Operator station for manufacturing process control system

• US 5,631,825 A
• Filed: 09/29/1993
• Issued: 05/20/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Dow Benelux BV (Dow, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dow Benelux BV (Dow, Inc.)
• Inventors: van Weele, Leonardus A., Vermeire, Roger R., Lenting, Ben, Zemering, Christo, de Bruijn, Ronny P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Trammell, James P.
• Application Number:
  US08/128,988
• Time in Patent Office: 1,329 Days
• Field of Search: 364/188-193, 364/146-147, 364/474.22-474.27, 395/155-167
• US Class Current: 700/83
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0426 Programming the control sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/41875 characterised by quality surveillance of production
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25428 Field device
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31455 Monitor process status
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31472 Graphical display of process
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31474 Icon display for quick access of detailed information
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31478 Display all processes together or select only one
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32191 Real time statistical process monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32197 Inspection at different locations, stages of manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32414 Workstation has two displays, for process control and for general applications
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/35489 Discriminate, different colour, highlight between two states
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

An operator station for a manufacturing process control system including a network of at least one dedicated process control computer for monitoring and controlling SECTIONS of the manufacturing process wherein each SECTION includes one or more SEQUENCES of the manufacturing process, the operator station includes a processor, a communication link to the process control communication system, a display including a SECTIONS window providing information relating to at least one of the SECTIONS monitored by the operating station and a SEQUENCE window providing information relating to one or more SEQUENCES monitored by the operator station, a data input device for selecting a SECTION from which information is to be displayed. The operator station may further include a flow sheet display window which includes a graphic depiction of a portion of the process, and a trend display window which includes current and historical information in graphic form for selected process control variables.

Claims

1. An operator station for a manufacturing process control system including at least one dedicated process control computer for monitoring and controlling at least one SECTION and at least one SEQUENCE of the manufacturing process, the operator station comprising:

communication means for two-way communication of process data between the operator station and at least one of the process control computers; and

display means including,

a first window defining a display area including at least one infological object which is a composite derived from selected parameters associated with a SECTION, and

a second window defining a display area including at least one infological object which is a composite derived from selected parameters associated with a SEQUENCE.

2. The operator station of claim 1 wherein the display means further includes a window defining a flowsheet display area including at least one flowsheet including a graphic representation of a portion of the process.

3. The operator station of claim 1 wherein the display means further includes a window defining a trend display area including at least one graph displaying the value of at least one selected process variable for a preselected period of time.

4. The operator station of claim 1 further including data input means for selecting one of a set of preselected process variables controlled by one of the process controlled computers and indicating a value for the selected variable;

and

logic for substituting the input value for that variable as the value to be monitored and controlled by the process control computer.

5. In an operator station for a manufacturing process control system including at least one dedicated process control computer for monitoring and controlling at least one SEQUENCE of the manufacturing process, an apparatus for generating a display representing the current status of a selected SEQUENCE of the process, the apparatus comprising:

logic for determining the current value of the critical success factor as a function of preselected parameters associated with the process;

logic for determining the trailing average value of the critical success factor over a preselected period of time; and

means for displaying graphic indicia of the critical success factor including,

a circle divided into two contrasting shades forming a pie chart wherein the area of the pie defined by one of the shades is a function of the value of the critical success factor, and

a radial line segment that indicates the value of the trailing average of the critical success factor.

6. An operator station for a manufacturing process control system including a network of at least one dedicated process control computer for monitoring and controlling at least one SEQUENCE of the manufacturing process and a communications processing system for routing data from the process control computer to other authorized systems on the network, the operator station comprising:

a communication link for two-way communication of process data between the operator station and the communications processing system;

at least one display including,

a SECTION display area including information relating to at least one of the SECTIONS of the process, the information including a SECTION indicator for at least one of the SECTIONS supervised by the operator station, the SECTION indicator comprising text identifying the SECTION by name and graphic indicia of the overall success of the SECTION, the graphic indicia including a circle divided into two contrasting shades forming a pie chart wherein the area of one of the shades varies in size as a function of the current condition of operation of the SECTION, and a radial line segment that indicates the trailing average of the condition of operation of the SECTION, and

a SEQUENCE display area including information relating to one or more SEQUENCES of the process;

a data input device for selecting one of the SECTIONS displayed in the SECTION display area; and

logic for displaying information in the SEQUENCE display area corresponding to all of the SEQUENCES in the selected SECTION of the process.

