NL9301953A - Method for storing data in a memory, as well as a computer system for carrying out the method. - Google Patents

Description

METHOD FOR STORING DATA / MEMORY COMPUTER SYSTEM FOR CARRYING OUT THE METHOD

The present invention relates to a method for storing data in the form of object data in a memory, wherein objects are formed by groups and group members.

In the known method for storing data in a memory, an often two-dimensional memory field is initiated in the memory, wherein given the stored subject, fields associated with this subject are defined, usually in the form of columns and rows. In a memory comprising n rows and m columns and thus containing n x m fields, an m-number of fields is initiated for each stored data, in which usually a few of the fields are filled with relevant data.

The drawback of the known method for storing data in memory is that the filling degree of such a memory is very low.

The present invention aims to provide a method and a computer system for efficiently storing data in memory, making more efficient use of the memory space reserved in a computer system.

To this end, the method according to the invention has the feature that the data is stored in the form of collection entities and values associated with the collective entities, as well as in the form of group members individual entities and entity values associated with the individual entities are stored.

The inventors have realized that the information content when applying the known method is to an extent which depends on the degree of filling of the memory redundant. This insight is coupled with the view that a field is not a static entity, but that collective and individual entities in particular are freely definable insofar as they are associated with the aforementioned associated entity values. It is therefore unnecessary to initialize a memory matrix with a fixed row column size.

The advantage of the method according to the invention is further that it is not limited by characteristics or features specific to the group of objects or elements from the group with regard to which the data is stored. Moreover, the method according to the invention guarantees an extremely effective manner of memory use without this openly affecting the flexibility as to the possibilities of expanding or limiting it. If desired, collective and / or individual units can in particular be added, the storage method in the memory remaining optimally adapted to the descriptive entities of data to be stored, which can be entered as desired. Dynamic growth of the contents of the total file is possible while retaining the above-mentioned favorable properties. In addition to being flexible, the method according to the invention is multifunctionally applicable to all kinds of memory files, regardless of the type of object whose data is stored.

In a method according to the invention, the collective and individual entity object data, respectively, about constituent components of the group or the respective group member.

The advantage of this embodiment according to the invention is that the file can efficiently store data on either components that always belong to certain group members, or components that belong to certain individual group members. Obviously, these components are again flexible as entities and can store associated values. This creates the possibility of providing lists on, for example, a display device or a printing device, on which, for example, either all components or all components of one or more group members occur, or on which, for example, complete component lists of a specific group member are provided.

In a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, the data comprises task data relating to tasks to be performed in respect of parts or parts of a group or group member, the task data being stored in memory in the form of a set From: the description of the particular component or part to which the task to be performed relates, - at least one unit associated with the task, and - if desired, each unit assigned value.

The advantage of this method according to the invention is that it ensures effective use of the memory. In addition, the data from which the set is built up can easily be modified, omitted or supplemented, in order to enter in memory in memory new data, for instance about an object or part of a group of objects, which have become available via this method. This method of storing data further provides the possibility of defining one or more units or units to be associated with a freely selectable task, whereby even the various units may have a different dimension. For example, one unit has the dimension time, while the other unit is dimensionless. The time units that can be freely specified offer important advantages in planning and setting up flexible grids, both maintenance grids and fly grilles. In accordance with the invention, in accordance with the invention, it is not only possible to determine the start or end point of an interval as desired, but also the interval is variable, and it can also be, for example, 8 or 13 days or something, instead of the known necessary planning plans based on permanent work, monthly or annual schedules. such as, for example, to schedule scheduled maintenance as efficiently as possible in an 8 or 13-day flight schedule of an aircraft.

In a further flexible embodiment of the method according to the invention, the data comprises selection criteria data, which are stored in memory in the form of a specified set of collective and / or individual entities with the associated entity value or values regions, thereby enabling the selection to be made easily change criteria data while retaining an optimal memory filling level.

In yet a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, the object data stored in a first memory and the task data stored in a second memory are mutually coupled by means of selection criteria stored in a third memory, such that selected data stored in a fourth memory are associated which meet the selection criteria.

Application of this method according to the invention enables two-way coupling, namely, data from the first memory can be linked to data in the second memory, and conversely, data from the second memory can be linked to data in the first memory. This offers the practical advantage of evaluating tasks to be specified on the one hand, in order to check to which groups of objects these tasks apply, while on the other hand all tasks applicable to a freely specified group member by applying the method available come.

