Patent Application
20250206520
The present invention relates to a system allowing monitoring a transport of parts and storage thereof in order to optimise a manufacturing process. More specifically, the described system allows optimising, in real-time, a flow of items transported in holder containers. The detection of the parts throughout transport and consumption thereof allows organising sending of new parts as well as a new production of said parts.
Consequently, the present invention aims to provide a transport container for a system for detecting a flow of parts. The container comprises:
Advantageously, the container comprises a second holder,
The shape that the holder comprises may be a negative of a portion of a slat or a negative of a portion of a droop-nose of an aircraft.
The container may also comprise a plurality of holders,
The container may be configured to receive a complete set of slats of an aircraft, each holder comprising a specific shape so as to be able to receive only one slat of the set of slats.
Said detector of the state of occupancy of the holder may comprise a mechanical detector and/or an electromechanical detector and/or an optical detector and/or a weight detector and/or a volumetric detector and/or an ultrasonic detector and/or an electromagnetic ray detector,
The geolocation detector may comprise a GPS detector and/or a GSM-TDOA detector.
The container may also comprise a temperature sensor and/or a hygrometry sensor and/or a shock sensor.
The controller may be configured to transmit a temperature and/or a hygrometry and/or a force and/or an acceleration measured by said respective sensor.
A system for detecting a flow of parts may comprise a container as described before and a receiver configured to receive the identifier of the container with the state of occupancy and the geolocation and of
The system may comprise a plurality of transport containers, the identifier of each container being unique within the plurality of containers and associated with one single container.
The system may also be configured to notice a risk of damage related to a container. Said risk of damage may be noticed if the temperature and/or the hygrometry and/or the force and/or the acceleration measured by said respective sensor exceeds a threshold, preferably the system being configured to trigger an inspection of the container and/or of a content of the container in the case where said risk of damage has been noticed.
The system may also be configured to detect a part returned by a customer by performing the steps of:
The system may be configured to manage an amount of flow of parts by performing the steps of:
A method for managing a flow of parts may implement the system as described before. The system may comprise a plurality of transport containers. The method may comprise the steps of:
Furthermore, the method may comprise the step of
The present invention will be better understood based on the following description and the appended drawings wherein:
The container comprises a first detector (60) for detecting a state of occupancy of the first holder, a geolocation detector (70) of the container and a controller (80). The controller is connected to the geolocation detector and to the first state of occupancy detector (60). It is configured to transmit an identifier of the container together with said state of occupancy of the first holder and said geolocation.
Preferably, said identifier is unique for the container. In other words, in the case of a plurality of containers, the identifier of each container is unique within the plurality of containers and associated with one single container. Said identifier may be a number, a letter or a combination of numbers and letters.
Said identifier may also be calculated from the specific shape of the holder.
The first holder is arranged inside the transport container. During transport, the part to be transported (50) is received by the holder so as to be held in a stable manner, without moving.
The “part type” is determined by a two-dimensional or three-dimensional shape of at least one portion of the surface of the part. Each individual part corresponds to one single part type.
The first holder may comprise a negative shape of the portion of the surface which determines the part type. In this case, the first holder comprises a negative shape of at least one portion of the surface of the first part type. In other words, the holder forms a negative of a portion of the surface of the part to be transported.
Thus, when the holder receives the part of said first type, the holder conforms to said portion of the surface without leaving any space. Consequently, a tight contact is established between the holder and the surface.
For example,
For example, said shape of the holder may be a negative of a portion of a leading-edge movable flap or a negative of a portion of a leading-edge pivoting flap of an aircraft. The English term “slat” will also be used to refer to a leading-edge movable flap. The term “droop-nose” will also be used to refer to a leading-edge pivoting flap, which is also so-called “falling nose”.
Thus, the shape of the holder is specific for receiving a particular part type. Since the surface of the holder corresponds to a portion of the surface of the part type, the holder can receive only one single part type. Another part type, by definition having another surface shape, cannot be received. A space would remain between the other part type and the holder, a tight contact would not be established.
Thus, the first holder (30) defines the part type (50) that could be located in the transport container (10). Any other part type cannot be received in a valid or technically proper manner by said container (10).
This specificity of the holder allows finding the part type based on a simple measurement of the occupancy of the holder. In the case where the holder is occupied and/or a presence of a part is detected, this is necessarily the part type that can be received by the specific shape of the holder. Thus, knowing the type of holder or the specific shape of the holder, a presence detected on the holder allows deducing the presence of a particular part type in the container.
