PLASTIC INJECTION-MOULDING MACHINE HAVING A DATA MEMORY FOR STORING TEXT INFORMATION AND/OR IMAGE INFORMATION

Abstract

A plastic injection-moulding machine includes an injection unit for processing a plastic mass, and a closing unit having an injection-moulding tool with a cavity, into which plastic mass is injected by the injection unit to produce a moulded part. A machine controller controls the injection unit and the closing unit according to a machine program running on the machine controller. A user interface device communicates with the machine controller and has a screen for displaying text information and/or image information. The machine controller includes a data memory for storing the text information and/or image information in the form of data sets, and a process generator for manually assigning each state parameter of the plastic injection-moulding machine a data set. The process generator automatically writes the data set into the data memory or automatically reads out the data set for display on the screen in accordance with the associated state parameter.

Claims

1.-9. (canceled)

10. A plastic injection-moulding machine, comprising: an injection unit for processing a plastic mass to be moulded; a closing unit including an injection-moulding tool having a cavity, into which the plastic mass processed by the injection unit is injected to produce a moulded part; a machine controller configured to control operation of the injection unit and the closing unit in accordance with a machine program running on the machine controller, said machine controller including a data memory; and a user interface device configured to communicate with the machine controller, said user interface device including a screen for displaying text information and/or image information stored in the data memory of the machine controller in the form of a plurality of data sets, said machine controller including a process generator configured to manually assign each state parameter of the plastic injection-moulding machine a data set, and to automatically write the data set into the data memory, or to automatically read out the data set for display on the screen in accordance with the associated one of the state parameters, said process generator configured for operation in a programming mode for manual assigning a data set to a state parameter of the plastic injection-moulding machine, for operation in a process mode, in which the data set in accordance with the assigned state parameter is automatically written into the data memory or is automatically read out for display on the screen.

11. The plastic injection-moulding machine of claim 10, further comprising a camera configured to capture an image from a region of the plastic injection-moulding machine, said machine controller being configured to automatically record image information of the image and to deposit the image information in the data memory in accordance with a state parameter of the plastic injection-moulding machine

12. The plastic injection-moulding machine of claim 10, wherein the data memory is configured to store image information or further multimedia information, said machine controller being configured, in accordance with a state parameter of the plastic injection-moulding machine, to record, display, or deposit in the data memory the image information or the further multimedia information.

13. The plastic injection-moulding machine of claim 10, wherein the state parameter of the plastic injection-moulding machine is a program command in a sequence of several program commands of the machine program.

14. The plastic injection-moulding machine of claim 10, further comprising a sensor communicating with the machine controller and monitoring at least one process parameter of the plastic injection-moulding machine, wherein the state parameter of the plastic injection-moulding machine is a sensor signal provided by the sensor.

15. The plastic injection-moulding machine of claim 10, wherein the status parameter of the plastic injection-moulding machine is a control signal representing a malfunction at the plastic injection-moulding machine.

16. The plastic injection-moulding machine of claim 15, wherein the machine controller is configured to automatically display images, assigned to a respective malfunction type, in the form of individual images or in the form of image sequences or in the form of a video film on the screen of the user interface device, when the control signal conveyed to the machine controller contains an item of information characterizing the malfunction type.

17. The plastic injection-moulding machine of claim 10, wherein the machine controller is configured for manual inputting and for storing and outputting of indicated text information and/or image information at the plastic injection-moulding machine, with the image information stored in the data memory being assigned to a respective item of text information and/or image information.

18. The plastic injection-moulding machine of claim 10, wherein the user interface device has an input means, said machine controller being configured to record the images and to deposit them as image information in the data memory, when manually actuating the input means.

Description

[0036] The exemplary plastic injection-moulding machine 1 shown in FIG. 1 has a machine frame 2, on which an injection unit 3 and a closing unit 4 are arranged.

[0037] The injection unit 3 serves for processing a plastic mass which is to be moulded. In the case of the present example embodiment, the injection unit 3 has an extruder 5. The extruder 5 is designed to melt, mix and homogenize, if applicable degas, at least one plastic pre-product, such as for example a plastic granulate. For this, or respectively for the feeding of e.g. the plastic granulate, the extruder 5 has a charging hopper 6.

