SYSTEM FOR MONITORING LOOMS IN WEAVING MILL

• US 20150066186A1
• Filed: 08/26/2014
• Published: 03/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Jidoshokki (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Jidoshokki (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: ITO, Daisuke, OKUDA, Taijirou
• Granted Patent: US 9,639,081 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/108
• CPC Class Codes: D03J 1/006 Controlling a group of looms
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0421 Multiprocessor system
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/41855 by local area network [LAN], network structure
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/21042 Address a group, a zone
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2634 Loom, weaving
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/69 using geographic information, e.g. room number
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0876 Aspects of the degree of configuration automation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/08 Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5014 using dynamic host configuration protocol [DHCP] or bootstrap protocol [BOOTP]

Abstract

A loom monitoring system includes loom computers and a host computer connected to the loom computers through a network. Each loom computer acquires a temporary IP address from a DHCP server when a fixed IP address is not set for the loom computer and requests the host computer to transmit a fixed IP address using the temporary IP address. The host computer assigns a fixed IP address to the loom computer that transmitted the assignment request signal and correlates the fixed IP address with a loom layout map. The loom computers each transmit an acquisition completion signal to the host computer using the fixed IP address in a designated order based on the loom layout map. The host computer correlates the fixed IP address of each loom computer with the loom layout map in accordance with the designated order.

Claims

1. A loom monitoring system comprising:

loom computers respectively coupled to looms installed in a weaving mill;

a host computer connected to the loom computers through a network, wherein the host computer is configured to communicate with the loom computers to manage the loom computers; and

a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server arranged in the network;

wherein the host computer is configured to

manage fixed IP addresses to be assigned to the loom computers, and

store a loom layout map indicating where the looms are located in the weaving mill;

each of the loom computers is configured to

transmit, when a fixed IP address is not set for the loom computer, a temporary IP address acquisition request signal to the DHCP server to acquire a temporary IP address from the DHCP server, and

transmit a fixed IP address assignment request signal to the host computer using the acquired temporary IP address;

the host computer is configured to

assign fixed IP addresses to the loom computers that transmitted the assignment request signal,

shift to a correlating mode when the assignment of the fixed IP addresses to the loom computers that transmitted the assignment request signal is completed, wherein the host computer in the correlating mode correlates the fixed IP addresses assigned to the loom computers that transmitted the assignment request signal with the loom layout map, and

request each of the loom computers that transmitted the assignment request signal to transmit an acquisition completion signal so that the acquisition signals are transmitted from the loom computers in a designated order based on the loom layout map;

each loom computer is configured to

register the assigned fixed IP address in lieu of the temporary IP address, and

transmit the acquisition completion signal to the host computer using the fixed IP address when the acquisition completion switch of the loom computer is operated in the designated order based on the loom layout map;

the host computer is configured to, when receiving the acquisition completion signals, store and correlate the fixed IP addresses of the loom computers with the loom layout map in accordance with the designated order.

2. The loom monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein

the host computer receives an input designating one of the looms in the loom layout map after correlating the fixed IP addresses to the loom layout map and transmits a test signal to the loom computer corresponding to the designated loom in response to the input, and

the test signal includes an instruction for performing a response indication on the loom computer that received the test signal.

3. The loom monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein each of the loom computers is configured to display the acquisition completion switch that is set for the loom computer in accordance with a request for the transmission of the acquisition completion signal by the host computer.

4. The loom monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein when assignment of the fixed IP addresses to the loom layout map has not been completed in a loom, one or both of the loom computer of the loom and the host computer is configured to show that assignment has not been completed for the loom.

5. The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein when one of the looms installed in the weaving mill is changed, the host computer receives an input designating the changed loom in the loom layout map of the host computer,

in response to the input, the loom computer of the changed loom and the host computer are configured to request for and acquire the fixed IP address, and

the host computer is configured to correlate the fixed IP address of the loom computer of the changed loom with the loom layout map when the acquisition completion switch of the changed loom is operated.

6. The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the host computer is configured to store a layout-address table correlating the fixed IP address of each of the looms that transmitted the acquisition completion signal with identification numbers and/or graphical icons of the corresponding looms in the loom layout map.

7. The monitoring system according to claim 6, wherein the host computer is configured to renew the fixed IP address of each of the looms that transmitted the acquisition completion signal and is included in the layout-address table.

8. One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media having stored thereon instructions that cause a computing system to execute a method, the instructions comprising:

instructions configured to manage, by a host computer, fixed IP addresses to be assigned to loom computers respectively coupled to looms installed in a weaving mill,

instructions configured to store, by the host computer, a loom layout map indicating where the looms are located in the weaving mill;

instructions configured to transmit, by each of the loom computers, a temporary IP address acquisition request signal via a network to a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server to acquire a temporary IP address from the DHCP server when a fixed IP address is not set for the loom computer;

instructions configured to transmit, by the loom computer that acquires the temporary IP address, a fixed IP address assignment request signal via the network to the host computer using the acquired temporary IP address;

instructions configured to assign, by the host computer, to the loom computer that transmitted the assignment request signal a corresponding fixed IP address;

instructions configured to shift the host computer to a correlating mode when the assignment of the fixed IP address to each of the loom computers that transmitted the assignment request signal is completed, wherein the correlating mode correlates the fixed IP addresses assigned to the loom computers that transmitted the assignment request signal with the loom layout map; and

instructions configured to display an acquisition completion switch on each of the loom computers that transmitted the assignment request signal so that an acquisition signal is transmitted from the loom computers to the host computer in a designated order based on the loom layout map;

instructions configured to, when each of the loom computers that transmitted the assignment request signal registers the assigned fixed IP address in lieu of the temporary IP address and detects an operation to the acquisition completion switch, transmit the acquisition signal from each of the loom computers using the fixed address to the host computer; and

instructions configured to, when the host computer receives the acquisition completion signal, correlate, by the host computer, the fixed IP address of each of the loom computers that transmitted the acquisition completion signal with the loom layout map in accordance with the designated order.