For example, in the case where the shape that the holder comprises is a negative of a portion of a slat, the detection of a state of occupancy allows deducing that a slat, of the type that can be received by the holder, is located in the container. Similarly, in the case where the shape that the holder comprises is a negative of a droop-nose, the detection of a state of presence allows deducing the presence, within the container, of a droop-nose, whose shape is adapted to the shape of the holder.
The first detector (60) is arranged in the container so as to detect a state of occupancy of the first holder. Preferably, the first detector may be fastened directly to the holder. Said state of occupancy indicates a presence of a part in the holder or an absence of a part in the holder. Preferably, the first detector determines that a portion of the surface of the part is in contact with a surface of the holder. Since the detection of a mechanical contact between the part to be transported and the holder could be enough to determine said state of occupancy of the holder, said first detector could be technically simple. Advantageously, a contact detector may be used. Such a detector is particularly inexpensive and technically reliable, a measurement error is absent. In other words, in all cases where a part is received by the holder, a presence signal is detected. In all cases where no part is present in the holder, an absence signal is detected. Since the specific shape of the holder unequivocally determines the part type, the presence or absence information allows deducing whether a particular part is present in the container or not.
Said detector of the state of occupancy may comprise a mechanical detector and/or an electromechanical detector and/or an optical detector and/or a weight detector and/or a volumetric detector and/or an ultrasonic detector and/or one electromagnetic ray detector. The detector may be configured to detect said part and/or to be actuated by the part upon reception of said part by the holder.
For example, the detector (60) may be an electrical switch actuated by contact with the surface of the part when the part is validly received by the holder. The detector may also be an optical detector which is covered by the surface of the object when said surface comes into tight contact with the holder.
A remote reception of an identifier of the container, of a geolocation of the container and of a piece of information on the state of occupancy of the first holder allows, at the location of reception of the information, determining an general position of a part of the first type. In other words, based on the simple occupancy, geolocation and identifier information, it is possible to deduce a general position of a particular part.
The identifier of the container allows determining the specific shape of the holder arranged inside the container. For example, a database located at the reception location allows finding the first specific shape of the first holder arranged within the container whose identifier has been received. Based on the specific shape of the holder, it is possible to determine the part type that can be received by the holder. The state of occupancy of the holder allows determining that said part is actually in the container. Afterwards, the geolocation information allows determining the position of the part.
The controller is configured to transmit the identifier of the container together with said state of occupancy of the first holder and said remote geolocation. Thus, upon said remote reception, the flow of parts can be determined as described before.
It is also possible to provide for several holders having the same specific shape within the container. In this case, several parts of the same type can be transported with the transport container.
In addition, the transport container shown in
The first shape (40) of the first holder (30) is different from the second form (100) of the second holder (90) so that the first holder cannot receive the second part type and the second holder cannot receive the first part type.
The controller is configured to also transmit the state of occupancy of the second holder. In other words, the controller (80) receives from the first detector (60) the state of occupancy of the first holder and from the second detector (120) the state of occupancy of the second holder. Said state of occupancy may indicate a presence of a part in the holder or may indicate an absence of a part in the holder. The controller also receives a geolocation of the geolocation detector. Said geolocation may comprise the coordinates of the terrestrial position of the container. Afterwards, the controller transmits an identifier of the container together with the geolocation and with the first and second states of occupancy.
As described before, a receiver can advantageously deduce, based on the received information, a location of a particular part type or of a particular part as described later on.
The geolocation information allows deducing a location where the container is positioned. The identifier of the container allows deducing the part type that can be received by the first holder and the part type that can be received by the second holder. The occupancy information of the first and second holders allows deducing:
In the case of a detected presence for the first holder, that a part of the first type is located at the location where the container is positioned.
In the case of a detected presence for the second holder, that a part of the second type is located at the location where the container is positioned.
As described before, the specific shape of the holder allows deducing on the simple information on the presence or absence of a specific part at the location where the container is positioned.
The transport container shown in
For example, a set of parts should be received by the plurality of holders that the container contains. Each part is of a type different from all of the other parts of the set of parts. In other words, each part has a shape different from all of the other parts. In this case, there is only one possibility of distributing the set of parts within the plurality of holders. Because of its shape or its part type, each part corresponds exactly to one single holder amongst the plurality of holders in which it can be stored. No part of said plurality of parts can change its storage location with another part, due to the fact that each holder shape is unique within the plurality of holders. Each holder of the plurality of holders comprises a detector for detecting the occupancy of said holder. The controller (80) of the container transmits the state of occupancy of each holder of the plurality of holders.
