This invention relates to a data acquisition (DAQ) system for capturing data on operating states of machines and other equipments, that is to say, auto cycle running state, idle state and breakdown state; for converting auto cycle running time into machine utilization and production data. The said invention also enables instant production and machine/equipment utilization data to be made available on the intranet/internet.

This invention can be used with any of the Programmable Logic Controller/Computer Numerical Control operated machines and other equipments for capturing their states from corresponding outputs of their Programmable Logic Controller/Computer Numerical Control controllers.

In general DAQ units known to the art are being used for data acquisition in machines, in test rigs, in engine assembly lines and in vehicle-assembly lines.

The drawbacks of the known DAQ units are: Generally, data is not available instantly. For instance, if there is any machine or equipment breakdown, it will not be known to the ceil supervisor immediately for taking corrective
action.

Equipment/machine under utilization and production loss can occur due to lack of vital facts.

Since data entry is manual, it can lead to errors and inaccuracy.

Since data entry is manual, it can be "doctored" by dishonest operators.

No live centralized data availability and transparency.

As there is no transparency in percentage of autocycle time, idle time and breakdown time for each machine, it is difficult to keep track of these events and improve performance methods.

This invention therefore proposes a data acquisition system, one of various possible embodiment of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, by way of example, and not by way of limitation,

Fig.1 illustrating the data acquisition unit

Fig. 2 illustrating a three tier lamp And

Fig.3 illustrating the data acquisition system as a whole.

Usually, in any Programmable Logic Controller/Computer Numerical Control based machine/equipment three outputs will be provided which will be connected to a three-tier lamp

(Fig.2). The green lamp represents auto cycle running;

yellow lamp represents idle state and red lamp represents breakdown state.

Three outputs from Programmable

Logic Controller/Computer Numerical Control, which are parallel to three tier lamp inputs are connected to data acquisition system (Fig.3).

The data acquisition systerp (Fig.3), data acquisition unit (Fig.1) and data capturing software are designed to capture machine status, that is, auto cycle time (when machine is in production state) idle time (during which machine will be idle) and breakdown time (when machine is not in "healthy"condition) from the inputs duration.

Using the Graphical user interface software duration of each

status will be captured and uploaded to SQL (STRUCTURED QUERY LANGUAGE) SERVER Database on an hourly basis. The proposed output screen of the machine is shown in Fig. 3- When the auto cycle changes to idle state (green colour to yellow colour) it will be counted as one component. If auto cycle changes to breakdown state due to any problem, this count will be aborted.

Data such as machine address, auto cycled time, idle time, breakdown time, shift (first, second or third) start time, end time, duration of each status, total time and part count will be captured by the data acquisition and its software.

The above data will be processed in accordance with user requirements using front end Graphical User Interface based software and SQL Data base as back end . Data can be viewed in the intranet/internet.

The benefits accruing from this invention are:

If there is any machine/equipment breakdown, this will be communicated to the cell supervisor at once, to take immediate corrective action.

Equipment/machine utilization and productivity will be improved due to immediate machine/equipment status communication.

Centralised data of-all the cells will be available live in the intranet/internet.

Repetitive data entry is eliminated and no manual entry of data is necessary; hence no errors.

Data storage and retrieval made easy.

Transparency in percentage of auto cycle time, Idle time and breakdown time for each machine are made available live. This data helps to improve machine/equipment utilization.

It will be appreciated that various other embodiments of this invention are possible without departing from its scope and ambit.

We Claim:

1. A data acquisition system for capturing data on operating states of machines and other equipments comprising a data acquisition unit having a microcontroller incorporating data capturing software; a three tier multicolour lamp, each colour indicative of the three states of the said machine/equipment, namely, auto cycle running state, idle state and breakdown state; three output terminals of the said machine/equipment being respectively connected to the three input terminals of the microcontroller and to the three input terminals of the said lamp corresponding to the said states, the said microcontroller capturing the precise state of the machine/equipment to activate the said lamp to glow in the appropriate colour; a computer on which the captured data of the microcontroller is constantly uploaded, for displaying the same on its screen; an intranet/internet server to which the said data is sent by the computer.

2. A data acquisition system for capturing data on operating states of machines and other equipments substantially as herein described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.