US 6,233,538 B1 · Apparatus and method for multi-purpose setup planning for sheet metal bending operations

Abstract

A setup planning technique is provided in which a family of parts to be manufactured is identified, and the setup constraints imposed by the various bending operations in the part family are determined. The setup constraints may define or describe spatial constraints on the sizes and locations of various tooling stages in the setup. After identifying setup constraints, setup plans are generated that satisfy all setup constraints. Any setup plan that satisfies all setup constraints may then be utilized to accommodate every part in the part family. Constraint propagation techniques may be utilized to identify compatible setup constraints and create setup plans. According to the various features and aspects of the invention, dissimilar sheet metal parts can share setups, and the need for extra tooling and fixturing may be minimized. Further, the present invention provides potential savings over state-of-the-art systems, and increases production capability and overall through-put of manufacturing facilities.

Claims38

Dependent claims

A method for multi-part setup planning for operations to be performed by a bending workstation on a plurality of sheet metal parts in accordance with a composite setup plan, said method comprising:

identifying setup constraints for operations to be performed on each of said plurality of parts;
determining, in accordance with the setup constraints that are identified, operations to be performed on said parts that have compatible setup constraints;
and
assigning operations that are determined to have compatible constraints to corresponding tooling stages of the bending workstation to develop a composite setup plan for said plurality of parts;
wherein each of the setup constraints comprises a set of setup constraint parameters, said setup constraint parameters defining setup constraints relating to the positioning of the parts in the workstation to perform said operations;
and
wherein said setup constraint parameters for each part comprise:
a gap length “Gr” on a right side of a bend position of the part, which denotes the distance by which a tooling stage can be extended towards the right side of the bend position;
a gap length “GI” on a left side of the bend position of the part, which denotes the distance by which a tooling stage can be extended towards the left side of the bend;
an obstruction length “Or” on the right side of the bend position, which denotes a space in which no tooling is allowed on the right side of the bend position;
an obstruction length “Ol” on the left side of the bend position;
which denotes a space in which no tooling is allowed on the left side of the bend position;
a safety distance “Sr” on the right side of the bend position, which denotes a minimum distance between the bend position and a next tooling stage towards the right side of the bend position;
and a safety distance “Sl” on the left side of the bend position, which denotes a minimum distance between the bend position and a next tooling stage towards the left side of the bend position.

11 more elements

A multi-part setup planning system for generating a composite setup plan for operations to be performed by a bending workstation on a plurality of sheet metal parts, said system comprising:

means for identifying setup constraints for operations to be performed on each of said plurality of parts;
means for determining, in accordance with the setup constraints that are identified by said identifying means, operations to be performed on said parts that have compatible setup constraints;
and
means for assigning operations that are determined to have compatible constraints to corresponding tooling stages of the bending workstation to thereby develop a composite setup plan for said plurality of parts;
wherein each of the setup constraints comprise a set of setup constraint parameters, said setup constraint parameters defining setup constraints relating to the positioning of the parts in the workstation to perform said operations;
and
wherein said setup constraint parameters for each part comprise:
a gap length “Gr” on a right side of a bend position of the part, which denotes the distance by which a tooling stage can be extended towards the right side of the bend position;
a gap length “Gl” on a left side of the bend position of the part, which denotes the distance by which a tooling stage can be extended towards the left side of the bend;
an obstruction length “Or” on the right side of the bend position, which denotes a space in which no tooling is allowed on the right side of the bend position;
an obstruction length “Ol” on the left side of the bend position;
which denotes a space in which no tooling is allowed on the left side of the bend position;
a safety distance “Sr” on the right side of the bend position, which denotes a minimum distance between the bend position and a next tooling stage towards the right side of the bend position;
and a safety distance “Si” on the left side of the bend position, which denotes a minimum distance between the bend position and a next tooling stage towards the left side of the bend position.

