FR3124645A1 - Assistance with the installation of a wired electrical network - Google Patents

Abstract

The subject of the invention is a method for assisting the installation of a wired electrical network in a building during which length portions of electrical wires cut from at least one or more coils (8, 9) of electrical wires, comprising the following steps: a technician (5) manually attaches (110) an NFC tag (3) to at least one end of an element associated with an electrical circuit of the electrical network, said element consisting of at least a length portion of electric wire (6, 7); and before any electrical connection of said at least one end, the technician (5) records (130) in said NFC tag (3) at least one item of information identifying the electrical circuit, by means of a first mobile communication terminal (4) comprising NFC read/write means and a dedicated software application. Figure for abstract: Fig. 2

Description

Assistance with the installation of a wired electrical network

The present invention relates to the general field of cables, and more specifically to a method for assisting the installation of a wired electrical network in a building.

Technology background

During the installation of a wired electrical network in a building (house or building), the electrician installer has several reels of electrical wires from which he must cut portions of variable length in order to be able to form different electrical circuits connecting different equipment. (sockets, switches, lighting devices, heating device, sensors, etc.) between them, then connect the arrivals and departures of the various electrical circuits thus constituted to a centralized electrical panel, passing through protective sheaths. Before any electrical connection, and possibly before any operation consisting of passing electrical wires through protective sheaths, he must be able to identify the intended destination for each electrical wire or bundle of electrical wires constituting a circuit in order to be able to ensure that he chooses the correct sheath for the passage of the wires and that there is no inversion of the various electrical circuits when connecting to the electrical panel, thus guaranteeing the correct identification of the circuit made. Currently, the only solution available to him is to place, around an electric wire or a bundle of electric wires making up an electric circuit, a sticker or a piece of adhesive tape on which he writes the destination (for example sheath kitchen, floor lighting, ground floor radiators, etc.). This solution is not permanent. Thus, for example, if the building is the subject of a construction or rehabilitation site requiring the simultaneous or staggered intervention of several trades other than the electrician installer, the electrical installation may have to be carried out over several days, with high risks that the handwritten annotations, even the stickers or portions of adhesive, will be damaged (tearing off the sticker, erasing the handwritten text, covering, etc.). In addition, when several electrical wires arrive in the same place (especially at the centralized electrical panel), it is not possible to identify the destination of each. An empirical method consists of the installer pulling on the cable and observing which one moves at the other end, which requires at least two operators on the site.

Moreover, today a lack of information persists during the life of the electrical installation: For example, during the maintenance of an installation, the maintenance technician uses a sheet of paper as a report which he transmits to the client. On his next visit, he does not systematically have the traceability of his previous interventions or of the interventions of colleagues.

In addition, during installation or maintenance, the professional does not have the technical data sheet of the product in an easily accessible way and must therefore carry out a precise and tedious search.

The end customer does not have easily accessible information on the product that may need to be replaced and therefore cannot respond to the professional remotely on the product to bring during the intervention.

In addition, the professional who carried out the installation is not necessarily the one who will carry out the maintenance or extension operations.

There is therefore a lack of long-term and detailed identification of the circuits in place. This lack of historical information can become costly and time-consuming due to the search for reliable data (technical, wiring diagram, manufacturing references, etc.).

The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the previous limitations by proposing a solution making it possible to assist a technician for the installation of an electrical network, and consequently to facilitate the maintenance of the installation.

• un premier technicien installateur fixe manuellement une étiquette NFC à au moins une extrémité d’un élément associé à un circuit électrique du réseau électrique, ledit élément étant constitué d’au moins une portion de longueur de fil électrique; et
• avant tout raccordement électrique de ladite au moins une extrémité, le premier technicien installateur enregistre dans ladite étiquette NFC au moins une information identifiant le circuit électrique, au moyen d’un premier terminal de communication mobile comprenant des moyens de lecture/écriture NFC et une application logicielle dédiée.

More specifically, the subject of the present invention is a method for assisting the installation of a wired electrical network in a building in which length portions of electrical wires cut from at least one or more coils are used. electric wires, comprising the following steps:

• a first installation technician manually attaches an NFC tag to at least one end of an element associated with an electrical circuit of the electrical network, said element consisting of at least a length portion of electrical wire; And
• before any electrical connection of said at least one end, the first installer technician records in said NFC tag at least one item of information identifying the electrical circuit, by means of a first mobile communication terminal comprising NFC read/write means and an application dedicated software.

In a possible implementation of the method, said element of at least one electric circuit is a bundle comprising several length portions of electric wires.