In the embodiment shown in
Thus, all of the plurality of holders can be configured to receive a complete set of slats of an aircraft. Each of the slats of the set of slats has one single place within the plurality of holders. Each holder of the plurality of holders has a specific shape configured so as to be able to receive only one single slat of the set of slats of the aircraft. Alternatively, the plurality of holders that the container contains may be configured to receive other parts, for example a set of trailing-edge flaps or flaps of an aircraft (270), shown in
As described before, each holder comprises a detector for detecting the occupancy of the holder and the controller is configured to transmit the state of occupancy of each holder.
The plurality of holders (150) shown in
The geolocation detector shown in
For example, the controller uses a wireless telecommunication network to transmit the geolocation, the identifier of the container and the states of occupancy. For example, the controller may use a GSM network and/or a WIFI network and/or a Bluetooth network and/or a satellite communication network to transmit said information.
As shown in
By a flow of parts, we understand a first number of a first part type located at a starting point (210), a second number of the first part type located at a transit point (230) and a third number of the first part type located at an end point (220).
Said flow may also comprise the numbers indicated hereinabove for a second part type and also for other types of parts. Said flow may also comprise a number of a part type arriving at the end point per unit of time and/or a number of a part type departing from the starting point per unit of time.
The system may comprise one or more transport container(s) (10) as described before. The system also comprises a receiver (190) configured to receive a transmission emitted by the controller of the container or by the different controllers of the different containers. In particular, the receiver is configured to receive from each container: the identifier of the container, the state of occupancy of each of the holders within said container and the geolocation of said container.
For example, the system may comprise several containers as shown in
In this case, the flow of parts corresponds to the count of slats stored in the starting containers at the slat production site, in transit and at the assembly site of the aircraft. More specifically, said count is performed for each slat type, for example the number of slats of the “left wing inner slat” type and/or the number of slats of the “left wing middle slat” type.
The system may also be configured to receive the temperature and/or the hygrometry and/or the force and/or the acceleration measured by said respective sensor within the container and transmitted by the controller. The system is configured to notice a risk of damage related to the container, identified by the unique identifier of the container. Said risk of damage is noticed by the receiver if the temperature and/or the hygrometry and/or the force and/or the acceleration measured by said respective sensor exceeds a defined threshold. Advantageously, the system may be configured to trigger an inspection of the container and/or of a content of the container in the case where said risk of damage has been noticed.
Based on the geolocation, the receiver determines the positioning of the container at the starting point, at the end point or at a transit point. More specifically, the receiver receives from the controller within the container, terrestrial coordinates corresponding to the location of the container. For example, the receiver may have available at its disposal a geolocation of the starting point and a geolocation of the end point. Thus, the receiver may calculate a first distance between the geolocation of the container and the geolocation of the starting point and a second distance between the geolocation of the container and the geolocation of the end point. The receiver may associate the position of the container with the starting point in the case where said first distance is smaller than a first threshold. The receiver may associate the position of the container with the end point in the case where said second distance is smaller than a second threshold. The positioning of the container may be associated with a transit point in the case where the first distance is longer than the first threshold and the second distance is longer than the second threshold.
The positioning of the container may be determined with a 50-metre accuracy or less, preferably with a 10-metre accuracy.
Based on the identifier of the container, the receiver determines the part type that might be present within the container. For example, the receiver has a database grouping together a container identifier with a part type. The identifier of the container may be associated unequivocally with one part type because the specific shape of the holder within the container allows storing only one part type. As described before, the shape of the holder only allows a shape corresponding to the part to be transported in said holder. In the case where several holders are present in the container, the receiver determines, based on the identifier of the container, the part type that might be present in each of the holders. In other words, the receiver determines for each holder which part type is present in the container in the case where the detector indicates a presence of a part.
Based on the state of occupancy of each of the holders within the container, the receiver determines the types of parts that are present within the container. As described before, the information on the presence of a part in a holder together with the identifier of the container allows concluding on the presence of a given part type within the container, thanks to the specificity of the holder for a given part type.
Thus, the receiver can determine the flow of a part type between a starting point and an end point.
