System and method for high speed control and rejection

• US 20040102864A1
• Filed: 11/25/2002
• Published: 05/27/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Philip Morris USA Incorporated (Altria Group, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Philip Morris USA Incorporated (Altria Group, Inc.)
• Inventors: Stack, James, Longest, Herbert C. Jr., Frampton, Nathaniel
• Granted Patent: US 7,079,912 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/110
• CPC Class Codes: A24C 5/3412 by means of light, radiation or electrostatic fields A24C5/3406 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A24C 5/345 Removing defective cigarettes A24C5/31 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/41875 characterised by quality surveillance of production
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32212 If parameter out of tolerance reject product
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 131/907 Ejection or rejection of finished article due to detected or sensed condition
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 131/91 Sensing or detecting malfunction in cigar or cigarette maker

Abstract

The present invention provides a system and method for high speed control and rejection of out-of-specification products, such as cigarettes, in a manufacturing process. Sensors are placed at strategic locations along a production line, with the signals from the sensors being directed to a high speed processor, with multiple sensor inputs and controlled by software algorithms to process the sensor signals and to direct control signals to the production line equipment. Control signals can both eject non-conforming products and also modify machine settings to produce a product in closer compliance with specifications.

Claims

1. A method for controlling the manufacture of a product, comprising the steps of:

sensing at least one condition associated with the quality of a product being manufactured on a manufacturing device;

transmitting a sensor signal representative of the sensed condition to a central processor;

comparing, at the central processor, the transmitted sensor signal against a standard associated with the sensed condition; and

transmitting a control signal to a controller on the manufacturing device should the comparison against the standard indicate an out-of-standard condition.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the product comprises a cigarette and wherein the sensed condition includes at least one of out-of-weight tobacco, metal detected in tobacco, paper splice of cigarette wrapper, loose end of filter, missing filter, and air leaks.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of comparing includes selecting an algorithm on the central processor based on the sensor signal transmitted to the central processor.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein one or more parameters of the standard associated with the sensed condition can be modified in real time.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transmitted control signal instructs a controller on the manufacturing device to effect the rejection of one or more of the products being manufactured on the manufacturing device.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transmitted control signal instructs a controller on the manufacturing device to adjust a component on the manufacturing device.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

generating timing signals on the manufacturing device;

transmitting the timing signals to the central processor; and

mapping, by the central processor, the transmitted sensory signal to a tracking array based on the transmitted timing signals.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising the steps of:

displaying the tracking array on a graphical user interface as representative of the product moving through the manufacturing device; and

changing the appearance of the displayed array elements representative of the product as the product is ejected at a rejection port on the manufacturing device.

9. The method according to claim 1, further including analyzing the transmitted sensory signals to generate counts, summaries, and/or trends representative of the operation of the manufacturing device.

10. The method according to claim 9, further including transmitting a control signal to a controller for adjusting a component on the manufacturing device should a trend analysis indicate an out-of-standard condition.

11. An integrated method for providing reactive equipment control, whereby product processing on a manufacturing device is controlled by a one or more algorithms operating on a single processor, comprising the steps of:

tracking the processing of a product on a manufacturing device;

ejecting non-conforming products from the manufacturing device; and

controlling processing steps on the manufacturing device, wherein the ejecting and controlling steps are based on sensor signals initiated during the tracking step and wherein the tracking, ejecting, and controlling steps are implemented on a single processor.

12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising:

transmitting the sensor signals from the manufacturing device to the single processor, wherein algorithms are selected to operate on the processor based on the sensor signals received by the processor.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the product comprises a cigarette and wherein the non-conforming products are ejected based on at least one of out-of-weight tobacco, metal detected in tobacco, paper splice of cigarette wrapper, loose end of filter, missing filter, and/or air leaks.

14. An electronic platform for providing high speed reactive control of a manufacturing device, the electronic platform comprising:

a plurality of sensors positioned on a manufacturing device adapted to sense a plurality of conditions associated with the manufacturing of a product on the manufacturing device;

a plurality of controllers positioned on the manufacturing device adapted to control a plurality of functions associated with the manufacturing of a product on the manufacturing device; and

a central processor comprising at least a processor, a memory, a computer readable memory comprising one or more algorithms, an input path, and an output path,

wherein sensor signals from the plurality of sensors are input to the central processor via the input path and are processed by the one or more algorithms,

and wherein control signals are output via the output paths to the controllers based on the processing of the sensor signals by the algorithms.

