RU2444060C2 - System for transmitting information with generation of maintenance information, method of transmitting information (versions) - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: information technology.

SUBSTANCE: system has a product with an electronic control unit for recording and/or storing product information in memory, the product information consisting of standard and current product information, with a component for creating a bar-code for displaying product information. The device for creating the bar-code is linked with the product for transmitting data or is built-into the product, with a device for updating the bar-code based on the standard and current product information, and also has a database with a storage device for storing the current information in memory, a recording module with an image capturing device for optical recording of current product information, obtained based on the updated bar-code, and a data radio transmission module connected together with the image capturing device to the database for wireless transmission of current product information.

EFFECT: easy access to product information for switching during servicing, maintenance and other tasks.

9 cl, 4 dwg

Description

The invention relates to a system for transmitting information and a method for transmitting information. In particular, the invention relates to the transmission of product information through a barcode generation system and to a barcode registration system. The invention also relates to a product for a system for transmitting information about it, a system for transmitting product information and a method for transmitting product information.

Barcodes as a means for automatically reading information are widely represented in various fields. Two-dimensional barcodes are used, for example, for transactions in the postal and banking business. The information stored in the barcode can be considered as a kind of database. In particular, in two-dimensional barcodes, the amount of information is greater than in one-dimensional barcodes. In addition, there is a desire to further increase the density of information. The information density available in comparison with a one-dimensional barcode can be used in a variety of ways. For this, you can use, for example, a transaction in relation to a product (purchase) or delivery of a product through a read barcode using an information system or communication with an information system.

Electrical devices, such as power transformers, converting substations, conductive devices, etc., are usually located after manufacturing and marketing in different places, should be monitored there and protected by protective devices. Such protective devices, also called secondary devices, and other products contain numerous electronic components that are able to partially or fully record production data and data about a controlled electronic device.

The technical result of the invention is to simplify access to product information for communication in the event of service work, maintenance and other tasks.

In relation to these aspects, a product for an information transfer system, a system for transmitting product information and a method for transmitting product information are provided.

In one embodiment, an information transmission system is provided. The product includes an electronic control unit for registering and / or storing product information, wherein the product information consists of standard and current information, a component for generating a barcode for displaying product information, the means for generating a barcode associated with product for data transfer or integrated into the product, and a device for updating the barcode based on standard and current product information.

When servicing and monitoring an electronic device, it is useful to know its actual status. At the same time, current device information, error protocols, and existing configurations regarding production data and product data can help the efficient work of a service engineer or other persons who are responsible for servicing customers with appropriate electronic devices.

In another embodiment, in the case of a barcode generating component, this is usually, for example, a display of a maximum size of 100 × 100 mm or a printer.

In other embodiments, such products may be integrated into a product information transfer system. In addition, the system includes a product information registration module with a barcode registration unit.

In other embodiments, the registration module may include a display for displaying product information and / or a radio data transmission module connected to an image pickup device for transmitting data. Additionally, a location module can be integrated into the registration module.

Further, it is possible that the installed electronic devices change their installation location. Thus, the customer service staff is additionally difficult to determine the installation location and the corresponding configurations of controlled electronic devices. Tracking an installed electronic device in relation to the installation location and changing its configuration may be useful.

Methods for transmitting product information are also proposed. They include the following steps: generating a barcode from the information created by the product about it, and product information consists of standard and current information about it, detecting the barcode using the registration module and displaying the information contained in the barcode using the module registration.

In other embodiments, these aspects can be combined with wireless transfer of product information to the database.

In another embodiment, a method for transmitting product information is provided. It includes the following steps: detecting at least a two-dimensional barcode using the registration module, displaying the information contained in the barcode using the registration module, wirelessly transmitting product information to the database, locating the registration module and wireless transmission location information in the database.

When servicing and monitoring the product, it is preferable to know the actual status of the device. Configurations in relation to production data and product data and the actual location of the product can help the efficient work of a service engineer or others who are responsible for servicing customers with the appropriate electronic devices.

Other options can be implemented due to the following additional or alternative features: a barcode is a two- or three-dimensional barcode, a three-dimensional barcode is created due to the time sequence of two-dimensional codes, when generating a barcode, the current values of time-varying parameters are used product or a combination of the above.