[0038] At a front end of the injection unit 3 or respectively at a front end of the extruder 5, an injection nozzle is arranged, which is not illustrated in further detail and which is coupled to an injection-moulding tool 7. The injection-moulding tool 7 is arranged in a closing unit 8 of the plastic injection-moulding machine 1, which is usually arranged on the machine frame 2 of the plastic injection-moulding machine 1 and has a fixed platen 8.1 and a movable platen 8.2. The injection-moulding tool 7 comprises at least two mould halves 7.1 and 7.2, of which the one mould half 7.1 is secured on the fixed platen 8.1 and the other mould half 7.2 is secured on the movable platen 8.2, such that on an opening of the closing unit 8, i.e. on a moving apart of the fixed platen 8.1 and movable platen 8.2 at least one cavity 9 of the injection-moulding tool 7 is freed.

[0039] The plastic injection-moulding machine 1 has accordingly a plurality of machine parts. Certain machine parts can be movably mounted and moved automatically by means of a motor or drive, in particular a hydraulic or electric motor or respectively hydraulic or electric drive, or moved in a manually controlled manner in a manual driving operation. Thus, the closing unit 4 represents an exemplary machine part which, controlled by a machine controller 10 of the plastic injection-moulding machine 1, in accordance with a machine program running in the machine controller 10, can: be opened or closed automatically or in a manually controlled manner in a manual driving operation for example by means of a user interface device 11 of the plastic injection-moulding machine 1. The injection unit 3 represents another exemplary machine part which, controlled by the machine controller 10 of the plastic injection-moulding machine 1, in accordance with a machine program running in the machine controller 10, can be operated automatically or in a manually controlled manner in a manual driving operation for example by means of the user interface device 11, for example by controlling or regulating the rotation speed of the extruder 5 or by controlling or regulating at least one heating device, not illustrated in further detail, of the injection unit 3.

[0040] The machine controller 10 is arranged to automatically record image information of the images, captured by the at least one camera 15 of the plastic injection-moulding machine 1, from the region of the plastic injection-moulding machine 1 and to deposit it in the data memory 17 in accordance with a state parameter of the plastic injection moulding machine 1.

[0041] As illustrated in particular in FIG. 2, the user interface device 11 communicating with the machine controller 10 in the case of the present example embodiment has a housing 14, a plurality of input means 13.1-13.4 and output means 12, wherein at least one output means 12 is designed as a screen 12.1. The machine controller 10 is designed here for the manual inputting and for the storing and outputting of indicated text information and/or image information 16 at the plastic injection-moulding machine 1, i.e. for the outputting at the output means 12 or respectively on the screen 12.1 of the user interface device 11, wherein the image information, stored in the data memory 17 (FIG. 3) is assigned to a respective indicated item of text information and/or image information 16, 16a, 16b, 16c.

[0042] Accordingly, the machine controller 10, as shown diagrammatically in FIG. 3, has the data memory 17 for the storing of image information or further multimedia information, wherein the machine controller 10 is arranged, in accordance with a state parameter of the plastic injection-moulding machine 1, to record, indicate or deposit in the data memory 17 the image information or respectively the further multimedia information.

[0043] The machine controller 10 has the data memory 17 for storing the text information and/or image information in the form of several data sets, and a process generator 18 which is designed for the manual assigning respectively of a data set to a state parameter P1, P2, P3 of the plastic injection-moulding machine 1, and the process generator 18 is furthermore designed to automatically write into the data memory 17 the respective data set in accordance with the assigned state parameter P1, P2, P3, or to automatically read it out for display on the screen 12.1.

[0044] The process generator 18 is able to be operated in a programming mode for the manual assigning respectively of a data set to a state parameter P1, P2, P3 of the plastic injection-moulding machine 1, and is able to be operated in a process mode, in which the respective data set in accordance with the assigned state parameter P1, P2, P3 is automatically written into the data memory 17 or is automatically read out for display on the screen 12.1.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0045] 1 plastic injection-moulding machine [0046] 2 machine frame [0047] 3 injection unit [0048] 4 closing unit [0049] 5 extruder [0050] 6 charging hopper [0051] 7 injection-moulding tool [0052] 7.1 one mould half [0053] 7.2 other mould half [0054] 8 closing unit [0055] 8.1 fixed platen [0056] 8.2 movable platen [0057] 9 cavity [0058] 10 machine controller [0059] 11 user interface device [0060] 12 output means [0061] 12.1 screen [0062] 13.1-13.4 input means [0063] 14 housing [0064] 15 camera [0065] 16 text information and/or image information [0066] 17 data memory [0067] process generator [0068] P1, P2, P3 state parameter