JP7536727B2 - Process completion determination device, process completion determination system, and process completion determination method - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to a process completion determination device, a process completion determination system, and a process completion determination method.

Conventionally, industrial machines are known that perform a specific process on a workpiece according to a program. A typical example of such a program is a Numerical Control (NC) program.

Patent Document 1 proposes a method in which a server automatically collects various information (tool information, processing conditions, etc.) from industrial machinery in a system equipped with the machinery.

However, to accurately manage production volume and cycle time on the server, it is necessary to sequentially detect when a specific process has been completed based on the process completion signal sent from the industrial machine.

JP 2018-41387 A

However, generally, the process completion signal sent from an industrial machine is a pulse wave with a shorter sampling period than the sampling period at which the server collects various information from the industrial machine. Therefore, even if it is possible to collect various information from the industrial machine, there are cases where the process completion signal cannot be detected.

The present disclosure aims to provide a process completion determination device, a process completion determination system, and a process completion determination method that can determine whether a specific process has been completed in industrial machinery.

A process completion determination device according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a communication unit that receives, in chronological order, procedure symbols indicating program procedures from an industrial machine that executes a specified process according to a program, and a determination unit that determines that the specified process has been completed when the procedure symbols received by the communication unit change to a specific symbol indicating the completion of the specified process.

The present disclosure provides a process completion determination device, a process completion determination system, and a process completion determination method that can determine whether a specific process has been completed in an industrial machine.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a process completion determination system according to an embodiment; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a configuration of an NC program according to the embodiment; 4 is an example of a table stored in a storage unit according to the embodiment. 4 is a flowchart showing a process completion determination method according to the embodiment.

(Configuration of process completion determination system 1)
The configuration of a process completion determination system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

The process completion determination system 1 includes an industrial machine 10 and a management unit 20. The management unit 20 is a process completion determination device according to the present disclosure.

(Industrial machine 10)
1 illustrates a case where the industrial machine 10 is a lathe. However, the industrial machine 10 may be, for example, a machine tool other than a lathe, a spot welder, a welding robot, a semiconductor-related device, an exposure device, a chemical processing device, a wire bonder, a prober, an electronic component insertion machine, a printed circuit board drilling machine, an assembly device, a conveying device, a forging machine, a sheet metal machine such as a wire saw and a shearing machine, etc. Examples of machine tools other than lathes include a milling machine, a boring machine, a machining center, a jig polar, a drilling machine, a grinding machine, an electric discharge machine, a wireless cut electric discharge machine, a punching press, and a laser processing machine.

In FIG. 1, only one industrial machine 10 is illustrated, but the number of industrial machines 10 may be one or more.

The industrial machine 10 has a controller 11. The controller 11 has a communication function and is connected to the management unit 20 via a network (e.g., the Internet) by the communication function.

The controller 11 executes a predetermined process on the workpiece according to an NC (Numerical Control) program. Here, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of an NC program.

As shown in Figure 2, an NC program includes a line number and a program. A line number is a positive integer that starts at 0 and increments by 1. A program is entered on each line. The program is processed line by line in ascending order of line number unless otherwise specified.

Line 0 contains a "%" to indicate the start of the program. Line 27 contains a "%" to indicate the end of the program. Therefore, lines 0 to 27 are the NC program for this embodiment.

The first line contains the NC program's main program number "O9995" and a comment for the operator "(DANKI)". Additionally, lines 4 to 7 contain comments for the operator.

On lines 17 and 21, a sequence number following "N" is entered. "N001" on line 17 means sequence number 1, and "N10" on line 21 means sequence number 10. Sequence numbers are markers to make a program easier to read. The user enters sequence numbers as appropriate to make it easier to understand the order of commands. The larger the line number where a sequence number is entered, the larger the sequence number will be. Note that no sequence numbers are entered before line 17, but the sequence number up to line 17 is recognized as "0". In this embodiment, the line numbers and sequence numbers are each an example of a "procedure symbol indicating a procedure in an NC program".

In line 27, "M30" is entered to indicate that a specified process has been completed. However, since M30 is generally a pulse wave (e.g., a single pulse wave with a pulse width of 10 milliseconds) that is shorter than the sampling period (e.g., 500 milliseconds) of management unit 20, it is difficult for management unit 20 to detect M30. Therefore, in this embodiment, M30 is not used to detect the completion of a specified process.

