JPH10124790A - Inspection system using mobile body communication - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To lighten the load of maintenance inspection operation by transmitting information bidirectionally between a measuring means which measure the physical quantity of a body to be inspected and a remote inspection support system through a mobile body communication line. SOLUTION: A PHS terminal 30 which functions as a communication part of a portable information terminal 20 is carried by a maintenance inspection operator together with a controller 20 as a set. During measuring operation or a specific period in the measuring operation, the PHS terminal 30 is connected to a center computer 11 through a PHS line 3 and ready for a didirectional data communication, and also connected to the controller 20 through an infrared-ray interface. Once an evaluation part 23 of the controller 20 detects an abnormal measurement signal, an alarm is sent from a display part 24 and at the same time, the measurement signal is sent out to a center computer 11 of the inspection support system 5. The inspection support system 5 diagnoses the measurement signal and sends the diagnostic result to the controller 20.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inspection system for performing a vibration / acoustic inspection and a gas leak inspection for maintenance / inspection of plant equipment and the like with the support of a center computer located at a remote place. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional typical vibration / acoustic test or gas leak test for plant equipment, etc., as a preparatory work prior to the test, a test method including a reference value for each test point and a previous measured value are checked from a test master register. The sheet is transcribed, and the route of the inspection patrol is determined while checking the inspection location on the equipment layout drawing. In the actual inspection stage, the inspection location is measured using a measuring instrument in accordance with the prescribed inspection procedure transcribed on the check sheet, and the measured value is written on the check sheet and compared with the reference value to determine normal / abnormal. I do. If it is determined to be abnormal, contact the central management center using the local wireless or local telephone and request a countermeasure. When the measurement of all scheduled inspection points is completed, return to the management center and post-inspection, post-inspection, transfer the measured values to the trend management graph while checking the check sheet filled with the measured values, and Observe the change over time of the measured value at. In the leak inspection of gas or the like at a construction site, gas is first detected before the start of construction, and then gas is detected at appropriate intervals at a plurality of locations on the construction site during construction.

[0003]

In the above-described conventional inspection system, the burden on the operator and the occurrence of mistakes due to the large amount of transcription work in the pre-inspection work, the main inspection, and the post-inspection work,
Furthermore, problems such as a demand for reliability and promptness of cooperation at the time of information exchange with a central management center in the event of an abnormality have not been sufficiently solved. Vibration / sound data of equipment having rotating equipment is important data indicating the state of equipment, and it is desirable to always observe vibration / sound data for particularly important equipment. Conventionally, only a limited number of facilities have been installed with a specific loop to monitor vibration and acoustic data.It is impossible for facilities to monitor the status of many facilities and equipment. It can be said that there was. This vibration and sound data can be utilized as maintenance-effective data only by experienced and experienced experts. Usually, the number of experts is as small as one or two people at each factory. Therefore, it has not been possible to diagnose the state of equipment scattered at a short distance in a short time.

Further, in the gas leak inspection at the construction site, when the range of the construction site is large, the burden on the workers expended for periodic gas detection is very large, and many human resources are required. I have. There is also a need for faster and more reliable coordination with a central management center in the event of a gas leak. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the above-described conventional inspection system, reduce the burden on maintenance and inspection workers, and perform inspections with high-density support from a center computer by quickly cooperating with a central management center. Is to provide a system.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, an inspection system according to the present invention comprises measuring means for measuring a physical quantity of an object to be inspected, and a mobile communication terminal as a communication unit of the measuring means. And two-way information transmission between the measuring means and a remote inspection support system via a mobile communication line.

In the above configuration, since the measuring means for measuring physical quantities such as vibration, sound, pressure, and temperature, and phenomena such as gas leaks has a mobile communication function, it is necessary to measure the inspection location by a traveling maintenance and inspection worker. If necessary, it can be connected to an inspection support system consisting of a central computer at a central management center via a mobile communication line as needed, enabling two-way information transmission. Can work together. If the measuring means has an intelligent function, the inspection method including the reference value for each inspection point as a preparatory work before inspection can be downloaded from the center computer or read from the check sheet ledger. Work becomes easier. Further, if necessary, the data transferred to the inspection support system can be retrieved electronically after returning to the management center, thereby simplifying the work after inspection. For example, by processing data on inspections stored in the inspection support system using spreadsheet software or project management software, the post-inspection work of maintenance and inspection workers can be simplified.

