Terminal for Processing Facilities

Abstract

A terminal for processing facilities having a communication device arranged to exchange information about the processing facility with a communication partner, a screen arranged to display the information about the processing facility, a position sensor arranged to collect alignment information relating to an alignment of the terminal and a processor arranged to control the communication device, the screen and the position sensor. The functionality of the terminal is extended by the fact that the processor sets a function of the terminal dependent on alignment information from the position sensor.

Claims

1.-14. (canceled)

15. A terminal for processing facilities comprising a communication device arranged to exchange information about the processing facility with a communication partner, a screen arranged to display the information about the processing facility, a position sensor arranged to collect alignment information relating to an alignment of the terminal, and a processor arranged to control the communication device, the screen and the position sensor, wherein the processor sets a function of the terminal dependent on alignment information of the position sensor, wherein in a first position of the terminal a first function of the terminal is set and in a second position of the terminal a second function, which is different from the first function, is set, wherein the first and second functions relate to object clearance, access control or visibility of objects.

16. The terminal of claim 15, wherein the processor sets a type and/or a content of the information displayed on the screen about the processing facility dependent on alignment information from the position sensor.

17. The terminal of claim 15, wherein the functions of the terminal comprise: controlling the processing facility, viewing facility parameters, viewing operator instructions, exchanging information with the processing facility.

18. The terminal according to claim 15, wherein the processor, dependent on an access control and/or a role of a user currently logged into the terminal, sets the setting of the function of the terminal which is dependent on the alignment information.

19. The terminal according to claim 15, wherein the processor sets access control on the terminal dependent on the alignment information.

20. The terminal according to claim 15, wherein a login device is arranged to receive login information wirelessly.

21. The terminal according to claim 15, wherein the terminal is mobile relative to the processing facility.

22. The terminal according to claim 15, wherein the terminal is at least partly transparent in the area of the screen, and in that the terminal has a camera facing away from the screen and/or displays on the screen at least a picture taken by the camera.

23. The terminal according to claim 15, wherein the information displayed on the screen is set dependent on a relative position of the terminal to the processing facility.

24. The terminal according to claim 15, wherein the information displayed on the screen is set dependent on information displayed by a display device in a viewing window of the processing facility.

25. A system comprising a terminal according to claim 15 and a processing facility comprising at least one processing station.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein a cover at least partly surrounds the processing facility, in that the cover has at least one viewing window, and in that the processing station has a display device, wherein the display device is arranged to display information in the viewing window.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the communication device is operatively connected to the display device of the processing station in such a way that the information displayed on the screen is dependent on information displayed in the viewing window by the display device, and/or that the information displayed in the viewing window by the display device is dependent on the information displayed on the screen.

28. A method of operating a processing facility comprising using a terminal according to claim 15.

29. The terminal according to claim 19, wherein the processor sets remote access via a data network dependent on the alignment information.

30. The terminal according to claim 21, wherein the communication device is arranged to communicate wirelessly with the processing facility.

31. The terminal according to claim 24, wherein the information displayed on the screen is semantically associated with the information displayed in the viewing window.

32. The method of claim 28, wherein the processing facility is a filling installation.

Description

[0045] The subject matter is explained in more detail below with the aid of the figures illustrating exemplary embodiments. In the Figures show:

[0046] FIG. 1 the schematic structure of a filling installation;

[0047] FIG. 2 a schematic view of a terminal;

[0048] FIGS. 3a-c different positions of the terminal;

[0049] FIG. 4 a schematic view of a terminal together with a viewing glass;

[0050] FIGS. 5a-b a terminal with a user-dependent display;

[0051] FIGS. 6a-b a terminal and a viewing glass with position-dependent exchange of information between the terminal and the viewing glass.

[0052] The representation of information about the state of a processing facility according to the subject matter can be demonstrated, by way of example, at a filling facility. In a filling station, for example for foodstuffs, package sleeves 2 produced from packaging material are firstly fed into an unfolding device 4. In the unfolding device 4, the package sleeves 2 initially folded flat together are unfolded and closed on one side.

[0053] The unfolded package sleeves 2a are then conveyed to a filling device 6. The foodstuff is filled into the unfolded package sleeves 2a in the filling device 6.

[0054] The package sleeves 2b filled by the filling device 6 are then conveyed to a closing unit 8. In the closing unit 8, the gables of the filled package sleeves 2b are closed, for example by welding/sealing the gable edge. The closed, filled packages 2c are then fed out of the closing unit 8.

[0055] Of course, the above representation of a filling facility is purely schematic. Notably, no sterilisation unit, for example, is provided. A sterilisation unit can be present in the filling facility 6. It is also possible for the devices to be encased in a common housing, in particular the filling device 6 and the closing unit 8 can be encased together in a housing in a sterilisation area. Other stations can be part of a filling facility, but for a clearer overview they are not represented.

