped with a large database. It becomes a fairly complicated and large-scale system.

Therefore, in view of the problems of the method of handling various data in these processing lines, it is an object of the present invention to provide a control system capable of optimal and smooth data processing in the processing line.

[0008]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has constructed a control system for a processing line as set forth in the claims.

[0009]

In the processing line control system of the present invention, since it has the above-mentioned configuration, it is possible to store various kinds of data together with data names in the multipurpose database and enable data input / output with each computer. Can
It is possible to set required data in each computer device based on the data name and the conditional expression exchanged between the computer devices. Here, since only the data name and the conditional expression are communicated between the computers, it is possible to handle a large amount of data like a turbo engine with a minimum data communication amount, and even if the system configuration is complicated, smooth operation is possible. Control can be performed. Moreover, since various computers can be connected to the data communication network, system versatility is high.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a processing line.

As shown in the figure, the processing line of this example is provided with a local area network (LAN) 1 as a data communication network, and on this LAN 1, a main controller (IMC) 2 and an automatic programming device 3 are provided.
And Intelligent Data Terminal (IDT)
4 and the database device 5 are connected. IDT
4 is connected to a device, for example, a CNC device for controlling the punch press machine 6, and is connected to other computers via the LAN 4.
In particular, it is a terminal for exchanging data with the IMC 2.

A small database 7 is appropriately connected to each of the computers 2 and 4. LAN1 (not shown)
An automatic warehouse control device (ISC) and the like are also appropriately connected to.

In the machining line having the above-mentioned structure, an NC program is generally generated by the automatic programming device 3 and a schedule program is edited by the IMC 2, and this is a high-order IDT, particularly a CN capable of performing a scheduled operation.
C device. The CNC device controls machining according to a predetermined schedule while interlocking other devices according to the received schedule program.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the database device, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the connection relationship between the database device 5 and the IMC 2 as a representative computer device connected to the LAN 1.

In FIG. 2, the database device 3 is C
PU8, ROM9, RAM10 as main memory
, A network interface 11 and a hard disk interface 12, which are connected to each other by an internal bus 13. Network interface 1
1 is composed of, for example, a network interface conforming to IEEE802.3, to which a transmission line 1 for a bus type LAN such as Ethernet is connected, which enables bidirectional communication between the database device 5 and the main controller 2. It is designed to be connected to. The hard disk interface 12 may be based on SCSI or the like, and is connected to a hard disk magnetic storage device 14 as an auxiliary storage device including a controller.

The software configuration of the database device 5 is, as shown in FIG. 3, an operating system (OS) such as UNIX (trademark of AT & T Bell Laboratories, USA) for database processing and NFS (Netw).
In addition to a distributed file system such as the ork File System) and a database file composed of the hard disk magnetic storage device 14, a database management system and a server for this database are stored.

The data stored in the hard disk magnetic storage device 14 is an NC program for controlling the punch press machine 6, tool data of the punch press machine 6, processing history performance data, inventory and loading / unloading data of the automatic warehouse, and the like. .. The NC program is 1000-based on the program name.
It is possible to store data for 3000 lines. In other words, various NC programs used in the machining line can be stored for several months to one year. The read-only files of the operation system, the distributed file system, the database management system, the database server, etc. may be stored in ROM as necessary. When the database device 5 uses UNIX as an operation system, a database management system used for this is Phodnius Inc. of Canada.
EMPRESS of the same company, Micro ORACLE of the United States, ORACLE company, etc. are considered. The database device 5 has an internal switch and is activated in response to a data input / output request.

On the other hand, the IMC 2 connected to the transmission line such as Ethernet to the database device 5 as described above may be a personal computer or a workstation having a general structure, which is a CPU, a main storage device, a hard disk magnetic disk. The computer main body includes an auxiliary storage device such as a storage device, and a keyboard and a display device connected to the computer main body.

The software configuration of the IMC2 is, as shown in FIG. 3, an operating system such as MS-DOS (trademark of Microsoft Corporation, USA) for the IMC2, a LAN communication package by TCP / IP, and an NFS. Distributed file system, NC program editing / display program, machining schedule program, automatic programming device 3, IDT4,
In addition to the main controller application program such as a program for inputting / outputting data from / to the stocker controller and its access library, the access library of the database management system held by the database device 5 is included. IDT4
Also, the configuration of the computer device connected to the LAN 1 is I
Similar to MC2.

FIG. 4 shows the data flow between the IMC 2 and the database device 5. When the database access library is accessed from the user interface such as the keyboard of the IMC2, a question sentence in a database language, for example, an SQL sentence is displayed in the database device 5.
Sent to. When the database device 5 receives the SQL statement, the database server is activated and the CPU 8 executes the database management system to perform syntax interpretation and the like. The interpreted instructions are executed by the database kernel included in the database management system to perform data operations on the database.

As a result of the data operation, for example, search data,
Relational database management system,
It is sent by the data server to IMC2 and passed to the user interface. As a result, distributed processing is performed between the IMC 2 and the database device 5, and then a command of the database management system stored in the database device 5 is executed by the user's operation of the IMC 2 and network transparency by remote operation ( Transparency of the processing space) is realized.