In the present invention, it is particularly proposed to employ a PHS (Personal Handy Phone System) line as a preferred mobile communication line. In PHS, P
Data of 32 kbps (kilobits / second) can be transmitted and received digitally between the HS terminal and the base station, and the premises line connected to the base station can be completely digitally connected to the center computer by using a high-speed digital line. PH
It becomes possible to perform data communication between the S terminal and, consequently, the measuring means, so that high speed data transfer and high reliability can be obtained. Further, since the transmission output of the PHS terminal is small (10
(Approximately milliwatts), the load on the battery is small, and the weight can be reduced. Therefore, even if the maintenance and inspection workers are on hand, there is no problem in weight and space. The small transmission output of the PHS terminal has an advantage also with respect to the problem of radio interference in a plant office. Of course, the small transmission output of the PHS terminal means that the coverage area of one base station is small. However, in a business establishment, the location of the base station can be selected arbitrarily. ,
Base stations can be located in the most effective distribution,
The installation cost of a PHS base station is lower than other mobile communications. Also, if the PHS terminal is provided with a function of switching between the line for the office and the line for the public, it is possible to connect to the center computer of the management center through a nearby base station even at the construction site where the company has left. .

[0008] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention when PHS is adopted as mobile communication, a PHS terminal and a measuring means are further connected to an infrared interface (Infra-red Data A).
It is an optical communication interface standardized by ssociation, and is also abbreviated as IrDA below.)
For example, when an interface such as RS232C that uses a relatively high voltage is used and the use at a plant facility or a gas construction site is considered, there is a great advantage in terms of explosion-proof property.

[0009] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, PH
If the S terminal and the measuring means are connected by a PC card interface, not only the PHS terminal and the measuring means need not be connected by a cable as in the case of the infrared interface described above, but also advanced control such as automatic reception and automatic transmission. A processing function can also be provided, and data can be freely sent to the measuring means from the center computer without the operator operating the PHS terminal. In addition, PHS
If the terminal and the measuring means are integrated, there is an advantage in portability as a device to be carried for inspection work.

Further, as a preferred example of the whole embodiment of the inspection system according to the present invention, a PHS line connecting a PHS terminal and the center computer includes a plurality of base stations distributed in an office and this base station. And a PHS controller connected to the base station and a private branch exchange for telephone voice communication and a network including the base station and the center computer for data communication. It is proposed to relay between the two. In this system, this PH
Supplementary information transmission can be performed by voice communication with the management center through the S terminal, and data communication can be performed with all devices connected on the network. For example, by performing voice communication and data communication with an expert who is familiar with a certain loop check point through the network, it is possible to provide appropriate specialist knowledge to maintenance and inspection workers who work on site where an abnormality has occurred. Becomes

In a preferred embodiment according to the present invention, the measuring means inputs a sensor and measurement data from the sensor to determine normal / abnormal, and transmits abnormal measurement data to a management center via a PHS line. Some systems include a controller that sends the data to an inspection support system. In this configuration, the controller has an intelligent function, and when the measurement data sent from the sensor is determined to be abnormal, the controller automatically transfers the measurement data to the inspection support system, and performs further analysis /
You can ask for evaluation. As a result, highly reliable normal / abnormal judgment that cannot be performed only on site can be performed substantially in real time. In this case, if the controller can receive the diagnostic result of the abnormality measurement data performed by the inspection support system via the PHS line, the maintenance and inspection worker at the site can perform maintenance based on the highly reliable diagnostic result. Inspections can be performed on the spot.
At that time, it is also possible to access the inspection database constituting the inspection support system and to fetch the history data of the target inspection location as needed.

Depending on the physical quantity to be inspected, the capacity of the measured data is too large for data communication on the PHS line. In such a case, a preferred embodiment of the controller of the present invention is to divide and quantize the measurement data from the sensor and sequentially send the quantized divided measurement data to the inspection support system via the PHS line. . The inspection support system integrates the received divided measurement data, restores the original measurement data, and uses the data for the inspection diagnosis. For example, audio data is 10-20k
Hz frequency domain is required, so it is necessary to divide the measured acoustic data into several frequency domains using several types of bandpass filters, quantize each of the divided acoustic data, and send it out sequentially Accordingly, traffic on the PHS line can be smoothed.

