GB2209613A

GB2209613A - Machine control/monitoring

Info

Publication number: GB2209613A
Application number: GB8821912A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michael John Cahill; Michael Edkins
Original assignee: Molins Ltd
Current assignee: Mpac Group PLC
Priority date: 1987-09-08
Filing date: 1988-09-07
Publication date: 1989-05-17
Also published as: IT8848324A0; IT1224731B; GB8821912D0; JPH01153075A; DE3830428A1

Abstract

A system for monitoring and/or controlling a cigarette making (or box blank making) machine includes a processor, means for storing a data base, and means for receiving a removable access card inserted by an operator or other member of personnel to obtain access to data in the data base and/or statistics or other information derived from such data, the card-receiving means including means for responding to one or more signals derived from the card and for releasing data in dependence upon such signals, different data being released by different cards. PROM and RAM cards are exemplified.

Description

Cigarette Making Machines A method and system for monitoring the operation of a cigarette making machine is described in British patent specification No.

2122399. Reference is directed to that specification in its entirety in connection with the present invention, which relates to irtprovrnts thereto.

According to the present invention, a system for monitoring and/or controlling a cigarette making machine includes a processor, means for storing a data base, and means for receiving a removable access card inserted by an operator or other member of personnel to obtain access to data in the data base and/or statistics or other information derived from such data, the card-receiving means including means for responding to one or more signals derived from the card and for releasing data in dependence upon such signals, difterent data being released by different cards.

Data released upon insertion of an appropriate access card may be displayed on a visual display unit (VDU) on the machine.

Alternatively, or in addition, at least some of the data may be output from the system on to the card itself for diagnosis away from the machine.

This invention enables company management to determine the level or type of access to data that is available to each member of personnel. Furthermore, the data may be displayed differently on the VDU depending upon the status or function of the person inserting his access card into the machine. For example, the machine operator may have an access card which may remain in the machine during normal use and which causes the machine to display appropriately set out information which the operator needs for continual monitoring of the machine; the operator may not normally need, and may be required not to have, access to statistics regarding the number or types of stoppages of the machine, whereas the supervisor or more senior management might require to have ready access to such information.

Similarly the supervisor or more senior management might have access to information indicative of the performance of the operator.

The access card may itself have a significant memory which supplements the on-board memory of the machine. The latter may comprise a bubble memory (rather than a disc-based memory) for the sake of reliability. Part of the memory on each access card may be devoted to software, for example software to cause the processor to operate in the appropriate manner to produce a display or output (e g.

to the card) needed by the card holder.

Amendment of data or software in the machine may be enabled only by insertion of the appropriate access card, for example one available only to a software specialist or more senior personnel.

An example of a cigarette making machine according to this invention is shown in the accompanying diagrammatic drawing. The machine 10 includes control/monitoring hardware contained in a cabinet 12 including a VDU 14 and a processor which may, for example, be based upon an IBM AT personal computer.

A slot 16 in the front face of the cabinet 12 is arranged to receive an access card 18 inserted with an appropriate orientation.

The card is "read" in a well known manner and causes the processor to run the appropriate software in the machine (and/or in the card) so as to display the appropriate information on the screen of the VW 14.

The cabinet 12 may also include buttons which may be pressed to display different data on the VDU screen in the usual way.

By way of example, data which is most readily accessible may comprise the mean weight of the cigarette rod, the standard deviation thereof, and other similar data which the operator needs to observe constantly. In addition, the processor may display to the operator when a situation arises in which a particular part of the machine needs attention in the light of analysis by the computer of a trend, e g. an increased frequency of stoppages resulting from one particular cause or a combination of related causes; alternatively such trend information may be accessible only to a maintenance technician equipped with an appropriate card.

Operator cards may also enable the processor to display production targets. In this connection machine down-time caused by factors over which the operator has no control (e.g. failure in the supply of tobacco to the machine) may be disregarded so that the operator is shown simply what he could have achieved and what he has actually achieved at that particular tine in the shift.