In a possible implementation of the method, the method further comprises, at the time of connection, a reading step, by means of a mobile communication terminal comprising NFC read/write means and said dedicated software application, of said at least information identifying the electrical circuit, so as to guide an installation technician in connecting said at least one end.

In the case where the ends of elements associated with each electrical circuit of the electrical network being connected to a central electrical panel, the method may further comprise a step during which the installer technician manually fixes a so-called centralized NFC tag at the level of said panel. central electricity and records in this centralized NFC tag, by means of said mobile communication terminal, at least one piece of information representative of the connection diagram of the electrical circuits of the network.

In a possible implementation of the method, the installer technician also records, by means of said mobile communication terminal, technical information characterizing at least one element associated with an electrical circuit and/or equipment powered via this element, in this centralized NFC tag, and/or in an NFC tag attached beforehand to said at least one element and/or to said equipment.

In one possible implementation, the powered equipment is a wall outlet or a lighting device, or a sensor, or a heater or a switch.

Said mobile communication terminal can be the first mobile communication terminal of said first installer technician.

In a possible implementation of the method, the method further comprises a step during which a maintenance technician records, by means of a third mobile communication terminal comprising NFC read/write means and said dedicated software application, at least one information representative of a maintenance operation in this centralized NFC tag, and/or in an NFC tag attached beforehand to said at least one element and/or to said device.

Brief description of figures

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, given by way of non-limiting examples, will make it clear what the invention consists of and how it can be implemented. In the attached figures:

schematically illustrates components of an assistance system for the installation of a wired electrical network, in accordance with the invention;

illustrates certain steps of an installation assistance method in accordance with the invention using the components of the system of the ;

illustrates other steps of an installation assistance method in accordance with the invention.

Description of embodiment(s)

In the figures, identical or equivalent elements will bear the same reference signs. The various diagrams are not to scale.

The invention provides for making available to an installer technician labels comprising an NFC chip (Anglo-Saxon initials for Near Field Communication), for example in the form of self-adhesive labels or integrated in clamps, and a dedicated software application installed in a mobile terminal equipped with read/write means according to the NFC protocol. There schematically illustrates a self-adhesive NFC tag 1, a clamp 2 provided with an NFC tag 3, and a mobile terminal 4, of the smartphone or tablet type, capable of exchanging data according to the NFC protocol and on which the dedicated software application installation and/or maintenance of an electrical network has been installed beforehand. NFC tags are designed to withstand harsh environments. They should preferably be impermeable to liquids, resistant to shocks and vibrations, resistant to corrosive industrial liquids, and able to operate in a wide range of temperatures. The shape of the self-adhesive NFC tags is arbitrary.

Steps of methods for assisting the installation of a wired electrical network in accordance with the invention are illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. It is assumed, as shown schematically in view (a) of the , that an installation technician 5 has cut two length portions of electrical wires 6, 7 unwound from two reels 8, 9, in order to be able to make an electrical circuit in a room 10 of a building, and has optionally passed these two wire portions in a sheath 11. During a step 110, the installer technician 5 manually attaches an NFC tag, for example an NFC tag 3 attached to a clamp 2, around a first end of the element made up of two portions of wires 6 and 7. Before any electrical connection, the installer technician 5 launches the dedicated software application installed on his mobile terminal 4, and enters, on an interface 12 displayed on the screen of the mobile terminal, at least one information identifying the electrical circuit, as shown schematically in view (b) of the (step 120). The input can be made by any known means (for example keyboard or voice input). By way of non-limiting example, if the room 10 is a bedroom and the electrical circuit is intended to connect wall power outlets to be installed in this room, the installer technician may enter as information a text of the type "wall outlets bedroom ". Other information relating, for example, to the technical characteristics of the electric wires used and/or their date of manufacture and/or the references or name of the manufacturer, can also be entered at this stage or later. The installer technician 5 can then approach the mobile terminal 4 to the NFC tag of the clamp 2 to record any information entered in step 120 in the NFC tag 3, via the NFC read/write means of the mobile terminal 4 (view (c) and step 130 of the ).

The installer technician 5 can repeat these operations at the level of the second end of the element made up of the two portions of wires 6 and 7.

Once the installer technician 5 has made all the electrical circuits desired for the installation, this installer technician 5 (or any other installer technician who also has NFC tags and a mobile terminal on which the dedicated software application has been installed) can connect one end of each circuit to a central electrical panel 13 (step 150, ). To do this, he approaches his mobile terminal 4 to each NFC tag associated with the end of a circuit to be connected, in order to read, via the NFC read/write means of the mobile terminal 4, the information recorded in step 130, in this case the information identifying the electrical circuit (step 140). The installer technician is thus guided in connecting the ends to the central electrical panel 13. The installer technician 5 can proceed in the same way to connect the other end of each electrical circuit to the equipment (wall socket, switch, lighting device, heater, sensor, etc. which must be powered by this electrical circuit.