7. The operator station of claim 6 wherein the SECTION indicator further includes an active acknowledged alarm symbol which indicates the total number of active acknowledged alarms in all the SEQUENCES in the SECTION.

8. The operator station of claim 7 wherein the preselected parameters include the name of the step of the process, the time in the current step, the current recipe number, the next recipe number, the number of active shutdown alarms, the number of active emergency alarms, the number of active warning alarms, the number of active alert alarms, the number of active request alarms, the number of inputs in manual mode, and the number of outputs in manual mode.

9. An operator station for a manufacturing process control system including a network of at least one dedicated process control computer for monitoring and controlling at least one SEQUENCE of the manufacturing process and a communications processing system for routing data from the process control computer to other authorized systems on the network, the operator station comprising:

a communication link for two-way communication of process data between the operator station and the communications processing system;

at least one display including,

a SECTION display area including information relating to each of one or more SECTIONS of the process, the information including a SECTION indicator for each SECTION supervised by the operator station, the SECTION indicator comprising a text identifying the SECTION by name, graphic indicia representing the critical success factor symbol, graphic indicia representing the status of selected shutdown flags in the SECTION, graphic indicia representing the status of selected emergency flags in the SECTION, graphic indicia representing the status of selected alarms, and

a SEQUENCE display area including information relating to one or more SEQUENCES of the process;

a data input device for selecting one of the SECTIONS displayed in the SECTION display area; and

logic for displaying information in the SEQUENCE display area corresponding to all of the SEQUENCES in the selected SECTION of the process.

10. An operator station for a manufacturing process control system including a network of at least one dedicated process control computer for monitoring and controlling at least one SEQUENCE of the manufacturing process and a communications processing system for data from the process control computer to other authorized systems on the network, the operator station comprising:

a communication link for two-way communication of process data between the operator station and the communications processing system;

at least one display including,

a SECTION display area including information relating to at least one of the SECTIONS of the process, and

a SEQUENCE display area including information relating to one or more SEQUENCES of the process, the information including a SEQUENCE indicator for at least one of the SEQUENCES supervised by the operator station, the SEQUENCE indicator comprising text identifying the SEQUENCE by name and graphic indicia of the overall success of the SEQUENCE, the graphic indicia including a circle divided into two contrasting shades forming a pie chart wherein the area of one of the shades varies in size as a function of the current condition of operation of the SEQUENCE, and a radial line segment that indicates the trailing average of the condition of operation of the SEQUENCE;

a data input device for selecting one of the SECTIONS displayed in the SECTION display area; and

logic for displaying information in the SEQUENCE display area corresponding to all of the SEQUENCES in the selected SECTION of the process.

11. The operator station of claim 10 further including,

data input means for selecting one of the SEQUENCE indicators displayed in the SEQUENCE display area, and

a display of numerical data corresponding to preselected parameters for that SEQUENCE.

12. An operator station for a manufacturing process control system including a network of at least one dedicated process control computer for monitoring and controlling at least one SEQUENCE of the manufacturing process and a communications processing system for routing data from the process control computer to other authorized systems on the network, the operator station comprising:

a communication link for two-way communication of process data between the operator station and the communications processing system;

at least one display including,

a SECTION display area including information relating to at least one of the SECTIONS of the process, and

a SEQUENCE display area including information relating to at least of the SEQUENCES of the process, the information including a SEQUENCE indicator for each SEQUENCE in a preselected one of the SECTIONS supervised by the operator station, the SEQUENCE indicator comprising text identifying the SEQUENCE by name, a status box symbol, a critical success factor indicator symbol, a shutdown flag symbol, an emergency flag symbol, a Min/Max alarm symbol, and an unacknowledged alarm attention symbol;

a data input device for selecting one of the SECTIONS displayed in the SECTION display area; and

logic for displaying information in the SEQUENCE display area corresponding to all of the SEQUENCES in the selected SECTION of the process.

