Method and apparatus for tracking a workpiece through a multi-station machine
First Claim
1. A method for manufacturing a workpiece in a manufacturing machine having a plurality of stations each of which has a means for storing data, comprising the steps of:
- storing in each local station'"'"'s storage means a part processing record containing,status data of the part at that local station and status data of parts at any other station which could subsequently arrive at that local station anda part position index locating each part relative to a particular station of the machine,cycling said plurality of stations by performing the operations indicated by the part status data;
updating said part status of said process record corresponding to said workpiece located at a station;
distributing to said means for storing at each local station a concurrent updated part process record of any part at any other station which could subsequently arrive at the local station;
transferring said workpiece to a next station of said plurality of stations; and
adjusting said part position index to reflect the movement of the workpieces.
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Abstract
A transfer or production line utilizing a plurality of stations is described which has a computer at each station. Each computer has a part processing record for all workpieces currently in the line. As the workpiece transfers down the line, a part position index, contained in each of the station computers, is updated to indicate which part processing record is associated with the workpiece at each station. The information in the part processing record is utilized by the station computer to inhibit the station from cycling if the record indicates that a prerequisite had not been completed.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method for manufacturing a workpiece in a manufacturing machine having a plurality of stations each of which has a means for storing data, comprising the steps of:
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storing in each local station'"'"'s storage means a part processing record containing, status data of the part at that local station and status data of parts at any other station which could subsequently arrive at that local station and a part position index locating each part relative to a particular station of the machine, cycling said plurality of stations by performing the operations indicated by the part status data; updating said part status of said process record corresponding to said workpiece located at a station; distributing to said means for storing at each local station a concurrent updated part process record of any part at any other station which could subsequently arrive at the local station; transferring said workpiece to a next station of said plurality of stations; and adjusting said part position index to reflect the movement of the workpieces. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 19)
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8. The method of claim further comprising the step of:
initializing that status data for a part in the machine to reflect any processes not required for the part.
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11. A machine which concurrently operates on a plurality of parts at a plurality of stations, each part being sequenced for operation by at least two stations of the machine comprising:
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a distributed memory means storing in combination a part processing record comprising a) data indicative of every part in the machine and their respective location, and b) status data for each part in the machine indicative of the process already completed and the processes requiring completion, c) at least one of the memory means of a local station storing at least its own part status data and the status data of parts at any other station which could subsequently arrive at the local station, and means or maintaining concurrency of parts status data at all local memory means where status data is stored. - View Dependent Claims (12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21)
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22. In a machine which concurrently operates on a plurality of parts at a plurality of stations, each part being transferred for an operation by at least two stations of the machine, an improved system for tracking the operations performed on each part in the machine comprising:
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a distributed memory storing in aggregate a complete part process record of every part in the machine having at each station a memory comprising a plurality of data blocks in which is stored a processing record of the part at the station and of any part at any other station which could arrive at the station, and a part position index in which is stored the identification of the station at which each part in the machine is located, the memory correlating for each part its respective data block and station identification, a processor for updating in each memory where the processing record is stored the respective data blocks as operations are performed on each part, and a processor for updating the part position index in each memory where the part position index is stored as parts are transferred through the machine, whereby each part and the operations performed thereon are tracked through the machine.
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Specification