The form in which information is displayed on the VDU may be programmable to suit the needs of the particular operator, subject to insertion of an appropriate access card to allow such programming to be carried out by the supervisor or other authorised personnel.

The monitoring of sensors in the system may be achieved with the aid of the invention described in our British patent application No.

8706068 which is shortly to be published as specification No. 2202065.

Data or statistics derived from data in the machine memory may in addition be transmitted automatically, or on demand, to a management centre at which the performance of a group of machines is to be monitored. Alternatively, or in addition, data may be transmitted via a MODEM and telephone line to a remote site for control or fault analysis of the machine; as a further alternative, such data may first be written onto a suitable access card which is then used to transmit the data through a MODEM from a separate cardreading device.

As already mentioned, the system may also enable data to be written by the processor onto at least some of the cards. For example, the values of parameters relating to a particular cigarette brand may be written onto a brand-related card. Once a cigarette making machine has been set up to run in optimal fashion on a particular brand, the parameters for that brand are written onto the card so that, after a period of operation on a different brand, insertion of the brand-related card causes the appropriate parameters to be automatically read off the card to cause the machine to run again in optimal fashion on the first brand.Examples of such parameters or "brand data" are: (a) The sensitivity or rejection threshold of one or more optical sensors; (b) The upper and lower limits of suction in the suction chamber above the tobacco band; (c) Target weight and length of the cigarettes; (d) Tobacco rod inspection parameters; (e) Ejection stations for defective cigarettes; (f) Cigarette wrapper inspection (optical) taking into account print styles and positions; (g) Rejection thresholds for pneumatic inspection of cigarette wrappers; (h) Cigarette diameter inspection; (i) Tobacco moisture inspection.

With regard to sub-paragraph (a) above, optical sensors responsive to the tobacco itself may, for example, to take into account whether light or dark tobacco is being used.

With regard to sub-paragraph (d) an example of an inspection parameter is the threshold for deciding on the presence in the tobacco rod of excessively light or heavy portions indicative respectively of voids or lumps both of which might be a reason (depending upon the required quality criterea for the brand in question) for rejecting the affected cigarettes. Likewise excessive lightness or heaviness of a cigarette as a whole could be a reason for ejecting the cigarette in question, and the rejection thresholds for doing so may be required to be set for a particular cigarette brand. Also the amount of "dense ending", and the positions of the extra-dense portions in relation to the cigarette ends, constitute further tobacco rod parameters.

Furthermore the proportion of cigarettes found to be excessively light or heavy may, against relevant threshold criterea, be a factor n determining whether the machine needs to be stopped to allow for resetting or maintenance to alleviate the problem.

With regard to sub-paragraph (e) the machine may have several ejection stations at which cigarettes with different types of faults are ejected. Data transmitted to the processor from an access card may enable the ejection station for a particular fault to be changed, for example, to facilitate inspection of the cigarettes ejected with such faults.

Access cards may also be provided for other purposes. For example, sampling of cigarettes according to a predetermined routine may be carried out at regular intervals (e.g. every hour) by inserting an appropriate card which causes cigarettes to be ejected for inspection in accordance with the desired routine without requiring a lengthy keying in procedure.

Examples of access cards which may be used are those sold in England by the Astron Memory Card Division of Cumana Ltd of Ilford, Surrey, EN3 3EH and designated as their cards BN-016-1, BN-032-1 and E-121-U cards. The first two are PROM cards having memories of 16R and 32K respectively; i.e. write-once cards. The third is a 32K static RAM card allowing data to be written and re-written into it several times. Each card has 38 metal contact strips along one edge.

Similar cards are available from General Electric in the U.S.A.

In the case of PROM cards, data may be written initially into part of the memory and may be subsequently marked electronically as invalid when additional data is written onto the card in effect to replace the original data. If each set of data occupies only a small proportion of the total card memory, the card can be "re-used" several times.

