Communications: electrical – Condition responsive indicating system – With particular system function
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-26
2002-05-21
Pope, Daryl (Department: 2736)
Communications: electrical
Condition responsive indicating system
With particular system function
C340S506000, C340S870030, C049S031000, C187S316000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06392537
ABSTRACT:
This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. HEI 10-64210 filed on Feb. 27, 1998, which is incorporated herein by reference.
This invention relates to a system for monitoring automatic door systems at remote locations.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
An automatic door system includes a motor for driving a door to open and close, and a sensor for detecting whether or not any object is present near the door. Also, it includes a controller for causing the door to be opened when the sensor senses an object and for causing the door to be closed when the sensor senses no object. If the automatic door fails, a sales agent may be called to repair it. The sales agent must find a maintenance man or maintenance women (hereinafter referred to simply as maintenance man) available at that time to send him to inspect the automatic door system. It may sometimes need a relatively long time for the sales agent to find out an available maintenance man and send him to the location where the door system is installed. The maintenance man must inspect parts of the automatic door system one by one to find malfunctioning parts. To locate malfunctioning parts also takes a relatively long time.
Japanese Unexamined UM Publication No. SHO 63-83384 published on Jun. 1, 1988 discloses a system for inspecting an automatic door system to find failures and, if failures are found, notifying it to a service agent.
The system disclosed in the Japanese UM publication notifies a service agent of some abnormal states of the automatic door system, such as a state in which the door is continuously kept closed or opened. Since there are various causes for which the door is continuously opened or closed, the service agent cannot determine, from the information obtained by the system, which parts of the door system fail. Accordingly, it may take a relatively long time for a maintenance man, who is sent to repair the door system, to locate the malfunctioning part. Thus, the system of the Japanese UM publication does not much facilitate prompt repair of the automatic door system.
When an automatic door system is installed, the door opening and closing speeds and other operating parameters are set. Sometimes, the owner of the door system may request that the door opening and closing speeds set when the door is installed be changed. In such a case, too, a maintenance man is sent to the location where the door system is installed. Sending a maintenance man for making such change makes prompt maintenance impossible.
An object of the present invention is to provide a system for monitoring automatic door systems from a remote location, which can facilitate prompt repairs of the automatic door system and prompt modification of parameters of the door system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An automatic door remote monitoring system according to the present invention is adapted to monitor a plurality of automatic door systems from a remote location, e.g. a maintenance station which monitors and maintains such plural automatic door systems. Each door system has a control unit which includes a controller and self-diagnosing means. The controller controls the operation of the door system associated therewith, and the self-diagnosing means operates, in conjunction with the controlling of the door by the controller, to inspect the door system to find out a malfunctioning or broken part thereof. When any one of the door systems fails, the self-diagnosing means of that door system sends to the maintenance station, through a communications system, failure information including door system part identifying information indicating a malfunctioning or broken part of that door system (hereinafter referred to simply as door system part identifying information). Also, the failure information includes door system identifying information identifying the door system to which each self-diagnosing means belongs.
When any of the automatic door systems fails, the self-diagnosing means of the failing door system sends the above-described failure information including door system part identifying information and door system identifying information to the maintenance station through the communications system. Thus, a person at the maintenance station can determine and advise a maintenance man which one of the automatic door systems is failing and which a part of that door system is malfunctioning or broken, at substantially the same time that part fails. Since a part which has failed has been determined, the maintenance man can prepare for the expected necessary repairs before he leaves the maintenance station, and, therefore, repairs of the door system can be done in a relatively short time.
In addition to the above-described door system part identifying information and door system identifying information, the failure information may include information of door operation relating to the diagnosis made by the self-diagnosing means. The door operation information is such information that the maintenance man can determine how the door system should be repaired, by studying the information together with the above-described door system part and door system identifying information. For example, the door operation information may be information about the door position where the door has stopped, parameter information about a door operation parameter, such as a door opening speed and a door closing speed, and maintenance information. The maintenance information may include information indicating how many times the door has been opened and closed before the failure occurred, and how many times the door system has been stopped due to external causes.
Since the self-diagnosing means sends, in addition to the door system part identifying information and the door system identifying information, the door operation information to the maintenance station, the maintenance man can know what should be repaired and how it should be repaired before he leaves the maintenance station. Accordingly, he can make enough preparations for the expected repairs and, therefore, promptly remove the failure.
The above-described failure information may be sent to a plurality of maintenance stations through a communications system. In such a case, failure information relating to failure of a door system received by one of the maintenance stations may be forwarded to another maintenance station. The failure information which may be forwarded to another maintenance station may include, for example, the door system identifying information indicating which one of the door systems fails, the door system part identifying information indicating which part of the malfunctioning door system fails, and the door operation information.
It may occur that no maintenance men are available at that maintenance station at the time when failure of one door system is notified to the maintenance station. For example, door failure information may be sent at night when all maintenance men have been home. If such information is sent to a maintenance station in daytime, it may happen that no maintenance men are available at that time. Even in such a case, a maintenance man must be sent to the door system from which the information was sent. Accordingly, the information is forwarded from the station where the information has been received but no maintenance men are available, to a maintenance station where a maintenance man is available, so that the door system can be repaired soon.
The self-diagnosing means of a door system which has failed may fail to communicate with one of a plurality of maintenance stations. In such a case, it may send the door failure information to other one of the maintenance stations.
The communications system may use, for example, public telephone lines. If the telephone line to one maintenance station is busy, the information cannot reach that station. Then, the self-diagnosing means of the malfunctioning door system sends the door failure information to another maintenance station, from which a maintenance man can be sent to the door system for repairing it.
The door operation info
Kakuyama Koji
Tazumi Soichi
Duane Morris & Heckscher LLP
Nabco Limited
Pope Daryl
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