METHOD FOR MANAGING MACHINE TOOL DATA

• US 20060089744A1
• Filed: 08/01/2005
• Published: 04/27/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Motor Company
• Original Assignee: Ford Motor Company
• Inventors: Jalluri, Chandra, Magadi, Prashanth, Kaufman, Ingrid
• Granted Patent: US 7,383,097 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/174
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4065 Monitoring tool breakage, life or condition

Abstract

A method for managing machine tool data includes operating the machine tool to perform at least a portion of an operation cycle which includes a non-machining operation. Data is processed from signals output from at least one sensor and from a controller to define a non-machining operation-specific data profile for the non-machining operation. An algorithm is applied to the non-machining operation-specific data profile to generate a non-machining operation-specific data point, which facilitates generation of a non-machining operation-specific trend line used to help determine the health of the machine tool.

Claims

1. A method for managing machine tool data, the machine tool being operable to perform at least one operation cycle which includes at least one machining operation and at least one non-machining operation, the machine tool having at least one sensor operatively connected thereto for sensing a machine operation parameter, and a controller configured to output data related to the at least one operation cycle, the method comprising:

operating the machine tool to perform at least a portion of an operation cycle which includes a non-machining operation;

processing data from signals output from the at least one sensor and from the controller to define a non-machining operation-specific data profile for the non-machining operation; and

applying an algorithm to the non-machining operation-specific data profile to generate a non-machining operation-specific data point, thereby facilitating generation of a non-machining operation-specific trend line.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

operating the machine tool to perform at least a portion of at least one operation cycle including a plurality of non-machining operations;

processing data from signals output from the at least one sensor and from the controller to define a corresponding non-machining operation-specific data profile for at least some of the non-machining operations, thereby facilitating generation of a plurality of non-machining operation-specific data points when the algorithm is applied; and

plotting at least some of the non-machining operation-specific data points to generate a non-machining operation-specific trend line.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the non-machining operations include a certain non-machining operation performed more than once, thereby facilitating generation of a plurality of non-machining operation-specific data points for the certain non-machining operation, and

wherein plotting at least some of the non-machining operation-specific data points includes plotting at least some of the data points for the certain non-machining operation together, thereby generating a non-machining operation-specific trend line for the certain non-machining operation.

4. The method of claim 2, the machine tool including a spindle, and wherein the non-machining operations include a spindle acceleration, a spindle deceleration, or both.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

determining an alarm condition for the certain non-machining operation;

applying the alarm condition to the non-machining operation-specific trend line; and

indicating the alarm condition when the non-machining operation-specific trend line reaches the alarm condition.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor is configured to sense at least one of vibrations, current, temperature, torque or speed.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein operating the machine tool to perform at least a portion of an operation cycle includes performing first and second machining operations with a first cutting tool, and wherein the at least one non-machining operation includes operating the machine tool between the first and second machining operations.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein operating the machine tool to perform at least a portion of an operation cycle includes operating the machine tool with at least a first and second cutting tool to perform respective machining operations, and wherein the at least one non-machining operation includes changing the cutting tool from the first cutting tool to the second cutting tool.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

operating the machine tool outside of an operation cycle;

processing data from signals output from the at least one sensor and from the controller to define at least one out-of-cycle data profile; and

applying the algorithm to the at least one out-of-cycle data profile to generate a corresponding out-of-cycle data point.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein applying the algorithm to the non-machining operation-specific data profile includes generating a parametric representation of the non-machining operation-specific data profile, the parametric representation including at least one of a maximum, a minimum, an average, an average root mean square, a maximum root mean square, a minimum root mean square, a root mean square summation, a kurtosis, a kurtosis average, a kurtosis maximum, a kurtosis minimum, a kurtosis standard deviation.

12. The method of claim 10, the machine tool including a spindle, and wherein the non-machining operations include a spindle acceleration, a spindle deceleration, or both.

11. A method for managing machine tool data, the machine tool being operable to perform at least one operation cycle which includes at least one machining operation and at least one non-machining operation, the machine tool having at least one sensor operatively connected thereto for sensing a machine operation parameter, and a controller configured to output data related to the at least one operation cycle, the method comprising:

sensing a machine operation parameter for the machine tool for at least a portion of at least one operation cycle including a plurality of a non-machining operations;

storing data related to the sensed parameter;

storing data from signals output from the controller;

associating the data from the sensor with the data from the controller, thereby defining corresponding non-machining operation-specific data profiles for at least some of the non-machining operations;

applying an algorithm to at least some of the non-machining operation-specific data profiles to generate corresponding non-machining operation-specific data points; and

storing the non-machining operation-specific data points, thereby facilitating subsequent retrieval.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

retrieving at least some of the non-machining operation-specific data points; and

plotting at least some of the retrieved non-machining operation-specific data points to create a non-machining operation-specific trend line.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the non-machining operations include a certain non-machining operation performed more than once, thereby facilitating generation of a plurality of non-machining operation-specific data points for the certain non-machining operation, and

wherein plotting at least some of the retrieved non-machining operation-specific data points includes plotting at least some of the data points for the certain non-machining operation together, thereby generating a non-machining operation-specific trend line for the certain non-machining operation.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein sensing a machine operation parameter for the machine tool includes sensing at least one of vibrations, current, temperature, torque or speed for the machine tool.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least a portion of at least one operation cycle further includes first and second machining operations performed with a first cutting tool to perform respective machining operations, and wherein the non-machining operations include a non-machining operation between the first and second machining operations.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least a portion of at least one operation cycle further includes respective machining operations performed with at least a first and second cutting tools, and wherein the non-machining operations include changing the cutting tool from the first cutting tool to the second cutting tool.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

sensing an out-of-cycle machine operation parameter for the machine tool when the machine tool is operating outside of an operation cycle;

storing data related to the sensed out-of-cycle machine operation parameter;

associating the out-of-cycle data with the data from the controller, thereby defining at least one out-of-cycle data profile;

applying the algorithm to the at least one out-of-cycle data profile to generate a corresponding out-of-cycle data point; and

storing the at least one out-of-cycle data point, thereby facilitating subsequent retrieval.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein the machine operation parameter for the machine tool is continuously sensed over some time interval, the method further comprising:

determining a maximum value of the machine operation parameter at a first predetermined frequency;

storing the maximum value of the determined machine operation parameter at a second predetermined frequency; and

comparing the stored maximum values to a predetermined limit value.

20. A method for managing machine tool data, the machine tool having a controller operatively connected thereto for outputting data related to operation of the machine tool, the method comprising:

performing at least one machining operation;

performing at least one non-machining operation;

sensing a machine operation parameter for the machine tool when it is performing the at least one machining operation and the at least one non-machining operation;

associating the sensed machine operation parameter with data output from the controller, thereby defining corresponding machining operation-specific data profiles and non-machining operation-specific data profiles; and

applying an algorithm to at least some of the associated data to generate corresponding machining operation-specific data points and non-machining operation-specific data points, thereby facilitating generation of machining operation-specific trend lines and non-machining operation-specific trend lines.

21. The method of claim 20, the machine tool including a spindle, and wherein performing at least one non-machining operation includes accelerating the spindle, decelerating the spindle, or both.