Patent Publication Number: US-2011054660-A1

Title: Apparatus and method

Description:
This invention relates to apparatuses and methods for obtaining, storing and providing access to operational data. 
     International Patent Application Publication WO/2006/117539A discloses a machine for handling partially formed containers, which comprises an indexing conveying device, a feeder arranged to supply to the conveying device, per index, a plurality of partially formed containers, one or more stations comprising a plurality of devices arranged to perform substantially identical operations on a group of containers constituted by the plurality of partially formed containers, the indexing conveying device being arranged to advance the group through the stations, and a controlling device arranged to cause the feeder to reduce to an integer the number of partially formed containers supplied, per index, to the conveying device. 
     The machine is operated by the controlling device via a number of servomechanisms associated with each of the operations carried out by the machine. One of the servomechanisms is used for homing a moving mechanical part of the machine, a servo motor driving the moving mechanical part, the controlling device controlling the servo motor, and a mechanical stop for stopping the moving mechanical part at a home position, wherein the controlling device is arranged to monitor servo motor power draw and to recognise the home position as corresponding to a position of the servo motor when the servo motor power draw reaches a predetermined value. 
     The machine of this Publication provides a control device that monitors servo motor power draw, but in situations such as machine failure, the machine must be stopped, and no data is readily available from the control device. 
     It is therefore an object of the invention to improve upon the known art. 
     According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided apparatus comprising a first member, a second member movable relative to said first member, a servo motor for driving said second member, a logic controller for controlling said servo motor, one or more inputs to said logic controller, the or each input being for transporting operational data, a storage device for storing said operational data, and an interface to said storage device, said interface being for providing access to said operational data. 
     According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method comprising operating a servo motor to generate relative movement between a first member and a second member, controlling said servo motor with a logic controller, receiving operational data at said logic controller, storing said operational data at a storage device, and providing access to said operational data via an interface. 
     According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a form-fill-seal packaging machine comprising a logic controller for controlling a component of said machine, one or more inputs to said logic controller, the or each input being for transporting operational data, a storage device for storing said operational data, and an interface to said storage device, said interface being for providing access to said operational data. 
     According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method comprising forming a partially formed container, filling said partially formed container, sealing said partially formed container, controlling a component with a logic controller, receiving operational data at said logic controller, storing said operational data at a storage device, and providing access to said operational data via an interface. 
     Owing to the invention, it is possible to provide and operate apparatus such that operational data is continually acquired and stored while the apparatus is functioning. Access to the operational data is possible while the apparatus is being used, which supports constant fault monitoring, which can be carried out remotely from the apparatus via the interface. At any time, a history of the operational parameters and performance, of the apparatus, is available, and this can be monitored in real time to anticipate faults. 
    
    
     
       Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:— 
         FIG. 1  is a partly diagrammatic, fragmentary, sectional, end elevation of a fitment-applying station of a form-fill-seal packaging machine, and 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of components of the machine of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
       FIG. 1  shows a fitment-applying station  10  for use as part of a form-fill-seal packaging machine. The station  10  can be used to apply pour-spout fitments to cartons used to package liquid food products such as milk or fruit juice. The cartons are made of a laminate comprised of a paperboard substrate and innermost and outermost layers of moisture barrier thermoplastics, possibly with an oxygen barrier layer of aluminium or thermoplastics being interposed between the substrate and the innermost layer. Endless chain conveyors  6  index open-topped, bottom-sealed carton sleeves  8  through various stations of the machine including the fitment-applying station  10 . 
     In  FIG. 1 , a first member providing an anvil is in the form of a rotary, four-armed spider  12  which is reciprocable horizontally and rotatable about its own axis. This form of spider is known, for example, from an Elopak® P-S120UC machine described in PCT/GB2006/003722. The spider  12  is rotated by an electric, rotary servomotor  14  through a transmission  16  in the form of a belt-and-pulley transmission whereby a horizontal shaft  18  to which the spider  12  is fixed is steppingly rotated about its own axis. 
     An electric rotary servomotor  20 , controlled so as to rotate oscillatingly, reciprocates the shaft  18  through a rack-and-pinion arrangement  22 . The shaft  18  is supported in bearings  24 ,  26  and  28  permitting both rotation and reciprocation of the shaft  18 . An ultrasonic stack  30  is mounted upon a horizontal slide  32 , itself reciprocated axially by a drive  34  including an electric rotary servomotor  36 . 
     A programmable logic controller (PLC)  38  controls various items of the applicator  10 , such as the servomotors  14 ,  20  and  36 . For example, the power output of the servomotor  36  is controlled by the PLC  38  in such a manner as to ensure that the force applied by a second member, a horn  40 , to the external surface of the carton  8 , backed up by the anvil  12 , does not exceed the predetermined, desired value stored by the PLC  38 . The operation of the logic controller  38  is described in more detail below, with reference to  FIG. 2 . 
     When the applicator  10  operates, one or more pour spout fitments are received on the anvil  12  by actuating its linear drive to move the anvil  12  from its retracted position to its retrieval position, where the anvil  12  receives a fitment from a supply track escapement. A pair of fitment-delivering, gravity tracks  42  with respective escapements  44  having respective, pneumatic piston-and-cylinder ejectors  46  provide the pour spout fitments. The linear drive is then actuated to move the anvil  12  from the retrieval position to the retracted position. The anvil pivot drive is then actuated to pivot the anvil  12  from the retracted position to the inserted position, transporting the fitment downward into the open top of the carton  8 . 
     The linear anvil drive is then actuated to move the anvil  12  from the retracted position to the mount position, causing the anvil  12  to insert a cylindrical portion of the fitment into the through-hole in a carton wall until a circumferential flange of the fitment contacts an inner surface of a portion of the carton wall that surrounds the through-hole, arresting anvil movement. 
     At or about the same time that the linear anvil drive is moving the flange of the fitment into contact with the inner surface of the carton wall, the horn drive  34  is actuated to move the ultrasonic horn  40  from its retracted position to its weld position, with the horn  40  contacting an outer surface of the portion of the carton wall surrounding the through-hole in the weld position. The horn  40  is then actuated to weld the fitment flange ultrasonically to the carton wall by transmitting ultrasonic energy into the carton wall and fitment flange when the ultrasonic horn  40  is in its weld position and the anvil  12  is in its mount position. 
       FIG. 2  shows in more detail the logic controller  38  in relation to the servo motor  36 , which is the servo motor that, through the drive  34 , reciprocates the ultrasonic stack  30 . The stack  30  includes a horn  40  which acts against the anvil  12  when a pour spout fitment is applied to the carton  8 . The logic controller  38  controls the operation of the servo motor  36  and receives back from that motor  36 , and from other components in the station  10 , operational data, which is stored by the logic controller  38 . The logic controller  38  is provided with one or more inputs, the or each input being for transporting operational data. A storage device is provided, either internally or externally of the logic controller  38 , for storing the operational data. 
     The operational data can include information such as the power drawn by the servo motor  36 , performance data gathered from an ultrasonic generator  56  such as frequency variations, the resonance frequency, weld start and end frequencies, length of time of each weld, energy values, and power failures, and data gathered from monitoring devices such as a temperature sensor. The devices such as the temperature sensor provide their operational data to the logic controller  38  via a function unit  48 . All of the operational data received by the logic controller  38  is continually stored, as the data is received at the various inputs to the logic controller  38 . The operational data for every single weld undertaken by the station  10  is stored by the logic controller  38 , providing full traceability. 
     The operational data can be monitored as it is received and can also be accessed by a suitable device remote from the station  10  through an interface  50  of the logic controller  38 . For example, the logic controller  38  can be provided with a network interface  50  which can allow the controller  38  to be connected to the Internet. In this case a computer with the correct IP address and security access can, through the network interface  50  of the logic controller  38 , access the operational data stored by the controller  38 . The interface  50  is to the storage device (which is either internal or external to the logic controller  38 ), the interface  50  being for providing access to the operational data. 
     The interface  50  can include a filter to restrict the access of external devices to only a portion of the operational data stored by the logic controller  38 . A maintenance department  52  and a quality control department  54  can be connected to the network interface  50 , and the filter in the interface  50  can be so configured that each of these departments has access to different subsets of the operational data stored by the logic controller  38 . 
     The logic controller  38  can be configured to monitor the operational data to perform real time fault monitoring. Each parameter, in the operational data monitored by the logic controller  38 , can be assigned a fault tolerance from a predefined optimum value. The fault tolerance could be +/−3%, for example. The logic controller  38  can be configured to trigger a warning when the fault tolerance is exceeded on any of the parameters making up the operational data. This warning could be rendered locally or could be transmitted by the logic controller  38  to a remote device. 
     The tolerances can also be monitored to adjust the performance of the station  10 , even if a fault is not specifically triggered. For example if one monitored parameter in the operational data is detected to be travelling away from its optimum value, yet not outside the tolerance boundary, adjustments to the operation of the components controlled by the logic controller  38  can be made to achieve the best possible working of the station  10 . 
     Another fault that can be monitored by the logic controller  38  is the absence of either/or both of the carton  8  and the pour spout fitment that is to be attached to the carton  8 . If, for any reason, there is no carton  8  and/or no pour spout fitment present, then the logic controller  38  can be configured to ensure that the ultrasonic stack  30  does not trigger. The functional unit  48  can be connected to a device that monitors for the presence of the necessary carton  8  and fitment and provides operational data to that effect to the logic controller  38 . 
     The logic controller  38  can monitor the operational data for the purpose of adjusting the operation of components to which it is connected. For example, if the logic controller  38  were to receive operational data from a temperature sensor that indicates that the temperature at the region of the horn  40  is rising, then a change in the operational parameters of the ultrasonic stack  30  can be made in response. The ultrasonic sealing frequency can be changed to take into account the rise in temperature, thereby saving energy at the sonic stack  30 . 
     The logic controller  38  can be provided with a user interface alternatively or in addition to the network interface  50 . This local user interface can include a display device and keypad, for example. This allows on site monitoring of the operational data stored by the logic controller  38 . Warnings generated by the logic controller  38  can also be presented via this user interface. 
     The user interface can also be utilised to select operating specifications such as the carton type and pour spout fitment configuration that are to be used in the station  10 . The user selection of the operating specifications changes the predefined optimum parameters that are being controlled and monitored by the logic controller  38 . 
     Other logic controllers within the form-fill-seal machine, such as a PLC  58  of a filling machine, are connected to the logic controller  38  of the station  10 . Operational data can be shared between the various logic controllers, and performance monitoring, performance adaptation and fault warning can all include operational data acquired by multiple logic controllers. The interface  50  of the logic controller  38  can be used to access operational data stored by other logic controllers within the form-fill-seal packaging machine.