In another preferred embodiment according to the present invention,
The measuring means includes a sensor and a controller for sending measurement data from the sensor to the inspection support system via the PHS line. The inspection support system determines whether the measurement data is normal or abnormal, and determines the determination result as P.
Some are received by the controller via the HS line.
In this configuration, the controller merely processes the measurement data from the sensor so as to be loaded on the PHS line, and can reduce the size of the structure. It is suitable as a typical stationary gas detector. In the inspection system according to the present invention, if the PHS terminal is provided with an automatic incoming / outgoing function, an unmanned monitoring system performed at an arbitrary sampling interval is realized.

In summary, in the inspection system according to the present invention, the expert on the condition diagnosis of the rotating equipment selects the equipment at an arbitrary point through the center computer, judges the sound of the equipment by hearing, and determines the sound at the arbitrary frequency range. The vibration and sound data indicating the state of the equipment can be acquired by selecting the vibration and sound data, and appropriate decisions can be made promptly and a processing command can be given to the maintenance and inspection workers at the site. Such a system is called CBM (Condition Based
Maintenance: condition monitoring maintenance)
This is a more advanced maintenance technique than failure maintenance, and the inspection system according to the present invention realizes this CBM. Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an inspection system using mobile communication according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a premises computer network (hereinafter simply referred to as an in-house LAN = Local Area Network) built in a central management center 1 of plant equipment.
The inspection support system 5 having a center computer 11 as a core and an inspection object 100 of plant equipment and a measuring means 2 can be connected by a PHS line 3 so as to be capable of two-way communication. I have. For this reason, the PHS terminal 30 can be connected to the measuring means 2 via an infrared interface (for example, an IrDA interface).

The measuring means 2 comprises a plurality of sensors 4 and a controller 20 for inputting measurement signals from the sensors 4, and in this embodiment, measures vibration. As shown in FIG. 2, the controller 20 includes a switching unit 21 for electronically selecting measurement signals sent from the plurality of vibration sensors 4, and an amplification unit 22 for amplifying a signal output from the switching unit 21. And an evaluation unit 23 for evaluating the amplified signal by comparing it with a predetermined threshold value, and a display unit 24 for displaying a measurement signal and displaying an evaluation result. Further, the controller 20
A / D converter 2 that quantizes the measurement signal at a predetermined sampling number and converts it into a digital signal in order to send the vibration data determined to be abnormal by the evaluation unit to inspection support system 5
5 to transmit the digitized measurement signal and the data of the target inspection point to the PHS terminal 30.
An input / output unit 26 for processing based on the rDA standard is provided. An optical communication port 27 based on the IrDA standard is provided at the end of the input / output unit 25. The switching unit 21, the amplification unit 22, the evaluation unit 23, and the display unit 2 described above.
4, the A / D conversion unit 25 and the input / output unit 26 are connected to a control unit 28 for centrally controlling the A / D conversion unit 25 and the input / output unit 26. The control unit 28 includes a CPU that creates various functions by programs. Is configured as Although this controller 20 employs a known technique as a vibration measuring device, the block diagram shown in FIG. 2 is shown by extracting mainly the elements related to the present invention, It does not show a block diagram of a suitable vibration measuring device.

The control unit 28 sends a P
The data transmitted via the HS line 3 is displayed on the display unit 24, and the threshold value of the evaluation unit 23 is set to a value suitable for the inspection point in response to input of the tag number of the inspection point to be processed. Or The tag number of each inspection point and the measurement mode data such as the measurement range and threshold value linked to the tag number are stored in a storage device such as a memory card or non-volatile memory, and the writing of this storage device is managed. Performed directly from the inspection support system 5 at the center 1 or, if necessary,
It can be performed via the PHS line 3.

The PHS terminal 30 functioning as a communication section of the portable information terminal 20 is set with the controller 20 and carried by a maintenance and inspection worker. During the measurement work,
Alternatively, during the specification of the measurement work, the PHS terminal 30 is connected to the center computer 11 via the PHS line 3 and is in a two-way data communication state, and is connected to the controller 20 via the infrared interface. I have. When an abnormal measurement signal is detected by the evaluation unit 23 of the controller 20, an alarm is notified from the display unit 24 and the measurement signal is sent to the center computer 11 of the inspection support system 5.

