Molding machine management system and computer program

Abstract

To provide a technique that makes it easy to identify the cause of defective molding in a molding machine.SOLUTION: A molding machine management system includes: a molding machine configured to mold a molded product using a mold having a plurality of cavities; a camera configured to capture an image of the product molded by the molding machine; an inspection device configured to inspect the molded product; and a management server including a control unit configured to acquire the image captured by the camera and an inspection result by the inspection device and cause a display unit to display the image and the inspection result. The management server includes a storage unit configured to store the image of the molded product, the inspection result of the molded product, and information on a cavity in which the molded product is molded in association with each other, and the control unit causes the image of the product molded by the molding machine, the inspection result of the molded product, and the information on the cavity in which the molded product is molded to be displayed on the same screen of the display unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a molding machine management system and a computer program. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a monitoring device that monitors molded products produced by injection molding. This monitoring device displays images of past molded products that were judged to be non-defective, images of the current molded product captured by a camera, and the molding conditions of the molded product on the same screen, making it possible to determine the occurrence of burrs in molded products that cannot be grasped from actual measurements such as those from sensors. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 4322792 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, when molding using a mold with multiple cavities, differences in the positions of the cavities in the mold can affect the quality of the molded product, so it can be difficult to identify the cause of molding defects just by comparing with images of a reference molded product and molding conditions. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The present disclosure can be realized in the following forms.

[0006] According to a first embodiment of the present disclosure, a molding machine management system is provided, which includes a molding machine that molds a molded product using a mold having multiple cavities, a camera that captures an image of the molded product molded by the molding machine, an inspection device that inspects the molded product, and a management server having a control unit that acquires the image captured by the camera and the inspection results by the inspection device and displays them on a display unit, the management server includes a storage unit that stores the image of the molded product, the inspection results of the molded product, and information on the cavity in which the molded product is molded, in association with each other, and the control unit displays the image of the molded product molded by the molding machine, the inspection results of the molded product, and information on the cavity in which the molded product is molded on the same screen of the display unit.

[0007] According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program that causes a computer to realize a function of acquiring an image of a molded product molded by a molding machine that molds a molded product using a mold having multiple cavities and an inspection result of the molded product, a function of storing the image of the molded product, the inspection result of the molded product, and information on the cavity in which the molded product is molded in a storage unit in association with each other, and a function of controlling a display unit to display the image of the molded product, the inspection result of the molded product, and information on the cavity in which the molded product is molded on the same screen. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a molding machine management system. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the data structure of a test result database. [Diagram 3] 13 is a flowchart of a test result display process. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of display content of a display unit. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a data structure of a test result database in the second embodiment. [Figure 6]FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of display content of a display unit in a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] A. First embodiment: FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a molding machine management system 10 in the first embodiment. The molding machine management system 10 includes an injection molding machine 100 as a molding machine for molding a molded product, a take-out machine 200 for taking out the molded product, an inspection device 300 for inspecting the molded product, and a management server 500. The take-out machine 200 and the inspection device 300 are peripheral devices of the injection molding machine 100. The peripheral devices refer to devices and equipment that perform post-processes of injection molding by the injection molding machine 100. The molding machine management system 10 may include, as peripheral devices, not limited to the take-out machine 200 and the inspection device 300, but may also include, for example, a gate cut device that cuts the gate of a molded product. In FIG. 1, the flow of a molded product molded by the injection molding machine 100 is indicated by solid arrows.

[0010] The injection molding machine 100 has a first control unit 110 and a molding die 120. The molding die 120 is composed of a fixed die and a movable die. A metal mold or a resin mold is used as the molding die 120. The injection molding machine 100 further includes an injection unit and a clamping device, which are not shown. The first control unit 110 is configured by a computer having one or more processors, a memory, and an input / output interface for inputting and outputting signals from and to the outside. The first control unit 110 may be configured by multiple computers. The second control unit 210 of the extractor 200 and the third control unit 310 of the inspection device 300, which will be described later, have the same configuration as the first control unit 110.

[0011] The first control unit 110 controls each unit of the injection molding machine 100 to perform injection molding and mold a molded product. More specifically, the first control unit 110 controls the injection unit to inject molten material into the mold 120, and controls the clamping device to clamp the mold 120, thereby molding a molded product having a shape corresponding to the shape of the cavity. In this embodiment, multiple cavities are formed in the mold 120. Therefore, multiple molded products are molded simultaneously by one injection molding. A unique identifier is assigned to each cavity as information related to the cavity. In this embodiment, a unique cavity number is assigned to each cavity as an identifier.

[0012] The take-out machine 200 is composed of a second control unit 210 and a take-out robot 220. The second control unit 210 controls the operation of the take-out robot 220. The take-out robot 220 is a robot that takes out molded products from the mold 120 of the injection molding machine 100. The take-out robot 220 of this embodiment takes out the molded products that have been released from the mold 120 by the ejector pins provided in the injection molding machine 100 by gripping them with an end effector attached to the tip of the arm of the take-out robot. The take-out robot 220 places the taken out molded products on a tray in the order of the cavity numbers. That is, each molded product is placed on a position on the tray according to the cavity number of the cavity in which the molded product was molded. The tray on which the molded products are placed is transported to the inspection device 300 by a transport device (not shown) or the take-out robot 220.

[0013] The inspection device 300 is composed of a third control unit 310 and a camera 320. The third control unit 310 controls the camera 320 to capture images of the molded products in the order of cavity numbers, and performs an appearance inspection of the molded products by analyzing the captured images of the molded products. The images captured by the camera 320 and used for the inspection are hereinafter referred to as inspection images. The third control unit 310 judges the presence or absence of abnormalities in the appearance of each molded product by performing an appearance inspection using the inspection images. The judgment result of the abnormality is hereinafter referred to as the inspection result. In this embodiment, the inspection result includes not only the presence or absence of abnormalities, but also measurement values ​​measured by the inspection device 300 by analyzing the inspection images.

[0014] The management server 500 includes a control unit 510 and a storage unit 520. The control unit 510 is configured by a computer including one or more processors, a memory, and an input / output interface for inputting and outputting signals from and to the outside. The storage unit 520 stores a computer program 521 for controlling the molding machine management system 10 and an inspection result database 522. The control unit 510 loads the computer program stored in the storage unit 520 into the memory and executes it, thereby causing the management server 500 to realize a function of acquiring inspection images and inspection results of molded products and storing them in the storage unit 520, and a function of displaying the information on the display unit 600. The computer program 521 may be recorded on a recording medium such as a computer-readable memory card or optical disk.

[0015] The management server 500 can communicate with the injection molding machine 100, the extractor 200, and the inspection device 300 via the network 20. The network 20 may be, for example, a LAN, a WAN, or the Internet.

[0016] A display unit 600 is connected to the management server 500. For example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display is used as the display unit 600. Alternatively, for example, a tablet terminal or a mobile terminal connected to the management server 500 via the network 20 can be used as the display unit 600.

[0017] The control unit 510 acquires the inspection image of the molded article captured by the camera 320 and the inspection results of the molded article from the inspection device 300 via the network 20. The control unit 510 records the acquired data in the inspection result database 522 stored in the storage unit 520.

[0018] 2 is a diagram showing the data structure of the inspection result database 522 stored in the storage unit 520. The inspection result database 522 records lot numbers. The lot numbers are determined according to the manufacturing time, such as the manufacturing date, manufacturing week, or manufacturing month. The inspection result database 522 associates the lot numbers with molding condition data indicating the molding conditions for the lot. The molding condition data includes, for example, the cylinder temperature, the mold temperature, and the injection pressure.

[0019] Furthermore, the lot number is associated with the shot number of each shot in which injection molding was performed in that lot. Each shot number is associated with information about the cavity in which molding was performed in that shot. In this embodiment, the information about the cavity is the cavity number assigned to each cavity. The cavity number is associated with an inspection image of a molded product that was molded and inspected in the cavity corresponding to that cavity number in that shot number of that lot. The cavity number is further associated with the inspection result of that molded product.

[0020] The procedure for linking the cavity number and the molded product generated in each cavity will be described with reference to FIG. 1. When a molded product is molded in the injection molding machine 100, the first control unit 110 of the injection molding machine 100 notifies the management server 500 of the shot number. The molded products molded in the injection molding machine 100 are removed from the mold 120 by the take-out machine 200 and arranged on a tray in the order of the cavity numbers. After receiving the shot number from the management server 500, the inspection device 300 inspects the molded products in the order in which they are arranged on the tray. That is, the inspection device 300 inspects the molded products in the order of the cavity numbers. The third control unit 310 of the inspection device 300 assigns a file name to each inspection image, which is generated by combining the shot number received from the management server 500 with the cavity number. The third control unit 310 of the inspection device 300 associates the inspection results corresponding to the inspection images with the inspection images to which the file names have been assigned in this way, and transmits them to the management server 500. Then, control unit 510 of management server 500 analyzes the file name of the received inspection image, associates the current lot number with the shot number, cavity number, inspection image, and inspection results, and stores this information in inspection result database 522. When the lot number is changed in management server 500, control unit 510 of management server 500 transmits a predetermined command to injection molding machine 100 to initialize the shot number.

[0021] 3 is a flowchart of the inspection result display process executed in the control unit 510 of the management server 500. This process is executed when the control unit 510 receives a predetermined operation from an administrator through a predetermined input device such as a touch panel or a mouse connected to the management server 500. This process may be executed while the molding cycle is being performed in the molding machine management system 10, or may be executed when the molding cycle is stopped.

[0022] In step S10, control unit 510 acquires a lot number and a shot number from the administrator via an input device.

[0023] In step S20, the control unit 510 obtains, from the inspection result database 522, the inspection image and the inspection result corresponding to the lot number and shot number obtained in step S10, together with the molding condition data corresponding to the lot number.

[0024] In step S30, the control unit 510 displays each of the data acquired in step S20, i.e., the inspection image of the molded product, the inspection results of the molded product, and the cavity number of the molded product, on the same screen of the display unit 600. That is, the control unit 510 simultaneously displays the inspection image of the molded product, the inspection results of the molded product, and the cavity number of the molded product on the display unit 600. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the lot number and shot number acquired from the administrator in step S20, and the molding conditions represented by the molding condition data acquired in step S20, are displayed on the same screen together with the inspection image, the inspection results, and the cavity number.

[0025] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the display contents of the display unit 600 in this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, in this embodiment, the control unit 510 displays the inspection images TI of the molded products molded in each cavity in a line in the order of the cavity numbers. FIG. 5 shows an inspection image TI of a circular molded product as an example of a molded product. The control unit 510 displays the respective inspection results near each inspection image TI. FIG. 4 shows an example in which "abnormal" or "normal" is displayed as the inspection result, and the measurement value measured using the inspection image TI is also displayed. The measurement value shown in FIG. 4 represents the diameter of the molded product.

[0026] In this embodiment, the control unit 510 causes the display unit 600 to display the inspection image TI of a molded article for which the inspection result is abnormal in a manner different from that of the inspection image TI of a molded article for which the inspection result is normal. Fig. 4 shows an example in which the inspection image TI of a molded article determined to be abnormal is surrounded by a thick line. Note that the display manner of the image of the molded article determined to be abnormal is not limited to this, and the image of the molded article determined to be abnormal may be displayed in a different color from that of the image of the molded article determined to be normal.

[0027] 4, in this embodiment, the lot number, shot number, and molding conditions are displayed on the same screen together with the cavity number, the inspection image TI, and the inspection results. In addition to these pieces of information, the control unit 510 may also cause the display unit 600 to display, for example, values ​​of control limit lines and specification values ​​as numerical information used for quality control of molded products. The control limit lines include an upper control limit line, a center line, and a lower control limit line, and the specification values ​​include an upper specification value and a lower specification value.

[0028] According to the molding machine management system 10 of the present embodiment described above, an image of a molded product molded by the injection molding machine 100, the inspection result of the molded product, and information about the cavity are displayed on the same screen, so that the relationship between the cavity in which the molded product was molded and the quality of the molded product can be easily confirmed. As a result, it becomes easier to identify the cause of molding defects. For example, if the same cavity is used to mold a molded product that is determined to be a molding defect, it can be identified that the defect is due to that cavity. Also, for example, if defects frequently occur in a cavity even though there is no problem with the cavity or molding conditions, it can be assumed that the defects are caused by the influence of adjacent cavities.

[0029] Furthermore, in this embodiment, an image of the molded product molded by the injection molding machine 100, the inspection results of the molded product, and information about the cavity are displayed on the same screen along with the molding conditions, making it easy to understand the molding conditions when an abnormality occurs in the molded product.

[0030] B. Second embodiment: 5 is a diagram showing the data structure of an inspection result database 522b in the second embodiment. In the inspection result database 522b in this embodiment, images of the parting surface of the molding die 120 used in the lot are associated with each lot number. Other points are the same as the inspection result database 522 in the first embodiment. The image of the parting surface is captured by, for example, an administrator and recorded in the storage unit 520. The configuration of the molding machine management system 10 in the second embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment, so a description thereof will be omitted.

[0031] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the display contents of the display unit 600 in the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, in this embodiment, the control unit 510 acquires an image PI of the parting surface including the cavities of the molding die 120 from the inspection result database 522b, and displays the inspection image TI on the image PI of the parting surface according to the arrangement of the cavities. The position of each cavity on the parting surface is recorded, for example, in the inspection result database 522b together with the image PI of the parting surface. The control unit 510 displays the cavity number, the inspection result, and the measurement value near the corresponding inspection image TI. Also in this embodiment, the lot number, the shot number, and the molding conditions are displayed.

[0032] According to the second embodiment described above, the inspection image of the molded product is displayed according to the arrangement of the cavities, so that the position of the cavity in which the defective molded product was molded can be easily grasped.

[0033] Furthermore, in the second embodiment, an image of the parting surface showing multiple cavities is displayed in association with information related to the cavities, making it easy to understand the arrangement of the cavities on the parting surface of molding die 120. Also, the position of the cavity from which an abnormal molded product was molded can be easily understood on the image of the parting surface.

[0034] In this embodiment, an image of the parting surface of the casting mold 120 is displayed on the display unit 600, but an image of the molded product may be displayed in accordance with the arrangement of the cavities on the parting surface without displaying an image of the parting surface. Also, an administrator may be able to select whether to display or not the image of the parting surface.

[0035] C. Other embodiments: (C1) In the above embodiment, the control unit 510 displays the image of the molded article for which the inspection result is abnormal in a manner different from that of the image of the molded article for which the inspection result is normal. In contrast, the control unit 510 may display the fact that the inspection result is different by using text, and display the image of the molded article in the same manner.

[0036] (C2) In the above embodiment, the control unit 510 displays an image of the molded product molded by the injection molding machine 100, the inspection results of the molded product, and information about the cavity, together with the molding conditions, on the same screen. In contrast, the control unit 510 may omit displaying the molding conditions. Furthermore, when the control unit 510 receives a predetermined operation from the administrator, it may display the molding conditions on a screen separate from the image of the molded product, etc.

[0037] (C3) In the above embodiment, the inspection device 300 performs the inspection using images captured by the camera 320. In contrast, the inspection device 300 may inspect the molded products by controlling a contact sensor or an optical sensor using a laser or the like. In this case, the camera 320 that captures the images of the molded products does not have to be provided in the inspection device 300, and may be provided in the extractor 200, for example, or may be disposed on the path along which the trays are transported. Even in this case, the camera 320 captures images of the molded products in the order of cavity numbers.

[0038] (C4) In the above embodiment, after the molded products are removed by the remover 200, the molding machine management system 10 may control a laser engraving machine or the like to engrave a unique identifier for each molded product, which is a combination of a lot number, shot number, and cavity number.

[0039] (C5) In the above embodiment, the shot number is transmitted from the injection molding machine 100 to the inspection device 300 via the management server 500. In contrast to this, the shot number may be transmitted directly from the injection molding machine 100 to the inspection device 300 via the network 20.

[0040] D. Other forms: The present disclosure is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and can be realized in various configurations without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. For example, the technical features of the embodiments corresponding to the technical features in each form described below can be appropriately replaced or combined in order to solve some or all of the above-mentioned problems or to achieve some or all of the above-mentioned effects. Furthermore, if a technical feature is not described as essential in this specification, it can be appropriately deleted.

[0041] (1) According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a molding machine management system comprising: a molding machine that molds a molded product using a mold having multiple cavities; a camera that captures an image of the molded product molded by the molding machine; an inspection device that inspects the molded product; and a management server having a control unit that acquires the image captured by the camera and the inspection results by the inspection device and displays them on a display unit, the management server comprising a storage unit that stores the image of the molded product, the inspection results of the molded product, and information on the cavity in which the molded product is molded, in association with each other, and the control unit displays the image of the molded product molded by the molding machine, the inspection results of the molded product, and information on the cavity in which the molded product is molded on the same screen of the display unit. According to this embodiment, an image of the molded product molded by the molding machine, the inspection results of the molded product, and information about the cavity in which the molded product was molded are displayed on the same screen, so that the relationship between the cavity in which the molded product was molded and the quality of the molded product can be easily confirmed. As a result, the cause of molding defects can be easily identified.

[0042] (2) In the above embodiment, the control unit may cause the display unit to display an image of the molded product for which the inspection result is abnormal in a manner different from that of an image of the molded product for which the inspection result is normal. With this embodiment, it is possible to easily identify molded products in which an abnormality has occurred.

[0043] (3) In the above embodiment, the control unit may cause the display unit to display an image of the molded product in accordance with the arrangement of the cavities in the mold. With this embodiment, it is possible to easily identify a molded product having an abnormality and the position of the cavity from which the molded product was molded.

[0044] (4) In the above embodiment, the storage unit may store an image of a parting surface of the mold on which the multiple cavities are depicted, and the control unit may cause the display unit to display the image of the parting surface in association with information about the cavities. With this embodiment, the arrangement of the cavities on the parting surface of the mold can be easily grasped.

[0045] (5) In the above embodiment, the storage unit may store molding conditions, and the control unit may display an image of the molded product, inspection results of the molded product, and information about the cavity in which the molded product was molded, together with the molding conditions, on the same screen. With this embodiment, the molding conditions can be easily grasped when an abnormality occurs.

[0046] (6) According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program that causes a computer to realize a function of acquiring an image of a molded product molded by a molding machine that molds a molded product using a molding die having multiple cavities, an inspection result of the molded product, a function of storing the image of the molded product, the inspection result of the molded product, and information on the cavity in which the molded product is molded in a storage unit in association with each other, and a function of controlling a display unit to display the image of the molded product, the inspection result of the molded product, and information on the cavity in which the molded product is molded on the same screen. [Explanation of symbols]

[0047] 10...molding machine management system, 20...network, 100...injection molding machine, 110...first control unit, 120...molding mold, 200...removal machine, 210...second control unit, 220...removal robot, 300...inspection device, 310...third control unit, 320...camera, 500...management server, 510...control unit, 520...storage unit, 521...computer program, 522, 522b...inspection result database, 600...display unit

Claims

1. A molding machine that molds a molded product using a mold having a plurality of cavities; A camera that captures an image of a molded product molded by the molding machine; An inspection device for inspecting the molded product; a management server having a control unit that acquires the image captured by the camera and the inspection results by the inspection device and displays them on a display unit; Equipped with the management server includes a storage unit that stores a lot number of the molded product, a shot number of the molded product, an image of the molded product, an inspection result of the molded product, and information about a cavity in which the molded product is molded, in association with each other; the control unit acquires a lot number and a shot number from an administrator through an input device, acquires from the storage unit an image of the molded product corresponding to the acquired lot number and shot number, an inspection result of the molded product, and information regarding the cavity in which the molded product was molded, and displays them on the same screen of the display unit together with the lot number of the molded product and the shot number of the molded product. Molding machine management system.

2. The molding machine management system according to claim 1, The control unit causes the display unit to display an image of a molded product for which the inspection result is abnormal in a manner different from that of an image of a molded product for which the inspection result is normal.

3. The molding machine management system according to claim 1 or 2, A molding machine management system in which the control unit causes an image of the molded product to be displayed on the display unit according to the arrangement of the cavities in the mold.

4. The molding machine management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The memory unit stores an image of a parting surface of the mold on which the plurality of cavities are represented, The control unit associates an image of the parting surface with information about the cavity and displays them on the display unit.

5. The molding machine management system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, The storage unit stores molding conditions, A molding machine management system in which the control unit displays, on the same screen, an image of the molded product, inspection results of the molded product, and information regarding the cavity in which the molded product was molded, together with the molding conditions.

6. A function of acquiring an image of a molded product formed by a molding machine that molds a molded product using a mold having a plurality of cavities, and an inspection result of the molded product; a function of storing in a storage unit a lot number of the molded product, a shot number of the molded product, an image of the molded product, an inspection result of the molded product, and information about a cavity in which the molded product is molded, in association with each other; a function of acquiring a lot number and a shot number from an administrator through an input device, acquiring from the memory unit an image of the molded product corresponding to the acquired lot number and shot number, an inspection result of the molded product, and information regarding the cavity in which the molded product was molded, and controlling a display unit to display them on the same screen together with the lot number of the molded product and the shot number of the molded product; A computer program that enables a computer to achieve the above.

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