15. The electronic platform according to claim 14, wherein the memory of the processor includes a tracking array and wherein the sensor signals are mapped onto the tracking array to reflect the manufacturing of the product on the manufacturing device.

16. The electronic platform according to claim 14, wherein the product comprises a cigarette and wherein the plurality of sensed conditions include at least one of out-of-weight tobacco, metal detected in tobacco, paper splice of cigarette wrapper, loose end of filter, missing filter, and air leaks.

17. A system for integrated inspection and control of a manufacturing process, the system comprising:

a machine configured to manufacture a product;

a plurality of sensors adapted to inspect the products being manufactured by the machine and for transmitting measurement signals;

a processor configured to receive the measurement signals transmitted from each of the inspection sensors;

a plurality of controllers configured to modify the manufacturing process on the machine, wherein the processor evaluates the received measurement signals against one or more standards and transmits control signals to one or more of the plurality of controllers to maintain the manufacturing process within performance standards.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein the plurality of sensors further measure one or more conditions associated with the operation of the manufacturing machine.

19. The system according to claim 18, wherein the product comprises a cigarette and wherein the one or more measured conditions include at least one of out-of-weight tobacco, metal detected in tobacco, paper splice of cigarette wrapper, loose end of filter, missing filter, and air leaks.

20. The system according to claim 17, wherein the standards against which the received measurement signals are evaluated are determined based on the sensor which transmitted each measurement signal.

21. The system according to claim 17, wherein the one or more transmitted control signals instructs a controller on a rejection port on the manufacturing machine to eject a product as not conforming to the one or more standards.

22. The system according to claim 17, wherein the measurement signals received by the processor are received across a communication link from the manufacturing machine.

23. A data structure for displaying the processing of a product through a manufacturing device, comprising:

a tracking array, wherein each element of the tracking array is mapped through manufacturing device timing signals to segments of a product moving through a production line on a manufacturing device;

pointers to locations in the tracking array representative of ports on the manufacturing device; and

appearance elements which change the displayed appearance of tracking array elements as the product segments represented by the tracking array elements pass rejection ports on the manufacturing device where the product is ejected from the production line.

24. The data structure according to claim 23, wherein the product comprises a cigarette and wherein the product is ejected based on at least one of out-of-weight tobacco, metal detected in tobacco, paper splice of cigarette wrapper, loose end of filter, missing filter, and/or air leaks.

25. A computer readable medium encoded with software to provide reactive equipment control, whereby product processing on a manufacturing device is controlled by a one or more algorithms operating on a single processor, including tracking the processing of a product on a manufacturing device;

ejecting non-conforming products from the manufacturing device; and

controlling the processing on the manufacturing device, wherein the ejecting and controlling processes are based on sensor signals initiated during the tracking of the processing of the product and wherein the tracking, ejecting, and controlling processes are implemented on a single computer.

26. A cigarette manufacturing apparatus, comprising:

a machine adapted to manufacture cigarettes;

a plurality of sensors adapted to inspect cigarettes being manufactured by the machine and for transmitting measurement signals;

a processor configured to receive the measurement signals transmitted from each of the inspection sensors;

a plurality of controllers configured to modify the manufacturing process on the machine, wherein the processor evaluates the received measurement signals against one or more standards and transmits control signals to one or more of the plurality of controllers to maintain the manufacturing process within performance standards, the system including a computer readable medium encoded with software to provide reactive equipment control, wherein the cigarette processing is controlled by one or more algorithms operating on a single processor, including tracking the processing of individual cigarettes on the machine;

ejecting non-conforming cigarettes from the machine; and

controlling the processing on the machine, wherein the ejecting and controlling processes are based on sensor signals initiated during the tracking of the processing of the cigarettes and wherein the tacking, ejecting, and controlling processes are implemented on a single computer, the one or more measured conditions including at least one of out-of-weight tobacco, metal detected in tobacco, paper splice of cigarette wrapper, loose end filter, missing filter, and air leaks.