The inspection support system 5 further includes an in-house LAN
Inspection database server 12 connected by 10
And various servers such as a failure diagnosis server 13 and a document server 14, and a client terminal for an inspector, and diagnoses a measurement signal indicating abnormal vibration sent from the controller 20, and analyzes the diagnosis result. Controller 2
Send to 0. Further, the history data of the corresponding inspection point can be sent from the inspection database server 12 or the document server 14 in response to a request from the controller 20. Although not shown, the in-house LAN 10 is also connected to an in-house LAN in another area by an integrated services directory (ISDN).
gital network) to form a company wide WAN (Wide Area Network).

In order to connect the inspection support system 5 and the controller 20 by the PHS line 3, the in-house LAN 10 is further connected to the PHS control device 31 via the router 6. The PHS control device 31 is connected to a base station 32 constituting the PHS line 3 via a private digital line 33, and is also connected to the private branch exchange 7. That is, if the signal transmitted from the PHS terminal 30 via the base station 32 and the private digital line 33 is a telephone voice, the PHS control device 31 switches to the private telephone exchange 7 and the transmitted signal is used for data communication. If in-house LAN
Switch to 10. Private branch exchange 7 and company LAN 1
0 from the base station 32 in any case.
To the PHS terminal 30 of the destination. Since the service area of the base station 32 is several hundred meters, the base stations 32 are distributed so as to cover all inspection points. Since the private branch exchange 7 is connected to a public line and a company telephone network, the PHS terminal 30 can also make a call with an outside line telephone or a company telephone.

The inspection system configured as described above operates as follows. That is, before entering the inspection patrol, the maintenance / inspection worker accesses the inspection database server 12 or the document server 14 using his / her client terminal 15 and transmits the inspection check sheet and other necessary data to the controller 20. The data is loaded on a memory card that can be loaded into the controller 20 or directly loaded on the controller 20. As a result, the labor for creating an inspection check sheet is greatly reduced.

A maintenance worker who arrives at the inspection object 100 to be inspected mounts the vibration sensor 4 on the inspection object 100. Normally, the vibration sensor 4 includes a position where vibration in the x-axis direction can be detected, a position where vibration in the y-axis direction can be detected, and
By mounting at least at a position where the vibration in the y-axis direction can be detected, the abnormality check based on the vibration measurement of the inspection object 20 and the investigation of the cause at the time of the abnormality are made accurate. When the tag number of the inspection object 100 is input to the controller 20, the control unit 28 sets the measurement range and the threshold value used by the evaluation unit 23 based on the input tag number. Of course, these settings may be performed manually. When the measurement operation is started, the measured value is displayed on the display unit 24. If the measured value exceeds the threshold value and is regarded as abnormal data, the measured value is displayed on the A / D converter 25. , An input / output unit 26, and an optical communication port 27,
The data finally reaches the center computer 11 via the line 3.

In the inspection support system 5, a failure diagnosis is performed by using various servers as necessary by the operation of the main routine running in the center computer 11, and the diagnosis result is transmitted from the center computer 11 to the PH.
Since the data is sent to the controller 20 via the S line 3, the worker at the site can know in real time the cause of the failure of the DUT 100 that is performing the measurement. In the case of a more complicated failure diagnosis, it is possible to request a judgment from a failure diagnosis expert in the management center 1 and receive a processing command.

Data relating to the failure diagnosis is stored in the inspection database 12. Further, when the worker needs past inspection data and maintenance / inspection history of the object to be inspected 100 for maintenance / inspection work, the PHS
By accessing the inspection database server 12 via the line 3, necessary information can be extracted. Further, on the spot, it is also possible to use the PHS terminal 30 to talk to an expert who is familiar with the object to be inspected 100 and hear necessary information. After completing the series of inspection work, the maintenance / inspection worker returns to the management center 1 and accesses the inspection database server 12 or the document server 14 using his / her own client terminal 15 to retrieve necessary data and documents, thereby obtaining an inspection report. Create

In the above description, the infrared interface was used to connect the PHS terminal 30 and the portable information terminal 20, but instead a PC card interface (for example, PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card Intern)) was used.
a) which is standardized in ationalAssociation). In this case, the CP configuring the controller 20
The U can completely control the PHS terminal 30 as one of the external devices, and not only performs automatic incoming and outgoing calls, but also opens a way to further automate the inspection work.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of the controller 20 configured for acoustic measurements. Naturally, the sensor 4 is a microphone for detecting sound, but the other elements are basically the same as the block diagram for vibration measurement shown in FIG. 2. The unnecessary description will not be repeated. However, a filter unit 29 is interposed between the evaluation unit 23 and the A / D converter 25. The acoustic signal used for failure diagnosis is 10
Since the PHS line 3 has a bandwidth of 20 kHz and the transmission capacity of the PHS line 3 becomes large, the measurement signal is divided into a plurality of frequency bands by a band-pass filter provided in the filter unit 29 to perform data communication. Also in this case, a plurality of acoustic sensors 4 are prepared and arranged so that sounds from different directions can be measured simultaneously.