In the illustrated example, each container has six holders inside. For each container, the system receives the state of occupancy of each holder. According to the illustrated example, the system receives from the container G-773 the information that this container is located at the end point and that the first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth holders are occupied, indicated by the number “1”. The third holder is unoccupied, indicated by the number “0”. The system knows, for example based on a database, that the holders within the container G-773 can receive slats of an aircraft of a determined type. Thus, it is known that the first holder can receive only a type 140-L slat, for example the inner slat of the left wing of a type “Cessna Citation CJ4 Gen2” aircraft. For example, the other holders of the container can receive only the other slats present in said aircraft type. Thus, the system could deduce that the type 260-L slat has been removed from the container. The other slats (240-L, 250-L, 240-R, 250-R, 260-R) are still located in the transport container stored at the end point.
Preferably, said system may also be configured to detect a part returned by a client or a defective part. In other words, based on the information received by the receiver, it is possible to determine a return flow of types of parts to be overhauled or to be repaired. To determine a number of types of parts to be overhauled, the receiver receives the information from the container or containers with a positioning at the end point. In other words, during a first step, the receiver determines a positioning of the container at the end point. Afterwards, the receiver observes the container while it remains at the end point without leaving the end point. During this time, the receiver receives the state of occupancy of each holder of said containers placed at the end point. An empty holder, free of any part, within a container positioned at the end point indicates that the corresponding part has been removed from the holder by the client. Each holder which, at the end point, indicates an absence of a part type and then a presence of said part type is marked as a “return part type” or returned part. Alternatively, if no part has been placed in said holder at the starting point. In the case where this same holder indicates afterwards the presence of a part, this allows deducing that said part has been placed in the holder at the end point. Thus, it is possible to deduce that it consists of a part to be returned, more particularly, a part to be overhauled or a defective part.
Advantageously, said system may also be configured to manage an amount of flow of parts between the starting point and the end point. In other words, the system directs the flow of parts, for example by determining a necessary transfer of transport containers, departing from the starting point. The system may also establish a schedule of parts to be sent per day or of containers to be sent per day or per another unit of time.
To manage said amount of flow of parts, the system determines a number of containers having a positioning at the end point. In other words, the system counts the containers that send a position corresponding to the end point. Afterwards, the system determines for each container located at the end point the number of each part type located at the end point. As described before, each container transmits the state of occupancy of each holder within the container. Based on a database and the identifier of the container, the part type for each holder is known by the system. Thus, the number of each part type may be deduced by knowing the state of occupancy of each holder.
Afterwards, the system compares all of said parts with a threshold. In other words, for each part type, the system compares the amount of types of parts present at the end point with a threshold. In the case where all of said part types are below said threshold, the system may act on the flow of parts. For example, the system may increase the flow of parts from the starting point to the end point. For example, the system may act so as to increase a shipping rate and/or an amount of these containers in transit (230) towards the end point. The system may also increase a provision, for example a production flow, of parts at the starting point. It should be understood that the system may also reduce a flow of parts, for example if all of said part types are above said threshold.
Advantageously, a method for managing a flow of parts could implement the above-described system.
The method may comprise a first step during which the system determines a set of containers with a positioning at an end point. As described before, the system counts the containers that transmit a positioning at the end point.
Afterwards, the system observes within each container positioned at the end point how many states of occupancy change from a presence state into an absence state over a given time period. Thus, the system determines a number of parts that have left the container over the time period or, in other words, a rate of use or consumption of parts. More specifically, the system knows how many parts of each type have left the containers at the end point.
Based on said rate of use, the system could calculate a flow of desired parts from the starting point to the end point. For example, said flow of parts may be adapted to correspond to the speed of use of the parts. It is also possible to adapt said flow in order to increase a stock of parts at the end point or to reduce a stock of parts at the end point.
Said method may also comprise the step of determining, among the containers with a positioning at the end point, a number of states of occupancy displaying an absence state. In other words, the receiver of the system observes the containers that have transmitted a positioning at the end point. For each of said containers, the system counts the holders displaying an absence state. In other words, the system counts the number of holders positioned at the end point which are empty. Based on this information, the system also determines the number of each part type missing at the end point. For each part type, the number of missing parts corresponds to the number of empty holders that could receive said part type. Thus, the system knows how many parts of each type have been used.
In the case where said number is above a given threshold, the system could increase a production of part types corresponding to the holders with said absence state. In other words, for a given part type, the system counts how many empty holders corresponding to this part type are in the containers at the end point. When the number of empty holders exceeds a given threshold, the system increases a production of parts of said type. The system could automatically increase said production.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/5202 | Mar 2022 | BE | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2023/056891 | 3/17/2023 | WO |
