EP0365524A1

EP0365524A1 - Device and process for taking inventories

Info

Publication number: EP0365524A1
Application number: EP88901804A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Norbert Hering
Original assignee: Indulog Gesellschaft fur Industrielogistik Mbh
Current assignee: Indulog Gesellschaft fur Industrielogistik Mbh
Priority date: 1987-04-02
Filing date: 1988-03-05
Publication date: 1990-05-02
Also published as: DE3711031C1; WO1988007730A1

Abstract

Dans un agencement d'inventoriage de parties d'installations, un appareil d'enregistrement (20) est pourvu d'un support d'enregistrement (24), d'un appareil d'identification (50) pouvant fournir un support d'identification (60) susceptible d'être appliqué à la partie de l'installation en question et d'un générateur de code (40) pouvant fournir un code tant à l'appareil d'enregistrement (20) qu'à l'appareil d'identification (50), ce code pouvant être imprimé sur le support d'enregistrement (24) et sur le support d'identification (60).In an arrangement for inventorying parts of installations, a recording apparatus (20) is provided with a recording medium (24), an identification apparatus (50) capable of providing an identification medium (60) capable of being applied to the part of the installation in question and of a code generator (40) capable of supplying a code both to the recording device (20) and to the recording device. identification (50), this code being able to be printed on the recording medium (24) and on the identification medium (60).

Description

Inventory setup and procedure

description

The invention relates to a device for inventorying, in particular, plants or parts of such plants, and to such a method.

Industrial plants, especially large plants, consist of a large number of different individual parts. Such an industrial plant can be, for example, on a relatively small scale, for example the machine park of a metal processing company, or on a larger scale, for example, a steel mill, a rolling mill, a petrochemical plant or the like. After such a system has been set up, the operator is essentially left to his own devices, the system is set up and ready to work, and the individual parts of the system are listed in numerous different documents such as workshop drawings, manuals, parts lists, spare parts lists and the like, all of which are in the office n be kept. Since in principle every part of a technical system can become defective at a certain point in time, it is necessary to provide extensive storage, at least for foreseeable wear parts, so that this part can be quickly replaced if such a part wears out. Such storage, taking into account previously often unpredictable risks, ties up significant amounts of capital. The documents available to the operator of the system come from the manufacturer of the system and therefore only allow a part of the system that has become defective to be obtained from the same manufacturer. In this context, greater flexibility would be desirable, which would allow equivalent parts to be obtained from other manufacturers. To do this, however, an inventory and cataloging would first have to take place according to objectifiable criteria of the plant parts.

In the case of large-scale systems in particular, which have been in operation for a long time, there is the possibility that after a longer period of operation the original manufacturer is no longer represented on the market or with certain products. In this case, spare parts can not be obtained from the original manufacturer, or only with great difficulty, particularly long delivery times, which can lead to a large system having to be shut down over a long period of time if a certain part of the system fails, including large ones Trouble from another manufacturer, this defective part can be made separately. On the other hand, there is a possibility that the same manufacturer would have similar or the same systems at different times. Locations, even if, for example, in different countries or even continents. In many cases it is basically possible to expand a certain part from a decommissioned plant in Europe, for example, and to install it in a plant that is still in operation, for example on the American continent. The difficulty in this connection, however, is that the operator of the plant still in operation often does not know at all where similar plants used to be at other locations have been established

It would therefore be desirable to provide a system-spanning information system which can give an operator of a specific system information about which parts of this system are available from the original manufacturer, from other manufacturers, from equivalent systems which have since been shut down, and so on. Such an information system made it possible to significantly reduce the storage costs for a specific installation, which may increase the profitability of the operation of this installation, since the capital not required for storage is available for other purposes. For this, however, the parts of a system must first be recorded according to whether criteria can be activated. In principle, a task of this type can be mastered by having suitable experts travel to each system that is operational or is no longer in operation and carry out an inventory and cataloging. In the practical implementation of such work, however, such difficulties arise that such activities have so far been omitted. This is essentially due to the fact that complicated technical parts cannot easily be inventoried and cataloged on site. In particular, it is usually not sufficient to have the Facnmann record this device on site with just one recording medium, for example a sound recording device, but usually several, incompatible recording media are required, for example the simultaneous use of sound and picture recording devices. It is easy to measure, ie it is difficult and therefore practically impracticable, for example in a large plant such as a petrochemical plant System later put all the details of voice and image documents back together so that the correct images can be unmistakably assigned to the associated voice recordings.