The method according to the invention has proved particularly advantageous when applied to data of complex objects, such as, for example, ships or aircraft, comprising many systems, components, circuits and components. Especially when planning and / or carrying out actions, such as inspection and / or maintenance tasks, when the method according to the invention is applied, an insight is quickly obtained in the event that the relevant data are stored in accordance with this method.

The invention further relates to a computer system for use in the method according to the invention.

The present invention will be further elucidated with reference to the accompanying figure, which shows a possible embodiment of the device according to the invention, by means of which the method according to the invention will also be further elucidated.

The figure shows a computer system 1, which is composed of data input and display device 2, a first memory 3, a second memory 4, a third memory 5, the memories 3,4 and 5 of which are each connected to the device 2, and a fourth memory 6 connected to memory 5. By means of the data input and display device 2, object data is stored in memory 3 in the form of collective and individual units and values to be assigned to each of these entities. Objects may in particular include vessels, for example aircraft or ships, but also complex systems comprising systems, such as power stations, in particular power stations such as nuclear power stations, gas-fired or coal-fired power stations, but also, for example, blast furnaces or cracking plants, such as applied in chemistry when cracking oil, for example. However, the method to be further explained can also be applied in the storage of personal data or in data storage with regard to words or word meanings.

The data stored in memory 3 in the form of object data includes the collective entities, that is, those data or entities that in principle comprise characteristic data for the group, as well as the entity values associated with the related entities. Focused on the group of objects consisting of the aircraft the collective entities include the data listed in Table 1.

TABLE 1

For example, the entity "Registration" has the value "PH-AHJ". The collective name "Manufacturer" states under value: "Boeing", etc. In addition, the individual entities and the associated entity value are stored in memory 3. An example of an individual entity is the "number of seats" in Table 1, which here has the value "213". In a simple manner, new, for example, individual entities can be added to the object data stored in the memory 3. For example, the new individual entity "operational category" can be added, which may have possible values: "transport", "military", "private" or, in the case indicated, the value "line", indicating that it is an airliner. The table includes some other individual entities and their associated entity values.

In addition, in memory 4 the actions or task data are recorded which, again focusing on the group of objects the aircraft know, in particular concerning the maintenance tasks to be carried out on the various systems, components, circuits and components of the aircraft. For example, the task related to the "Nose Landing System" component has a task associated unit "landings" which has a value "150" assigned to the unit "landings". Two units, namely "flight hours" and "age (months)", associated with the task "propeller", have the respective values 600 and 12. The table lists a very limited number of tasks for clarification.

It is true that a certain unit is associated with a task, but the way in which the data is stored offers the freedom to make the data that is stated under a certain unit state dependent on a data belonging to another task.

For example, the "landings" unit associated with the "nose landing system" task could also contain an indication of the number of hours the takeoff generator has been in operation. Another example is a part in an engine of an aircraft, for example maintenance of the part can be related to the engine to which it belongs and / or the aircraft to which the engine belongs. The "owner" of the unit or time indicator can be located at any level between the part and the aircraft.

In memory 5, selection criteria data is stored in the form of a specified freely identifiable series collective and / or individual entities with their associated entity values or entity values regions. An example of this is included in Table 2 and focused on the group of aircraft.

TABLE 2

The selection criteria data includes the entity "Manufacturer" of the "Aircraft" Group, which here is "Cessna". The entity "Type" should be in the entity values range from 150A through 150G, while also the serial numbers should have the specified values. Then link the data stored in memories 3 and 4 through the selection criteria data in the memory 5 provides selected data stored in memory 6 in the form of lists of "Cessnas" with the given serial numbers in the selected entity value region type area. Of course, it is also possible to store selected data in memory 6, which relate to a specific type of "Cessna" with a specific serial number, so that it can be accurately determined which (maintenance) tasks must be specified for the actual / current values of the various units for that particular aircraft. be performed. These tasks include, for example, (visual) inspections, replacement or cleaning of parts, but also test, revisions or overlapping tasks such as revisions combined with subsequent tests.

The method offers both the possibility of registering all systems, components, parts, parts of parts and circuits on the basis of the data stored in the memory 3, as well as that the method offers the possibility of drawing on the data stored in the memory 4 of the object concerned or a maintain and register a group of objects and also plan and keep track of the functions, tasks, actions, revisions and the like intended for the future. Deregistration and output facility in this regard is denoted 7 in the figure. For example, facility 7 has the option of printing and / or displaying the aforementioned lists, optionally also with the aid of data entry and display device 2.

