WO1999010673A1

WO1999010673A1 - Electronic tag for valve and method of using same

Info

Publication number: WO1999010673A1
Application number: PCT/US1998/017504
Authority: WO
Inventors: Derek Stewart Penny; Derrick Mackenzie
Original assignee: Crosby Valve, Inc.
Priority date: 1997-08-29
Filing date: 1998-08-24
Publication date: 1999-03-04
Also published as: GB2328839A; AU9116898A; GB9718195D0

Abstract

A method for facilitating the servicing of a valve (10) in which an electronic tag (12) capable of providing a unique indicia for that particular valve is physically affixed to the valve, information peculiar to that indicia is entered into a database stored in the memory of a server computer (20), the tag is then periodically read and the information peculiar to that valve retrieved from the database to determine what service should be performed on the valve.

Description

ELECTRONIC TAG FOR VALVE AND METHOD OF USING SAME

This invention relates generally to apparatus and methods for maintaining

valves in reliable and proper operating condition and more specifically, to such

apparatus and methods which permit accurate and reliable record keeping for that

purpose.

Every facility that processes or utilizes high pressure fluid employs a plurality

of valves for controlling both the flow of the fluid and the pressure within the lines

containing the fluid. It is absolutely critical to the safe operation of the facility that

these valves, particularly the pressure relief valves, are set to open at a given pressure

and are maintained so that they operate reliably. The large number of valves

employed in any given facility make this task difficult since the valves are not all of

the same type, and those that are of the same general type, such as pressure relief

valves, for example, may operate at different set pressures in addition to having

variations in materials and physical characteristic, such as orifice size, conventional or

bellows configuration, inlet and outlet sizes and ratings, and spring or pilot actuation.

In order to correctly service such valves all of this information must be available to

the personnel at the valve's site. In the past the information was taken to or maintained

at the site in the form of paper records which are cumbersome and difficult to manage,

particularly when the location of the site is in a remote and relatively hostile

environment, such as an off-shore platform. In addition, records must be kept which accurately reflect when each valve was serviced and what service or repairs were

made.

The present invention solves the recited problems of the prior art and provides

apparatus and a method for its use, which permits immediate identification of valves

and rapid access to information relating to each individual valve, which reliably

permits such identification throughout the valves' service life, which complements

any unique valve numbering system currently in use, which reduces the volume of

paperwork necessary to properly maintain and service valves, which permits

verification of an accurate technical database and continually insures its

integrity, which permits rapid and easy access to factual technical data for and the

historical repair history of each individual valve, which captures operational

performance for each valve, which permits evaluation of product performance,

including the identification and evaluation of trends, which reduces the necessity of

performing repetitive costing exercises and minimizes the inventory of spares while

assuring the correctness and availability of parts necessary for repair and service , and

which facilitates reliable servicing of a plurality of valves at a given site, which

readily allows prompt updating of the records regarding the servicing of each valve at

such a site, and which is relatively simple and inexpensive to assemble, maintain and

access.

These and other attributes of the present invention, and many of the attendant

advantages thereof, will become more readily apparent from perusal of the following

description and the accompanying drawing, wherein the sole figure is a schematic

representation of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Referring to the drawing, there is shown a valve 10, representing a typical

pressure relief valve, to which an electronic tag 12 has been affixed. Since it is very

important that the tag be permanently secured to the valve, it is preferred that the tag

12 be set into a blind hole drilled into the body or the flange of the valve 10 during its

manufacture and secured therein with an epoxy resin. Since it is not always practical

to do this with valves already installed at the site, the tag 12 may be secured by a

rugged band extending around the valve body or by gluing the tag to the valve body

with durable epoxy resin, such as Araldite 2014, for example. The tag 12 is preferably

of tile passive type, such as a radio frequency identification device (RFID), having a

long length of fine copper- wire coiled inside the tag connected to an integrated chip

capable of transmitting a radio frequency signal which is unique to each individual

tag. A tag suitable for use in this invention is sold by IDESCO as their model

ICC01206F1. Passive tags are preferred because they do not require an independent

power source such as a battery, require no maintenance, are rugged and durable,

operate reliably over a wide range of temperatures, have a long service life, are

unaffected by magnetic fields, can be painted over without adversely affecting their

operation, are intrinsically safe, and can be purchased at a relatively, low cost.

A wand or reader 14, which is any RFID exciter/reader such as that sold by

IDESCO as their model IWHO22RS232LCE, is constructed with two coils, one

an excitation coil to power the tag's integrated chip and one a reader coil to receive the

radio frequency signal transmitted by the tag 12. When the reader 14 is placed

adjacent the tag 12, the excitation coil powers the coil within the tag 12 by means of

electrical magnetic force. The powered IC in the tag 12 transmits the unique radio signal which is detected or read by the reader coil. The transmitted signal detected by

the reader 14 is conveyed to a hand held computer or HHC 16, which may be of the

type sold by DAP Technologies as their model PC9000, through a connecting cable

18.