The controller 11 transmits signals indicating industrial machine information to the management unit 20 in chronological order while executing a specific process according to the NC program. The industrial machine information includes date and time, operation status, main program number, current program number, line number, and sequence number. The date and time indicates the date and time when the industrial machine information was acquired. The operation status indicates whether the industrial machine 10 is operating automatically according to the NC program, or whether the industrial machine 10 is stopped.

(Management Unit 20)
The management unit 20 has a communication unit 21, a storage unit 22, and a determination unit 23. The functions of the management unit 20 are achieved by a server. The server may be a cloud server. The management unit 20 is connected to the controller 11 of the industrial machine 10 via a network. The management unit 20 is a process completion determination device.

The communication unit 21 can communicate with the controller 11 via the network. The communication unit 21 receives the industrial machinery information from the controller 11 in chronological order. The communication unit 21 stores the received industrial machinery information in chronological order in the memory unit 22.

The memory unit 22 stores the industrial machine information received by the communication unit 21 in chronological order. FIG. 3 is an example of a table stored in the memory unit 22. The table shown in FIG. 3 corresponds to the NC program shown in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 3, the memory unit 22 stores the date and time, operating status, main program number, current program number, line number, and sequence number in chronological order, associating them with each other. The main program is the first program in a process execution unit. A process execution unit is composed of a main program and a subprogram. The current program is the program in the execution unit that is being executed.

In the example shown in FIG. 3, from 9:04 to 9:12 on July 27, 2021, the industrial machine 10 is in automatic operation with both the main program number and the current program number being "O9995". During that time, the line number increases intermittently from "12" to "23", and the sequence number increases intermittently from "0" to "10".

Then, at 9:13 on the same day, the operation status of the industrial machine 10 transitions from automatic operation to stopped, the line number decreases from "23" to "0", and the sequence number decreases from "10" to "0".

The determination unit 23 refers to the storage unit 22 and determines whether the line number has changed to a specific line number indicating that a specific process has been completed. In this embodiment, the specific line number is "0". Therefore, the determination unit 23 determines whether the line number has changed from a "number other than 0" to "0". In the example shown in FIG. 3, the line number does not change to "0" between 9:04 and 9:12. In addition, although the line number at 9:14 is "0", the line number at 9:13 is also "0", so it cannot be said that the line number changed from a "number other than 0" to "0" at 9:14. On the other hand, the line number at 9:12 is "23" and the line number at 9:13 is "0", so it can be said that the line number changed from a "number other than 0" to "0" at 9:13. Therefore, the determination unit 23 determines that the line number has changed to a specific line number at 9:13.

The determination unit 23 refers to the memory unit 22 to determine whether the operation status has changed from automatic operation to stopped. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the operation status is automatic operation from 9:04 to 9:12, and the operation status is stopped from 9:13 to 9:14. Therefore, the determination unit 23 determines that the operation status changed from automatic operation to stopped at 9:13.

The determination unit 23 determines that a specified process is completed when the line number changes to a specific line number and the operation status changes from automatic operation to stopped. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the determination unit 23 determines that a specified process is completed at 9:13.

The determination unit 23 determines that the specified process is not completed when the line number has not changed to a specific line number. The determination unit 23 also determines that the specified process is not completed when the operating status has not changed from automatic operation to stopped.

As described above, the determination unit 23 according to this embodiment determines that a specified process is completed when the line number changes to a specific line number. Therefore, it is possible to easily determine whether a specified process is completed in the industrial machine 10.

In addition, the determination unit 23 according to this embodiment determines that a specified process is completed not only when the line number has changed to a specific line number, but also when the operating status has changed from automatic operation to stopped. Therefore, it is possible to more accurately determine whether a specified process has been completed in the industrial machine 10.

(Process completion determination method)
The process completion determination method according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the process completion determination method.

In step S1, the controller 11 of the industrial machine 10 transmits signals indicating industrial machine information, including date and time, operating status, main program number, current program number, line number, and sequence number, in chronological order to the management unit 20.

In step S2, the communication unit 21 of the management unit 20 receives the industrial machinery information from the controller 11 in chronological order and stores the received industrial machinery information in the memory unit 22 in chronological order.

In step S3, the determination unit 23 refers to the memory unit 22 and determines whether the line number has changed to a specific line number ("0" in this embodiment) that indicates that a specified process has been completed. If it is determined that the line number has changed to a specific line number, the process proceeds to step S4. If it is determined that the line number has not changed to a specific line number, the process returns to step S3.

