Tool wear monitoring system

A method of monitoring a manufacturing machine having a plurality of associated tools, the manufacturing machine engaged in producing machined parts at a substantially constant rate, the method comprising:

• storing a tool life parameter value for each of the plurality of associated tools representing an expected number of machined parts to be produced by each of the plurality of associated tools;
• detecting machine cycles of said manufacturing machine as a cycle count, each machine cycle corresponding to production of at least one machined part;
• calculating a machine operating rate of the manufacturing machine based on the cycle count;
• and,
• determining a remaining time for tool replacement based on the cycle count, the machine operating rate, and said tool life parameter value.

A monitoring apparatus for monitoring an associated manufacturing machine having a plurality of tools and being engaged in repetitive machining of an associated part, the machining of the associated part relating to a machine cycle of said associated manufacturing machine, the monitoring apparatus comprising:

• a machine cycle detector device adapted to detect an occurrence of a machine cycle;
• a counter in operative communication with the machine cycle detector device and adapted to count said machine cycles;
• a machine speed processor operatively associated with the counter and adapted to estimate a rate of said machine cycles;
• a data storage device storing a maintenance schedule associating each of the plurality of tools with a number of machine cycles of useful life of the tool before recommended replacement;
• a tools processor operatively associated with the counter, the machine speed processor, and the data storage device, the tools processor estimating, for each of said plurality of tools, a remaining operating time before scheduled replacement;
• a machine viability processor operatively associated with the tools processor, the machine viability processor estimating a remaining operating time for the machine before scheduled replacement of a first tool among said plurality of tools having a smallest estimated remaining operating time;
• and,
• a signal generating device operatively associated with the machine viability processor for generating a signal representative of said remaining operating time for the machine.

A monitoring apparatus for monitoring a set of associated manufacturing machines each having a plurality of tools, the set of machines being engaged in repetitive machining of a part, the machining of a part relating to a machine cycle, the monitoring apparatus comprising:

• an input device adapted to detect occurrence of a machine cycle;
• a counter in operative communication with the input device for counting machine cycles;
• a machine speed processor operatively associated with the counter for estimating a temporal rate of machine cycle occurrences;
• a data storage device for storing a maintenance schedule indicating a number of machine cycles between recommended replacement for each of said tools;
• a tools processor operatively associated with the counter, the machine speed processor, and the data storage device, the tools processor estimating a remaining operating time for each tool before scheduled replacement;
• a machine viability processor operatively associated with the tools processor, the machine viability processor estimating remaining operating times for the machine before scheduled replacement of each of said tools;
• and,
• a display device operatively associated with the machine viability processor for displaying selected remaining operating times.

A monitor for monitoring a manufacturing machine including a plurality of tools, the monitor comprising:

• a means for detecting machine cycles of said manufacturing machine;
• a means, communicating with the detecting means, for determining a machine cycling rate;
• and,
• a means for projecting tool change times for each of said plurality of tools based on the machine cycling rate and pre-selected tool cycle lifetime values.