Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention relates to a method of and a
system for identifying articles to be worked on a production
line and, more par.ticularly, to a method of and a system
suitable for use in a production line which handles a
variety of kinds of articles to be workedO In the following
description, the articles will be refer to as works.
It is a current practice to produce different
kinds of products from different works by utilizing a single
production line. In this type of production line, a
plurality of works of differen-t kinds are successively
conveyed for different kinds of machining or processing, so
that it is necessary to discriminate or identify the type of
each of the successively conveyed works, i..e., -to identify
the kinds and specifications of the works, in order that the
works may be correctly subjected to the respective
disignated processings such as attaching of parts by, for
example, a robot, welding and coating.
Hither-to, several methods have been proposed for
enabling the identification of works, such as discrimina-tion
of the shapes of the works by means of a photoelectric tube,
judging of the work specifications through sensing the
position of cards on respective works by means of a
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photoelectric tube, and so forth. Vnfortunately, however,
these known methods can provide only a few items of
information, and there is an increasing demand for a me-thod
~hich can provide greater amount of information. To cope
with this demand, it has been proposed to use a card for
each work, the card carrying various data concerning -the
type and specification of the work. When identifying the
works, i.e~, for detecting the -types and specifications of
the works, the information carried by the card on each work
is read by a card reader.
This method enables the identification of type and
specification fairly well, but still suffers from the
following disadvan-tages. Namely, this method requires the
selec-tion of a card amongst different kinds of cards, so
that correct card may be attached to the corresponding
work. This method also requires preparation of a new card
carrying data concerning any new work each time a new type
of work is used. Thus, the efficiency of production is
lowered due to the necessity for the preparation, selection
and attaching of the cards to the works.
SVMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly , an object of the invention is to provide a
method of and a system for identifying works on a
product~ion line, which is improved in such a way as to
permit identification oE works and, hence, the work
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specifications, simply by attaching any desired different
~ cards or sign means to the works, without requiring the
fabrica-tion and selection of cards corresponding to
. respective works and thereby reducing the number of s-teps in
the process of work identification and, hence, overcoming
. the problems of the known work identification methods and
systems.
According to the present invention, there is
; provided a method o:E identifying successive articles to be
worked on a production line comprising the steps of:
` (a) before successive articles reach an area
where a processing or machining is performed thereon, storing
data concerning types and specifications of the successive
arti.cles in a first memory means, said data including kinds
of the processing or machining to be performed on respective
articles, in accordance with commands memorized in said
first memory means, while attaching to said articles
different cards having signs peculiar to each of said cards,
followed by re-storing the data from said memory means to a
second memory means; and
(b) when the articles have been brought to said
area for said processing or machining, reading the signs
peculiar to each of said cards attached to said articles,
transmitting data responsive to said signs to said second
: 25 memory means, and identifying said types and specifications
of said articles by means of said second memory means which
processes said re-stored data in view of said data
responsive to said signs.
According to the present invention there is also
:~ 30 provided a method of identifying successive articles to be
worked on a production line comprising the steps of:
(a) before successive articles reach areas where
processings or machinings are perEormed thereon, storing
data concerning the types and specifications of the
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successive articles in a first memory means, said data
including kinds of -the processings or machinings to be
performed on respective articlesain accordance commands
memorized in said first memory means, while attaching to
said articles different cards having signs peculiar to each
oE said cards,followed by re-storing the data from said firstmemory
means to a second memory means; and
(b) when the articles have been brought to areas
for respective processings or machinings, reading the signs
peculiar to each of said cards attached to said articles,
transmitting data responsive to said signs to said second
memory means,and identifying the types and specifications of
respective articles, by means of said second memory means
which processes said re-stored data in view of said data
responsive to said signs.
According to the present invention, there is also
provided a system for identifying successive articles to be
worked on a production line, comprising:
(a) a first memory means for storing data
concerning types and specifications of the successive
articles in accordance with commands memorized in said first
memory means before said articles are brought to an area
where processing or machining is performed on said articles;
(b) different sign means having signs peculiar to
~: 25 each of said sign means and adapted to be attached to the
successive articles before said articles reach said area;
(c) a second memory means for re-storing said
data concerning types and specifications of successive
articles from said first memory means;
30(d) reading means for reading the signs on said
sign means when said articles are brought to said area, and
(e) an identifying means for identifying the
specifications in said area from the signs pecuLiar to each
of said sign means read by said reading means in view of
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said data re-stored in said second memory means.
According to -the present invention, there is also
provided a system for identifying successive articlesto be
worked on a production line, comprising:
(a) a first memory means for storing data
concerning types and specifications of the successive
articles in accordance with commands memori~ed in said first
memory means before said articles are brought to areas where
processings or machinings are performed on said articles~
(b) different sign means having signs peculiar to
~ each of said sign means and adapted to be attached to the
i successive articles before said articles reach said areas;
(c) a second memory means for re-storing said
data concerning types and specifications of successive
articles from said first memory means;
(d) reading means for reading the signs on said
sign means when said articles are brought to said areas; and
(e) an identifying means for identifying the
specifications in said areas from the signs peculiar to each
of said sign means read by said reading means.