The present invention is therefore based on the object of providing a device for inventorying plant parts and an associated method, in which the above-mentioned problems no longer occur and, in particular, it is ensured that information belonging to certain system parts also of different types after the inventory has been carried out can be put together again in a distinctive way.

The invention is based on the knowledge that such a distinctive identification of inventory means is possible by means of a universal identification which is imprinted on the respective recording medium at the time of the respective inventory.

The object is achieved with respect to the device by a device for inventorying system parts with a recording device with a recording medium, an identification device, from which an ideπtifi cation medium can be output, which can be attached to the relevant system part, and with a key generator, of which a code to the Aufzeichπungsgerät as well as to the iDENTIFYING ^{'ationsgerät} dispensable and the Aufzeichnungs¬ medium and the identification medium can be imposed.

In addition to the desired subsequent assignment of different recording documents on a recording medium, the advantage is achieved in particular that in As a result of the identification medium, which is attached to the corresponding part of the system, the system itself as a whole and in its parts becomes much more manageable. In particular, after inventory has been carried out in the event of a fault on the system, even untrained personnel can order a spare part that has become defective without the aid of manuals, simply by removing the identification medium from the relevant system part or reading the code attached there and reading it a central point is sent, which has stored the inventoried data under the same coding. At the central point, a comparison with other data can then be made in the simplest way, for example with the aid of electronic data processing, to find out where such a system part is available, taking into account numerous criteria such as time availability (delivery time), costs, and spare parts price , possibly more existing doors, improved embodiments and the like.

If, for example, the electric drive motor of a liquid pump becomes defective in a petrochemical system, it is no longer necessary, as before, to look for the original manufacturer's information, which is difficult to find, often as hard to find, what the manufacturer's name of this electric motor was, if this can be found out at all . Furthermore, the operator of this system does not now have to carry out a tedious search for manufacturers of such electric motors, which is under a great deal of time pressure, since this activity is taken over from the central point. It is only necessary for the operator of the system, either the code from the identification medium, which is attached to the electrical otor is appropriate to read or otherwise transfer it to a suitable data carrier or, even easier, to remove this identification medium and send it to the central recording point.

The advantages that can be achieved with the present invention become particularly clear if, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a second recording device with a second recording medium is additionally connected to the identifier. For example, the first recording device is a dictation device for voice recording and the second recording device is an image recording device, preferably a camera. Any layperson who has ever tried to rearrange even a large number of photos from several films after a vacation, for example, can measure the difficulties that arise in this connection when inventorying countless individual parts of a large system, each by means of voice recordings by an expert viewer and, if necessary, additional ones ¬ licher photos captured and inventoried. The present invention permits a clear association between each voice recording and each photo. As mentioned above, this identification of different recording means serves simultaneously, on the relevant plant part, for the identification of the relevant plant part itself on site.

The ideπtification medium is preferably a card, a strip or the like, on which the code is magnetically and / or optically embossed. Cards of this type with magnetic coding strips are known, for example, from the banking industry as so-called check cards. Corresponding optical codes can be used as bar codes, so-called bar codes, or as alphanumeric, codes which can be converted into optical signals by means of optical means (OCR codes: optical character recognition codes), preferably in all cases as digital codes to simplify subsequent digital electronic data processing.

If the identification medium is to remain on a part of the system that has become defective, the coding on the identification medium is read in the event of damage using suitable optical or magnetic scanners and the code is transferred to a suitable data carrier. This code is then sent to the central location, which can unmistakably identify the defective part of the system. However, suitable magnetic or optical reading devices for notes are suitable for this. It would undoubtedly be simpler to simply remove the identification medium from the defective system part in question and send it directly to the central location; however, in this case the part of the plant in question itself can no longer be reliably identified. In order to remedy this Workaround ^* e, the Identiflkάtionsmedium enrstuc can be formed ig, spielsweise as a card having a plurality of identical codes being arranged between the encodings a Treπnstelle, beispiels¬ as a perforation, is provided so that a part card with one of the several identical codes can be separated and sent, while one or more identical codes remain on the card and thus on the defective part of the system.

The code can be printed on various recording devices in a variety of ways. However, a certain amount of memory or time is generally required each time in order to impress the code on the recording device; in particular, it is actually sufficient if with every actuation A code of a particular recording device is only issued once exactly to this particular recording device and is imprinted there. For this purpose, an advantageous embodiment of the invention provides that a signal can be sent from the identifier to the recording devices, which locks all other recording devices when a recording device is actuated until the activated recording device sends a feedback signal to the identifier that the Actuation is finished. Therefore, only the currently activated recording device is supplied with a code, while all other recording devices, for which nothing is happening at the moment, do not require a code and are therefore not assigned any coding. At the same time, it is ensured in this way that unintentional operating errors are reliably avoided, for example an undesired pressure on the trigger of a camera, while actually only a voice recording is to take place on a dictation machine.