The method and the computer system 1 provide to a large extent the possibility to add and change collective and / or individual entities, or tasks, and associated units and values, or selection criteria, without this having consequences for the effective storage of data in the different memories 3-6. After coupling of the memories 3 and 4 and the matching of the corresponding data stored therein, the selected data in the memory 6 are automatically formed on the basis of said modified data. This flexible adjustment option is of great practical importance. For airplanes, it is not uncommon for additional requirements for the maintenance tasks to be carried out, for example, arising from the regular maintenance program. With the aid of the present method and arrangement of the computer system 1, these additional requirements can be translated into job task data to be entered, so that after selection new tasks are stored in the selected data in the memory 6. Additional requirements may also arise from service bulletins and special aircraft instructions of interest to aircraft. to sing.

Information can be provided in a simple manner with regard to all tasks that are important for the maintenance of a particular aircraft. This facilitates planning and optimizes stock management of materials, parts, tools and the like that are important for maintenance.

It should be clear that, on the other hand, a schedule with regard to different types of objects can be optimally matched to what is necessary in the maintenance thereof for people, equipment and tools.

For example, when an engine is exchanged from an airplane and it goes from airplane A to airplane B, the consequence is that maintenance with regard to the parts of that engine must also be carried over from airplane A to airplane B. By in the specification aircraft B data to accommodate the new engine data, the mode of operation and system in question automatically link the maintenance of the new engine to the new aircraft. The same applies with regard to a new motor to be mounted in motor A, after the relevant data have been suitably stored in the system.

The method of data storage allows the system to efficiently perform consistency test procedures applicable to the stored data to ensure that the different data has been entered correctly and correctly refers to each other. A simple example:

An aircraft is known to have two engines. When data from three engines refers to that aircraft in the system, it is clear from the procedures that the data is incorrect and its timeliness should be investigated. Particularly in complex systems that contain many parts, parts of parts, parts of parts of parts, circuits, systems and the like, incorrect storage of data can lead to unsafe situations, for example as of important parts of parts, which have previously been exchanged from a particular aircraft the state of maintenance has not been properly entered, maintained and / or stored.

According to the method, the planning of an inspection or maintenance may take place in a known manner based on fixed tasks that are necessary when a certain number of flight hours are reached, but it is also possible to schedule the inspection or maintenance tasks at the task level, i.e. Turn schedules can be more accurately matched to the aircraft's actual maintenance status, for example, previously, planning could be done almost exclusively at inspection level, in which case if an aircraft flew 70-hour periods each time it reached the end of an initial period for a first 100 hours. in turn took place. After that, a two hundred hour inspection took place at the moment that after the first hundred-hour inspection the aircraft again flown by hand for 70 hours, as a result of which 30 hours per flight hour were in fact lost per flight hour inspection, so that, for example, after reaching a (first ) major inspection at 1200 flight hours the aircraft had in fact not flown 1200 hours but only flown 12 x 70 = 840 hours. In other words, too much maintenance takes place in this way. The method and system now provide the ability to schedule turns at the task level, that is, upon reaching the first 70-hour period, the first 100-hour inspection is scheduled, and then upon reaching a second inspection, the 200-hour inspection. inspection the plane actually had only 140 hours on the counter and so in total 90 hours had already been given up. However, in order to achieve the 300 hour inspection, when taking advantage of the current opportunity to plan at task level, the aircraft is offered not after 210 hours for a turn, but only after reaching 280 actual flight hours. The consequence of planning in this way is that, for example, when the 700-hour inspection was reached, the aircraft actually flew almost 700 hours. In other words, with the aid of this option, which is possible in a simple manner due to the chosen method of memory storage, not one and a half times as much maintenance is carried out as with the previously usual planning method at inspection level.

