Numerical control with situation-dependent program display function

Abstract

Numerical control (1) for executing an MDI operation control based on an MDI program, the numerical control comprising: an operation history data storage area (20) configured to store operation history data including status data representing a status of the numerical controller in association with the MDI program; an MDI operation command unit (10) configured to execute an operation according to an MDI program based on a user operation; an operation execution unit (11) configured to execute the operation according to the MDI program upon a command from the MDI operation command unit; a status acquisition unit (12) configured to acquire status data representing the status of the numerical controller; an operation history recording unit (13) configured to generate the operation history data by linking the MDI program executed by the operation execution unit with status data at the time of execution of the MDI program obtained by the status obtaining unit, and to store the generated operation history data in the operation history data storage area; and an operation history data evaluation unit (14) configured to evaluate the similarity between the status data obtained from the status acquisition unit and the status data of the operation history data stored in the operation history data storage area, and to output the operation history data to the MDI operation command unit in accordance with the result of the evaluation, wherein the MDI operation command unit is configured to display information regarding MDI programs of the operation history data in a sorting order based on the result of the evaluation and to command the execution of an MDI operation based on the user operation according to the selected MDI program or a user input.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONField of the invention

[0001] The invention relates to a numerical control and, in particular, to one which enables a novice to easily call an object code. State of the art

[0002] Manual data input (MDI) is often performed on machine tools controlled by an MDI program for minor tasks such as preparatory work or tool changes. So-called ad hoc programs (online programs specifically for a specific purpose; single-line programs, hereinafter referred to as "MDI programs") are used for MDI work (e.g., JP 2000 - 066 711 A).

[0003] Many MDI programs for MDI operations for the same purpose have similar content. For example, it's very likely that the same content of an MDI program entered and executed today, such as for startup or tool replacement, was also entered and executed yesterday and the day before yesterday. Therefore, frequently used MDI programs are sometimes stored in advance in the memory of a numerical control system or the like so that they can be reused later.

[0004] However, there are several types of MDI programs that are commonly used. If all of these MDI programs are registered, it will inevitably take time to find the desired program from among the registered MDI programs.

[0005] To reduce the effort required to find a target program from a number of MDI programs, a method is provided by which the MDI programs are classified into specific categories (groups), such as "startup" (warm-up), "tool replacement," and the like. However, it is very time-consuming to estimate the required MDI programs in advance and determine their classification.

[0006] Furthermore, there is a problem in that it is laborious to correct registered MDI programs or their categorization if the laboriously determined categorization is incorrect or the content of the work changes.

[0007] The documents DE 690 28 907 T2 and US 6 512 961 B1 disclose numerical controls using a command history. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a numerical control system with which target MDI programs can be easily retrieved and reused from previously executed MDI programs.

[0009] According to the invention, a numerical control system is provided according to the independent claim. Developments are shown in the dependent claims.

[0010] Since the displayed MDI program is automatically changed according to the status data representing the status at the time the MDI program is used, the operator does not need to register or categorize MDI programs. Even if the work content changes during a job, an optimal status can be easily obtained without any special work. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CHARACTERS

[0011] The above and other objects and features of the invention will become even clearer from the following description of embodiments with reference to the figures: Fig. 1 gives an overview of an MDI program presentation function of a numerical control according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of the numerical control according to the invention; and Fig. 3 shows an example of details of status data in the numerical controller. DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS IN DETAIL

[0012] Accordingly Fig. 1, the invention provides functions for pre-recording a text of an MDI program and runtime status information of a numerical controller in association with each other when the MDI program is executed, and for recommending MDI programs under similar conditions for generating the subsequent MDI program.

[0013] In general, MDI programs for MDI operation vary depending on the time and state of the machine tool. For example, if the numerical control system's operating mode is switched to MDI operation mode in the morning when no program operation has been executed yet, it is more common to first execute an MDI program for startup rather than unexpectedly executing an MDI program for workpiece measurement. If an operation is interrupted and the operating mode is switched to MDI operation mode while the machine tool is running, no MDI program is required for startup; rather, the probability of executing an MDI program for replacing a broken tool is relatively high.

