METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MONITORING OR CONTROLLING A MACHINE TOOL SYSTEM

• US 20100023156A1
• Filed: 07/23/2008
• Published: 01/28/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hurco Companies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Hurco Companies, Inc.
• Inventors: Pavlakos, Elias G., Allen, John Christopher, Trepina, Matthew David, Volovic, Gregory S.
• Granted Patent: US 9,141,105 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/175
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/406 characterised by monitoring or safety G05B19/19 takes precedence

Abstract

A system for remotely monitoring one or more machine tool systems is disclosed. The system may monitor a plurality of machine tool systems which are associated with different customers and at a plurality of facilities. A remote user may access information regarding the machine tool system through a user interface and specific that notifications be sent upon the occurrence of various conditions. A system for updating software of a machine tool system is also disclosed.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring a machining of a part from a blank, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a machine tool system including a machine tool controller and a machine tool apparatus which supports the blank and at least one tool which are used to remove material from the blank, the machine tool apparatus including a plurality of moveable axes which change the relative position of the at least one tool and the blank;

providing a part program which specifies a plurality of instructions, the plurality of instructions defining at least one trajectory for the at least one tool to follow;

executing the part program with a machine tool software portion of the machine tool controller;

receiving a notification from a remote controller that the machine tool system is being observed by a user system spaced apart from the machine tool system and the remote controller; and

sending information from the machine tool system to the remote controller, the information being collected by the machine tool system, wherein the information is provided to the remote controller at a first frequency when the machine tool system is being observed and at a second frequency when the machine tool system is other than being observed, the second frequency being lower than the first frequency.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information being collected by the machine tool system includes a screen shot of a display of the machine tool system.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the information being collected by the machine tool system includes at least one image captured by a camera associated with the machine tool system, the camera being located within a cabinet of the machine tool system.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the information being collected by the machine tool system includes at least one image captured by a camera associated with the machine tool system, the camera being located outside of a cabinet of the machine tool system.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the first frequency is at least about 10 times the second frequency.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first frequency is at least about 100 times the second frequency.

7. A machine tool system which is operated by a machine tool operator, comprising:

a cabinet;

a machine tool apparatus provided within the cabinet;

a machine tool controller operatively coupled to the machine tool apparatus;

a user interface positioned outside of the cabinet, wherein the machine tool controller includes communication software which is capable of connecting the machine tool system to a remote controller, the machine tool controller being configured to collect information about the machine tool system to send to the remote controller at a first frequency and at a second frequency when the machine tool controller receives an indication from the remote controller that the machine tool system is being observed, the second frequency being higher than the first frequency.

8. A method of monitoring with a remote controller a first machine tool system and a second machine tool system each of the machine tool systems having a plurality of tools which are used to remove material from a respective blank to form a respective part, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a first notification from the first machine tool system that the first machine tool system is active, the first notification being provided through a first data connection to the remote controller, the first data connection being initiated by the first machine tool system;

receiving a second notification from the second machine tool system that the second machine tool system is active, the second notification being provided through a second data connection to the remote controller, the second data connection being initiated by the second machine tool system;

receiving periodic updates from the first machine tool system related to a plurality of parameters being monitored by the first machine tool system;

receiving periodic updates from the second machine tool system related to a plurality of parameters being monitored by the second machine tool system; and

providing to a remote device a user interface which includes a graphical representation of the first machine tool system and a graphical representation of the second machine tool system.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of receiving a selection of the first machine tool system through the user interface by a user of the remote device.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of notifying the first machine tool system that the remote device has selected the first machine tool system.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the periodic updates from the first machine tool system are at a first time interval and the periodic updates from the second machine tool system are at a second time interval, the first time interval being shorter than the second time interval.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the periodic updates from the first machine tool system are at a first time internal and the periodic updates from the second machine tool system are at a second time interval, the first time interval being generally equal to the second time interval.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising the steps of:

sending a first request to the first machine tool system to provide at least one screen shot of a first display screen of the user interface of the first machine tool; and

receiving the at least one screen shot of the first display screen of the user interface of the first machine tool.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising the steps of:

sending a second request to the first machine tool to provide at least one image taken by a camera directed at the first machine tool; and

receiving the at least one image taken by the camera directed at the first machine tool.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least one image is a plurality of images taken at spaced apart time intervals of at least one second.

16. The method of claim 8, wherein the first machine tool is at a first facility and the second machine tool is at a second facility spaced apart from the first facility.

17. A machine tool system which is operated by a machine tool operator, comprising:

a cabinet;

a machine tool apparatus provided within the cabinet;

a machine tool controller operatively coupled to the machine tool apparatus;

a user interface positioned outside of the cabinet;

a first camera situated to view the machine tool apparatus positioned within the cabinet; and

a second camera situated to view the user interface positioned outside of the cabinet, wherein the machine tool controller provides a first plurality of images captured by the first camera and a second plurality of images captured by the second camera to a remote controller spaced apart from the machine tool system.

