Production management system and method of transmitting data

• US 5,150,288 A
• Filed: 12/15/1989
• Issued: 09/22/1992
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/1989
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Imai, Shinji, Hamano, Hiroshi, Fujinuma, Michio, Urushidani, Shinzo, Shimanaka, Chikafumi
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Jerry
• Assistant Examiner(s): GORDON, PAUL P
• Application Number:
  US07/451,304
• Time in Patent Office: 1,012 Days
• Field of Search: 364/132, 364/138, 364/140, 364/192, 364/468, 364/474.01, 364/474.11, 364/478
• US Class Current: 700/3
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4183 characterised by data acquisition, e.g. workpiece identification
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4185 characterised by the network communication
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/41865 characterised by job scheduling, process planning, material flow
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31243 Add serial number to message from station to check missing messages in host
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32046 On detection workpiece code load program for workpiece from central
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32051 Central control, modify program slave computers as function of production demand from host
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/36371 Barcode reader
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

A production management system for controlling a production line such as an automobile assembling line includes a plurality of slave computers for controlling assembling robots in assembling stations, and a host computer for supervising common information required by the slave computers. When the common information is to be modified due to a change in the robots, the common iinformation stored in the host computer is modified into corrected common information, and the corrected common information is transmitted from the host computer to the slave computers. The common information stored in the slave computers can therefore be modified by the corrected common information.

Claims

1. A production management system for controlling a production line having a plurality of working stations having respective automatic machines controllable by at least one of sequencers and robot controllers, comprising:

a plurality of pieces of production equipment, each of said pieces of production equipment including at least one of a sequencer and a robot controller, and an automatic machine controllable by said at least one of said sequencer and said robot controller;

read-out means for reading type data applied to workpieces delivered to the production line;

computer means having memories for storing type data and operation pattern data composed of bit trains, said computer means comprising a plurality of slave computers for controlling said at least one of sequencers and robot controllers, and a host computer for controlling said slave computers and supervising common information required by said slave computers, wherein said type data read by said read-out means are transmitted through said host computer to said slave computers, and said slave computers select operation pattern data corresponding to the transmitted type data;

a main network by which said host computer and said plurality of slave computers are interconnected;

a plurality of subnetworks by which said slave computers and said at least one of sequencers and robot controllers are interconnected; and

the system being such that when a workpiece is delivered to the production line, the type data of the delivered workpiece are read by said read-out means and transmitted to said computer means, and said computer means transmits operation pattern data corresponding to the transmitted type data to said at least one of sequencers and robot controllers for controlling the automatic machine, and when said common information is to be modified due to a change in said pieces of production equipment, the common information stored in said host computer is modified into corrected common information, and the corrected common information is transmitted from said host computer to said plurality of slave computers, so that the common information stored in said slave computers can be modified by said corrected information.

2. A method of transmitting data for a production line including a host computer, a slave computer controllable by said host computer, and pieces of production equipment controllable by said slave computer, comprising the steps of:

putting consecutive serial numbers with respective data in the slave computer when the data are transmitted from the host computer through the slave computer to the pieces of production equipment or when the data are transmitted from the pieces of production equipment through the slave computer to the host computer; and

storing the data with the serial numbers in the slave computer and transmitting the data with the serial numbers to the pieces of production equipment or the host computer.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising the steps of:

after the data have been stored and transmitted, determining whether a serial number is missing among the serial numbers with the data received by the pieces of production equipment or the host computer; and

if there is a missing serial number, requesting the slave computer to transmit the data relative to the missing serial number.