In order to be able to take into account the different time behavior of different recording devices, a further advantageous embodiment of the invention provides that the identifier has a timer, from which the delivery of the code can be delayed in a definable manner, preferably in response to the feedback signal. In the case of a camera, for example, the feedback signal can be the signal which, after actuation of the trigger, causes the lens shutter to open and thus the film exposure. At this moment, the code is sent to the camera and is reflected there in a window of the relevant film picture by means of a suitable device. Such devices for reflecting additional information in photo images already exist for example, the reflection of a date that can be set on the camera in each photo. Advantageously, according to a further embodiment of the invention, the entire device according to the invention is controlled by means of a central sequence control, from which the actuation of the recording devices and / or the identifier and / or the identification device can be controlled optionally. An electronic arithmetic unit, in particular a personal computer (PC), or the like is preferably provided for such a sequence control. Here it can be ensured in a simple manner, for example by means of a menu control on the user surface of the relevant user program of the personal computer, that all steps proceed in the desired order and without mutual interference. In particular, unnecessary effort can be avoided in a particularly simple manner in this way; it ιst _f readily apparent that be a specific piece of equipment may initially about two Diktatab¬ cuts, then a photo, then cut a Eiterer Diktatab¬, then two more pictures to describe and secure inventory are needed. The same code should be assigned to all voice and sound recordings. Only when the entire recording is completed on the basis of the above-mentioned several sound and image documents is this code to be embossed on the identification medium, which is then, for example, as a card or strip with the coding thereon on the relevant part of the system for subsequent security Identification is attached. All of this can be accomplished in a simple manner by suitable menu control.

Such a menu control also allows a pre-classification, for example coordinated with the type of system to be inventoried. For example, different technical devices such as pumps, electric motors, mechanical, pneumatic or hydraulic controls are each assigned to a specific group and the menu control of the personal computer asks for such group divisions. In this way, the code can also be modified in accordance with the respective technical group, for example by submitting a respective additional group identifier, which also makes the code easier to handle, in particular taking into account later sorting tasks in electronic data processing.

It is clear from the above explanations that not only a device but also an inventing method according to the present invention is made available, in which a certain part is first cataloged on a recording medium, followed by the output of a code which Aufzeichnungs¬ the imprinted medium, followed then a impressing this code to a ^{'identification} medium, which is then at the particular part of the system installed.

The advantages mentioned above in connection with the device according to the invention also apply analogously to the method according to the invention.

According to a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, a further recording medium is advantageously used, for example a camera in addition to a dictation machine. Since a code must be impressed upon each actuation of a recording device or recording medium, but only when the characterization and inventory of a certain component of the system has been completed, this specific code must also be output to identify the system part itself, sees another advantageous one Design of the method according to the invention that impressing the code carried on the recording medium at _j Eder actuation of the recording medium, while the impressing of the code on the identification medium only for special, definable Betriebszustaπden ge schieht, such as by triggering a modifier key delivery of a particular instruction of a menu control by a personal computer, or similar.

The invention is explained below on the basis of a greatly schematically simplified exemplary embodiment, from which further advantages and features emerge.

1 shows a schematic block diagram of a device according to the invention for inventorying system parts.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1, a photo camera 10 is provided as the first recording device for image documents, which has a lens 12, a camera housing 14 and a trigger 16 and is connected to a sequence control 30 via a cable 18 is.

A photo camera is particularly inexpensive, but of course another image recording device, for example an electronic video camera with a suitable storage device, can also be used.

A dictation device 20 is provided as the second recording device, which has a cassette holder 22, in which a tape cassette 24 is shown schematically. The dictation machine 20 is put into operation by means of an actuation button 26 and is connected to the sequence control 30 via a cable 28. Of course, the invention is not limited to a dictation machine 20 as a recording device for voice recordings, but basically other sound recording devices can also be used. devices, for example with magnetic disks, disks, reel tapes and the like, use can also be made, for example, of a separate audio track for voice recording on a video camera. A dictation machine, like a photo camera 10, has the particular advantage that it is particularly inexpensive and easy to replace.

The sequence controller 30 is connected via a cable 42 to an identifier 40, which generates a code suitable for identification and this via the cable 42 and the sequence controller 30 to the photo camera 10, namely via the cable 18, and via the cable 28 to the dictator ¬ device 20 outputs.

