Automated manufacturing control system
First Claim
1. A method of monitoring and controlling a manufacturing process having a number of stages, each one of said stages involving receipt of input materials or components, at least one processing action, and discharge of output materials or components, the method comprising the steps of:
- (1) providing a manufacturing monitoring and control data system able to identify components to be processed for each of a plurality of said stages for monitoring and controlling, for each of said plurality of stages, applicable ones of;
(a) discharge routing;
(b) inventory management of said materials or components and/or raw materials to be consumed at said stage;
(c) processing equipment configuration specific to one of a plurality of input materials or components to be processed by said equipment at said stage;
(d) quality of at least one of said components; and
(e) exposure to an environment for at least one of said components, said at least one component having a variable quality due to exposure to said environment;
wherein at least one of said plurality of stages comprises one of (c), (d) or (e);
(2) collecting monitoring and/or control data at said plurality of said stages during said manufacturing process; and
(3) processing said monitoring and control data to provide monitoring and/or control data resulting from said plurality of stages;
whereby said monitoring and controlling is carried across said plurality of stages.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An automated manufacturing control system is proposed to greatly reduce the human interaction relative to the data transfer, physical verification and process control associated with the movement of components, tooling and operators in a manufacturing system. This is achieved by the use of data carriers which are attached to the object(s) to be traced. These data carriers (12) can store all the relevant identification, material and production data required by the various elements, e.g. stations, of the manufacturing system. Various readers, integrated with controllers and application software, are located at strategic points of the production area, including production machines and storage areas, to enable automatic data transfer and physical verification that the right material is at the right place at the right time, using the right tooling.
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Citations
60 Claims
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1. A method of monitoring and controlling a manufacturing process having a number of stages, each one of said stages involving receipt of input materials or components, at least one processing action, and discharge of output materials or components, the method comprising the steps of:
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(1) providing a manufacturing monitoring and control data system able to identify components to be processed for each of a plurality of said stages for monitoring and controlling, for each of said plurality of stages, applicable ones of;
(a) discharge routing;
(b) inventory management of said materials or components and/or raw materials to be consumed at said stage;
(c) processing equipment configuration specific to one of a plurality of input materials or components to be processed by said equipment at said stage;
(d) quality of at least one of said components; and
(e) exposure to an environment for at least one of said components, said at least one component having a variable quality due to exposure to said environment;
wherein at least one of said plurality of stages comprises one of (c), (d) or (e);
(2) collecting monitoring and/or control data at said plurality of said stages during said manufacturing process; and
(3) processing said monitoring and control data to provide monitoring and/or control data resulting from said plurality of stages;
whereby said monitoring and controlling is carried across said plurality of stages. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A method of monitoring and controlling a manufacturing process having a number of stages, each one of said stages involving receipt of input materials or components, at least one processing action, and discharge of output materials or components, the method comprising the steps of:
or components, at least one processing action, and discharge of output materials or components, the method comprising the steps of;
(1) receiving a signal, said signal carrying monitoring and/or control data collected by;
providing a manufacturing monitoring and control data system able to identify components to be processed for each of a plurality of said stages for monitoring and controlling, for each of said plurality of stages, applicable ones of;
(a) discharge routing;
(b) inventory management of said materials or components and/or raw materials to be consumed at said stage;
(c) processing equipment configuration specific to one of a plurality of input materials or components to be processed by said equipment at said stage;
(d) quality of at least one of said components; and
(e) exposure to an environment for at least one of said components, said at least one component having a variable quality due to exposure to said environment;
wherein at least one of said plurality of stages comprises one of (c), (d) or (e); and
collecting monitoring and/or control data at said plurality of said stages during said manufacturing process; and
(2) processing said monitoring and control data to provide monitoring and/or control data resulting from said plurality of stages;
whereby said monitoring and controlling is carried across said plurality of stages.
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44. A method of monitoring and controlling a manufacturing process having a number of stages, each one of said stages involving receipt of input materials or components, at least one processing action, and discharge of output materials or components, the method comprising the steps of:
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(1) providing a manufacturing monitoring and control data system able to identify components to be processed for each of a plurality of said stages for monitoring and controlling exposure to an environment for at least one of said components, said at least one component having a variable quality due to exposure to said environment;
(2) collecting monitoring and/or control data at said plurality of said stages during said manufacturing process; and
(3) processing said monitoring and control data to provide monitoring and/or control data resulting from said plurality of stages.
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- 45. A clip for removably attaching an electronic data carrier to a tray having at least one side rail, the rail having along a distal end thereof a longitudinally extending ridge extending substantially perpendicularly to a plane of the tray, said clip comprising a body adapted to hold an electronic data carrier, said body having a tray gripping portion adapted to releasably grip the rail of the tray.
- 55. A transponder carrier for attaching a transponder to a surface of an object to be tagged, comprising a body defining a cavity for holding a transponder, an opening defined in said body for allowing said transponder to be loaded into said cavity, and an adhesive provided at one location on said body for allowing said transponder carrier to be adhesively secured to a surface of an object to be tagged.
Specification