Method for corrective action on the operation of a line for the production of absorbent sanitary articles, such as nappies for babies or incontinence pads for adults, sanitary towels or the like

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9733624-B2
Application number	US-201213981239-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 23, 2012
Priority date	Feb 24, 2011
Publication date	Aug 15, 2017
Grant date	Aug 15, 2017

Abstract

A method for corrective action on the operation of a line for the production of absorbent sanitary articles, comprises capturing at least one image of each article being fed out of the line; using the image to define first parameters indicating the positioning and/or assembly and/or shape of at least one respective component; detecting a production defect if at least one of the first parameters is outside a respective acceptability range; identifying second, line operating parameters which are used to indicate if the first parameter is outside the respective acceptability range; comparing the line operating parameters with respective third, reference parameters indicating optimum line operation; using the comparison to derive a map of abnormal operating parameters; checking if each combination of abnormal operating parameters indicates a respective cause of malfunction of the line; defining a respective corrective action.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for corrective action on an operation of a production line for producing an absorbent sanitary article comprising a plurality of components which are gradually positioned relative to each other and assembled along the production line; comprising:
providing the production line with:
a feed device for the absorbent sanitary article and a plurality of operating stations which produce the absorbent sanitary article, each of the plurality of operating stations including an operating station sensor;
a monitoring system for monitoring production associated with the production line for checking a quality of the absorbent sanitary article fed out of the production line and for implementing corrective action relative to any faults or defects which arose during production;
the monitoring system comprising an inspection system for inspecting the absorbent sanitary article and capturing an image of the absorbent sanitary article being fed out of the production line;
the inspection system comprising a sensor for capturing the image of the absorbent sanitary article and an acquisition device for the image;
the monitoring system comprising a processing unit for processing features measured from the image by the inspection system, a displaying device for displaying information about the production line and the absorbent sanitary article, and a communication network connecting the inspection system, processing unit and displaying device for circulation of information between inspection system, processing unit and displaying device;
the processing unit being logically connected to the operating station sensors;
the acquisition device using the image to define a first set of parameters indicating at least one chosen from positioning and assembly of at least one respective component to form at least one chosen from a basic article and a shape of the at least one respective component;
the processing unit assessing whether the first set of parameters lie outside a respective acceptability range, and if so, identifying a presence of a production defect;
the processing unit identifying the respective operating stations of the production line which provide the first set of parameters that are generating the production defect;
the processing unit identifying a second set of line operating parameters which are used to indicate if the first set of parameters is outside the respective acceptability range;
the second set of line operating parameters indicating an operating state of a respective operating station in the production line; the second set of line operating parameters being linked to the process for at least one chosen from positioning, assembling and forming of the components of the absorbent sanitary article;
the second set of line operating parameters used in the comparison by the processing unit being monitored by the operating station sensors;
the processing unit comparing the second set of line operating parameters respectively with a third set of reference parameters indicating optimum line operation;
the processing unit deriving from the comparison a map of parameters indicating abnormal operation; the map representing a deviation set of the second set of line operating parameters which deviate from the third set of reference parameters, and therefore are abnormal since the deviation set defines non-optimum line operation and consequently results in non-optimum quality of the absorbent sanitary article;
the processing unit checking if each combination of abnormal operating parameters of the map indicates a respective cause of line malfunction, the respective cause being included in a case record of causes of malfunction which is pre-set and predefined;
after identifying the causes relative to the process for execution of the various operations which generated the faults on the absorbent sanitary article, the processing unit, based on the causes identified, generating a correction action necessary for correcting the defect.

2. The method according to claim 1 , and further comprising displaying the corrective action as instructions on a display for subsequent guided action by an operator.

3. The method according to claim 2 , and further comprising providing the instructions with a sequence of step-by-step instructions for guiding the operator to correct the defect.

4. The method according to claim 1 , and further comprising automatically converting the corrective action into action controlling at least one actuator acting on the production line for adjusting the operating parameters.

5. The method according to claim 1 , and further comprising providing that the sensor is a video camera.

6. The method according to claim 1 , and further comprising providing that the case record of causes of malfunction is contained in a pre-set and predefined database.

Assignees

• Rosani Marco
• Pastrello Gabriele
• Piantoni Matteo
• Perego Alberto
• Gdm Spa

Inventors

• Rosani Marco
• Pastrello Gabriele
• Piantoni Matteo
• Perego Alberto

Classifications

• A61F13/15772 Primary

  Control · CPC title

• G05B13/02 Primary

  electric · CPC title

• Y02P90/22

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• G05B2219/37544

  Compare detected signal to several references to derive several control actions · CPC title

• B65H43/04

  detecting, or responding to, presence of faulty articles (B65H43/08 takes precedence; diverting faulty articles from main streams B65H29/62) · CPC title