JPH0947182A - Maintenance and supply system of automatic chicken egg treating machine utilizing computer communication - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the subject system capable of reporting the happening of an abnormality in an automatic chicken egg treating machine, reporting the treatment therefor and dealing with the happening of the abnormality by estimating it beforehand. SOLUTION: This maintenance and supply system of an automatic chicken egg treating machine utilizing a computer communication is constituted by connecting a computer for a mechanical control, a local base computer and a central computer with a communicating circuit, and imparting a self checking function, a daily data reporting function, an automatic reporting function for the time of an emergency to the computer for the mechanical control, imparting a function of building up a data based on the daily reports and the function of estimating the happening of the abnormality and of a maintenance guiding to the central computer controlling the whole system, and also imparting a function of retrieving the data held by the central computer and a mediating function between the computer for the mechanical control and the central computer to the base computer. By utilizing the communication circuit, the rapid and adequate maintenance is performed on the happening of the abnormality and also the happening of the abnormality can be prevented beforehand.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for accurately diagnosing a failure occurring in a control system of an automatic egg processing machine by using computer communication and providing prompt maintenance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An automatic egg processing machine starts from the raw material egg supply section, and performs washing, drying, arranging (aligning the sharp edges of the eggs in a certain direction), egg inspection, sorting by weighing and size, packaging, etc. The following series of steps are automatically and continuously processed. The processing in each of these steps is controlled by a machine control computer provided in the automatic egg processing machine.

Among them, in the weighing / sorting process, in order to efficiently produce a desired product, the chicken egg weighed by the load cell is delivered to a predetermined position of a predetermined station according to the setting of the operator. Machine control computer
It is finely controlled by the computer. In order to control such complicated processing at high speed and stably, the machine control computer control system
In addition, for control of weighing and egg inspection, and for managing the entire processing machine, it is composed of dozens of control computer boards, which are connected by communication lines.

As described above, the machine control computer plays an important role in the automatic egg processing, but the structure of the machine control computer is also complicated for that reason. As a result, when an abnormality occurs, it is almost impossible for the user to deal with it, and it is difficult for the serviceman who has specialized knowledge to identify the cause of the abnormality and to perform the recovery work. is the current situation. Further, the processing machine itself has become complicated due to the demand for labor saving, and it is difficult to identify the cause of the abnormality and perform the recovery work as in the case of the machine control computer.

In addition, the eggs to be treated are living organisms, and the identification of the cause of abnormalities and the work of restoration are urgent.
Even if Bisman goes, the user is usually in a remote area. Therefore, it is important to check the situation in advance by any means.

[0006]

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a machine control computer itself with a self-check function, and use a communication line such as a telephone line to transfer the information, for example, at the head office service. By communicating with the center computer in the service department, it is to provide the customer with quick and accurate maintenance and to form a stable work environment.

[0007]

The features of the present invention are as follows. That is, a machine control computer for controlling the automatic egg processing machine, a local base computer connected to a machine control computer group in a predetermined area through a communication line, the machine control computer group, and Local base computer
And a center computer connected to the computer group by a communication line.

The machine control computer has a self-check function for checking whether or not there is an abnormality, a daily report data communication function consisting of the operating time of the processing machine, the amount of processing, the time when the abnormality occurs for each device and its type, and an emergency. It has an automatic notification function.

A center computer that manages the entire system constructs data based on the daily report data, predicts an abnormality, and performs a maintenance guide when an abnormality occurs. Is the center computer
It has a function of retrieving the data held by the data and an intermediary function between the machine control computer and the center computer.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First, the system configuration of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1. Center computer For example, a center computer equipped with a mass storage device is installed in the service department of the head office of the manufacturer of the automatic egg processing machine. This center computer manages the entire maintenance supply system. In addition to this overall management, the daily history data, which will be described later, sent from each egg processing machine will be used to record data such as operation history.
In addition to building a database, it also predicts abnormalities and sends maintenance guides when abnormalities occur.

2. Local base computer A local base computer is installed at a local service base such as a branch office of the machine manufacturer. For example, a local office computer A is installed at the A office and a local office computer B is installed at the B office. Center computer
In order to prevent an increase in the inability to connect when the frequency of notifications to the computer increases, the intermediary function between the center computer and the machine control computer, which will be described later, and information on the serviceman stationed at the branch office For grasping, it has a function to search the data held by the center computer.

3. A machine control computer, that is, a machine control computer for an automatic egg processing machine for a customer, for example, a customer A1, A2, A3, ... In addition to the normal control function of the above, it has a self-check function, a daily report data transmission function, an automatic notification function in case of emergency, which will be described later.

4. Communication method At present, as in the case of personal computer communication, a telephone line is used for the connection between the computers. If high-speed communication networks such as communication satellites and optical fiber networks can be used at low cost in the future, these can be easily used.

Next, the flow of transmission of information between computers, that is, daily report data, detailed data, automatic transmission in an emergency, notification of periodic inspection by facsimile, etc. will be described.

