DEVICE AND METHOD FOR OPTIMISING THE PROCESS TIME OF A PRODUCTION MACHINE

Abstract

The invention relates to a production machine with a control program for visualizing stations and/or machine components, highlighting the speed-determining station and/or the speed-determining machine component in order to optimize the process time. The invention also relates to a method of optimizing the process time for a production machine with such a control program and to a data carrier with such a control program.

Claims

1. A production machine (1) comprising one or more stations (2), each comprising a plurality of machine components (3), and a machine controller (4) for controlling the production machine (1) comprising a control program (5) with a visualization unit (6), wherein the control program (5) is designed to display the stations (2) and/or the machine components (3) of a station as a flow chart (7) on the visualization unit (6) and to highlight the speed-determining station (8) and/or the speed-determining machine component (9).

2. The production machine (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the highlighting of the speed-determining station (8) and/or the speed-determining machine component (9) is effected by one or more of the following visualization types: (i) a line (10) perpendicular to the t-axis of the flow chart, which touches the bar of the speed-determining station or this machine component at the t-value at which the process bar of this station or this machine component ends in the flow chart; (ii) visual highlighting of links already present in the flow chart, such as a pointer (11) linking the end of a first speed-determining process step to the start of a second process step and defining a release; (iii) a numerical indication of the delay time; (iv) a presentation of the name of the speed-determining station or speed-determining machine component in a signal color such as yellow, orange or red, (v) associating the speed-determining station (8) or speed-determining step (9) with a graphic symbol such as a dial with hands.

3. The production machine (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the control program (5) is additionally adapted to display on the visualization unit (6) the time phases (12) of the process sequences carried out by the machine component (3), preferably by means of a line-by-line arrangement of the machine components with the time axis as the horizontal axis and a presentation of the time phases (12) as visually distinguishable sections of a time beam in the line of the respective machine component.

4. The production machine (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that the time phases (12) are assigned to a specific time phase type which is preferably selected from the group comprising active time, delay time, travel time and derivative time.

5. The production machine (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the visualization unit (6) is set up as an interactive user interface, an embodiment as a touchscreen being preferred.

6. The production machine (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that the control program (5) is additionally adapted to provide a user aid on the visualization unit (6) which can preferably be opened by touching/clicking on the visual highlights of the speed-determining station (8) or the speed-determining machine component (9) and the user aid particularly preferably contains suggestions for optimizing the timing of the process.

7. The production machine (1) according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the control program (5) is additionally adapted to display on the visualization unit (6) switch panels (13) for inputting time values for the time phases of the process sequences carried out by the machine component, preferably one or more of the following visualization types being provided: the switch panels are displayed in a separate window, the switch panels of a machine component are arranged in the corresponding line of the machine component, the sequence of the switch panels within a line corresponds to the sequence of the time phases of the machine component which can be controlled thereby, the switch panels are grouped by time phase type in columns, the switch panels are represented in the same colors as the time phase types of the flow chart, the switch panels are each provided with or linked to an indication of the respective time unit such as seconds, minutes or hours, the switch panels are each provided with or linked to a time value suggested by the control program, the switch panels are provided with or linked to a limit value for the smallest possible time value, the switch panels are each provided with or linked to a range of possible time values, for the speed-determining machine component, the switch panel(s) is/are visually highlighted whose time value must preferably be shortened for a time reduction of the machine component sequence, the switch panels are each provided with or linked to different optimization strategies which, for example, propose a maximum time reduction, a medium time reduction or a slight time reduction as alternatives and enable automatic recalculation of the program after selection of an optimization strategy even without precise user input of values.

8. The production machine (1) according to claims 5 to 7, characterized in that the control program (5) is additionally designed to display, after one or more new time values have been entered and accepted into the control program on the visualization unit (6), a new flow chart (7) based thereon.

9. The production machine (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control program (5) provides a separate visualization page (15) on the visualization unit (6) for each visualized station (2), suitable switch panels (16) being provided for switching between individual station visualization pages (15).

10. The production machine (1) according to any one of claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the control program (5) is adapted such that the recalculation of the production program and the visualization of the speed-determining station (8) and/or the speed-determining machine components (9) can be carried out based on input of new time values into the respective switch panels (13) without real operation of the production machine (1).

11. Method (100) of optimizing the process time for a production machine (1) comprising a plurality of stations (2) and/or machine components (2) and a machine controller (4) for controlling the production machine (1) comprising a control program (5) with an interactive user interface designed as a visualization unit (6), preferably a touchscreen, comprising the following steps: (A) Visualizing (110) at least one, preferably all, stations (2) and/or machine components (3) as a flow chart (7) including highlighting of the speed-determining station (8) and/or speed-determining machine component (9) with indication of the time phases (12) and providing corresponding switch panels (13) for inputting time values with regard to the respectively visualized station (2) or machine component (3) into the control program (5); (B) Input of one or more time values into the switch panels (13) and release by the user for transmission to the control program (5); (C) Calculating (120) the production program in its time sequence based on the time value(s) entered via the switch panels (13) in step (B); (D) optionally repeating the visualization according to step (A) based on the recalculated production program according to step (C), preferably iterating until a maximally shortened process time is reached.

