Patent ID: 12189360

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

A preferred embodiment is described with reference to accompanying drawings. Note that, in the drawings, the same or equivalent components are denoted by the same reference numerals. Repetitive descriptions of the components are appropriately simplified or omitted.

Embodiment 1

FIG.1is a configuration diagram of a rolling facility to which a manufacturing facility diagnosis support apparatus according to Embodiment 1 is applied.

As illustrated inFIG.1, the rolling facility includes a plurality of heating furnaces1, a sizing press2, a plurality of edgers3, a plurality of roughing mills4, a shear5, a plurality of finishing mills6, and a plurality of coilers7.

The plurality of heating furnaces1are provided on the most upstream side of the rolling facility. The plurality of heating furnaces1are provided to heat a material to be rolled.

The sizing press2is provided on a downstream side of the plurality of heating furnaces1. The sizing press2is provided to roll the material to be rolled in a width direction.

The plurality of edgers3are provided on the downstream side of the sizing press2. The plurality of edgers3are provided to roll the material to be rolled in the width direction.

The plurality of roughing mills4are provided on the downstream side of the respective edgers3. The plurality of roughing mills4are provided to roll the material to be rolled in a thickness direction.

The shear5is provided on the downstream side of the plurality of roughing mills4. The shear5is provided to cut the material to be rolled.

The plurality of finishing mills6are provided on the downstream side of the shear5. The plurality of finishing mills6are provided to roll the material to be rolled in the thickness direction.

The plurality of coilers7are provided on the downstream side of the plurality of finishing mills6. The plurality of coilers7are provided to wind up the material to be rolled.

A diagnosis support apparatus8constantly or intermittently collects operation information indicating an operation state of each of the apparatuses in the rolling facility or a state of the material to be rolled. The diagnosis support apparatus8stores the operation information in each of processes of the rolling facility in association with information on a position of the material to be rolled. For example, the diagnosis support apparatus8stores, as the operation information, information on a load applied from an unillustrated measuring instrument to the material to be rolled, information on a current flowing through each of the apparatuses, information on a speed of the material to be rolled in each of the processes, information on presence/absence of a manual intervention signal, or other information.

When a range including an investigation target position of the material to be rolled is designated, the diagnosis support apparatus8extracts operation information changed at a position corresponding to the designated range, from the operation information stored in the own apparatus.

For example, as illustrated in an upper row ofFIG.1, in a case where abnormality of the material to be rolled is found in the process by the finishing mills6by a person in charge, a range including an abnormal position of the material to be rolled relating to the abnormality is designated. In this case, the diagnosis support apparatus8extracts operation information particularly largely changed at a position corresponding to the range.

For example, as illustrated in a middle row ofFIG.1, the diagnosis support apparatus8extracts operation information particularly largely changed in the process by the shear5.

For example, as illustrated in a lower row ofFIG.1, the diagnosis support apparatus8extracts operation information particularly largely changed in the process by the roughing mill4on the downstream side.

A terminal apparatus9displays the operation information extracted by the diagnosis support apparatus8.

Next, the diagnosis support apparatus8and the terminal apparatus9are described with reference toFIG.2.

FIG.2is a block diagram illustrating the manufacturing facility diagnosis support apparatus and the terminal apparatus according to Embodiment 1.

As illustrated inFIG.2, the diagnosis support apparatus8includes a storage unit8a, a designation unit8b, and an extraction unit8c.

The storage unit8astores identification information and tracking information on the material to be rolled in association with the operation information. At this time, the storage unit8arecognizes a head end and a tail end of the material to be rolled based on boundary information on each of the processes. For example, the storage unit8arecognizes the head end and the tail end of the material to be rolled by using, as the boundary information, information on load applied to the material to be rolled in each of the processes. For example, the storage unit8arecognizes the head end of the material to be rolled when the load applied to the material to be rolled is abruptly increased from zero. For example, the storage unit8arecognizes the tail end of the material to be rolled when the load applied to the material to be rolled abruptly becomes zero.

The designation unit8bdesignates the material to be rolled and the range including the investigation target position of the material to be rolled based on information from outside. The designation unit8bdesignates operation information corresponding to the range including the investigation target position of the material to be rolled, from the operation information stored in the storage unit8a.

The extraction unit8cextracts, as the changed operation information, operation information satisfying a preset condition from the operation information designated by the designation unit8b. For example, in a case where the operation information is information indicating on or off of each of the processes in the rolling facility, the extraction unit8cextracts operation information on a range where the process is switched from on to off or operation information on a range where the process is switched from off to on. For example, in a case where the operation information is information indicating a numerical value such as a temperature of the material to be rolled, the extraction unit8cextracts operation information on a range where the numerical value is changed in a step-wise manner. For example, in the case where the operation information is information indicating the numerical value such as the temperature of the material to be rolled, the extraction unit8cextracts operation information on a range where a value of a change rate per unit time is greater than a preset threshold. For example, in the case where the operation information is information indicating the numerical value such as the temperature of the material to be rolled, the extraction unit8cextracts operation information on a range where the numerical value has a characteristic difference to past operation information. Note that, in the case where the operation information is information indicating the numerical value such as the temperature of the material to be rolled, the extraction unit8cextracts operation information in a range where the numerical value is not changed at all.

The terminal apparatus9includes an input unit9aand an output unit9b.

The input unit9ais provided to receive operation from outside. For example, in the diagnosis of the rolling facility, the input unit9atransmits, to the diagnosis support apparatus8, the information on the material to be rolled and the information designating the range including the investigation target position of the material to be rolled based on operation by a diagnostician of the rolling facility.