To record the code generated by the identifier 40, the photo camera 10 can be provided with an additional device, similar to, for example, a known so-called date device, with which a combination of numbers that corresponds to a date automatically matches the respective one each time the film contained in the photo camera 10 is exposed Image is reflected. For the purpose of the present invention, it is only necessary to modify such a known date reflection device in such a way that it represents an optical must that corresponds to the code generated by the identifier 40.

In an equivalent manner, the dictation device 20 is provided with an additional device which impresses the tape cassette 24 with an additional, preferably higher-frequency signal, which corresponds to the code generated by the identifier 40. So-called marking impulses are already known in the case of dictation machines, which are imprinted on the tape and are no longer perceived by the human ear, since their frequency is considerably higher than the hearing capacity of the human ear. Such brand or markers can advantageously be used in connection with the present invention and thus impress a signal on the tape cassette 24 which corresponds to the code of the identifier 40.

The code of the identifier 40 is also passed via a cable 44 to a card printer 50, which is connected to the sequence control 30 via a further cable 54 and can be controlled in this way by the latter. Since the respective code is present on the card printer 50 via the line 44, this begins to impress a code on an identification medium on a signal transmitted by the sequence control 30 via the line 52, and as such an identification card 60 is provided in FIG. 1, on which a strip or bar code 62 is indicated schematically. The bar code 62 is therefore the optical correspondence of the code that was generated in the identifier 40.

The identification card 60 is provided with an eyelet 64 at one end through which a fastening means can be pulled in order to attach the card 60 to a system part. If desired or necessary, a wire end can be used, for example, which is sealed with a seal after the card 60 has been attached to the system part, in order to ensure that the card 60 is not accidentally removed.

Another embodiment of an identification card 70 is also shown in FIG. 1. This card 70 is characterized in that it is provided with a longitudinal perforation 72. The same bar or strip code 62 is applied to the card 70 as to the card 60 described above. Card 70 can be attached by means of an eyelet 74 which is attached off-center as described above on a system part. In the event of a fault, the lower part of the card 70 is separated from the card 70 by opening the perforation 72 and the upper part remains on the system part. The separated lower part of the card 70 can thus be easily sent to a central location for further processing, and it is nevertheless ensured that the system part in question can be identified unambiguously and easily at any time by the remaining upper part of the identification card 70 can be.

Claims

Patent claims

1. Device for inventorying system parts with a recording device (20) with a recording medium (24), an identification device (50), from which an identification medium (60) can be output, which can be attached to the relevant system part, and with an identifier (40), of which a code can be delivered both to the recording device (20) and to the identification device (50) and can be impressed on the recording medium (24) and the identification medium (60).

2. Device according to claim 1, so that a second recording device (10) with a second recording medium is additionally connected to the identifier (40).

3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, so that the first recorder is a dictation device (20) for voice recording.

4. Device according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the second recording device is an image recording device (10).

5. Device according to claim 4, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t that the image recording device is a camera (10)

6. Device according to one of claims 1 to 5, so that the identification medium is a card (60), a strip or the like on which the code (62) is magnetically and / or optically imprinted.

7. Device according to one of claims 1 to 6, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t that the code is a digital code.

8. Device according to claim 6 or 7, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t that the optical code is a bar code (bar code) (62) or an alphanumeric OCR code.

9. Device according to one of claims 2 to 8, characterized in that from the identifier (30, 40) a signal to the Aufzεichπungsgeräte (10, 20) can be emitted, which locks all other recording devices upon actuation of a recording device until the activated recording device Provides feedback signal to the identifier that the actuation has ended.

10. The device according to claim 9, so that the identifier (40, 30) has a timer, from which the delivery of the code can be determined, preferably in response to that

Return signal.

11. Device according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that a central sequence control (30) is provided, of which the actuation of the recording device (10, 20) and / or the identifier (40) and / or the identification device ( 50) is optionally controllable.

12. The device according to claim 11, characterized in that an electronic arithmetic unit, preferably a personal computer (PC), is provided for sequence control

13. Method for inventorying plant parts, preferably with a device according to one of claims 1 to 12, g e k e n n z e i c h n e t d u r c h 'the following steps:

- cataloging a specific part on a recording medium (24);

- Output of a code which is imprinted on the recording medium (24) and

- an identification medium (60) is impressed,

- which is subsequently attached to the specific part

14. The method according to claim 14, d a d u r c h g e k e n n e i c h n e t that additionally a further recording medium (10) is used.

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, so that the code is imprinted on the recording medium each time the recording medium is actuated, whereas the code is imprinted on the identification medium (60) only in the case of special, definable operating states.