Embodiments of the invention also relate to devices for implementing the described methods, including features of devices for implementing each step of the methods. These steps may be carried out by hardware components, computer programs in the form of suitable software, or a combination thereof. These options also apply to the software for the individual steps. In addition, the disclosed options also relate to methods of operating the disclosed systems, the steps of the methods for implementing any function of the devices being contained.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention, as well as preferred implementations, improvements and details are explained in more detail and described using the drawings, which depict:

figure 1 - schematically a system for transmitting product information in accordance with the options described here;

figure 2 - schematically another system for transmitting product information in accordance with the options described here;

figure 3 - block diagram of a method of transmitting product information in accordance with the options described here;

4 is a flowchart of an extended method for transmitting product information in accordance with the embodiments described herein.

In the drawings, the same or functionally identical components or steps are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The following describes the systems and methods of transmission in relation to products. Products can be “smart” electronic devices that store production and product data, electronic devices, switchgears, automation systems, components of automation systems, data collection devices for electronic devices, or other products.

One embodiment of a system 100 for transmitting product information includes, as shown in FIG. 1, a product 110, a registration module 150, a database 160, and a location system 170. Product 110 contains an electronic control unit 112. It stores, for example, device data, such as a serial number, version number, version of software installed upon delivery, manufacturer information, etc. Examples of storage media are hard disk drives, memory cards or other large quantities of media, i.e. media available for each product.

In one embodiment, the electronic control unit may additionally store product information in the form of operating parameters, error protocols, or other events. For example, it is possible for a product to measure the operating temperature at regular intervals and store the measured values after registration. The product 110 further comprises a display element 120. On the display element 120 connected to the electronic control unit 112 for transmitting data, a two-dimensional barcode 122 can be displayed. This is a time-varying barcode, since the variable values of the product parameters for the first time points differ from the parameters for the second time point.

In another embodiment, the product 110 includes an update device. It may include a keyboard or other control device. By actuating the user creates a new and relevant barcode.

Using a product made in this way, a barcode can be generated that displays the data important for service and / or maintenance work in a barcode. This product information displayed by a barcode can contain both standard information and current information about it, for example, operating protocols, parameters, and error messages from an elapsed time period.

The standard and current information displayed in the barcode may contain data on the location, purpose, service life, etc. controlled electronic device. Other examples of production and product information provided are: serial number, country of manufacture, version number, hardware version, software / firmware version, test data sets, processor serial number, location, MAC address, and duration of use.

Current product information can be recorded by the registration module 150, equipped with a camera, by photographing a bar code (arrow 102). In Fig. 1, the registration module is depicted in the form of a mobile phone with a display 152. Registration of a barcode due to its light-optical shooting can also be carried out by another device, for example, a laptop equipped with a camera, a PDA, etc.

In addition to displaying the barcode on the display 152 of the registration module 150, the latter can, due to suitable software, decode the barcode and display on the display 152 temperature characteristics, product parameters, operating parameters, error information, serial numbers, etc. Thanks to this, bar-coded information can be displayed with high resolution on high-resolution displays, which are also used today in mobile phones and other mobile devices.

If a large number of products are inspected or serviced as part of maintenance or service work, these steps can eliminate the need to equip each product with a high-resolution display element.

The display 120 of the product 110 should only be able to display a barcode with a resolution of several hundred pixels. QR codes have 21 × 21-177 × 177 pixels (see http://denso-wave.com/qrcode/qrstandard-e.html), i.e. 400 pixels minimum.

Using the system 100 shown in FIG. 1, it is further possible that the registration module 150, for example, in the form of a mobile phone, transmits information encoded in a barcode or the barcode itself to the database 160 (arrow 106). Such a transfer can be carried out using a mobile phone through a modem function, GPRS, UMTS, WLAN or through other standards.

The connection between the receiving module and the database can usually be secured, since the data is transmitted through typically insecure networks, such as the Internet or GSM networks. Such secure communication forms a secure data link in which data is protected and encrypted. Such data protection can include two steps: a) data encryption and b) data authentication. When authenticating data, the data source must always be known. This ensures that the received data has been transferred from a reliable file. Such data authentication can be achieved, for example, due to the fact that the product is assigned a MAC address or username and password, also transmitted along with the barcode.

Product information in the form of standard information and / or current parameters can be entered into the database 160. In addition, as indicated by arrow 166, it is possible to transfer additional information regarding the product 110 from the database 160 to the registration module 150. Since the database 160 can identify the product by knowing the barcode or the information contained therein after transmission 106, specific information can be transmitted to the registration module 150.

