JPH06239331A - Production control device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] When the production instruction information of the conveyed work cannot be read, temporary information is created based on the information of the previous work, and operation is performed by using this temporary information. Reduce the burden on persons. [Construction] Production information of a work (engine) 10 is received from an ID tag 16 and the individual number (engine number) of the work contained in this information is read. The barcode indicating the individual number is printed by the label printer 24, and at the same time, the individual number is stored in the storage unit 32. When the information from the ID tag 16 is not obtained, the previous individual solid number stored in the storage unit 32 is read, and the number obtained by adding 1 to this number is displayed on the display unit 28 as a temporary number. , The operator
Make sure that this number and the number actually stamped on the work match, and then instruct the label production. If they do not match, the provisional number is incremented or decremented by 1 and the labels are instructed after matching.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a production control apparatus for controlling each step of a production line for producing a product by a line work, and more particularly to an apparatus for controlling a step of printing a unique number of a product on a label.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Today, the method of assembling and producing industrial products is
This is a production method by so-called flow work in which the work process is subdivided and the work is performed for each subdivided process. Among them, a line production method in which each work is performed while the work is conveyed by a conveyor or the like is widespread. Furthermore, mixed production is also performed in which a variety of products that meet various demands are mixed and produced in one line. In particular, in automobile production lines, it is necessary to produce various specifications that meet the needs of consumers, and when exporting, specifications that conform to the legal politics of the exporting country must be produced. It is required to produce many car models and specifications. Therefore, as described above, it is necessary to produce a plurality of vehicle types and specifications on one production line. In this case, it is necessary to accurately grasp information such as what processing needs to be performed and what parts should be assembled for the vehicle type and specifications of the work being transported. There is. An apparatus for instructing and controlling such production is described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2-143128. The device disclosed therein is provided with an ID tag that stores the type and use of the vehicle for each trolley on which the vehicle is mounted for transporting the vehicle. Then, in each process, the radio wave signal emitted from the ID tag is received to determine the vehicle type, specifications, etc. to be assembled, and the work is performed in accordance with this.

Further, in one of the respective processes provided in such a production line, the individual number of the conveyed work is read from the signal emitted from the ID tag, and this is printed on the label by the bar code and the number. There is a process to do. For example, when the work is an engine, there is a step of printing a unique number (engine number) stamped on this engine on a label including a bar code. By sticking this label on a predetermined part of the engine, the engine can be managed by reading the engine number and the bar code in the subsequent steps. That is, even when the engine is completely assembled and the ID tag is removed from the dolly, the engine specifications and the assembly history can be managed by this label.

[0004]

Since the conventional apparatus is constructed as described above, there is a problem that the label cannot be printed if there is an error in the reception of the radio wave from the ID tag. The cause of the reception error is when the battery built in the ID tag is dead, or when the ID tag is broken by hitting other parts in the upstream process,
There are cases in which other parts such as a wire harness are interposed between the tag and the receiving antenna to interfere with transmission and reception. When a reception error occurs due to such a cause, the operator reads the stamped engine number and inputs the number using a keyboard or the like. However, the engine number is often imprinted on the side surface of the cylinder block, and reading it in the assembled state requires a considerable amount of labor. In addition, it is easy to make a mistake when inputting the read number from the keyboard, and there is a fear that a correct label cannot be created.

As described above, in the conventional apparatus, when a mistake occurs in receiving the radio wave from the ID tag, the operator has to read the engine number and create a label. At this time, the mistake occurs. There was a problem that an incorrect label was created. The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and does not impose a burden on the operator when the reception from the ID tag is not successful,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a production control device capable of accurately promoting labels.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a production control apparatus according to the present invention is a production management apparatus which includes a continuous unique number indicating a production order of individual works conveyed on the production line. It includes an ID tag in which the instruction information is stored and conveyed together with the work, a receiving means for reading the production instruction information stored in the ID tag, and a label printing means for printing the received unique number on a label. In addition, a number storage unit that stores the received unique number and, when an abnormality occurs in reception by the receiving unit, displays a number next to the last stored unique number in the number storage unit. It has display means and print instruction means for instructing the label printing means to print the displayed unique number.

[0007]

The present invention has the above-mentioned structure, and once the unique number of the work is stored and the unique number of the next conveyed work cannot be read, the previous unique stored number is stored. The number next to the number is displayed on the display. Then, the operator judges whether or not this display and the work number match, and if they match, the operator instructs the printing of the label.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a case where the apparatus of this embodiment is used in an engine production line, and particularly shows a step of printing a label indicating an engine number. The engine 10 is conveyed from left to right in the drawing by a conveyor 14 while being mounted on a conveyance carriage 12. An ID tag 16 is attached to each of the carriages 12, and the ID tag 16 stores various kinds of information about the engine to which the tag is attached. This information is, for example,
Regarding the specifications of various engines, such as the code number that indicates the type of the engine, the engine number that indicates the unique number of the engine, the destination, whether to install the compressor for the air conditioner (air conditioner) or whether to install the oil pump for the power steering, etc. Information is stored.

The ID tag 16 has an internal battery, and the stored contents can be transmitted by this power. You can always send this, but
It may be configured to transmit only when the radio wave instructing the transmission is received. In this embodiment, an ID tag that constantly emits radio waves is used.