The computer system 1 has a boundary margin memory 8 connected to the data input and display device 2 and coupled to the memory 4. The system 1 also has a comparator 9 switched between the memories 4 and 8. Limit margins are freely stored in memory locations of the boundary margin memory 8, which belong to tasks to be performed during a certain inspection. Corresponding task data are stored in the memory 4, together with units associated with the task, in particular time units, each time unit having a value. If it can be deduced from the time unit that the necessary performance of the associated task falls between two successive inspections, there are two possibilities. Either the task performance shifts to the first or to the second subsequent inspection. This depends on the margin associated with the task, namely whether it is before or after the established limit margin. For example, if an aircraft is offered for a 1000 flight hours inspection and the limit margin for that inspection is set at 80% of the next inspection at 1100 flight hours, in which case the limit margin is at 1000 + (1100-1000) x 0.8 = 1080 flight hours, task to be performed at 1050 flight hours done at the 1000 hour inspection, whereas if the margin of the task to be performed is at 90% of the interval, i.e. in this case at 1090 flight hours, the task concerned will be shifted to the next inspection at 1100 flying hours. This memory storage mode allows scheduling of inspection and maintenance operations in a simple and quick manner, providing a measure of how critical the task is to be performed for each job to be performed. The extent to which a task is critical is related to the margin of that task.

Claims (19)

Method for storing data in the form of object data in a memory, objects being formed by groups and group members, characterized in that the object data is stored in the form of collection entities and entity values associated with the collective entities, as well as in the form of individual entities to be assigned to group members and entity values associated with the individual entities are stored. A method according to claim 1, wherein the collection-respective individual entities contain object data about constituent components of the group and the respective group member, respectively. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the data task data comprises tasks relating to files or parts of a group or a group member to be performed, the task data being stored in memory in the form of a set consisting of: - the description of the item or part to which the task to be performed relates, - at least one unit associated with the task-associated unit, and - a value assigned to each unit if desired. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the data comprises selection criteria data, which selection criteria data is stored in memory in the form of a specified series collective and / or individual entities with the associated entity value or value ranges. A method according to claim 4 with reference to claim 3 and, claim 1 or 2, wherein the object data stored in a first memory and the task data stored in a second memory are coupled with selection criteria-data stored in a third memory, such that they belong together in one fourth memory stored selected data that meet the selection criteria. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the groups comprise, in particular complex, objects which consist of a relatively large number of components and parts which interact to a greater or lesser degree. A method according to claim 6, wherein the objects are in particular power plants, chemical installations or means of transport, for example ships or aircraft, such as airplanes, helicopters or the like, or systems, components, circuits or parts thereof. The method of any one of claims 3-7, wherein the tasks are maintenance tasks. The method of any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the units are maintenance units of interest, such as: the age of the object or, for example, an item or system replaced in the object, the number of times an event or series of events occurs occurred, such as, for example, the number of activations and / or deactivations, or the switch-on and / or switch-off time of, for example, an electrical / mechanical / pneumatic / hydraulic system, a component or a circuit in the object; whether the unit indicates units of time, such as the number of flight hours; for example, whether the unit is divalent and whether an event, such as a hard landing, a collision with a bird, a flat tire, a lightning strike has occurred or not. The method of claim 8 or 9, wherein the task data stored in the second memory is composed of data from a regular maintenance program, from an additional service bulletin, from a special airworthiness designation, and the like. The method of claim 10, wherein the selected data stored in the fourth memory is used to schedule, for example, inspections and / or maintenance of one or more objects. A method according to any one of claims 1-11, wherein the input and storage of the object, task and selection criteria data respectively takes place within software-defined modules. The method of any one of claims 1-12, wherein the data is alphanumeric data. The method of any preceding claim, wherein test procedures are performed on the data consistency stored in the memories. The method of any of claims 1-14, wherein a computer system is used. Computer system provided with a computer program for carrying out the method according to one of claims 1-15. The computer system of claim 16, wherein the computer system includes a first object data memory to be filled, a second task data file to be filled, a third memory filled with selection criteria data to be filled with selection criteria data, and a fourth connected to the third memory memory to be filled with selected data. Computer system according to claim 17, wherein the data relates to maintenance data of in particular power plants, chemical installations or means of transport, for example ships or aircraft, such as aircraft, helicopters and the like, or systems, components, circuits or parts thereof. A computer system according to any one of claims 16-18, wherein the computer system has a boundary margin memory with memory location memory connected to the second memory, in which boundary margin values are stored which belong to tasks to be carried out in between two successive inspections, which boundary margin values can be coupled with calculated margin values associated with the task in question, where a boundary margin indicates the location of the time when the task is to be performed between the two inspections, and the computer system has a comparator connected to the boundary margin memory that if the assigned margin value is less than the boundary margin of the task concerned during the youngest inspection or maintenance turn located just before the boundary margin, while if the margin value is greater than the boundary margin, the relevant task is registered during the next inspection or maintenance turn located after the boundary margin.