Once the ends of each electrical circuit have been connected, the method may further comprise a step 160 during which the installer technician 5 manually attaches a so-called centralized NFC tag, preferably a self-adhesive tag 1, at the level of the central electrical panel. 13. He can then record in this centralized NFC tag, still via the dedicated software application and the NFC read/write means of the mobile communication terminal 4, at least one piece of information representative of the connection diagram of the electrical circuits of the network, loaded beforehand in the portable terminal by any means, for example by means of the dedicated software application (step 170, ).

Several centralized NFC tags 1 can be stuck in the central panel, for example to identify the electrical installations of several apartments located in a building.

Alternatively or in addition to steps 160 and 170, the installer technician 5 can also record, via the input interface 12 and the NFC read/write means of the mobile communication terminal 4, technical information characterizing at least one element ( electric wire or harness of electric wires) associated with an electrical circuit and/or equipment (wall socket, switch, lighting device, heater, sensor, etc.) powered via this element, in this centralized NFC tag, and /or in an NFC tag previously attached to this element and/or to this equipment. The technical information can be, for example, in the form of content giving the characteristics of the equipment or in the form of a hypertext link allowing access to a product sheet, or even photos stored beforehand in the mobile terminal 4.

At the end of the installation, anyone with a mobile terminal equipped with at least NFC reading means can retrieve at any time the information contained in the NFC tags stuck on the central electrical panel 13 or on any equipment or electrical circuit element.

Furthermore, anyone with a mobile terminal equipped with NFC read/write means and the dedicated software application can not only retrieve the recorded information, but also enter and record on the labels any information representative of a maintenance operation of the installation components. The information may, for example, indicate the name of the maintenance technician, the date and time of the intervention, the elements and/or equipment which have been checked, the elements and/or equipment which have been changed or repaired, the elements and/or equipment that needs to be changed or repaired...

The system represented schematically on the can also include a web or cloud interface to register, update and store the information recorded in the various NFC tags, but also to analyze them and prepare associated file recordings (technical sheets, photos, etc. …).

This ensures traceability of maintenance interventions and facilitates these interventions by providing access to technical information relating to the electrical circuits of the installation.

Claims (8)

Method for assisting the installation of a cabled electrical network in a building, during which length portions of electrical wires cut from at least one or more reels (8, 9) of electrical wires are used, comprising the following steps:

• a first installation technician (5) manually attaches (110) an NFC tag (1; 3) to at least one end of an element associated with an electrical circuit of the electrical network, said element consisting of at least a portion of length electric wire (6, 7); And
• before any electrical connection of said at least one end, the first installer technician (5) records (130) in said NFC tag (1; 3) at least one item of information identifying the electrical circuit, by means of a first terminal (4) mobile communication device comprising NFC read/write means and a dedicated software application.

Assistance method according to Claim 1, in which the said element of at least one electric circuit is a bundle comprising several length portions of electric wires (7, 8). Assistance method according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising, at the time of connection, a reading step (140), by means of a mobile communication terminal (4) comprising NFC reading/writing means and said dedicated software application, said at least one item of information identifying the electrical circuit, so as to guide an installer technician in connecting said at least one end. Assistance method according to claim 3, characterized in that, the ends of elements associated with each electrical circuit of the electrical network being connected to a central electrical panel (13), the method further comprises a step (160) during which the installation technician (5) manually attaches a so-called centralized NFC tag (1) to said central electrical panel (13) and records in this centralized NFC tag, by means of said mobile communication terminal (4), at least one piece of information representative of the connection diagram of the electrical circuits of the network. Assistance method according to claim 4, in which the installation technician (5) also records (170), by means of said mobile communication terminal (4), technical information characterizing at least one element associated with an electrical circuit and/or an item of equipment powered via this element, in this centralized NFC tag (1), and/or in an NFC tag fixed beforehand on said at least one element and/or on said item of equipment. An assist according to claim 5, wherein the powered equipment is a wall outlet or a lighting device, or a sensor, or a heater or a switch. Assistance method according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein said mobile communication terminal is the first mobile communication terminal (5) of said first installation technician (5). Assistance method according to any one of claims 5 and 6, further comprising a step during which a maintenance technician registers, by means of a third mobile communication terminal comprising NFC read/write means and said application dedicated software, at least one item of information representative of a maintenance operation in this centralized NFC tag, and/or in an NFC tag attached beforehand to said at least one element and/or to said device.