The radio wave transmitted from the ID tag 16 is received by the antenna 18 and the receiving device 20, and the control section 22 reads the engine number from the received signal. Then, the read engine number is sent to the label printer 24, and the label printer 24 prints this number. When the target engine is transported to a predetermined position, the operator can print this printed label 30
Is attached to a predetermined position of the engine, for example, the side surface 10a of the timing belt cover.

The case where the process proceeds smoothly from reception to printing has been described above, but the case where the label 30 cannot be printed due to an error in reception due to some reason will be described below.

As described above, there is no problem if the radio wave transmitted from the ID tag 16 is normally received by the antenna 18 or the like, but, for example, between the ID tag 16 and the antenna 18, electrical components of the engine and various sensors are used. If a wire harness, which is a signal line, is interposed, transmission and reception may be hindered. In such a case, the engine number cannot be specified.

By the way, the engines conveyed on the line are given engine numbers in the conveying order. That is, as described above, the engine number that could not be specified due to a transmission / reception error is very likely to be the engine number immediately preceding this engine plus one.

The apparatus of this embodiment utilizes this point to display a temporary engine number on the display unit 28 of the operation panel 26. Specifically, the engine number of the normally received engine is set to the control unit 2.
The numbers that are sequentially stored in the storage unit 32 provided in the memory 2 and are stored up to the previous time are deleted at this point. When a transmission / reception error occurs, the addition unit 34 adds 1 to the stored engine number to instruct the operation panel 26 of this information. On the operation panel 26, the number added with 1 is displayed on the display unit 28.

The details of the operation panel 26 are shown in FIGS. The operation panel 26 provided in the apparatus of this embodiment has a screen 2
It is configured by a so-called touch monitor that can perform a predetermined operation by touching a predetermined position on 7. The details of this screen are shown in FIG. The screen 27 has a display unit 28 and an operation unit 26a. The display unit 28 is a unit for displaying the engine number. When the transmission / reception is performed without error, the received engine number is displayed, and when some error occurs in the transmission / reception and the engine number cannot be discriminated, the above-mentioned As described above, a number obtained by adding 1 to the engine number received last time is displayed. In FIG. 3, an engine number “0123456” is shown as an example. At this time, if the actual engine marking and this number "0123456" match, the set key 43 of the operation unit 26a is pressed. This allows the label printer 24
Is instructed to print the label. Further, if this number is different from the actual engine number, for example, if the actual engine number is "0123457", the operator presses the increment key 41 to "0123456".
1 is added to display “0123457”. Then, when the set key 43 is pressed, printing of the label is instructed. Further, a decrement key 42 for subtracting 1 from the displayed number is provided. The number printed on the label can be changed only by a key operation of adding 1 to or subtracting 1 from the displayed number.

In the engine production line, the engine numbers are, in principle, given in the order of transportation as described above, and therefore, an engine having a number far from the previously received engine number is rarely transported, and somehow. Even when an engine with a different number is transported due to the cause, the probability of a transmission / reception error with the ID tag in this engine and the next engine is considerably low. Therefore, in most cases, it is considered that the number can be set by operating the aforementioned increment key 41 and decrement key 42. However, in the apparatus of this embodiment, the number is set to 0 so that the number can be manually input.
Number keys 9 to 9 and a reset key 44 are also provided. As a result, when the displayed number is different, the reset key 44 can be pressed as in the conventional case, and then the correct number can be input.

As described above, even if there is a transmission / reception error, it is not necessary to input the number again, and in most cases, the next number of the previous engine can be printed to deal with it. With the increment key and decrement key, the engine number can be set without performing many key operations. If you have to enter a 7-digit number, for example, in an inspection process that is provided at several points on the assembly line, an assembly error or component defect was discovered, and the engine once removed from the line was repaired. For example, when it is put on the line again with a large delay.

The operation described above is shown as a flow chart in FIG.

When the new engine 10 arrives at the reading position (S101), the engine number is read from the ID tag 26 (S103). Then, the label printer 24 is instructed to create a label (S105). Then, it is determined whether the label is normally printed (S107), and if the label is normal, the operator attaches the label 30 to a predetermined position of the engine 10. Further, when the number is not normally printed, for example, when the number from the ID tag 16 cannot be read due to some error in reception, the number is manually set (S111) and the label production instruction is given again (S1).
05).

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the information related to the work cannot be read out from the ID tag, the number obtained by adding 1 to the individual work number of the previous work is displayed as a temporary number, so that the operation can be performed. The operator can omit the operation of directly inputting the individual number. As a result, it is possible to reduce human error due to an operator's mistaken reading of a marking or an incorrect key press, and to shorten the operation time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a production management apparatus according to the present invention, and particularly a diagram showing a step of label production.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an operation panel of the apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an operation unit and a display unit of an operation panel of the apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a control flow of the apparatus of this embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 engine (work) 16 ID tag 22 control unit 24 label printer 26 operation unit 32 storage unit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A production management apparatus for managing a production line for production by flow work, wherein production instruction information including a continuous unique number indicating a production order of individual works conveyed on the production line is stored. An ID tag that is conveyed with the work, a reception unit that reads the production instruction information stored in the ID tag, and a label printing unit that prints the received unique number on a label. Number storing means for storing the unique number, display means for displaying a number next to the last unique number stored in the number storing means when an error occurs in reception by the receiving means, and And a print instruction means for instructing the label printing means to print the unique number.