The work identification method and system of the
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invention provides, besides the advantages explained above,
arl additional advantage in that, in the event that a
defective work is found and removed during the convey, the
subsequent work is identified without fail by means of the
signs peculiar to -the card or sign means a-ttached to this work.
Other objects, features and advantages of the
invention will become clear from the following description
of the preferredembodiments when the same is read in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is an illustration of a production line to
which an embodiment of the invention is applied; and
Fig. 2 is a flow chart explaining the method of the
invention for identifying works.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS:
Referring to Fiy. 1, a transportation conveyor 22 is
disposed through a plurality of areas such as areas 10, 12
for attaching cards to successive works, areas 14, 16 for
processing by robots, and areas 1~, 20 for processing by
automatic processing machines. A plurality of cards 24 are
placed in the area 12. The cards 24 carry marks or signs
peculiar thereto, such as serial Nos., different symbols
and pat-terns.
Card readers 26, 32 and 34 are disposed in the areas
12, 16 and 18, whereas TV cameras 28, 30 are disposed in
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the areas 14, 20. Industrial robots 36, 38 are installed
in the areas 14, 16, whereas automatic processing machines
40, 42 are placed in the areas 18, 20.
The output from the card reader 26 is transmitted to a
line computer 46 through a relay station 44, while the
outputs from the TV camera 28 and the card reader 32 are
transmitted to the line computer 46 through a relay station
48. The outputs from the card reader 34 and -the TV camera
30 are transmitted to the line computer 46 through a relay
station 50.
A host computer 52 stores all the information
concerning the types and specifications of the works 54
which are conveyed by the conveyor 22. The data is stored
in accordance with the order of the works on the conveyor.
The thus stored data is transmitted to the line computer
46. Upon receipt of the data from the host computer 52
and the information derived from the relay stations 44, 48
and 50, the line computer identifies the type and, hence,
the specification of each of the works 54 which are
successively conveyed by the conveyor, and delivers to the
robots 36, 38 and the automatic machines 40, 42 various
processing information concerning the processing which is
to be performed on each work.
The operation will be explained hereinunder with
reference to Fig. 2.
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In a first step (STEP 100), the data concerning types
and specifications of works 54 which are to be processed
during one particular day is stored in the host computer 52
in accordance with the order of processing of the
successive works~ The works are then conveyed in
accordance with the above-mentioned order by the conveyor.
When a work 54 arrives at the area 12 (STEP 102), the host
computer 52 delivers the processing information concerning
this work 54 to the line computer 46 (STEP 104). At the
same time, any desired card 24a selected from a group 24 of
cards is selected and inserted into the card reader 26
(STEP 106). The card reader 26 reads the sign peculiar to
the card 24a, e.g., serial No. or a mark, and deiivers a
signal representing the sign to the line computer 46
through the relay terminal 44 (STEP 108). The line
computer 46 therefore stores the data concerning the types
and specifications of the successive works 54 arriving at
the area 12, in relation to the signs peculiar to the cards
(STEP 110). Then, the cards 24a are attached to
corresponding works 54, and are conveyed together with the
works to the areas 14, 16, 18, 20 for processing by means
of the conveyor 22~
The works 54 carrying respective cards thus successively
arrive at the processing areas 14, 16, 18 and 20 where the
robots 36, 38 and automatic machines 40, 42 are installed
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(STEP 112), and the signs peculiar to the cards on
successive works 54 are read by TV cameras 28, 30 and
signals corresponding to such signs are transmitted to the
line computer 46 through the relay stations 48, 50 (STEP
114).
When the work 54 has arrived at the areas 16, 18, the
operator extracts the card 24a and inserts the same into
the card reader 32 or 34, so that the card reader reads the
sign peculiar to this card and .the content is transmitted
to the line computer 46 through the relay stations 48, 58
(STEP 116).
As the successive works 54 are conveyed by the
conveyor 22 to the areas 14, 16, 18 and 20, respectively,
the signs peculiar to the cards 24a attached to the works
54 are read by the TV cameras 28, 30 and card readers 32,
34, and the thus read data is transmitted to the line
computer 46. Upon receipt of the data, the line computer
46 identifies the types and specifications of the works on
the basis of the sisns read from the cards 24a (STEP llS).
The identified work types and specifications are then
transmitted to the robots 36~ 38 and the automatic machines
40, 42 through the relay stations 48, 50 (STEP 120), so
that the robots 36, 38 and the automatic machines 40, 42
perform the required processings or machinings on these
works 54 in respective areas (STEP 122).
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As will be understood from the foregoing description,
according to the invention, any desired card selected from
a group of cards each having its peculiar sign is attached
to each of successive works of diferent types conveyed by
a production line for producing different kinds of
products, and the required processings or machinings are
performed in respective processing or machining areas in
accordance with the data based on the signs peculiar to the
cards on respective works. It is, therefore, possible to
eliminate necessity for the troublesome works such as the
preparation of cards for respective types of works and the
selection of the cards. In addition, the risk of error in
the selection and preparation o the cards is obviated,
contributing to a simplification of the work identification
and, hence, to a reduction iA the installation cost.