Although this invention has been described with reference to a cigarette making machine, it should be understood that it is applicable to other machines or combinations of machines of the cigarette industry and to machines used in other industries and particularly machines used for the manufacture of variable products of which one example is box blanks of corrugated board.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing cigarettes involving the use of a cigarette making machine including a processor for monitoring and/or controlling the operation of the machine, means for storing a data base in or in association with the cigarette making machine, and means for receiving a removable access card having a memory and for reading data from the card memory, the method including the steps of providing a number of access cards which differ at least in regard to the data in their memories1 the data on different cards being such as to cause the processor to output different data from the data base and/or to respond in different ways in regard to monitoring and/or controlling of the cigarette making machine.

2. A method according to claim 1 in which inspection of an access card causes or enables the processor to display on a VDU information which differs for different cards.

3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which data from an access card is used to set one or more operating parameters of the machine.

4. A method according to claim 3 in which the one or more machine operating parameters are chosen from a list comprising: (a) The sensitivity or rejection threshold of one or more optical sensors; (b) The upper and lower limits of suction in the suction chamber above the tobacco band; (c) Target weight and length of the cigarettes; (d) Tobacco rod inspection parameters; (e) Ejection stations for defective cigarettes; (f) Cigarette wrapper inspection (optical) taking into account print styles and positions; (g) Rejection thresholds for pneumatic inspection of cigarette wrappers; (h) Cigarette diameter inspection; (i) Tobacco moisture inspection.

5. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 in which changes in the processor software are made by replacing part or all of the software, when necessary, with software previously written into the memory of one of the access cards.

6. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 in which the means for receiving the access card is also capable of writing data into the card memory.

7. A method of manufacturing products by means of a machine or line of machines including a processor for monitoring and/or controlling the operation of the machine, means for storing a data base in or in association with the machine, and means for receiving a removable access card having a memory and for reading data from the card memory, the method including the steps of providing a number of access cards which differ at least in regard to the data in their memories, the data on different cards being such as to cause the processor to output different data from the data base and/or to respond in different ways in regard to monitoring and/or controlling of the machine.

8. A cigarette making machine including a processor for monitoring and/or controlling the operation of the machine, means for storing data in or in association with the machine, and means (16) for receiving a removable access card (18) inserted by an operator or other member of personnel to obtain access to data in the data base and/or statistics or other information derived from such data, the card-receiving means including means for responding to one or more signals derived from the card and for releasing data in dependence upon such signals, different data being released by different cards.

9. A machine according to claim 8 arranged, upon insertion of an appropriate access card, to release appropriate data by displaying it on a visual displayina unit and/or by writing data onto the access card.

10. A machine according to claim 8 or claim 9 arranged, in response to data from an appropriate access card, to set one or more operating parameters of the machine.

11. A machine according to any one of claims 8 to 10 in which the means for receiving the access card is also capable of writing data into the card memory.

12. A machine according to claim 10 in which one or more operating parameters are chosen from a list comprising: (a) The sensitivity or rejection threshold of one or more optical sensors; (b) The upper and lower limits of suction in the suction chamber above the tobacco band; (c) Target weight and length of the cigarettes; (d) Tobacco rod inspection parameters; (e) Ejection stations for defective cigarettes; (f) Cigarette wrapper inspection (optical) taking into account print styles and positions; Rejection thresholds for pneumatic inspection of cigarette wrappers; (h) Cigarette diameter inspection; (i) Tobacco moisture inspection.

13. A machine according to any one of claims 8 to 11 in which the processor is adapted to receive software from an appropriate access card for replacing part or all of the processor software.

14. A machine according to any one of claims 8 to 13 in which the processor is adapted to run at least partly on the basis of software written into the memory of an access card.

15. A machine according to claim 1 and substantially in accordance with any one of the specific examples described in the foregoing specification.

16. A machine according to claim 8 and substantially in accordance with any one of the specific examples described in the foregoing specification.