[0014] The problems are overcome by presenting an optimal MDI program to the operator depending on the situation according to the following procedure based on the above rules of thumb as a prerequisite. (Procedure 1)

[0015] Status data (time, various operating states and signals, machine tool parameters such as the name of the program to be executed, environmental information, etc.) indicating the status in which an MDI program operation is executed are stored in association with the executed MDI program. (Procedure 2)

[0016] When the operating mode is switched to the MDI operating mode and the MDI program is generated, the status data obtained at that moment and previously saved status data are compared with each other and the similarity of this status data is weighted. (Procedure 3)

[0017] Based on the result of the weighting of the status data, the MDI programs stored in correlation are sorted and offered to the operator.

[0018] Fig. Figure 2 is a functional block diagram of a numerical controller according to an embodiment of the invention. The numerical controller 1 includes an MDI operation command unit 10, an operation execution unit 11, a status acquisition unit 12, an MDI operation history recording unit 13, an operation history data evaluation unit 14, and an operation history data storage area 20.

[0019] The MDI operation command unit 10 selects an MDI program according to an operator's operation and commands an operation according to the selected MDI program to the operation execution unit 11. The MDI operation command unit 10 receives the operator's input of an MDI program as in a conventional numerical controller and commands an operation according to the input MDI program to the operation execution unit 11. In response to an operator's input regarding the operation history, the MDI operation command unit 10 receives a plurality of individual operation history data including the MDI programs evaluated by the operation history data evaluation unit 14 (described in more detail below), sorts the received sets of operation history data in the order of the weighting results, and presents the sorting result to the operator in a form of a priority order.An operation based on the MDI program in the operation history, according to selection from the presented operation history data by the operator, is commanded to the operation execution unit 11.

[0020] The operation execution unit 11 executes the MDI program selected based on the command from the MDI operation command unit 10 and controls the machine as the object to be controlled.

[0021] The status acquisition unit 12 receives a command from the MDI operation history recording unit 13 or the operation history data evaluation unit 11, acquires the status of the numerical controller 10 at the time of receiving the command, and generates and outputs status data based on the acquired status.

[0022] Accordingly Fig.3, the status of the numerical controller includes, for example, a time (obtained using the real-time clock (RTC) in the numerical controller), a machine tool operation signal (obtained from the programmable machine controller (PMC), etc.), a user-designated signal (obtained from the PMC, etc.), modal information regarding the machine tool (obtained from the operation execution unit 11, etc.), and the like.

[0023] Time refers to the point in time at which the status is acquired. Generally, in a numerical control system, the same work is often performed during MDI operations within the same time period throughout the day (morning startup, etc.). Thus, time can be used as a criterion for MDI program selection.

[0024] The machine tool operation signal, such as a spindle start signal, a feed signal, or the like, and the user-specified signal, such as a signal regarding the closed / open state of a machine tool door, a signal regarding the complete assembly of a workpiece, or the like, represent operating states of the machine tool controlled by the numerical control and peripheral devices. When the operating conditions of the machine tool and peripheral devices are the same, the same work is often performed during MDI operations. Therefore, the states according to these signals can serve as criteria (default) for MDI program selection. When an ongoing operation is interrupted, as indicated by G01 (LINEAR INTERPOLATION), G43 (TOOL LENGTH COMPENSATION EFFECTIVE), etc.Then, modal information, as the operation command code last executed before the interruption, represents an operating state immediately before the interruption. If an MDI operation is executed in a similar operating state, similar work is often performed. Therefore, modal information can be used as a criterion for MDI program selection.

[0025] In addition to the above information (data), other information such as ambient temperature, external emergency information, etc., which indicate circumstances that may be a reason for MDI operation, can also be used as the status to be gained.

[0026] When the operation execution unit 11 executes an operation based on the MDI program, the MDI operation history recording unit 13 acquires status data regarding the status at the start of the operation and records the acquired status data in association with the MDI program for the operation in the operation history data storage area 20.

[0027] The information regarding the recorded MDI program includes a program name and program text for identifying the MDI program.

