Method, system and computer program for assisting decision making in choosing parts for assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10838411-B2
Application number	US-201715840034-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 13, 2017
Priority date	Dec 14, 2016
Publication date	Nov 17, 2020
Grant date	Nov 17, 2020

Abstract

The invention relates to a method of assembling parts chosen respectively from a plurality of first parts and a plurality of second parts. It comprises: for each first part and each second part of the plurality of first parts and the plurality of second parts the estimation of a defectiveness indicator for the assembly of the first part with the second part; for a batch of N assemblies is to be made, assignment (AFF) of N first parts from the plurality of first parts to N second parts from the plurality of second parts to form N pairs ({Ai, Bj}) of a first part and of a second part, said assignment being performed in such a way that said N pairs minimise a total defectiveness of the assembly. Application to the assembly of a blade and of a leading-edge reinforcement.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An assembly method for parts chosen from a plurality of first parts and a plurality of second parts, comprising the steps of:
for each first part and each second part from the plurality of first parts and the plurality of second parts, estimating, using a calculation unit, a quantity of material to be grinded so that the first part and the second part can be assembled, and a discrepancy between a relative position of the assembled first and second parts and a nominal relative position, wherein a sum of the estimated quantity and of the estimated discrepancy is a defectiveness indicator for an assembly of the first part with the second part;
reducing said defectiveness indicator when the first part has been available for assembly for a period which is greater than a first threshold or when the second part has been available for assembly for a period which is greater than a second threshold;
for a batch of N assemblies to be made, assigning by the calculation unit N first parts from the plurality of first parts to N second parts from the plurality of second parts to form N pairs of a first part and of a second part, wherein said N pairs minimise a total defectiveness, the total defectiveness being the sum of the defectiveness indicators for the assembly of the first part with the second part for each of the N pairs; and
assembling the N pairs of a first part and of a second part to produce the batch of N assemblies.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of first parts are blades and the plurality of second parts are leading-edge reinforcements.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising a step implemented by the calculation unit of reducing the defectiveness indicator for the assembly of the first part with the second part available for assembly when no second part, which will become available for assembly with the first part during the availability of the first part for assembly, can be assembled with the first part.

4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising a step implemented by the calculation unit of reducing the defectiveness indicator for the assembly of the first part with the second part available for assembly, said reduction being weighted by a factor which represents a probability that no first part, which will become available for assembly during the availability of the second part for assembly, can be assembled with the second part.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising a step implemented by the calculation unit of forming a sub-set of said plurality of first parts, said sub-set being composed of first parts among the plurality of first parts that have been available for assembly for the longest time, and wherein the N first parts assigned to the N second parts belong to said sub-set of said plurality of first parts.

6. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising a step implemented by the calculation unit of forming a sub-set of said plurality of second parts, said sub-set being composed of second parts among the plurality of second parts that have been available for assembly for the longest time and wherein the N second parts assigned to the N first parts belong to said sub-set of said plurality of second parts.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein forming the sub-set of said plurality of second parts is performed in such a way that the second parts of said sub-set of said plurality of second parts can be used with the first parts of said sub-set of first parts, to make M assemblies without machining, where M corresponds to the number of assemblies without machining which can be made with the second parts of said plurality of second parts and the first parts of said sub-set of said plurality of first parts.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the defectiveness indicator for the assembly of the first part with the second part is estimated from geometric characteristics of the first part and of the second part.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein estimating the defectiveness indicator for the assembly of the first part with a second part comprises matching point clouds which represent surfaces of the first and of the second part.

10. A system for assembling parts chosen from a plurality of first parts and a plurality of second parts, comprising:
a calculation unit, configured:
to estimate, for each first part and each second part in the plurality of first parts and the plurality of second parts, a quantity of material to be grinded so that the first part and the second part can be assembled, and a discrepancy between a relative position of the assembled first and second parts and a nominal relative position, wherein a sum of the estimated quantity and of the estimated discrepancy is a defectiveness indicator for an assembly of the first part with the second part;
to reduce said defectiveness indicator when the first part has been available for assembly for a period which is greater than a first threshold or when the second part has been available for assembly for a period which is greater than a second threshold; and
to assign, when a batch of N assemblies is to be made, N first parts from the plurality of first parts to N second parts from the plurality of second parts thereby forming N pairs of a first part and of a second part, wherein said N pairs minimise a total defectiveness, the total defectiveness being the sum of the defectiveness indicators for the assembly of the first part with the second part for each of the N pairs; and

an assembly station used for making the batch of N assemblies by assembling the N pairs of a first part and of a second part.

11. A non-transitory medium which can be read by a computer and stores program code instructions for executing the estimation and assignment steps of the method according to claim 1 when said instructions are executed on the computer.

Assignees

• Safran Aircraft Engines

Inventors

• Bisot Clémence Virginie Charlotte
• Marboeuf Alice Mathilde
• Samson Benjamin

Classifications

• G06F30/00 Primary

  Computer-aided design [CAD] · CPC title

• G06F2111/04

  Constraint-based CAD · CPC title

• G06F2111/20

  Configuration CAD, e.g. designing by assembling or positioning modules selected from libraries of predesigned modules · CPC title

• G05B19/4188

  characterised by CIM planning or realisation · CPC title

• G05B19/41875 Primary

  characterised by quality surveillance of production · CPC title