18. The machine tool system of claim 17, wherein the machine tool controller further provides to the remote controller a last known error which was presented to the machine tool operator through the user interface.

19. A method of monitoring a machining of a part from a blank, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a machine tool system including a machine tool controller and a machine tool apparatus which supports the blank and at least one tool which are used to remove material from the blank, the machine tool apparatus including a plurality of moveable axes which change the relative position of the at least one tool and the blank, the machine tool system including machine tool software including motion control software and user interface software;

providing a part program which specifies a plurality of instructions, the plurality of instructions defining at least one trajectory for the at least one tool to follow and at least a first event marker;

executing the part program with the machine tool software portion of the machine tool controller;

detecting an occurrence of the first event marker when the execution of the part program reaches the first event marker; and

notifying a remote controller spaced apart from the machine tool system of the occurrence of the first event marker.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of notifying the remote controller spaced apart from the machine tool system of the occurrence of the first event marker, comprises the steps of:

establishing a connection between the machine tool system and the remote controller; and

sending an indication of the occurrence of the first event marker to the remote controller.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the connection is established from the machine tool system to the remote controller.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the first event marker is placed in the part program to indicate that a first portion of the part program is complete.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the first portion of the part program corresponds to a completion of a cycle of the part program.

24. The method of claim 19, wherein the part program includes G and M codes and the first event marker is a specified M code.

25. A method of monitoring a machine tool system having a plurality of tools which are used to remove material from a blank to form a part, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving from a remote device a request to monitor for a first event marker at the machine tool system, the first event marker related to the an execution of a part program by the machine tool system;

receiving an indication of an occurrence of the first event marker at the machine tool system; and

sending a notification of the occurrence of the first event marker to a specified contact.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the indication of the occurrence of the first event marker is provided by the machine tool system over a network.

27. The method of claim 25, further comprising the step of sending a message to the machine tool system to monitor for the first event marker.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the first event marker is provided in the part program and the indication of the occurrence of the first event marker corresponds to the execution of the part program reaching the first event marker.

29. The method of claim 25, further comprising the step of receiving from the remote device a notification destination, wherein the step of sending the notification of the occurrence of the first event marker to the specified contact includes the step of sending the notification of the occurrence of the first event marker to the notification destination.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the notification destination is an e-mail address.

31. A method of monitoring a machine tool system having a plurality of tools which are used to remove material from a blank to form a part, the method comprising the steps of:

logging in to a user interface provided by a remote controller;

selecting the machine tool system from a plurality of machine tool systems presented by the user interface;

sending a request to a remote controller to monitor for a first event marker at the machine tool system, the first event marker related to an execution of a part program by the machine tool system; and

sending a notification destination to the remote controller to specify a desired destination for the notification.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising the step of receiving a notification of the occurrence of the first event marker at the notification destination.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the request to the remote controller to monitor for the first event marker is made from a first user device and the notification of the occurrence of the first event marker is received by the first user device.

34. The method of claim 32, wherein the request to the remote controller to monitor for the first event marker is made from a first user device and the notification of the occurrence of the first event marker is received by a second user device.

35. A method of monitoring a machine tool system having a plurality of tools which are used to remove material from a blank to form a part, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving collected information from the machine tool system at a remote controller spaced apart from a facility wherein the machine tool system is located, the collected information including a running time for a machine tool component;

comparing the collected information with a suggested running time for the machine tool component under a warranty associated with the machine tool system to determine if an alert condition exists; and

sending an alert notification to a remote device if an alert condition exists.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the alert condition corresponds to the running time for the machine tool component exceeding the suggested running time for the machine tool component.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein the alert condition corresponds to the running time for the machine tool component approaching the suggested running time for the machine tool component.

38. The method of claim 35, wherein the alert notification is sent to a user responsible for preventative maintenance of the machine tool system.

39. The method of claim 35, wherein the alert notification is sent to a user responsible for warranty compliance.

40. The method of claim 35, further comprising the steps of:

comparing a preventative maintenance parameter of the collected information received from the machine tool system to an acceptable range associated with that parameter; and

sending a notification to the remote device if the preventative maintenance parameter of the collected information is outside of the acceptable range.

41. A method of updating software on a machine tool system, the method comprising the steps of:

connecting the machine tool system to a remote controller spaced apart from a facility including the machine tool system;

comparing a software component stored on a memory of the machine tool system with a corresponding software component accessible by the remote controller;

replacing the software component of the machine tool system with the corresponding software component if the corresponding software component is different than the software component, wherein the corresponding software component is ready to function in replace of the software component when stored on the memory; and

executing a part program with the corresponding software component, the part program specifies a plurality of instructions, the plurality of instructions defining at least one trajectory for the at least one tool to follow.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the software component is a real time motion control software.

43. A method of managing part programs for execution by a machine tool system, the method comprising the steps of:

pushing a part program to a machine tool system from a remote controller; and

providing a timetable for execution of the part program to a machine tool operator, the timetable being provided in one of a notification to the machine tool operator and inclusion of the timetable in an event log of upcoming jobs for the machine tool system.