13. An operator station for a manufacturing process control system including at least one dedicated process control computer for monitoring and controlling at least one SECTION including at least one SEQUENCE of the manufacturing process, the operator station comprising:

a communication link for two-way communication of process data between the operator station and at least one of the process control computers;

at least one display including,

a first window defining a display area including information relating to at least one SECTION of the process, and wherein said information includes a SECTION indicator for at least one of the SECTIONS supervised by the operator station, the SECTION indicator comprising text identifying the SECTION by name and graphic indicia of the critical success factor representing overall success of the SECTION, the graphic indicia including a circle divided into two contrasting shades forming a pie chart wherein one of the shades defines a pie chart portion which varies in size as a function of the current value of the critical success factor, and a radial line segment that indicates the trailing average of the critical success factor;

a second window defining a display area for displaying information relating to one or more SEQUENCES of the process;

a data input device for selecting one of the SECTIONS displayed in the first window; and

logic for displaying information in the second window corresponding to all of the SEQUENCES in the selected SECTION of the process.

14. An operator station for a manufacturing process control system including at least one dedicated process control computer for monitoring and controlling at least one SECTION including at least one SEQUENCE of the manufacturing process, the operator station comprising:

a communication link for two-way communication of process data between the operator station and at least one of the process control computers;

at least one display including,

a first window defining a display area including information relating to at least one SECTION of the process, the information including a SECTION indicator for each SECTION supervised by the operator station, the SECTION indicator comprising text identifying the SECTION by name, a status box symbol, a critical success factor indicator symbol, a shutdown flag symbol, an emergency flag symbol, a Min/Max alarm symbol, and an unacknowledged alarm attention symbol, and

a second window defining a display area for displaying information relating to one or more SEQUENCES of the process;

a data input device for selecting one of the SECTIONS displayed in the first window; and

logic for displaying information in the second window corresponding to all of the SEQUENCES in the selected SECTION of the process.

15. An operator station for a manufacturing process control system including at least one dedicated process control computer for monitoring and controlling at least one SECTION including at least one SEQUENCE of the manufacturing process, the operator station comprising:

a communication link for two-way communication of process data between the operator station and at least one of the process control computers;

at least one display including,

a first window defining a display area including information relating to at least one SECTION of the process;

a second window defining a display area for displaying information relating to one or more SEQUENCES of the process, and wherein the information includes a SEQUENCE indicator for at least one of the SEQUENCES supervised by the operator station, the SEQUENCE indicator comprising text identifying the SEQUENCE by name and graphic indicia of the critical success factor representing overall success of the SEQUENCE, the graphic indicia including a circle divided into two contrasting shades forming a pie chart wherein one of the shades varies in size as a function of the current value of the critical success factor, and a radial line segment that indicates the trailing average of the critical success factor;

a data input device for selecting one of the SECTIONS displayed in the first window; and

logic for displaying information in the second window corresponding to all of the SEQUENCES in the selected SECTION of the process.

16. An operator station for a manufacturing process control system including at least one dedicated process control computer for monitoring and controlling at least one SECTION including at least one SEQUENCE of the manufacturing process, the operator station comprising:

a communication link for two-way communication of process data between the operator station and at least one of the process control computers;

at least one display including,

a first window defining a display area including information relating to at least one SECTION of the process;

a second window defining a display area for displaying information relating to one or more SEQUENCES of the process, the information including a SEQUENCE indicator for each SEQUENCE in a selected SECTION supervised by the operator station, the SEQUENCE indicator comprising text identifying the SEQUENCE by name, a status box symbol, a critical success factor indicator symbol, a shutdown flag symbol, an emergency flag symbol, a Min/Max alarm symbol, and an unacknowledged alarm attention symbol;

a data input device for selecting one of the SECTIONS displayed in the first window; and

logic for displaying information in the second window corresponding to all of the SEQUENCES in the selected SECTION of the process.