The output unit9breceives information from outside. The output unit9boutputs the information. For example, the output unit9bdisplays the information. For example, the output unit9bdisplays the operation information extracted by the extraction unit8c. At this time, the output unit9bdisplays the identification information on the material to be rolled and the identification information on each of the processes in association with the operation information.

Next, outline of the operation of the diagnosis support apparatus8is described with reference toFIG.3.

FIG.3is a flowchart to explain the outline of the operation of the manufacturing facility diagnosis support apparatus according to Embodiment 1.

In step S1, the diagnosis support apparatus8determines whether input of the information designating the range including the investigation target position of the material to be rolled has been received. In a case where input of the information designating the range including the investigation target position of the material to be rolled has not been received in step S1, the diagnosis support apparatus8performs the operation in step S1. In a case where input of the information designating the range including the investigation target position of the material to be rolled has been received in step S1, the diagnosis support apparatus8performs operation in step S2.

In step S2, the diagnosis support apparatus8extracts operation information changed at a position corresponding to the designated range, from the operation information stored in the own apparatus. Thereafter, the diagnosis support apparatus8performs operation in step S3. In step S3, the diagnosis support apparatus8transmits the information extracted by the own apparatus, to the terminal apparatus9. Thereafter, the diagnosis support apparatus8performs the operation in step S1.

According to Embodiment 1 described above, when the range including the position of the material to be rolled is designated, the diagnosis support apparatus8automatically extracts the operation information changed at the position corresponding to the range. Therefore, even a person in charge having little experience can support efficient diagnosis of the rolling facility even when past operation information on the manufacturing facility is not present. As a result, it is possible to early solve a trouble of the rolling facility.

At this time, when only the operation information in the process that is upstream of the process in which abnormality has been found is extracted, it is possible to more efficiently diagnose the rolling facility.

Further, the diagnosis support apparatus8extracts the operation information in which operation is switched from on to off or the operation information in which operation is switched from off to on at the position corresponding to the designated range. This makes it possible to more reliably grasp an abnormal event of the rolling facility.

Further, the diagnosis support apparatus8extracts the operation information satisfying the preset change condition at the position corresponding to the designated range. This makes it possible to more reliably grasp an abnormal event of the rolling facility.

Note that, when the operation information changed in the diagnosis support apparatus8is displayed on the terminal apparatus9, the identification information on the corresponding process or the identification information on the corresponding apparatus may be displayed in association with the operation information. In this case, it is possible to more reliably grasp an abnormal event of the rolling facility.

Further, the processes by the plurality of apparatuses may be collected to one process. For example, the processes by the plurality of finishing mills6may be integrated into a single process. For example, the processes by the plurality of coilers7may be integrated into a single process. In this case, it is also possible to support efficient diagnosis of the rolling facility even when the past operation information on the manufacturing facility is not present.

Further, the diagnosis support apparatus8of Embodiment 1 may be applied to a manufacturing facility other than the rolling facility. For example, the diagnosis support apparatus8of Embodiment 1 may be applied to a papermaking facility for processing paper as a material. In this case, even a person in charge having little experience can support efficient diagnosis of the manufacturing facility even when past operation information on the manufacturing facility is not present.

Next, an example of the diagnosis support apparatus8is described with reference toFIG.4.

FIG.4is a hardware configuration diagram of the manufacturing facility diagnosis support apparatus according to Embodiment 1.

The functions of the diagnosis support apparatus8can be realized by processing circuitry. For example, the processing circuitry includes at least one processor100aand at least one memory100b. For example, the processing circuitry includes at least one dedicated hardware200.

In a case where the processing circuitry includes the at least one processor100aand the at least one memory100b, each of the functions of the diagnosis support apparatus8is realized by software, firmware, or a combination of the software and the firmware. At least one of the software and the firmware is described as a program. At least one of the software and the firmware is stored in the at least one memory100b. The at least one processor100areads out and executes a program stored in the at least one memory100b, to realize each of the functions of the diagnosis support apparatus8. The at least one processor100ais also referred to as a central processing unit, a processing device, a calculation device, a microprocessor, a microcomputer, or a DSP. For example, the at least one memory100bis a nonvolatile or volatile semiconductor memory such as a RAM, a ROM, a flash memory, an EPROM, and an EEPROM, a magnetic disk, a flexible disk, an optical disk, a compact disk, a minidisk, or a DVD.

In the case where the processing circuitry includes the at least one dedicated hardware200, the processing circuitry is realized by, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel-programmed processor, an ASIC, a FPGA, or a combination thereof. For example, the functions of the diagnosis support apparatus8are each realized by the processing circuitry. For example, the functions of the diagnosis support apparatus8are collectively realized by the processing circuitry.

A part of the functions of the diagnosis support apparatus8may be realized by the dedicated hardware200, and the other functions may be realized by the software or the firmware. For example, the function of the extraction unit8cmay be realized by the processing circuitry as the dedicated hardware200, and the functions other than the function of the extraction unit8cmay be realized in such a manner that the at least one processor100areads out and executes programs stored in the at least one memory100b.

As described above, the processing circuitry realizes the functions of the diagnosis support apparatus8by the hardware200, the software, the firmware, or a combination thereof.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As described above, the manufacturing facility diagnosis support apparatus of the present disclosure can be used in a system.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

1Heating furnace2Sizing press3Edger4Roughing mill5Shear6Finishing mill7Coiler8Diagnosis support apparatus8aStorage unit8bDesignation unit8cExtraction unit9Terminal apparatus9aInput unit9bOutput unit100aProcessor100bMemory200Hardware