Communications: electrical – Selective – Intelligence comparison for controlling
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-16
2002-07-09
Zimmerman, Brian (Department: 2635)
Communications: electrical
Selective
Intelligence comparison for controlling
C340S005200, C340S005230, C340S005260, C340S005500, C340S005600, C340S005660, C340S010410, C340S010510, C340S005540, C235S382000, C235S382500, C700S080000, C702S182000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06417760
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a maintenance/inspection support apparatus used in maintenance/inspection of equipments installed in industrial plants such as power plants, chemical plants, and ironworks, automobile plants, and dockyards, and used in factory test/inspection support for equipments.
The present invention also relates to a patrol support apparatus such as an entry/exit management apparatus included as the one used in the above maintenance/inspection support apparatus to prevent intrusion of an outsider to the site, building, and room of an office, factory, school, hotel, amusement park, and medical facilities, thereby achieving safety management.
In the industrial plants such as power and chemical plants, a large number of equipments constituting a plant must be periodically maintained and inspected in order to safely and stably operate the plant. A variety of maintenance/inspection support apparatuses have been developed as ones for preventing operator's errors and reducing the operator's load.
FIG. 1
is a block diagram of a conventional maintenance/inspection support apparatus.
Referring to
FIG. 1
, an operation tag information file
91
stores information related to operation tags necessary in maintenance and inspection. An operation tag output unit
92
extracts the information stored in the operation tag information file
91
. As a result, a necessary operation tag is printed.
Since a large number of operation tags are generally handled in the maintenance/inspection apparatus, an operation tag is often prepared as follows. Information is not handwritten but is printed on a seal type paper sheet using a printer or the like in order to minimize the labor. The print is then adhered to an operation inhibition tag, thereby preparing the operation tag.
The operation of the operation tag output unit
92
will be described with reference to a flow chart in FIG.
2
.
Operation tag information is loaded from the operation tag information file
91
, which stores, in advance, operation tag information necessary in maintenance and inspection (step
901
).
FIG. 3
is a view showing memory information stored in the operation tag information file
91
. As shown in
FIG. 3
, the operation tag information file
91
has a memory area A corresponding to each operation tag. Each memory area A stores an equipment number (n), name of equipment (n), name of inspection work (n), name of person in charge of work (n), work period (n), and the like corresponding to each operation tag.
The equipment number represents the equipment management number. The name of equipment represents the name of equipment such as a valve, pump, or the like. The name of inspection work represents the name of inspection/repairing for the work. The name of person in charge of work represents the names of business enterprise and person in charge, which undertake the work and have management responsibility. The work period is an expected period of the work, i.e., an operation inhibition period.
A printer or the like on the seal type paper sheet, the lower surface of which is coated with glue, prints the contents of an operation tag (step
902
).
FIG. 4
is a view showing a printed operation tag.
As shown in
FIG. 4
, the name of equipment, equipment number (tag number) serving as an equipment management number (index number), name of inspection work, and operation inhibition period are displayed on the operation inhibition tag (operation tag). This prevents workers from erroneously operating an equipment under maintenance and inspection.
The printed operation tag contents are adhered to the operation tag, which is then hung on an on-site equipment. This provides operation inhibition information and information necessary for maintenance and inspection to workers.
To maintain and inspect a large number of equipments in a plant or the like, entry/exit of workers to/from the work site must also be managed. An apparatus generally often used as an entry/exit management apparatus is available as a means for managing entry/exit of workers.
For example, to safely manage entry/exit of workers while preventing outsiders from entering into or leaving the site, building, or room in an office, factory, school, hotel, amusement park, medical facilities, entry/exit management must be performed for a large number of in/out persons and vehicles.
Various entry/exit management apparatuses have been developed as apparatuses for supporting complex entry/exit management jobs, preventing workers and guards from operation errors, and reducing the loads on guards.
FIG. 5
is a view showing a conventional entry/exit management apparatus.
Referring to
FIG. 1
, an ID card
201
is issued in units of in/out persons or groups. Each in or out person must always carry the ID card.
FIG. 6
shows the ID card
201
. A portion a shows the name of company to which a given worker as the owner of the ID card belongs and the name of department/section to which the given worker belongs. A portion b shows the employee number and name of the given worker. A portion c shows the valid date. A portion d shows the portrait of the given worker. A portion e magnetically records electronic information of the portions a, b, and c. The magnetic card need not be used. A card with a bar code or an IC card may be used.
The conventional entry/exit management apparatus has a hardware arrangement, as shown in FIG.
7
.
As shown in
FIG. 7
, the entry/exit management apparatus comprises an ID card reading device
202
, an entry/exit management computer
200
, and a printer device
207
. A portion f is a scan operation portion into which the magnetic card portion of the ID card is inserted. A portion g is a time display portion. Portions h and i are switches for selecting entry or exit.
In this arrangement, the operation of the conventional entry/exit management apparatus will be described with reference to the flow chart in FIG.
8
.
An in/out person manually presses the portion h or i of the ID card reading device
202
to select entry or exit (S
901
). The in person then inserts the magnetic card portion of the ID card
201
into the scan operation portion f and slides it along the scan operation portion f (S
902
). An entry/exit recording unit
203
reads an employee number or the like for specifying an in person written in advance in the IC card
91
(S
903
) and receives time information from a timepiece module or the like (S
904
). The entry/exit recording unit
203
records the employee number together with the time information in an entry/exit record file
204
(S
905
).
The contents of the entry/exit record file
204
are displayed on a display device
206
or output to the printer device
207
by a display/output unit
205
(S
906
and S
907
). The in/out person checks whether an in/out person forgets filling input columns (S
908
). If YES in step S
908
, the in/out person prepares input error correction requests (paper sheets), and the third party inputs information of the input error correction request using an input unit
208
such as a keyboard and mouse. The contents of the entry/exit record file
204
are corrected by the input error correction unit
209
(S
909
).
When entry/exit is inevitably required due to a meeting or work with an outsider such as a business associate having no ID card, an in person is instructed to fill an entry/exit admission application (paper sheet) at a guard station in charge of guard of entry/exit and to stamp the application with an approval seal in order to check whether the in person has visited the applied place. The application with the approval seal is visually checked at the guard station at the time of exit.
As described above, the conventional maintenance/inspection support apparatus can automatically print the operation tag
93
by the operation tag output unit
92
. However, the information, which can be filled in the operation tag
93
, is limited in this conventional maintenance/inspection support apparatus. Sufficient information cannot be provided to workers.
Since a
Hirayama Hirokazu
Kobayashi Masayuki
Mabuchi Toshiaki
Noto Naoko
Takagi Kyo
Dalencourt Yves
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
Oblon & Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt P.C.
Zimmerman Brian
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