12. Method (100) according to claim 11, characterized in that the highlighting of the speed-determining station (8) and/or the speed-determining machine component (9) is effected by one or more of the following visualization types: (i) a line (10) perpendicular to the t-axis of the flow chart, which touches the bar of the speed-determining station or this machine component at the t-value at which the process bar of this station or this machine component ends in the flow chart; (ii) visual highlighting of links already present in the flow chart, such as a pointer (11) linking the end of a first speed-determining process step to the start of a second process step and defining a release; (iii) a numerical indication of the delay time; (iv) a presentation of the name of the speed-determining station (8) or speed-determining machine component (9) in a signal color such as yellow, orange or red; (v) association of the speed-determining station (8) or the speed-determining machine component (9) with a graphic symbol, such as a dial with hands.

13. Method (100) according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that the control program (5) is additionally adapted to display on the visualization unit (6) the time phases (12) of the process sequences carried out by the machine component (3), preferably by a line-by-line arrangement of the machine components (3) with the time axis as the horizontal axis and a presentation of the time phases (12) as visually distinguishable sections of a time beam in the line of the respective machine component (3).

14. Method (100) according to claim 13, characterized in that the time phases (12) are assigned to a specific time phase type which is preferably selected from the group comprising active time, delay time, travel time and derivative time.

15. Method (100) according to one of the claims 11 to 14, characterized in that the control program (5) is additionally adapted to provide a user aid (14) on the visualization unit (6), which user aid can preferably be opened by touching/clicking on the visual highlights of the speed-determining station or of this machine component, and in that the user aid particularly preferably contains suggestions for optimizing the timing of the process.

16. Method (100) according to any one of claims 11 to 15, characterized in that the control program (5) is additionally adapted to display on the visualization unit (6) switch panels (13) for entering time values for the time phases (12) of the process sequences executed by the machine component (3), preferably one or more of the following visualization types being provided: the switch panels (13) are displayed in a separate window, the switch panels (13) of a machine component are arranged in the corresponding line of the machine component, the sequence of the switch panels (13) within one line corresponds to the sequence of the time phases of the machine component which can be controlled thereby, the switch panels (13) are grouped in columns according to time phase types, the switch panels (13) are presented in the same colors as the time phase types of the flow chart, the switch panels (13) are each provided with or linked to an indication of the respective time unit such as seconds, minutes or hours, the switch panels (13) are each provided with or linked to a time value suggested by the control program, the switch panels (13) are provided with or linked to a limit value for the smallest possible time value, the switch panels (13) are each provided with or linked to a range for possible time values, for the speed-determining machine component (9), the switch panel(s) (13) is or are visually highlighted whose time value must preferably be shortened for a time reduction of the machine component sequence; the switch panels are each provided with or linked to different optimization strategies which, for example, propose a maximum time reduction, an average time reduction or a slight time reduction as alternatives and enable automatic recalculation of the program after selection of an optimization strategy even without precise input of values by the user.

17. Method (100) according to any one of claims 11 to 16, characterized in that the control program (5) is additionally designed to display, after input of one or more new time values and transfer to the control program (5), a new flow chart (7) based thereon on the visualization unit (6).

18. Method (100) according to one of claims 11 to 17, characterized in that the control program (5) provides a separate visualization page (15) on the visualization unit (6) for each visualized station (2), wherein suitable buttons (16) are provided for switching between individual station visualization pages (15).

19. Method (100) according to one of claims 11 to 18, characterized in that the recalculation of the production program and the visualization of the speed-determining station (8) and/or the speed-determining machine component (9) based on input of new time values into the respective switch panels (13) can be performed without real operation of the production machine (1).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0072] In addition, further features, effects and advantages of the present invention are explained with reference to the accompanying drawing and the following specification. Components in the individual figures which at least essentially correspond in terms of their functions are marked here with the same reference numbers, where the components do not have to be numbered and explained in all figures.

[0073] The figures show:

[0074] FIG. 1 a schematic presentation of the production machine according to the invention;

[0075] FIG. 2 an embodiment of the visualization of a station on the visualization unit with a highlighted speed-determining station according to the present invention;

[0076] FIG. 3 an embodiment of the visualization of the machine components of a station on the visualization unit with a highlighted speed-determining machine component according to the present invention;

[0077] FIG. 4 an embodiment according to the present invention as shown in FIG. 3 with additionally displayed switch panels for the input of time values;

[0078] FIG. 5 an embodiment of the process according to the present invention in its presentation as a schematic flow chart.

