Apparatus and method for integrating intelligent manufacturing system with expert sheet metal planning and bending system
First Claim
1. An integrated sheet metal manufacturing and production system, comprising:
- an intelligent manufacturing system which develops a bend model of a sheet metal part to be produced;
an expert planning system which develops bending plan information related to a bending plan for producing said sheet metal part based on said bend model, said expert planning system including a plurality of expert modules; and
a system to select a set of said plurality of expert modules in order to adapt said expert planning system for different bending applications, said expert planning system developing said bending plan information based on said set of said plurality of expert modules that are selected.
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Abstract
An apparatus and method are provided for integrating an intelligent manufacturing system with an expert sheet metal planning and bending system. The intelligent manufacturing system manages and distributes part design and manufacturing information throughout the locations of a production facility. The expert planning system includes a plurality of expert modules for proposing a bending plan, including bend sequence and tooling selections, and robot motion planning and repositioning. Through the various features and aspects of the present invention, an operator can selectively modify and adapt these integrated systems for particular bend applications, including robot-based and human assisted bending operations.
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Citations
71 Claims
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1. An integrated sheet metal manufacturing and production system, comprising:
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an intelligent manufacturing system which develops a bend model of a sheet metal part to be produced; an expert planning system which develops bending plan information related to a bending plan for producing said sheet metal part based on said bend model, said expert planning system including a plurality of expert modules; and a system to select a set of said plurality of expert modules in order to adapt said expert planning system for different bending applications, said expert planning system developing said bending plan information based on said set of said plurality of expert modules that are selected. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. In an integrated sheet metal manufacturing and production system comprising an expert planning system having a plurality of expert modules, a method for developing a bending plan for producing a sheet metal part in accordance with one of a plurality of bending applications, said bending applications including a robot-assisted bending application and a manual, operator-assisted bending application, said method comprising:
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creating a bend model of said sheet metal part to be produced, said bend model comprising bend model data; selecting a set of said plurality of expert modules in accordance with one of said plurality of bending applications; developing a proposed bending plan based on said set of said plurality of expert modules that are selected; displaying said proposed bending plan; and storing said proposed bending plan as a final bending plan under a predetermined condition. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. An integrated sheet metal manufacturing and production system, comprising:
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an intelligent manufacturing system to develop a bend model of a sheet metal part to be produced; an expert planning system to develop and propose a bending plan for producing said sheet metal part based on said bend model; and a constraint system to selectively constrain said bending plan developed by said expert planning system based on a defined constraint, said constraint system including a constraint manager which develops a constraint phrase in accordance with said defined constraint, wherein said expert planning system develops said bending plan in accordance with said constraint phrase. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. In an integrated sheet metal manufacturing and production system, a method for developing constraint phrases based on defined constraints, said method comprising:
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creating a bend model of a sheet metal part to be produced; defining a constraint, said defining comprising developing a constraint phrase in accordance with said defined constraint; and developing and proposing a bending plan for producing said sheet metal part, said bending plan being developed based on said bend model of said sheet metal part and said constraint phrase. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. An integrated system for developing a bending plan for a sheet metal part to be produced, said system comprising:
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an intelligent manufacturing system which creates a bend model of said sheet metal part; an expert planning system which develops and proposes bending plan information related to a bending plan for producing said sheet metal part based on said bend model; and an interface module which generates and transfers messages from said intelligent manufacturing system to said expert planning system, said expert planning system developing said bending plan information based on said messages, said expert planning system comprising a plurality of expert modules, said integrated system further comprising a system to select a set of said plurality of expert modules in order to adapt said expert planning system for different bending applications, wherein said bending plan information is developed by said set of said plurality of expert modules that are selected. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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54. An integrated system for developing a bending plan for a sheet metal part to be produced, said system comprising:
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an intelligent manufacturing system which creates a bend model of said sheet metal part; an expert planning system which develops and proposes bending plan information related to a bending plan for producing said sheet metal part based on said bend model; an interface module which generates and transfers messages from said intelligent manufacturing system to said expert planning system, said expert planning system developing said bending plan information based on said messages; and a constraint system which selectively constrains said bending plan information developed by said expert planning system based on a defined constraint, said constraint system comprising a constraint manager which develops a constraint phrase in accordance with said defined constraint, said interface module comprising an indicating module which indicates said constraint phrase to said expert planning system, said expert planning system developing said bending plan information based on said constraint phrase. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58)
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59. An integrated sheet metal manufacturing and production system, comprising:
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an intelligent manufacturing system for creating a bend model of a sheet metal part to be produced, said bend model comprising bend model data; an expert planning system for developing, based on said bend model data, bending plan information for producing said sheet metal part; and a system for selectively activating said expert planning system for different bending applications, whereby an operator may independently develop a bending plan based on said bend model or selectively activate said expert planning system to develop said proposed bending plan information. - View Dependent Claims (60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70)
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71. An integrated sheet metal manufacturing and production system, comprising:
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an intelligent manufacturing system for creating a bend model of a sheet metal part to be produced, said bend model comprising bend model data; an expert planning system for developing, based on said bend model data, bending plan information for producing said sheet metal part; and a system for selectively activating said expert planning system for different bending applications, whereby an operator may independently develop a bending plan based on said bend model or selectively activate said expert planning system to develop said proposed bending plan information, said expert planning system comprising a plurality of expert modules, said integrated system further comprising a system for selecting a set of said plurality of expert modules, wherein said bending plan information is developed by said set of said plurality of expert modules that are selected.
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Specification