In the above-described embodiment, the data operation by the database management system, in other words, all the commands are executed by the CPU 8.
For speeding up, some of the data operations, such as data retrieval, may be performed by a modularized dedicated retrieval module 18. LAN1 such as IDT4
IM of other computer devices connected to
Similar to C2.

According to the database device 5 having the above configuration, various data are stored together with their names, and
In accordance with a request from computers connected in a communicable manner, the database management system owned by itself is executed by its own CPU, and by executing this database management system,
Data manipulation can be performed and a response to this data manipulation, eg, search data, can be returned to the requesting computer. Further, the computer device connected to the LAN 1 can request storage of required data and can freely access the required data.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the schedule operation method in the above processing line. Step 5
In 01, the NC program is generated by the automatic programming device 3, and all the generated NC programs are stored in the database device 5. Generally, the program name is the work name W
It is attached like W-i in relation to. i is an identification code when there is a design change for the same work.
As a result, the NC programs for all the works can be managed according to the work type and the work change.
An NC program that is temporarily unnecessary can be stored as long as the capacity permits. Of course, N stored in the database device 5
The stored contents of the C program and other data can be viewed by the list display.

Next, at step 502, the IMC 2 creates a schedule program. Generally, the line manager edits the NC programs stored in the database 5 according to the execution order, and is edited each time. Therefore, the NC programs are not necessarily stored in the database device 5. good. However, a regular schedule program that is frequently used may be stored in the database device 5 under a program name that is easily searched.

In step 503, the schedule program name edited or stored in the database device 5 is transferred to the CNC device.

The small schedules A, B and C may be combined and the large schedule A + B + C may be transferred to the CNC. At this time, the actual data of each NC program is not transferred. This data is stored in the database device 5. As a result, the schedule can be edited only by combining the symbols, so that the work is extremely easy and errors are eliminated.

Next, in step 504, the database device 5 is searched in the CNC, the contents of the schedule program are understood, and in step 505, the schedule operation is executed. At this time, since the small database is also held in the IDT 4 connected to each CNC, it is not necessary to search the database device 5 when the previous data is held.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the procedure for executing the CNC. When execution of the scheduled operation is started in step 601, history data is appropriately collected in step 602. This is, for example, the cumulative number of punches and machining time, and is used for machining management such as maintenance. In step 603, these data are stored in the database device 5 under a required data name at appropriate times. Seen in macro, it becomes real time. In step 604, all unnecessary data, that is, the data which has become unnecessary as a result of storing the data in the database device 5, is erased. Here, since the own database only needs to be used by itself, if all the data required by other computer devices are stored in the database device 5, all the conditions of whether they are unnecessary or not It can be determined at your convenience.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing a transfer system of conditional expressions. When it is determined in step 701 that the transfer is necessary, the conditional expression is transferred in step 702. As an example of the conditional expression, for example, A · B obtained by multiplying the data name A and the data name B may be used. At this time, the computer device receiving the conditional expressions A and B receives the data name A,
The database device 5 is searched according to B to obtain the currently stored data A and B. The advantage of this is that the data A and B are only symbols and therefore may be fixed, and the contents do not have to be understood by the transmitting side each time. It is also a feature that it is easy to visually instruct because it is impossible to see the unintentional data for the operator's instruction.

As described above, in the control system for the schedule-operated processing line of this example, each computer device has a significant symbol on the LAN 1 with respect to other computer devices.
That is, only the data name and conditional expression need to be transferred, and the data can be handled visually and line control can be performed very easily. Therefore, the flow of data on the LAN 1 can be minimized, the load on the operator who issues a control command can be minimized, and a small amount of significant information can be converted into a large amount of data like a turbo engine. The line can be operated with high efficiency.

In the above embodiments, the punch press is used as an example of the processing machine, but the processing line may have any structure. Also, equipment and computers can be freely recombined. The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and can be carried out in an appropriate mode by changing an appropriate design.

[0033]

As described above, the present invention is a processing line control system as set forth in the claims. Therefore, various data are stored together with data names in a multipurpose database, and each computer device Data can be input and output between the computer devices, and required data can be set in each computer device based on a data name and a conditional expression exchanged between the computer devices.
Here, since only the data name and the conditional expression are communicated between the computers, it is possible to handle a large amount of data like a turbo engine with a minimum amount of data communication, and even if the system configuration is complicated, smooth operation is possible. Control can be performed. Moreover, since various computer measurements can be connected to the data communication network, system versatility is high.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an example of a processing line according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a database device in the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a software configuration of the database device and a computer device (IMC) connected to the database device via a LAN.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a schedule operation method.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation example of CNC.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a transfer method of conditional expressions.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 LAN 2 IMC 3 Automatic programming device 4 IDT 5 Database device 6 Punch press machine

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A device having a data communication network, wherein desired data communication is performed between a main controller and each device controller connected to the network, and each device is instructed by the main controller. In a control system of a processing line for controlling, a multipurpose database that stores various data corresponding to their names is connected to the data communication network, and the main controller and each device controller are connected to any data of the database. A data input / output device that can perform input / output is provided, and data communication between the main controller and each device controller, or data communication between each device controller or each device controller, is performed by using a data name in which the content of each data is omitted. Articles to process data Is communicated with the formula, the control system of the processing line at each of entering these data name and condition computer, characterized in that the received data processing apparatus analyzes the received contents by referring to the database provided was.