Database 160 may comprise a storage device consisting essentially of a processor unit and a storage medium. The processor unit controls the storage of the transmitted data as stored data in a storage medium. Examples of storage media are hard disk drives, optical disks, tape drives, semiconductor media, etc. Preferably, the storage device is in the form of a central file server. In addition, the storage device may be part of a server system.

Such an implementation may allow the user of the installation or electronic device (product) in the event of a malfunction or other service requests to photograph the barcode with a mobile phone, transfer data to the database 160 and thereby provide the service technician who is not in this place with the necessary information that he needs for the expected customer service.

As part of this, in another embodiment, it is possible for the product information to also receive an address for transferring 106 to the database 160. This receiving address may be an email address, an Internet address, a modem phone number, etc. Thus, it becomes easier for the client to use the services you need.

In accordance with various embodiments, barcode information may be automatically transmitted to database 160. In addition, barcode information may be transmitted to an address manually. In this case, the barcode information can be transmitted either graphically, i.e. in the form of a barcode, or for data identification, image recognition can be used to directly decode the information contained in the barcode using suitable software. When transmitting barcode information in graphical form, data identification occurs at the recipient of the barcode.

For service work, an ever-increasing problem is that the client can be located almost anywhere on the planet or that automation systems, switchgears or other electronic devices (products) due to the long operating time for 10, 20 or 40 years with at the time of delivery until the moment of the service request, we changed our location. Therefore, it is very difficult for maintenance personnel to accurately identify the product. In addition, it would be preferable for service and maintenance if the database contained information including the location of products shipped in the past. Therefore, the registration module 150 may be equipped with a positioning system. It can be implemented, for example, by a GPS receiver, which receives signals from satellites 170 (arrow 104). The registration module can transmit through such a system to the database 160 additionally its location and thereby also the location of the product 110.

It should be said that in electronic devices, also called primary devices and made, for example, in the form of transmitting devices, power plants, power transformers, switchgears, automation devices, etc., control of production data and product data can be carried out by means of secondary devices . Such secondary devices consist of smart electronic components that receive production data and product data and thereby can store information about primary devices. Therefore, the product can also be connected to the registration module via a secondary device.

Further, it is possible to include in one of the described systems also "stupid" products or products that do not have a connection with "smart" components. Moreover, completely “stupid" products use a constant barcode with standard information. This standard information of non-smart devices can be used additionally or as an alternative to the standard and current information of smart devices.

Other variants of the system 100 may be performed as follows, as shown in FIG. Unlike the product 110 with the display 120 (FIG. 1), the product 110 in FIG. 2 contains a printer 220 that can print a barcode on paper or other medium. A service technician or customer is thus able to photograph the barcode using a registration module equipped with a camera. Thus, the same options arise for transmitting product information as described above with reference to FIG. 1.

As part of the options already described, reference was made to two-dimensional barcodes 122. According to modifications of the options, other barcodes can also be used. Moreover, based on two-dimensional barcodes with a capacity of several kilobytes, other barcodes having a higher information density can be used. For this, for example, three-dimensional barcodes can be used. The third dimension can be added to a two-dimensional barcode due to additional color or grayscale or contrast information. In addition, a sequence of barcodes can also be generated, so that several two-dimensional barcodes can be shot in a single video sequence. Further, micro-barcodes can be used to increase data density. It is also possible to transfer such an increase in information capacity to one-dimensional barcodes.

The described variants of systems for transmitting product information include, in addition to standard information, also current information about it. Depending on the amount of current product information, it may be necessary to expand the data capacity of the previously known barcodes with the corresponding, named modifications. In addition, you can also compress the data before encrypting it into a barcode. Another or additional option is the new two-dimensional barcode standards for such a transfer. Many traditional barcodes have high data redundancy, so up to 25% of the barcode can be eliminated without any loss of information. Since the described systems for transmitting product information can minimize or eliminate the loss of barcode data, it is possible to achieve an increase in the effective amount of data by reducing the amount of redundant data.

The described options may also include “stupid” products equipped with an unchangeable barcode. Such products cannot automatically generate current barcodes. For some products within the same system, it may be sufficient to encrypt standard information in a barcode that does not require updating.