A data base is created and stored on a computer server 20, which data base

includes a file for each valve in a given facility or plurality of facilities, with each

such file associated with the unique identification number for each electronic tag 12.

The file for each valve includes a plurality of records, such as the serial number

assigned to that valve by its original manufacturer, the valve type and model, the inlet

size and rating, the orifice size, the outlet size and rating, the set pressure, the spring

number and the certification date. The server 20 may be connected, in a conventional

manner, to form a network with several client PC's. When it is necessary or desirable

to perform routine maintenance on or to repair one or more valves at a particular site,

the files for those valves are extracted from the data base and downloaded to the HHC

16 by connection of the HHC to the server 20 or to one of the client PC's, such as

through a direct linkage of their respective serial ports. The HHC 16 then functions as

a satellite segment of the database which is readily transportable to the facility where

these particular valves are installed. At the facility, the reader 14, which is, powered

from the battery in the HHC 16, is placed in close proximity to the electronic tag

affixed to one of the particular valves. The excitation coil in the reader 14 energizes

the electronic tag 12 causing it to emit its unique radio frequency signal. The emitted

signal is received by the reader coil within the reader 14 and transmitted to the HHC

16 where it is decoded into an alpha/numeric tag identification number. The HHC 16 is programmed to extract from its memory, and display on it screen incorporated into

the HHC 16, the previously downloaded file associated with that particular tag

number. Upon command, this information can then be viewed during the course of

servicing or repairing the particular valve. The availability of such information assists

the service personnel, improving their ability to properly service and test the valve.

When such work is completed, the service personnel can enter into the HHC 16

additional information regarding what work was done on that particular valve and the

materials used in performing such work. That information, related to the tag number

for the valve so serviced, is also stored in the memory of the HHC 16 and later

uploaded to the server 20, again through a direct linkage of the communication ports

of the HHC 16 and the server 20, or a client PC.

In some situations a valve must be removed from service for repair, or is

otherwise moved to a work shop for service and testing, which workshop may have a

local PC connected to the server 20. In that case, the cable 18 associated with the

reader 14 may be connected to the local PC, rather than to a hand held computer, and

all of the operations performed utilizing the HHC 16 can now be accomplished with

the local PC.

While a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been illustrated

and described herein, it is to be understood that various changes may be made therein

without departing from the spirit of the invention as determined by the scope of

the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method for facilitating the servicing of a valve comprising the steps of:

affixing a tag capable of providing indicia unique to said valve entering information

peculiar to said valve related to said indicia into a data base stored in the memory of a

server computer;

periodically reading the electronic tag for said valve to determine its

indicia;

recalling the information in said data base associated with said indicia;

determining what service should be performed on said valve; performing such service;

and updating the information in said data base to reflect the service performed.

2. A method for facilitating the servicing and testing of a plurality of valves

installed at a plurality of sites comprising the steps of:

affixing an electronic tag capable of transmitting a unique signal to each

valve;

creating a database on a server containing a file for each of said valves related

to the electronic tag therefor;

downloading selected files for valves to be serviced at a given one of said sites

to a portable computer;

transporting said portable computer to said one site;

reading the electronic tag on a particular one of said valves to be serviced; and

displaying the file associated with said particular valve on said portable

computer to facilitate the proper servicing and testing of said particular valve.

3. The method according to Claim 2 and further comprising the steps of.

entering additional information into the portable computer to reflect the nature of the

service and testing provided for said particular valve.

transporting said portable computer from said one site to said server; and

uploading at least said additional information from said portable computer to the file

in said database associated with said particular valve.

4. The method according to Claim 3 and further comprising; forming a

network for said server with a plurality of client computers, whereby said portable

computer may download said selected files from and upload said additional

information to one of said client computers.

5. Apparatus to facilitate the servicing of a valve comprising: a tag capable of

proving unique identifying indicia affixed to said valve; a computer for storing

information for said valve based on the unique indicia therefor;

a reader for reading the electronic tag for said valve to determine its indicia; and

means associated with said computer for displaying the information relating to

said indicia.

6. Apparatus according to Claim 5 wherein said tag is an electronic tag.

7. Apparatus according to Claim 6 wherein said electronic tag is of the

passive type.

8. Apparatus for facilitating the servicing and testing of a plurality of valves installed at a plurality of sites comprising: an electronic tag capable of transmitting a unique signal affixed to each valve,

a server for storing a database containing a file for each of said valves related to

the electronic tag therefor; a portable computer cormectable to said server for downloading selected files

for valves to be serviced at a given one of said sites;

a reader cormectable with said portable computer for exciting a selected one of said

electronic tags and receiving the signal transmitted thereby; and display means

associated with said portable computer for displaying the file associated with the

valve to which said selected tag is affixed to facilitate the proper servicing and testing

of that valve.

9. Apparatus according to Claim 8 wherein said electronic tag is of the

passive type.