Method for operating an industrial system

• US 8,768,498 B2
• Filed: 08/04/2009
• Issued: 07/01/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: KHS GmbH (Salzgitter AG)
• Original Assignee: KHS GmbH (Salzgitter AG)
• Inventors: Hermann, Thomas, Buchkremer, Wolfgang
• Primary Examiner(s): Bahta, Kidest
• Application Number:
  US13/058,440
• Publication Number:
  US 20110137447A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,792 Days
• Field of Search: 700/99, 700/95, 700/106, 700/107, 700/112, 700/116, 700/108, 700/83, 700/174, 294/30, 297/20, 707/999.07
• US Class Current: 700/99
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0251 Abstraction hierarchy, e.g. "complex systems", i.e. system is divided in subsystems, subsystems are monitored and results are combined to decide on status of whole system
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0272 Presentation of monitored results, e.g. selection of status reports to be displayed; Filtering information to the user
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49829 Advancing work to successive stations [i.e., assembly line]

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for operating an industrial system, wherein the system comprises at least one line (1, 2, 3, 4), wherein each line (1, 2, 3, 4) comprises at least one machine (10, 12, 14, 16), and wherein each machine (10, 12, 14, 16) comprises at least one component (110, 112, 114, 116), comprising the steps of detecting state data of each component (110, 112, 114, 116), of each machine (10, 12, 14, 16), and of each line (1, 2, 3, 4), transmitting the state data to at least one user unit, and displaying the state data by means of the at least one user unit. The present invention further relates to an industrial system for performing the method, and a computer program.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented process for causing a processor to operate an industrial system, said process comprising causing an electronic computer system that comprises at least one hardware processor connected to at least one hardware memory to execute the steps of, in an industrial system that comprises a plurality of lines, each of which produces a specific end product, wherein each of said lines includes a corresponding set of machines that participate in production of said specific end product, and wherein each of said machines include components, detecting status data for each component of each machine of each line in said plurality of lines, transmitting said status data to a user unit, displaying said status data via said user unit, and providing an arrangement of the status data that is component in a manner indicative of a machine to which said component belongs, and that is also indicative of a line from said plurality of lines to which said machine belongs, whereby for each component, said arrangement of said status data indicates a machine to which said component belongs, and said status data identifies a line to which belongs said machine to which said component belongs.

2. The process of claim 1, further comprising restricting display of the status data to display of status data only for a selected structure, wherein said selected structure is selected from the group consisting of a line selected from the lines, a machine selected from the machines, and a component selected from the components.

3. The process of claim 2, wherein restricting the display of the status data comprises automatically restricting the display based at least in part on the spatial positioning of the respective user unit in relation to the selected structure.

4. The process of claim 1, wherein each user unit is assigned to a corresponding user with a specific profile, and wherein the presentation of the status data is made dependent on the profile.

5. The process of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by each user unit, input data for a specific structure, and transmitting the input data to the specific structure, wherein said specific structure is selected from the group consisting of a specific machine, a specific component, and a specific line.

6. The process of claim 5, wherein each user unit is assigned to a corresponding user with a specific profile, and wherein the input data of only one user is transmitted to the respective specific structure.

7. The process of claim 6, further comprising restricting the type of input data based at least in part on the specific profile.

8. The process of claim 1, wherein user units are configured to communicate with one another.

9. The process of claim 2, wherein the status data includes error messages that are displayed via the user unit regardless of the display restriction.

10. The process of claim 9, wherein one user with a specific profile is assigned to each user unit, and wherein the presentation of the error messages depends at least in part on the profile.

11. An industrial system for the execution of the process of claim 1, wherein at least one of the user units is a mobile user unit, and wherein a wireless network is provided for transmitting the status data.

12. The industrial system of claim 11, wherein the at least one mobile user unit has a device for external presentation.

13. A computer system configured to execute a computer program with a program coding facility for executing the process of claim 1.

14. A tangible computer-readable medium having encoded thereon software for executing the process recited in claim 1.

15. An industrial system for execution of the process of claim 5, wherein at least one of the user units is a mobile user unit, and wherein a wireless network is provided for transmitting the input data.

16. The industrial system of claim 15, wherein the at least one mobile user unit has a device for external presentation.