In the case of a system with a registration module for data transmission and positioning in the form of GPS, etc. products without updated barcodes can at least be tracked, detected and entered into the database with their actual location. At the same time, the improvement of traditional systems is already a combination of the following steps: reading a barcode with standard information, wirelessly transferring standard information to a database, locating a registration module, wirelessly transferring the location of a registration module and thereby the product, as well as storing standard information and location in the database. Other details, such as receiving data through a recording module, displaying received data, using three-dimensional codes, etc., can be integrated in a similar manner.

3, a method for transmitting product information may be depicted as a flowchart. At 302, an actual barcode is generated. This can be done due to the fact that the person in place by pressing a key or by entering otherwise activates the control unit to encode the currently available product information into a barcode and display it. Alternatively, activation can also occur with a remote control.

The barcode is registered by the registration module at step 304. Registration can occur, for example, by photographing with a digital camera. Usually we can talk about a digital camera built into a mobile phone. After retrieving the data in step 306, it may be displayed in step 308, or the data in step 320 may be transmitted to a remote database. If it is not possible to decode the data in the registration module, then the display can also consist only of the display of a barcode, and the data is transmitted using graphic information. In this case, the decoding of the barcode may occur in the receiver of the image file. This can be, for example, a database or a computer to which service personnel have access.

In one embodiment, the location of the registration module and thereby the product may also be determined at step 312. The location determined by the registration module, for example via GPS, can be transmitted along with the data at step 323. Additionally, such a location can be displayed.

Figure 4 shows an expanded version. In addition to the embodiment explained with reference to FIG. 3, it is possible for the receiver to send the data transmitted in step 322 as part of the existing communication connection with the registration module. This data may constitute additional information from the database generated in response to the received product information. At step 402, the registration module receives this additional information and then displays it at step 408 on the display of the registration module, such as a mobile phone. Due to this, additional information can be transmitted to the service technician on site. However, the client can also receive additional information on the mobile phone that the services provide him.

Thanks to the described options, for example, the manufacturer of the product can provide the final consumer of the product with the best services. Maintenance work can be performed more efficiently, current product information can be stored in a database, the places where the product is located can be logged, or more accurate information can be provided to the client who questions the manufacturer. Since the transfer is due to updated barcodes, the product does not have to be equipped with a high-resolution display. Further, a simple and to a large extent automated transfer is possible without increasing the technical costs of the product.

Although the invention has been described above with preferred examples of its implementation, it is not limited to them, but can be modified in various ways. Also, the invention is not limited to the given applications.

List of Reference Items

100 - product information transfer system

102 - data transmission (photographing)

104 - data transmission (location signal)

106 - data transfer

110 - product

112 - electronic control unit

120 - display

122 - barcode

150 - registration module

152 - display

160 - database

166 - data transfer

170 - satellite (GPS)

220 - printer

302 - barcode generation

304 - barcode registration

306 - data extraction

308 - data display

312 - location determination

322 - data transfer

402 - receiving data

408 - data display

Claims (9)

1. A system for transmitting product information, comprising:
product (110) with an electronic control unit (112) for registering and / or storing product information in memory, while product information consists of standard and current information about it,
with a component (120; 220) for creating a barcode (122) for displaying information about the product, the means for creating a barcode associated with the product for data transfer or integrated into it,
with a device for updating the barcode based on standard and current product information,
and also contains a database (160) with a storage device for storing current information in memory,
a registration module (150) with an image pickup device for optical recording of current product information obtained from the updated barcode, and
a module for radio data transmission connected together with a device for capturing images to a database (160) for wireless transmission of current product information. 2. The system according to claim 1, in which the component for creating a barcode is made on semiconductors and contains a display or printer for display. 3. The system according to claim 1, in which the product information contains data on the production and product of primary electrical devices such as transmitting devices, power plants, power transformers, switchgears, automation devices controlled by intelligent electronic secondary devices. 4. The system according to claim 1, in which the registration module further comprises a display (152) for indicating product information. 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the registration module further comprises a satellite for determining the position of the registration module (150). 6. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, in which the registration module (150) is made in the form of a mobile phone. 7. A method for transmitting product information, comprising the following steps:
registration and / or storage in memory of information obtained on the basis of the product (110), moreover, product information consists of standard and current information about it,
creating a barcode (122) to display product information,
barcode detection and creation of current information through the registration module (150) and
transferring current product information to the database (160) and storing current information in the database. 8. The method according to claim 7, in which determine the position of the registration module (150) and wirelessly transmit position information in the database. 9. The method according to claim 7, which provides for the transfer of product information in graphical form.

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