[0056] It can be seen in FIG. 1 that each of the devices 4-8 is connected to a control computer 12 and a database 14 via a data link 10 (communication link). The data link 10 can be a wired LAN connection for example. Wireless connections can also be implemented, for example by means of WLAN. It is also possible for a mixture of different types of data links 10 to be used.

[0057] The devices 4-8 receive control instructions from the control computer 12, by means of which the operating means can be hydraulically, pneumatically and/or electrically operated according to the predefined rules. Inside the devices 4-6, parameters of the operating means are detected by means of various sensors, as already described above by way of example. The collected state data, that is to say, the values of the respective parameters, are transmitted by the sensors of the devices 4-8 to the control computer 12 and/or to the database 14. In the database 14, a complete record for each batch from package sleeves 2a to the filled packages 2c relating to the respective parameters can be reproduced. The control computer 12 evaluates the operating parameters and applies control rules, in order to correspondingly control the devices 4 to 6.

[0058] Also this description of the control of the devices 4 to 8 is purely by way of example and purely schematic. For the subject matter, it can just be important that with the aid of the parameters detected by sensors, operating states of the devices 4 to 8 are determined by means of the control computer 12 and/or by means of the database 14 and, dependent on the operating states, instructions, indications, warnings or error messages or any other information about the processing station are generated for an operator of the devices 4 to 8 and subsequently displayed e.g. on the terminal. Directions, operator instructions, warnings, error messages and operating data can, according to the subject matter, be visually presented to the operator by means of overlays in viewing windows, which are in any case present in coverings of the devices 4 to 8, or on the screen of the terminal.

[0059] In FIG. 1, it can be identified that for example in the unfolding device 4 a viewing window 16a is provided. The viewing window 16 is integrated like a window into the covering of the unfolding device 4. For example, the covering of the unfolding device 4 can have a front door, into which the viewing window 16a is integrated. This door can be opened, in order to gain access to the operating means of the unfolding device 4.

[0060] The filling device 6 has an extensive viewing window 16b which almost occupies the whole area of a door of the covering of the filling device 6. The operator can view the complete filling device through this viewing window and receive further information about the filling device 6 via the viewing window 16b.

[0061] The closing device 8 has two sliding doors, each of which has a viewing window 16c′, 16c″ respectively. Each of the viewing windows 16c′, 16c″ can be slid along a sliding groove guide, so that by sliding the viewing windows 16c′, 16c″ to the right or to the left the operator has access to the operating means of the closing device 8.

[0062] Of course, the illustrated viewing windows 16a to 16c purely serve as examples. A viewing window consisting of glass, plexiglass or another transparent or semi-transparent material can be provided in a covering which can be arranged as a surrounding housing or only as a mechanical protection at a device 4 to 8. The operator can view the operating means of the respective device 4-8 via this viewing window 16a-16c. In addition, according to the subject matter of the invention, the operator receives additional information about the respective devices 4 to 6 via the viewing windows 16a-16c. Such additional information is overlaid in the viewing windows 16a-16c.

[0063] In addition to the viewing windows 16a-16c, it is possible to generate instructions, indications, warnings or error messages and any other information about the processing station for an operator of the device 4-8 and then display them on a terminal 20. The terminal 20 has a communication link to the data link 10, the control computer 12, the database 14 and the devices 4 to 8 via a preferably wireless communication link 10b. All information which can be displayed in the viewing windows 16a-16c can also be displayed on the screen 22 of the terminal 20. It is also possible, as will be described below, to exchange the information displayed on the screen 22 with the viewing windows 16a-16c, so that information on the screen 22 can be displayed in the viewing windows 16a-16c and vice-versa. For this purpose, an exchange of corresponding data between the terminal 20 and the control computer 12 or the devices 4-8 is necessary.

[0064] In addition to the exchange of information which is displayed on the screen 22 of the terminal 20, the terminal has other functions which are illustrated by way of example in FIG. 2.

[0065] The terminal 20 is schematically illustrated in FIG. 2. Firstly, the terminal 20 has a screen 22. This can be partly transparent or consist of a semi-transparent material, so that the screen 22 can both be looked through and information can be displayed on the screen 22. A processor 24 is operatively connected to the screen 22 and is also operatively connected to a position sensor 26 and a communication device 28. It is possible to detect the position of the terminal 20 via the position sensor 26. Here, it is possible, for example, to detect the position of the longitudinal axis 20a and the position of the transverse axis 20b of the terminal 20. If the longitudinal axis 20a is, for example, in the vertical, portrait modus can be applied and if the position of the longitudinal axis 20a is in the horizontal, i.e. in the shown position rotated by 90°, landscape mode can be activated. The position sensor 26 can e.g. be a gyroscope.

[0066] Depending on the alignment information from the position sensor 26, the processor 24 can vary the function of the terminal 20, in particular the information displayed on the screen 22.

[0067] Different positions of the terminal 20 are illustrated in FIGS. 3a-3c. In FIG. 3a, the terminal 20 is in an upright position and portrait mode can be activated. In FIG. 3b, the terminal 20 is in a sideways position and it can be operated in landscape mode. FIG. 3c shows the terminal 20 lying on its rear side with the screen 22 pointing upwards. A specific function can be activated by the processor 24 in this position too.