11 more elements

A method for setup planning for operations to be performed by a workstation in accordance with a shared setup plan, said method comprising:

defining a family of parts;
identifying setup constraints imposed by operations to be performed on each part of said family of parts;
and
generating a shared setup plan that satisfies all of the setup constraints that are identified for said family of parts;
said generating comprises:
determining, in accordance with the setup constraints that are identified, operations to be performed on said parts that have compatible setup constraints;
and
assigning operations that are determined to have compatible constraints to corresponding tooling stages of the workstation to develop the shared setup plan for said family of parts;
wherein said determining includes identifying a set of said operations that have compatible setup constraints by locating tooling stages that can accommodate each operation within said set of operations;
wherein each of the setup constraints comprises a set of setup constraint parameters, said setup constraint parameters defining setup constraints relating to the positioning of each part in the workstation to perform said operations;
and
said setup constraint parameters for each part comprise:
a gap length “Gr” on a right side of a bend position of the part, which denotes the distance by which a tooling stage can be extended towards the right side of the bend position;
a gap length “Gl” on a left side of the bend position of the part, which denotes the distance by which a tooling stage can be extended towards the left side of the bend;
an obstruction length “Or” on the right side of the bend position, which denotes a space in which no tooling is allowed on the right side of the bend position;
an obstruction length “Ol” on the left side of the bend position;
which denotes a space in which no tooling is allowed on the left side of the bend position;
a safety distance “Sr” on the right side of the bend position, which denotes a minimum distance between the bend position and a next tooling stage towards the right side of the bend position;
and a safety distance “Sl” on the left side of the bend position, which denotes a minimum distance between the bend position and a next tooling stage towards the left side of the bend position.

16 more elements

A setup planning system for generating a shared setup plan for operations to be performed by a workstation, said system comprising:

means for defining a family of parts;
means for identifying setup constraints imposed by operations to be performed on each part of said family of parts;
and
means for generating a shared setup plan that satisfies all of the setup constraints that are identified for said family of parts;
wherein said generating means comprises:
means for determining, in accordance with the setup constraints that are identified, operations to be performed on said parts that have compatible setup constraints;
and
means for assigning operations that are determined to have compatible constraints to corresponding tooling stages of the workstation to develop the shared setup plan for said family of parts;
wherein said determining means includes means for identifying a set of said operations that have compatible setup constraints by locating tooling stages that can accommodate each operation within said set of operations;
wherein each of the setup constraints comprises a set of setup constraint parameters, said setup constraint parameters defining setup constraints relating to the positioning of each part in the workstation to perform said operations;
and
wherein said setup constraint parameters for each part comprise:
a gap length “Gr” on a right side of a bend position of the part, which denotes the distance by which a tooling stage can be extended towards the right side of the bend position;
a gap length “Gl” on a left side of the bend position of the part, which denotes the distance by which a tooling stage can be extended towards the left side of the bend;
an obstruction length “Or” on the right side of the bend position, which denotes a space in which no tooling is allowed on the right side of the bend position;
an obstruction length “Ol” on the left side of the bend position;
which denotes a space in which no tooling is allowed on the left side of the bend position;
a safety distance “Sr” on the right side of the bend position, which denotes a minimum distance between the bend position and a next tooling stage towards the right side of the bend position;
and a safety distance “Si” on the left side of the bend position, which denotes a minimum distance between the bend position and a next tooling stage towards the left side of the bend position.

16 more elements

A method for multi-part setup planning for bending operations to be performed by a workstation on a plurality of sheet metal parts in accordance with a composite setup plan, said method comprising:

defining a list O of operations to be performed on said plurality of parts;
and
repeating the following until said list O is empty;
determining the most constraining operation o in said list O;
identifying a set of operations c(o) in said list O which have compatible constraints with said most constraining operation o;
defining a set of stages for the composite setup plan that satisfies the constraints for said most constraining operation o and said set of operations c(o);
assigning said most constraining operation o and said set of operations c(o) to the set of stages of the composite setup plan;
and
removing said most constraining operation o and said set of operations c(o) from said list O.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Apparatus and method for multi-purpose setup planning for sheet metal bending operations

Life of this patent

Apparatus and method for multi-purpose setup planning for sheet metal bending operations

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims38