Abstract:
A computer network is used to manage and monitor operation of a box-finishing machine which prints information on and cuts or creases corrugated boards to be formed into boxes. The equipment used on the machine is provided with radio frequency information tags detected by an electronic reader which transmits the identification to a computer so that it can be determined by an operator that sufficient equipment is in storage and staging areas for use on the machine. Several computer terminals are provided at different areas throughout a plant so that access is easily provided to different personnel.

Description:
INTRODUCTION  
       [0001]     The present invention generally relates to corrugated box plants and more specifically to their finishing machines which print indicia on and cut, and/or crease the corrugated boards which will form the boxes. Although the present invention is particularly suited to box plant finishing machines, it will have applicability elsewhere.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION  
       [0002]     In the box making industry, after the corrugated boards are made such as by a corrugating machine, they go to a finishing machine where they are conveyed to a printing station where an inked printing roller prints the desired indicia on each board. The indicia can be for example the name or trademark of the goods to be contained in the box and other useful information. The boards are then conveyed to another station where the board is cut and creased to later facilitate forming the blanks into boxes or other corrugated products. The blanks may also be folded and glued to form flattened boxes. The boards are then typically discharged into a stacker and strapped for shipment to the point of use.  
         [0003]     Although finishing machines may be rated to run at ten thousand (10,000) boxes an hour, in reality they run at far less, for example, less than forty percent of their capacity or less than four thousand (4,000) boxes per hour. Various factors combine to result in this low efficiency. They often include the lack of proper supplies at the machine such as printing ink, printing plates, cutting dies, die bolts, plate mounting bands, tools, ink viscosity measuring devices, ink chemistry materials, etc. which must be applied or used in each job. In some cases the supplies, even if correct, are not brought to the machine in time. The result is that productivity is substantially reduced and the cost of manufacture is of course substantially increased. Moreover, many present box plants do not have any structured system for notifying a supervisor during a production run that the run is behind or will fall behind schedule. Even though training courses have been given to operators of the finishing machines to teach them the requirements for efficient operation, the reality is that many machines still run well below their capabilities.  
       OBJECTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION  
       [0004]     A main object of the present invention is to improve the productivity of finishing machines in a corrugated box plant. Included herein is the provision of novel methods and apparatus for improving the productivity of a finishing machine in a corrugated box plant.  
         [0005]     A further object of the present invention is to provide novel methods and apparatus for managing and monitoring the progress of a box-finishing machine to enable corrective action in the event of a slow down in production. Included herein is the provision of novel methods and apparatus for indicating when certain supplies and equipment are not in place for use in a box-finishing machine.  
         [0006]     Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel system including a computer network for managing and monitoring the operation of a box-finishing machine.  
       SUMMARY OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE PRESENT INVENTION  
       [0007]     In its preferred form, the present invention is embodied in a system for managing and monitoring a finishing machine in a corrugated box plant where sequential operations like printing and slotting and/or creasing are sequentially performed on corrugated boards at several stations along a path of travel. The system includes a computer having a program for scheduling each of the box-finishing jobs to be sequentially performed throughout a period, for example a day. The computer has another program for monitoring the progress of a job being run on the machine and whether or not various supplies and equipment are in place ready to be used when a job is to be run on the machine. The materials or equipment required to run a particular job can be divided into two categories. First are those items which are specific to the job (materials). This could include: 
        Printing plates     Cutting die     Inks     Corrugated blanks 
 
 A second category are tools and supplies that can be needed on any job (supplies). These could include: 
    Printing plate mounting bands     Cutting die mounting bolts     Wrenches     Ink viscosity and pH measuring devices     Ink chemistry maintenance materials     Cutting die repair materials 
 
 It is also necessary to supply specifications as to the operations the machine is to perform on the blank (specifications). These include: 
    Location and size of slots and scores on the blank     List of the needed materials     Expected set-up time and run speed 
 
 Most of this information is often included in the machines&#39; set-up computer. 
       
 
         [0021]     The containers of printing ink and the printing plates needed for the job are each provided with identification devices such as radio frequency identification devices (RFIDs) or radio frequency identification tags (hereinafter “RFIT”) whose signals are received by electronic readers that pass the information contained in the RFIT to the computer. The needed cutting dies at the staging area are similarly monitored by RFITs fixed to each of the dies to transmit to one or more readers communicating with the computer. The program can then compare the materials at the staging area with those required by upcoming jobs. If the proper materials are not in place at a predetermined time before the job is to be set-up, those responsible for getting the materials in place and/or a supervisor would be notified so that remedial action can be taken before the materials are needed. Such notification could take many forms such as pop-up boxes on computer terminals, beeper messages or flashing lights.  
         [0022]     Supplies are provided in a storage area adjacent the machine for ready inspection and use by the operator.  
         [0023]     Before the beginning of a shift, an operator or supervisor will inspect the supply storage area and make an entry into the computer indicating that the needed supplies are in place or that certain supplies are missing and are needed. A card or bar code reader or a RFIT worn by the person would identify the person and send this information to the computer so that the person&#39;s identity would be known to and accessible from the computer. If any supplies are missing or absent from the supply area, the operator or persons responsible for maintaining the stock of supplies can correct it before the shift starts. Once corrected he would make through a terminal at the storage area or elsewhere, an entry into the computer indicating the needed supplies are in place and the time of his entry. Certain materials such as cutting dies and printing plates are re-used whenever the particular job is run. The person having responsibility for maintaining the printing plates and cutting dies would make an entry into the computer indicating that the parts have been inspected and found in order or the parts were repaired after each use. The time of inspection and repair would also be entered in the computer. This information would be combined with the information from RFITs to ensure that the tooling is in good order before the job is to be run. The computer program would also give the computer the capability of recording the time when equipment or supplies are first brought to or removed from storage and staging areas and/or the finishing machine.  
         [0024]     Since the computer would have information on the job that is running and on the job to be set up, it would know the time expected for various set-up steps. Because of the RFITs used, it would know when the printing plate, ink and cutting dies were removed from the staging area indicating the beginning of each step of the set-up. It would know when the wash-up cycle was initiated from the machine. With this information, it could alert the operator when he or she should be finishing various steps. If the set-up, or even a set-up step was taking much longer than anticipated, the system would alert a supervisor and/or manager through computer screen pop-ups, large blinking lights over the machine and/or through a pager like device. This would allow immediate attention to determine the problem. Similarly, the expected running speed for the job would be in the computer record and if the machine were running significantly slower than that, or experiencing frequent stoppages, a similar warning would be issued. In addition to providing prompts for employees to do what is necessary to run the machine efficiently, the computer system would also be used to record all relevant events and provide documentation of performance for management.  
     
    
     DRAWINGS  
       [0025]     Other objects and advantages of the present inventions will become apparent from the following more detailed description taken in conjunction with the attached drawings in which:  
         [0026]      FIG. 1  is a side, elevational view of a finishing machine for corrugated board; and  
         [0027]      FIG. 2  is a schematic view of a system for managing a finishing machine for corrugated board produced in a box plant. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0028]     Referring to the drawings in detail there is shown in  FIG. 1  for illustrative purposes only, a finishing machine for corrugated boards used to form boxes in industry. The machine includes inlet pull rolls  26 A  26 B for sequentially receiving corrugated boards  24  from any suitable feeder (not shown) and delivering the boards to a print station  14  including a print impression roller  28  and a printer roller  30 . The impression roller  28  contacts the upper surface of the boards  24  and the printer roller  30  contacts the lower surface.  
         [0029]     The printer roller  30  cooperates with an ink roller  32  which, in turn, cooperates with a doctor roller  34  so that predetermined printed matter is placed on the bottom surface  24 A of the box blank  24 . The box blank  24 , having printed matter on its bottom surface  24 A, is moved out of printer station  14 , and into dryer section  16  by means of the counter-rotating impression roller  28  and printer roller  30 .  
         [0030]     The die cutting section  18  comprises cutting die roller  46  and anvil roller  48  which come together so as to form cutout hand holes, tabs, and the like in the box blank  24 . The cutting die  46  contacts the top surface  24 B of the box blank, whereas the anvil roller contacts the bottom surface  24 A of the box blank  24 . The cutting die  46  has projection  46 A which comes down onto the top surface  24 B where it mates with the anvil  48  which provides a solid support surface directly positioned under the bottom surface  24 A of the box blank  24 . Projection  46 A has a shape corresponding to the desired shape of the cutout being formed, whereas the anvil roller  48  has a penetrable surface, commonly provided by removable covers, to allow penetration of the projection  46 A. The counter-rotating cutting die roller and anvil roller move the box blank  24 , into the stacking section  20 , where a stack of boxes is formed while the cutout  24 C is removed onto conveyor  50 . The stacked boxes are moved on and later exit the machine.  
         [0031]     Referring to  FIG. 2  there is shown a preferred system of the present invention for managing the operations of the finishing machine of  FIG. 1 . The system includes a main computer  60  having a program A for scheduling the various jobs to be performed throughout a given period, for example a day period. The program would also include the scheduled time duration for each of the jobs as well as the specifications including the identifications of the stock (corrugated boards) including the size, the printing ink, the printing plates and the cutting dies for each job.  
         [0032]     Storage areas  62 ,  64  and  66  are provided for the printing inks  68 , printing plates  70  and cutting dies  72 . Each of these items is provided with an identification tag  74  such as a RFIT. In addition a reader  76  including an antenna is provided at each storage area to receive a signal from the RFIT  68  to indicate the presence of these items. This information is conveyed to a receiver connected to or integrated in the computer so that a program can determine from the computer the status of the inventory at each of the storage areas  62 ,  64  and  66 . In addition, computers or computer terminals  80  in communication with central computer  60  are provided at the printing plate and cutting die storage areas  64  and  66  (as shown in  FIG. 2 ) to enable workmen to easily access or add information to the central computer  60 . Similarly, computer terminals  80  may also be provided at the ink and staging areas  62  and  78  and at various other locations such as in the purchasing area  82 , supervisor&#39;s office  84  and area  86  where incidental supplies are stored as well as any station along the finishing machine. These terminals  80  can be inputted to add information to or obtain information from the computer network. Supplies typically maintained at station  86  would include printing plate mounting bands for holding the printing plates on printing rollers, cutting die bolts for securing the cutting dies on the die cylinders or rollers; cleaning brushes, ink viscosity measuring devices, ink chemistry materials, tools and cleaning rags.  
         [0033]     When a job is entered into the schedule, the program checks that the proper ink, printing plates and cutting dies are in storage by interrogating the store rooms through the RFITs and readers  76 . Through the records of other jobs scheduled, the program can determine if these items are in use on other jobs. If the materials are neither in the stockroom or in use on other jobs, the program alerts the person responsible to obtain the needed materials. In plants with corrugators, the supply of board is often handled through a specialized computer program which can provide the finishing department program with information about the supply of board without using the RFIT system. The computer program can then check the storage areas  62 ,  64 ,  66  to see if there are adequate supplies of ink, printing plates and cutting dies to cover the scheduled jobs. He would then check the incidental supplies area  86  that someone has verified that there were enough of those supplies to cover the scheduled jobs. If the supplies were deficient they would be corrected and the antennas at the storage areas  62 ,  64 ,  66  and staging areas  78  would transmit this correction to the computer  60 .  
         [0034]     Before a job was scheduled to begin, the computer program would check the staging area  78  to make sure that the necessary ink  68 , printing plates  70  and dies  72  are ready to be applied to the machine. Once it was determined that sufficient supplies were present in the storage areas and that the necessary materials were at the staging area  78 , the operator would commence the job. In addition, if the job being run on the machine is taking too long or is being interrupted the computer will trigger a signal or alarm to enable corrective action to be taken. In this regard, the computer will have all the information needed to determine whether the problem is one of lack of supplies or supplies that have not been deployed in time.  
         [0035]     Any suitable, preferably high frequency, RFID system may be employed in carrying out the present invention, one such system being shown by way of example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,448,886 whose disclosure is hereby incorporated herein by reference. A typical system may include an integrated circuit including a reader  76  that sends a digital signal to a transceiver which generates radio frequency signals that are transmitted by a dipole antenna. The RDIT  74  has a dipole antenna across which a potential difference is generated by the electric field of the radio frequency signals generated by the reader&#39;s transceiver. The potential differences across the RFIT antenna causes a current to flow into a capacitor in the RFIT and the resulting charge is trapped there by a diode. The voltage across the capacitor turns on the RFIT&#39;s integrated circuit which sends out its unique identifier code as a series of digital high and low level signals that activate a transistor and are detected by the reader&#39;s transceiver which relays them to the integrated circuit where the RFIT&#39;s unique identification is determined and passed into the computer.  
         [0036]     Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described above, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications and adaptations of the invention may be made but without departure from the scope of the present invention indicated in the appended claims.