MACHINING METHOD, DATABASE SERVER, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR SHARING DATA FOR MACHINING DEVICES BY MEANS OF A REMOTE DATA TRANSMISSION

Abstract

System (1) for sharing device-related data by means of remote data transmission, in particular machining-specific parameters, of machining devices (30, 35), in particular wood machining devices, for machining of workpieces preferably consisting at least in sections of wood, wood material, synthetic material and/or glass, comprising: a main computer (15) for creating and providing a database (10) in which the device-related data can be managed, a first workstation (20) of a first machining device (30) which can be connected to the main computer (15) via a data communication link, and a second workstation (25) of a second machining device (35) which can be connected to the main computer via a data communication link, with device-related data being able to be stored in the database (10) of the main computer (15) by at least one of the two workstations (20, 25) and thereby being able to be made available for the other of the two workstations (20, 25).

Claims

1. A machining device, for machining workpieces, comprising: at least one functional unit for carrying out a function in the machining device; and a data communication link configured to receive device-related data from an external database in order to make these available to an operator of the machining device and/or to provide these to the at least one functional unit, a control or selection of the at least one functional unit being based on the received device-related data.

2. The machining device according to claim 1, the at least one functional unit being a processor and the processor using the device-related data to control the machining device.

3. The machining device according to claim 1, the at least one functional unit being a tool or a machining aggregate such as, for example, a spray head, a coating aggregate, a hot air aggregate, etc. and the tool or the machining aggregate being selected or controlled based on the device-related data.

4. The machining device according to claim 1, the machining device being configured to query the device-related data by tool type, tool number, workpiece parameter, device type, and/or manufacturer, from the external database.

5. The machining device according to claim 1, the data communication connection further being configured to transmit device-related data collected at the machining device to the external database.

6. The machining device according to claim 1, at least one workpiece detection device being provided, by means of which workpiece parameters such as elasticity modulus, density, thickness, or layer thickness are detected, on the basis of which at least one preselection of the device-related data made available by the external database takes place.

7. A database server for storing device related-data of machining devices, comprising: a data communication link configured to receive device-related data from a first machining device, and to make stored device-related data available for a second maching device, by means of a database, wherein each of the first and the second maching device are according to the machining device of claim 1; at least one processor configured to process the received device-related data; and at least one memory for storing the prepared device-related data.

8. A system for sharing device-related data by means of remote data transmission, of machining devices for machining of workpieces, comprising: a main computer for creating and providing a database in which the device-related data can be managed; a first workstation of a first machining device which can be connected to the main computer via a data communication link; and a second workstation of a second machining device which can be connected to the main computer via a data communication link, wherein each of the first and the second maching device are according to the machining device of claim 1, device-related data being able to be stored in the database of the main computer by at least one of the two workstations and thereby being able to be made available for the other of the two workstations.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the main computer is a web server which was a World Wide Web address and creates an internet connectivity for the transmission of device-related data between the workstations.

10. The system according to claim 8, the machining-specific parameters comprising at least one of the following parameters: type of workpiece, material to be processed, tool type, tool material, method parameters such as, for example, feed rate, rotational speed, cutting speed, cutting force, temperature, material amount, excipients and the like, surface quality, quality, tool life.

11. The system according to claim 8, the respective workstations having a unique means of identification compared to the main computer, via which the main computer can uniquely assign device-specific data received from the respective workstation.

12. The system according to claim 8, the device-related data stored by one of the workstations in the database being made anonymously available to the other of the two workstations.

13. The system according to claim 8, the device-related data stored in the database being not made directly available to the other workstation, but rather being provided in the form of average values or interpolated values.

14. The system according to claim 8, the respective workstations transmitting the device-specific data to the main computer automatically and/or at the instruction of an operator of the corresponding machining device.

15. The system according to claim 8, the workstation determining, based on device measurement values such as, for example, drive load, vibrations at the tool and/or at the device, feed speed and the like, which are detected by the machining device, whether the workpiece machining carried out is a stable machining or not, and accordingly transmitting the detected machining-specific parameters to the main computer or not.

16. The system according to claim 8, the database provided by the main computer being searchable on the basis of the following categories: tool type, tool number, product data such as, for example, material, workpiece dimensions, strength, device type, manufacturer and the like.

17. The system according to claim 8, data sets stored in the database being able to assessed with regard to their integrity.

18. The system according to claim 8, data sets being able to be linked with one another in the database in order to be able to thereby store different alternative proposals.

19. The system according to claim 8, an automatic transmission of the device-related data, to the main computer only then taking place if vibration values at the machining device are below a preset threshold value.

