Device and method for optimising the process time of a production machine
AssigneeKIEFEL GmbH
InventorsChristian Lang, Michael Schörghofer, Peter Knoll, Andreas Ainz, Horst Hradetz
Life of this patent
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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.
Claims15
A production machine comprising one or more stations, each comprising a plurality of machine components, and a machine controller for controlling the production machine comprising a control program with a visualization unit, wherein the control program is designed to display the stations and/or the machine components of a station as a flow chart on the visualization unit and to highlight a speed-determining station and/or a speed-determining machine component,
- wherein
- the visualization unit is set up as an interactive user interface;
- the control program 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, a new flow chart based thereon;
- and
- the highlighting of the speed-determining station and/or the speed-determining machine component is effected by one or more of the following visualization types:
- (i) a line perpendicular to a t-axis of the flow chart, which touches a bar of the speed-determining station or the speed-determining machine component at a t-value at which the bar of the station or the machine component ends in the flow chart;
- or
- (ii) (ii) visual highlighting of links already present in the flow chart, wherein the links include a pointer linking an end of a first speed determining process step to a start of a second process step and defining a release;
- wherein process time for the production machine is optimized based on the highlighting of the speed-determining station and/or the speed-determining machine component.
Method of optimizing the process time for a production machine comprising a plurality of stations and/or machine components and a machine controller for controlling the production machine comprising a control program with an interactive user interface designed as a visualization unit, comprising the following steps:
- (A) Visualizing at least one station and/or machine component as a flow chart including highlighting of speed-determining station and/or a speed-determining machine component with indication of time phases and providing corresponding switch panels for inputting time values with regard to the respectively visualized station or machine component into the control program;
- (B) Input of one or more time values into the switch panels and release by the user for transmission to the control program;
- (C) Calculating the production program in its time sequence based on the time value(s) entered via the switch panels in step (B);
- wherein the control program 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,
- a new flow chart based thereon;
- and the highlighting of the speed-determining station and/or the speed-determining machine component is effected by one or more of the following visualization types:
- (i) a line perpendicular to a t-axis of the flow chart, which touches a bar of the speed-determining station or the speed-determining machine component at a t-value at which the bar of the station or the machine component ends in the flow chart;
- or
- (ii) visual highlighting of links already present in the flow chart, wherein the links include a pointer linking an end of a first speed determining process step to a start of a second process step and defining a release;
- wherein process time for the production machine is optimized based on the highlighting of the speed-determining station and/or the speed-determining machine component.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.