EXAMPLES OF EMBODIMENT

[0079] FIG. 1 shows a schematic presentation of the production machine 1 for plastics processing according to the invention, which comprises several stations 2 (here five stations such as, for example, a preheating station, a heating station, a molding station, a cutting station and a stacking station of a thermoforming machine for deep-drawing moldings from a heated plastic film web) and a machine controller 4 for controlling the plastics processing machine 1. The machine controller 4 comprises a control program 5 with a visualization unit 6, which is designed here as a touchscreen, wherein the control program 5 is designed to visualize on the visualization unit 6 at least one, preferably all, of the stations 2 (and/or machine components 3 not shown here) in their functions during production in a respective presentation for each of these machine components and to provide corresponding switch panels 13 for the input of time values in relation to the respectively visualized machine component 3. For details of the visualization unit 6, please refer to FIGS. 2 to 4. The control program 5 can be designed in such a way that the visualization of the stations 2 or machine components 3 in their functions during production and the input of process parameters into the respective switch panels 13 can be carried out without actual operation of the production machine 1. The control program 5 can provide a separate visualization page 15 on the visualization unit 5 for each visualized station 2, where suitable buttons 16 are provided for switching between individual visualization pages 15.

[0080] FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the invention by visualizing the stations 2 (here molding station, punch and stacking) on the visualization unit 6 including highlighting of the stacking station 8 as the speed-determining station. Here, the vertical line 10 additionally indicates where the stacking process ends as a bar in the flow chart and where the feed follows as the next process.

[0081] FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the invention by visualizing the machine components 3 of the stacking station on the visualization unit 6 including highlighting of the ejector as the speed-determining machine component 9. Here it is additionally indicated by the vertical pointer 11 where the process sequence of stacking ends as a bar in the flow chart and thus the release for the start of the feed as the subsequent process takes place.

[0082] FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the invention according to FIG. 3 with additional visualization of the switch panels 13 for entering new time values. The switch panels are arranged in the corresponding line of the associated machine component and show the individual time phases in the same sequence and the same colors typical of the time phases. A grouping according to time phase types takes place here column by column. In the lower right corner of each switch panel the respective time unit “s” (=second) is indicated.

[0083] FIG. 5 shows a flow chart for illustrating the method 100 according to the invention with the initial step 110 as visualization of at least one, preferably all, stations 2 and/or machine components 3 as a flow chart 7 highlighting the speed-determining station 8 and/or speed-determining machine component 9 with indication of the time phases 12 and provision of corresponding switch panels 13 for inputting time values in relation to the respective visualized station 2 or machine component 3 into the control program 5; followed by the step 140 of user input of one or more time values into the switch panels 13 and user release for transmission into the control program 5 with the resulting adaptation of the production program in the step 120 of recalculation of the production program in its time sequence based on the time value(s) input via the switch panels 13 in step 140. Optionally, the method steps 110, 140 and 150 can be executed again here according to 160 for further optimization.

[0084] At this point, it should be explicitly pointed out that features of the solutions described above or in the claims and/or figures can also be combined, if necessary, in order to be able to implement or achieve the explained features, effects and advantages in a correspondingly cumulative manner.

[0085] It is understood that the exemplary embodiment explained above is merely a first embodiment of the present invention. In this respect, the embodiments of the invention are not limited to this example.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS USED

[0086] 1 Production machine, for example a thermoforming machine or a blow molding machine [0087] 2 Station [0088] 3 Machine component [0089] 4 Machine control [0090] 5 Control program [0091] 6 Visualization unit [0092] 7 Flow chart [0093] 8 Highlighted (because speed-determining) station [0094] 9 Highlighted (because speed-determining) machine component [0095] 10 Vertical line for visualizing a link between the speed-determining station (here stacking) and a subsequent process step (here feed) [0096] 11 Vertical pointer for visualizing a release as a speed-determining step of the upper table as a machine component, whereby the pointer points to the subsequent process step released by this (here feed) [0097] 12 Time phases [0098] 13 switch panel (s) [0099] 14 User aid [0100] 15 Separate station visualization page [0101] 16 Button for switching between individual station visualization pages [0102] 100 Method of optimizing the process time of a production machine [0103] 110 Visualization of a flow chart of at least some of the stations with indication of the speed-determining stations and speed-determining machine components together with visualization of switch panels for the input of changed time values [0104] 140 User input of one or more time values in the switch panel together with a command for transfer to the control program [0105] 150 Adjustment of the production program on the basis of the varied time values [0106] 160 Renewed (optionally automated) execution of the method steps for further optimization of the process time