20. A method for sharing device-related data by means of remote data transmission, of machining devices for machining workpieces by means of the system according to claim 8, the method comprising: creating a database in which the device related-data can be managed; storing device-related data of a first machining device in the database; and making available to at least one further machining device, the device-related data stored by the first machining device in the database.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein a transmission of the device-specific data between a web server and at least two machining devices occurs via a remote data transmission.

22. Use of a system for sharing device-related data by means of remote data transmission according to claim 18 in order to make available to a user of a first machining device, machining-specific parameters of a second machining device.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0039] FIG. 1 schematically shows the structure of a system for sharing device-related data by means of remote data transmission according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0040] In the following, preferred embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawing. Further variants and modifications of individual features cited in this context can each be combined with one another in order to form new embodiments.

[0041] FIG. 1 shows schematically the structure of a system 1 for sharing or exchanging device-related data by means of remote data transmission according to an embodiment of the present invention. As can be further seen from Fig., according to one embodiment of the present invention, the system 1 has a main computer 15 which is also called Host and at least two workstations 20, 25, which are also called Client. The shown embodiment example relates to two workstations 20, 25, two different machining devices 30, 35, and a tablet (Client III). The main computer 15 provides a database 10 in which the device-related data of the individual machining devices 30, 35 can be stored and managed. In order to be able to store the device-related data in the database, the two workstations 20, 25 are connected to the main computer 15 via data communication connections, with the data exchange preferably being encrypted. The main computer 15 is used to create a cloud which the individual clients can access via remote data transmission (RDT) and thereby share or exchange their device-related data in a cloud-based manner. If an operator or a workstation of one of the two machining devices 30, 35 then wishes to store device-related data in the database 10, the desired data is transmitted via the data communication connection to the main computer 15 (Cloud) which receives the transmitted data, verifies it and, if necessary, prepares it so that it can be stored in the database 10. The main computer 15 then stores the data in the database 10 and releases the stored data. It is thereby possible that, for example, the workstation 20 of the machining device 30 stores device-specific data in the database 15 and it is consequently made accessible to the operator or workstation 25 of the machining device 35.

[0042] In this respect, it is also possible to use other devices such as desktop PCs, mobile devices, laptops, tablets, smartphones, etc. to visualize the data stored in database 10.

[0043] As can be further seen from FIG. 1, according to the shown embodiment, only the main computer 15 has direct access to the database 10, the individual workstations 20, 25, or Clients must always go through the main computer 15. This prevents inadvertently storing incorrect data in the database 10 or, in the worst case, it is damaged. In this way there is also the possibility that the data transmitted by the individual work computers 20, 25 can be processed. Thus, it is possible, for example, that the main computer 15 checks the transmitted data to see whether similar data is already stored in the database 10, and if so, compares them with one another. Such a type of data comparison makes it possible to improve the integrity of the provided data. In this context, it is also possible for the main computer 15 to define certain tolerance ranges within which threshold values are considered equal. Such a type of tolerance range makes it possible to reduce the plurality of stored data sets while increasing integrity at the same time. In detail, this means that if, for example, two different operators have performed two identical machining operations, with almost identical machining-specific parameters, and, for example, only the rotational speeds differ from one another by 10%, the data sets are evaluated as being identical and are stored as only one data set, optionally as an averaged data set. Since in this case a data set was stored by two different operators, it is more likely that the data is reliable, which improves integrity.

[0044] On the other hand, if an operator is faced with the problem that he has to machine a new type of material that he has not yet machined on his machining device 30, 35, he can search the database 10 for suggestions for optimum setting values before starting the first test runs. If the operator finds what he is looking for in the database 10, he can use the suggested values for a first test attempt and, if necessary, further refine or improve the settings. The operator then has the possibility of optionally saving his improved setting values or machining-specific data in the database 10 as an alternative suggestion. If a third operator is confronted with a similar problem, he can refer back to two suggestions and, if used successfully, evaluate one or both suggestions, further improving the integrity of the suggestions over time.

[0045] Since it is possibly too time-consuming for the individual operators of the machining devices 30, 35 to input the respective machining-specific parameters into a mask for transmitting the data to the main computer 15, there is also the possibility of automatically transmitting the data to the main computer 15. In this case, it is also further possible that the workstation 20, 25 of the machining device 30, 35 makes a preselection in order to reduce or optimize the amount of data to be managed by the main computer 15. Here, for example, it is possible that the workstation 20, 25 only transmits machining-specific values to the main computer 15 which are reproducible, i.e. which have already been determined several times. Since in such cases it can be assumed that this is not a test, but rather a stable manufacturing process. With regard to the evaluation of the available machining-specific data, it is also possible to access measurement values at the machining device 30, 35, such as vibrations at the tool and/or at the device, drive load and the like. For example, automatic transmission of the data to the main computer 15 can be dispensed with if the vibration values at the machining device 30, 35 are above a certain threshold value.