In step S4, the determination unit 23 refers to the memory unit 22 to determine whether the operation status has changed from automatic operation to stopped. If it is determined that the operation status has changed from automatic operation to stopped, the process proceeds to step S5. If it is determined that the operation status has not changed from automatic operation to stopped, the process returns to step S3.

In step S5, the determination unit 23 determines that the specified process has been completed, and the process ends.

(Modification of the embodiment)

[Modification 1]
In the above embodiment, the determination unit 23 determines that the specified process is completed when the line number changes to a specific line number and the operation status changes from automatic operation to stopped. However, the determination unit 23 may determine that the specified process is completed when the line number changes to a specific line number. That is, the determination unit 23 does not need to determine whether the operation status has changed from automatic operation to stopped. In this case, although the accuracy of the determination of whether the specified process is completed is lower, it is possible to more simply determine whether the specified process is completed. In this case, the industrial machinery information does not need to include the operation status.

[Modification 2]
In the above embodiment, the determination unit 23 determines whether the line number has changed to the specific line number 0, but it may also determine whether the line number has changed to a line number within a specific line number range set between a line number greater than 0 and line number 0. For example, it may determine whether the line number has changed to a line number within a line number range that is greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to a line number corresponding to a predetermined percentage of the total number of lines in the program. This further reduces the risk that a change to a specific line number will not be detected due to restrictions on the sampling period of the management unit 20.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the total number of lines in the program is 27. For example, if the predetermined percentage is preset to 10%, then the line number corresponding to 10% of the 27 lines is line 2.7, and the specific line number range is from 0 to 2.7. Therefore, the determination unit 23 determines whether the line number has changed from a "number greater than 2.7" to a "number greater than 0 to 2.7". In the example shown in FIG. 3, the determination unit 23 determines that at 9:13, the line number has changed to a line number within a specific line number range (for example, a line number equal to or less than a line number corresponding to a predetermined percentage of the total number of lines in the program).

[Modification 3]
In the above embodiment, the determination unit 23 determines whether the line number has changed to a specific line number, but it may determine whether the sequence number has changed to a specific sequence number indicating that a specific process has been completed. For example, when the specific sequence number is set to "0", in the example shown in Fig. 3, the determination unit 23 determines that the sequence number has changed to the specific sequence number at 9:13. In this case, the industrial machinery information does not need to include the line number.

1 Process Completion Judgment System 10 Industrial Machine 11 Controller 20 Management Department (Process Completion Judgment Device)
21 Communication section 22 Storage section 23 Judgment section

Claims (7)

a communication unit that receives, in time series, procedure symbols indicating the procedures of a program from an industrial machine that executes a predetermined process according to the program;
a determination unit that determines that the predetermined process is completed when the procedure symbol received by the communication unit changes to a specific symbol indicating the completion of the predetermined process;
A process completion determination device comprising: a communication unit that receives, in chronological order, information indicating a procedure symbol representing a procedure of a program and an operating status of the industrial machine from the industrial machine that executes a predetermined process according to the program;
a determination unit that determines that the predetermined process is completed when the procedure symbol received by the communication unit changes to a specific symbol indicating the completion of the predetermined process and the operation status changes from automatic operation to stop;
A process completion determination device comprising: the procedure symbol is a line number of the program,
The specific symbol is a specific line number or a line number within a specific range of line numbers.
The process completion determination device according to claim 1 or 2. The specific line number range is a range of line numbers from 0 to a predetermined percentage of the total number of lines in the program.
The process completion determination device according to claim 3 . the procedure symbol is a sequence number of the program,
The specific symbol is a specific sequence number.
The process completion determination device according to claim 1 or 2. An industrial machine that executes a predetermined process according to a program;
a communication unit that receives procedure symbols indicating the procedures of the program in time series;
a determination unit that determines that the predetermined process is completed when the procedure symbol received by the communication unit changes to a specific symbol indicating the completion of the predetermined process;
A process completion determination system comprising: receiving, in chronological order, procedure symbols indicating the procedure of a program from an industrial machine that executes a predetermined process according to the program;
determining that the predetermined step is completed when the received procedure symbol changes to a specific symbol indicating completion of the predetermined step;
A process completion determination method comprising:

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