In the above-described two embodiments of the vibration test and the acoustic test, the controller 20 is provided with the evaluation unit 23 for judging whether the measured value is normal or abnormal. Directly to PHS line 3
Can be sent to the inspection support system 5 via the. In this case, it is convenient to form the controller 20 and the PHS terminal 30 integrally and to have an automatic incoming / outgoing function, thereby realizing a stationary or temporary stationary remote control monitoring device. In particular, by appropriately arranging the sensor 4 as a gas detection sensor in an area requiring monitoring, such as a construction site, an inspection system that monitors gas leaks at arbitrary time intervals day and night by remote operation from a remote location is realized. .

In any case, as apparent from the above description, in the inspection system according to the present invention configured as described above, the sensor 4 is connected via the PHS line 3 capable of high-speed digital data communication (32 kbps). The inspection site and the inspection support system 5 of the management center 1 can be completely connected to the center computer 11 by digital only.
And a real-time failure diagnosis system in which is connected online.

In the description of the embodiment of the present invention, the physical quantity of the inspection object 100 is exemplified by vibration and sound, and the monitoring event is a gas leak. However, of course, the inspection for other physical quantities and other monitoring events is performed. Systems naturally fall within the framework of the present invention. That is, the sensor 4 of the measuring means 2 only needs to be able to grasp the situation at the site, and in addition to the vibration sensor and the microphone described above, a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, a gas concentration sensor, an optical sensor, an ammeter, a voltmeter, and the like. Can be used. In addition, as a sensor,
If a digital camera or digital video is mounted, the state of the inspection site can be sent to the management center 1 via the PHS line 3 as a still image or a moving image.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an inspection system using mobile communication according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining a schematic configuration of a controller for vibration measurement.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining a schematic configuration of a controller for acoustic measurement.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 measuring means 3 mobile communication means 5 inspection support system 30 mobile communication terminal

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A measuring means for measuring a physical quantity of an object to be inspected, and a mobile communication terminal as a communication unit of the measuring means, wherein the measuring means and a remote location are supported via a mobile communication line. Inspection system that uses mobile communication for two-way information transmission with the system. 2. The inspection system according to claim 1, wherein the mobile communication line is a PHS line. 3. The inspection system using mobile communication according to claim 2, wherein the PHS terminal as the mobile communication terminal and the measuring means are connected by an infrared interface. 4. The inspection system using mobile communication according to claim 2, wherein the PHS terminal as the mobile communication terminal and the measuring means are connected by a PC card interface. 5. A PHS line connecting the PHS terminal and the inspection support system includes a plurality of base stations distributed in an office, and a PHS control device connected to the base station. The PHS control device relays the telephone voice communication between the base station and the private branch exchange, and relays the data communication between the base station and a network including the inspection support system. An inspection system using mobile communication according to any one of the preceding claims. 6. The measurement means includes a sensor, and a controller for inputting measurement data from the sensor, performing normal / abnormal determination, and sending abnormal measurement data to the inspection support system via a PHS line. An inspection system using mobile communication according to any one of claims 2 to 5. 7. The controller according to claim 1, wherein the controller outputs a diagnosis result of the abnormality measurement data performed by the inspection support system to a PH.
The inspection system using mobile communication according to claim 6, wherein the inspection system receives the information via an S line. 8. The controller according to claim 6, wherein the controller divides and quantizes the measurement data from the sensor, and sequentially sends the quantized divided measurement data to the inspection support system via the PHS line. Inspection system using mobile communication. 9. The measurement means sends a sensor and measurement data from the sensor to the inspection support system for performing normal / abnormal determination of the measurement data via a PHS line, and transmits a determination result from the inspection support system. P
The inspection system using mobile communication according to any one of claims 2 to 5, further comprising: a controller that receives the data via an HS line. 10. The inspection system using mobile communication according to claim 2, wherein the PHS terminal has an automatic calling and automatic receiving function.