1. Daily report data Daily report data indicates the occurrence of abnormalities by the operating time of the processing machine per day, the amount of processed egg, the conveyors that make up the processing machine, the egg washing machine, the aligning machine, the egg finder, etc. The time and its type.

When the processing machine is operating without causing a serious abnormality, the machine control computer displays only the daily report, the local base computer or the center computer.
Send to

A daily report for each customer such as customers A1, A2, A3, ... In the area in charge of A branch office transmitted to a local office computer, for example, local office computer A. The data is transmitted to the center computer at the time allotted to each local base, and the daily report data of all the customers are smoothly collected in the center computer. Center
The collected daily report data is stored in the computer for each customer and each processing machine, and a database is constructed.

2. Detailed data Detailed data includes a self-check result of each substrate of the processing machine, setting contents, internal memory data, a state of an input signal for each processing machine, and the like.

The service staff at the head office service department or at the branch office can operate the terminal of the center computer or the local base computer when necessary to check the state of the processing machine. To The center computer or the local site computer requests the machine control computer of the customer instructed to send the detailed data.

The machine control computer transmits detailed data in response to this transmission request. With this detailed data, the processing machine and its control computer can be controlled even from a remote location.
It is possible to estimate the abnormal part of the data.

3. Automatic transmission in an emergency Even if a serious failure occurs in the processing machine and machine control computer, such as machine control failure or reading failure,
If the machine control computer is able to recognize it, the abnormality contents are immediately transmitted to the local base computer or the center computer, and as a result, the service person in charge can be prompted to take action. To do.

4. Periodic inspection notification by facsimile It is easy to forget the inspection that the customer needs to do every month or half a year, and in some cases, the processing machine may be broken. Therefore, the center computer is provided with a function of automatically transmitting the inspection request table clearly indicating the inspection points to the facsimile of the customer who is regularly registered so as to contribute to the prevention of failure.

The abnormality prediction and automatic diagnosis by the computer will be described. 1. Self-check The dozens of computer boards that control the processor and the communication circuits that connect them have a self-check function, and if there is any abnormality, an LED (light-emitting diode) display is provided and the center is displayed. -Also inform the computer.

2. Abnormality prediction The center computer periodically searches the database, and if there is a deviation in the content of the abnormality or an abnormality leading to a serious failure, the service of the head office service business department Display the contents to the person in charge of service to prompt the user to take corrective action. If it is necessary for the person in charge to confirm by telephone to the customer or to confirm the detailed data of the processing machine, the person in charge instructs a patrol inspection of the serviceman at the branch office and sends out spare parts. This will prevent the occurrence of a serious failure and will enable quick recovery even if it occurs.

3. The automatic diagnosis center computer provides detailed data sent from the machine control computer when an abnormality occurs, the operation history of the processing machine, and similar troubles that occurred in the past with the same model. Based on the search results of services, pick up the possible causes of abnormality and clearly indicate to the person in charge of service. Since the serviceman can perform appropriate treatment based on the diagnosis result of the computer, it is possible to supply the maintenance service which is not affected by the capability of the serviceman.

After the abnormality is treated, the person in charge inputs the cause and the treatment method to the center computer.
As a result, the accumulation of data progresses and the accuracy of the diagnostic result by the computer improves.

Further, due to the limitation of the current domestic communication network, only the above-mentioned function can be provided. However, due to the development of communication equipment and environment in the future, the use of high-speed network will be low cost in the future. It will be possible in. Therefore,
Even in this system, a real-time operation monitor function and a surveillance camera are added to enable more information to be transmitted by video communication, etc., further expanding the maintenance range,
Quality improvement can be expected.

[0028]

The self-check function of the control computer of the automatic egg processing machine informs the center computer of the occurrence of an abnormality, so that it can be dealt with immediately.

Since the abnormality prediction function and the automatic diagnosis function of the center computer can predict the occurrence of an abnormality in the automatic egg processing machine, it is possible to take appropriate measures before the abnormality actually occurs, and The operating rate is improved. Further, since it is possible to appropriately deal with the abnormality, the labor cost of the serviceman can be saved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A machine control computer for controlling an automatic egg processing machine, a local base computer connected to a group of machine control computers in a predetermined area through a communication line, and the machine control computer. The computer control computer consists of a computer group and a computer group for local bases, and a center computer connected by a communication line.The machine control computer has a self-check function to check for abnormalities, and the operation of the processing machine. The center computer that manages the entire system has a daily report data communication function consisting of time, amount of processing, time of abnormality occurrence for each device and its type, and an automatic notification function in an emergency. -The data is constructed based on the data,
Maintenance guides are provided in the event of an abnormality, and the local site computer manages data stored in the center computer.
Computer search, machine control computer and center computer
A maintenance supply system for an automatic egg processing machine that uses computer communication and has an intermediary function with the computer.