[0068] The positions shown according to FIGS. 3a-3c are purely by way of example. The spatial position in particular of the axes 20a or 20b can be detected by the position sensor 26 and, dependent on the detected position of the alignment sensor 26, the processor 24 can control the function of the terminal 20.

[0069] FIG. 4 shows an exemplary control process dependent on the alignment information. A warning message is, for example, displayed in a viewing window 16a as symbol 28. The information that the symbol 28 is displayed in the viewing window 16 is transmitted from the device 4 via the data link 10, and in particular via the wireless connection 10b, and is received, for example, by the communication device 28 of the terminal 20. The position sensor 26 has recognised that the terminal 20 is in the position according to FIG. 3a, for example, and therefore the processor 24 operates the terminal 20 in portrait mode. This can be recognised in the upper illustration of the terminal 20. In this mode, the terminal 20 is e.g. operated in such a way that dependent on information displayed in the viewing window 16 operator instructions are displayed in text format on the screen. This is schematically illustrated here.

[0070] If the terminal 20 is now rotated from the position illustrated above into the position illustrated below, the processor 24 changes the mode from portrait mode to landscape mode. The processor 24 can be programmed in such a way that at that moment the information displayed on the screen 22 is changed. Here, the information associated with the symbol 28, for example, is retained, but the content of the information is changed. Thus, in the lower illustrated position of the terminal 20 an operator instruction is output on the screen 22. This can, for example, take place in the form of images which specify to the operator how he or she has to adjust e.g. the unfolding device 4, in particular how he or she must adjust various sensors and actuators there, so that the circumstance which triggered the warning message 28 can be removed.

[0071] FIGS. 5a and 5b show the display of information on the screen 22 of the terminal 20 dependent on the position and on access authorisations of the operator.

[0072] In FIG. 5a, a first operator having an access authorisation of a machine operator is in the vicinity of the terminal 20. The access authorisation is e.g. detected via a transponder reading device (not illustrated), in which a transponder 30a of a machine operator is read.

[0073] Following this, the display on the screen 22 is controlled depending on the role of the operator, which by way of example here is a “machine operator”. In the example shown, the control is such that if the access authorisation or the role of the operator is a “machine operator”, the display on the screen 22 is not changed when the position changes. This is shown in FIG. 5a, in which the same symbol is displayed both in the first alignment (portrait mode) and in the second alignment (landscape mode). That is to say, that in this case only a warning message is output to the operator without detailed information. The operator can subsequently consult a technician qualified for this purpose and call such a person in. This is shown by way of example in FIG. 5b.

[0074] FIG. 5b shows that another transponder 30b is in the vicinity of the terminal 20. This other transponder 30b contains e.g. the information that the operator is assigned the role of “service technician”. This information is read from the transponder 30b by the terminal 20. In the alignment of the terminal 20 illustrated on the left, the warning message is still output as a symbol on the screen 22. However, if the terminal 20 is now rotated and landscape mode activated, as is illustrated on the right in FIG. 5b, textual information is output. This textual information is, on the one hand, only output as a result of the terminal 20 being in landscape mode and, on the other hand, as a result of the operator being assigned the role of “service technician”. Work or operator instructions are provided in the textual information, in order to remove the circumstance causing the error.

[0075] FIGS. 6a and 6b show the possibility of information exchange between a viewing window 16 and a terminal 20 dependent on the alignment information of the terminal 20.

[0076] FIG. 6a illustrates a warning message output in the viewing window 16. Corresponding to the warning message in the viewing window 16, information is transmitted to the terminal 20 and a text is output there in portrait mode. This text is semantically associated with the warning message in the viewing window 16.

[0077] If the terminal 20 is now rotated and brought into landscape mode, as illustrated in FIG. 6b, an operator instruction appears on the screen 22 of the terminal 20, in particular an operating instruction with visual information for operating the unfolding unit 4. This information can be transmitted by the operator in landscape mode, for example by a gesture or by manipulating a corresponding button, to the viewing window 16 via the communication link 10b.

[0078] This transmission of information is in the present case e.g. only possible if the terminal is operated in landscape mode. If the terminal 20 is rotated back again into portrait mode, as is illustrated in FIG. 6a, the content on the screen 22, for example, would change, but this information would then, for example, no longer be able to be transmitted to the viewing window 16 via the communication link 10b.

[0079] The operation of the terminal 20 is affected depending on the position or the collected information of the position sensor 26. Thus, on the one hand, the type and the content of the information displayed on the screen 22 vary. On the other hand, it is also possible for an interaction with viewing windows 16 to be dependent on the alignment information. In addition, the information on the screen 22, in particular the content can be varied dependent on an access authorisation and the alignment information.

[0080] The embodiments shown are purely exemplary embodiments and various combinations of the indicated functions dependent on the alignment are possible. Examples should therefore not be interpreted as restricting.