Time Clock for Recording the Identification of a Person

The invention relates to a time clock for recording the indentification of a person.

An objective of the invention is to maximize efficiency.

According to the invention the time clock comprises also means for recording a working order preferably by a card or badge identifying the working order.

For a better understanding of the invention and to show how the same can be carried into effect, reference will be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawing.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a factory in which the invention may be applied.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a work station where the time clock is used.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal view of a second embodiment of a work station.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a time clock.

The plan shown in FIG. 1 is that of an office building 1 and a factory building 2. The operations to be carried out in the factory building 2 relate, at least in this embodiment, to the manufacturing of products, such as machines by the labor force 3, whereby component parts are made from raw material.

The raw material enters at an entrance designated by reference numeral 4 into the building 2 and is stored in areas indicated by reference numeral 5. Viewed in the direction of the arrows 6 machines are arranged near the storage areas 5 for preparing the raw material, such as the cutting machines 7 and the brake presses 8. The handling of the raw material at 5, 7 and 8 is in a single department indicated in FIG. 1 by the boundary line 9. The parts manufactured in the department 9 are transported in a direction corresponding to the arrows 6, arriving at departments 10 and 11, department 10 in this case being a welding section and department 11 a milling section. The component parts manufactured in departments 10 and 11 are transported in the direction of the arrows 12 towards an assembling department 13, where the component parts are further treated and subsequently passed onto an assembly line 14, on which the products are assembled during the movement of the line in the direction of the arrow 15. Near the milling department 11 a subassembly section 16 is provided with assembly lines 17 on which component parts consisting of smaller, individual units are assembled. These units are moved in the direction of the arrows 18 on the lines 17 and supplied to the assembly line 14. At reference numeral 19 a storage for finished parts (for example products manufactured by suppliers) is provided.

At the end of the assembly line 14 the finished products are moved off the line and stored in a warehouse 20. In the warehouse 20 parts supplied in the direction of the arrow 21 from the section 19 can be added to the products.

The warehouse 20 may contain a buffer stock of finished products, the delivery of which depends, for example, on the season.

The finished products leave the factory 2 in the direction of the arrows 22 through an exit 23.

The operations to be carried out in the factory building 2 are instructed by the management 25 from the factory office 1. The instructions are such that with a maximum of efficiency the inventory of raw materials and of work process will be as low as possible. The operations and the time within which these operations will have to be performed are processed by a main computer 24 in the office building 1.

The departments of the factory 2 comprise, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a work station 26. The equipment in said work station is connected by appropriate electronic circuits with the main computer 24. The equipment in the work station comprises a terminal 27, a time clock 28, a keyboard 29, a printer 31.

The display screen 39 provides working orders supplied by the management office. A working order can be printed by the printer 31. A working order can also be produced by a punch card system. The terminal 27 is preferably provided with signals 40, consisting of lights which start flashing when a job is not finished on time. If the job is very much delayed red lights will be flashing. If the job is less delayed green lights will be operative. A foreman in the work station 26 can operate the time clock from the inside of the work station through a slot 30. The time clock 28 will record the exact starting and terminating time of the working order and the exact time of finalizing the job.

FIG. 4 comprises a front view of a time clock 28. Preferably the means shown on the front view of the time clock 28 are located outside the work station 26, however these means can also be inside the work station or on both sides of the time clock. This time clock comprises a display 32 showing at 33 the time worked on the job and at 34 the time that was planned for the job and at 35 the time worked that day on the job. By inserting an identification card of a workman such data will be displayed whereby the time clock 28 may also comprise a speaker 38 saying, e.g. if the job is finished on time, "Excellent". The time clock 28 is provided with the slot 37 for inserting the workman's identification card and the slot 43 for inserting a working order card. Also the buttons 36 can be used for recording the working order number. Some of these buttons (B,E) can also be used for recording the beginning time and the finishing time of the job.

The factory has an entrance 41 and a time clock 42 for the labor force entering or leaving the factory. For the registration of their daily working time this time clock 42 is used whereby also this time clock can be provided with means for producing expressions, such as vocal sounds, e.g. if the factory begins at 7.30 and if the workman arrives before 7.30, the time clock will then when he inserts his badge indicate e.g.: "Good morning" by saying this or by displaying this on the display 33, 34, 35.

With the time clock 28 located at the work station 26 the time of a person working on a job can be recorded. This is advantageous for the purpose of recording piece work and for calculating the corresponding wages.

The time clock system described is particular of interest to factories where the labor force makes a number of parts on one day and different parts on another day and thereafter such parts will be assembled to products. The main computer will calculate the shortest working time possible, however, the time clock system will create the maximum efficiency as with the time clocks and the identification of the working orders fed into the time clocks the maximum efficiency will be obtained in a reliable and rapid manner. With the time clock system it will be possible to reduce the work in process and the inventory. Therefore the productivity of the factory will be increased. If the management in the office decides to manufacture e.g. 1000 products of a certain type in one month and e.g. 2000 other types of products in another month this information will be fed into the computer by the work planning department in the office, resulting in working orders on the displays in the foremen's stations 26. The foreman then produces with the printer or with punch card equipment the working order. The person performing the working next order puts his identification badge into the time clock together with the working order thereby recording the time he starts on the job. If the system does not include printed or punched working orders, the workman can use the keyboard 36 on the time clock for recording the working order number. When the person finishes the working order he will also insert his identification card together with the working order card into the time clock thereby recording the end or finishing time of the job.

If the job described on the working order will be delayed the indication lights 40 on the terminal 27 will start flashing a red light when the job is very much delayed and e.g. a green light when the job is less delayed. This will give the foreman and/or management an indication which jobs or working orders should get preferance over other ones so that there will be no delay in the supply of parts at the assembly line in the factory.

Some of the advantages of the time clock system are:

It will supply management with an exact information how much time each day is worked by a person on a working order. The person performing the job will be known to the computer system.

If another person, because e.g. of illness, must continue the job, he can with his identification card feed the indication into the computer system that he is working on the job.

If the labor force in a factory is on piece work, the wages can easily be calculated.

At the work stations it will be known which job is delayed and steps to improve on it can be taken.

The speaking of the time clocks will give the system a human touch.

A maximum of working efficiency and a minimum of inventory can be maintained.

The invention is not necessarily limited to the disclosure in the description and claims but also may relate to the details of the figures which may not have been described.