[0028] Upon receiving a command from the MDI operation command unit 10, the operation history data evaluation unit 14 obtains status data regarding the current (running) status from the status acquisition unit 12 and evaluates the similarity between the obtained running status data and the status data contained in the operation history data stored in the operation history data storage area 20. The operation history data evaluation unit 14 then outputs the operation history data and the evaluation result regarding the similarity between the status data to the MDI operation command unit 10.

[0029] For example, the method for evaluating (weighting) the similarity between status data can be compared point by point, and the number of points at which the status data agree can be counted. For signals (on / off) and modal information that only accept set values, only the agreement with respect to status data should be counted. For time data that accepts values ​​within a certain range (e.g., 30 minutes apart or less), the values ​​can be considered to be consistent, so such status data can be considered consistent and counted.

[0030] Another method for evaluating the consistency between status data is to weight individual items (points) so that weighted values ​​are summed up for matching points. For example, the time-related status has a large weight for the MDI program selection criterion (the same work is frequently performed within the same time range), so a weighting factor of 2.0 is applied. On the other hand, since the importance (the "weight") of the status related to the "spindle ON" signal as an MDI program criterion is not particularly high (various work can be performed while the spindle is rotating), a weighting factor of 0.5 can be applied. In this way, a weighting can be introduced in advance depending on the strength of the influence of the numerical control status in question on the MDI program selection.

[0031] As described above, a match / mismatch decision is made for each point of the status data, and similarity is assessed by summing weighted values ​​assigned to matching points. This allows operational history data to be given a higher score using an MDI program that better matches the current status.

[0032] Many other methods are available for evaluating similarity between status data. For example, a conditional method can be used such that the agreement / disagreement at a specific point is used as a condition for determining the agreement / disagreement at another specific point. Thus, any evaluation method can be used as long as the operational data can be appropriately evaluated according to the current (current) status.

[0033] As described above, based on the operation data evaluated by the operation data evaluation unit 14, the MDI operation command unit 10 sorts the operation data in the order of the evaluation results and presents the sorting result as a priority order to the operator.

[0034] In this way, the numerical controller 1 of this embodiment preferably presents the operator with the MDI program used in a state closest to the current state, as a selection from other MDI programs used for MDI operations in the past. This allows the operator to relatively easily find the MDI program most suitable for the current state.

Claims

[1] Numerical control (1) for executing an MDI operating control based on an MDI program, wherein the numerical control comprises: an operating history data storage area (20) which is set up to store operating history data including status data which represent a status of the numerical control in conjunction with the MDI program; an MDI operating command unit (10) configured to execute an operation according to an MDI program based on a user operation; an operating execution unit (11) which is configured to execute operation in accordance with the MDI program upon a command from the MDI operating command unit; a status acquisition unit (12) which is set up to acquire status data which represent the status of the numerical control; an operating history recording unit (13) configured to generate the operating history data by linking the MDI program executed by the operating execution unit with status data at the time of execution of the MDI program acquired by the status acquisition unit, and to store the generated operating history data in the operating history data storage area; and an operational history data evaluation unit (14) which is set up to evaluate the similarity between the status data obtained from the status acquisition unit and the status data of the operational history data stored in the operational history data storage area, and to output the operational history data to the MDI operational command unit according to the result of the evaluation, wherein The MDI operating command unit is set up to display information regarding MDI programs of the operating history data in a sorted order based on the result of the evaluation and to command the execution of an MDI operation based on the user operation according to the selected MDI program or a user input. [2] Numerical control according to claim 1, wherein the status data includes at least: time of execution of the MDI program, the status of a machine tool operating signal immediately before the status acquisition, the status of a user-defined signal immediately before the status acquisition, modal information immediately before the status acquisition, and the name of a machining program that was executed immediately before the status acquisition. [3] Numerical control according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the operational history data evaluation unit is configured to evaluate the similarity between the status data obtained by the status acquisition unit and the status data of the operational history data recorded in the operational history data storage area based on the number of matching status data. [4] Numerical control according to one of claims 1 or 2, wherein the operational history data evaluation unit is configured to evaluate the similarity between the status data obtained with the status acquisition unit and the status data of the operational history data as recorded in the operational history data storage area by adding values ​​weighted according to the type of matching status data.

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