Method and apparatus for providing audio messages from industrial equipment

• US 10,162,346 B1
• Filed: 06/09/2016
• Issued: 12/25/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Michael Mcmeekin
• Original Assignee: Michael Mcmeekin
• Inventors: McMeekin, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Saunders, Jr., Joseph
• Application Number:
  US15/178,289
• Time in Patent Office: 929 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0428 Safety, monitoring G05B19/0423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4184 characterised by fault tolerance, reliability of production system
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/14096 Voice, vocal, speech alarm
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/23181 Use of sound, acoustic, voice
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40162 Sound display of machining operation
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0272 Presentation of monitored results, e.g. selection of status reports to be displayed; Filtering information to the user
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

A system for providing audible messages detailing machine issues in a manufacturing process when a manufacturing machine is not operating properly comprises a transmitter associated with each machine and one or more receivers. The transmitter communicates with the manufacturing machine to identify issues and transmits a corresponding message to specific receivers based on unit identifies and network addresses. The receiver includes a message storage element, an audio playback element, and selection controls to configure the radio frequency channel, the unit address, and the network address.

Claims

1. A system for delivering audio messages to one or more human operators in a manufacturing process comprising:

a plurality of communication elements, each associated with a production machine in the manufacturing process, and each comprising;

a transmitting processor;

memory connected to the transmitting processor;

an industrial controller connection element connected to the transmitting processor; and

a transmitter connected to the transmitting processor,

wherein the transmitting processor is configured to;

receive a fault code via the industrial controller connection;

identify at least one receiver associated with the fault code by filtering fault codes based on an identity of the production machine to identify a first set of receivers and filtering fault codes based on a nature of a system failure to identify a second set of receivers, the at least one receiver being in the first set and the second set; and

transmit a signal to the identified at least one receiver via the transmitter, the signal comprising an indication of the fault code; and

one or more receivers, each comprising;

a receiving processor;

memory connected to the receiving processor;

a data storage element connected to the receiving processor, the data storage element storing an audio representation for each of a plurality of fault codes associated with potential faults from the corresponding production machine in a plurality of languages;

a speaker connected to the receiving processor; and

a data reception element connected to the receiving processor,

wherein the receiving processor is configured to;

receive the signal comprising the fault code;

identify a desired language from the plurality of languages; and

play the audio representation of the fault code via the speaker in the desired language.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of communication elements further comprises a data storage element connected to the transmitting processor, the data storage element storing an audio representation for each of a plurality of fault codes associated with potential faults from the corresponding production machine.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the stored audio representations comprise multiple language versions of each of the plurality of fault codes.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein:

the transmitting processor is further configured to;

identify a first desired language associated with the at least one receiver;

identify a second language associated with at least one alternate receiver in the one or more receivers; and

transmit a signal to the alternate receiver indicating the fault code and the second language; and

the one or more receivers comprises at least one receiver configured to play audio representations in the first desired language and at least one receiver configured to play audio representations in the second desired language.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one receiver is configured to play audio representations in a first desired language and at least one receiver is configured to play audio representations in a second desired language.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein identifying at least one receiver associated with the fault code comprises:

filtering fault codes based on a nature of a system failure; and

identifying a receiver associated with the nature of the system failure.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a display element connected to the receiving processor, wherein the receiving processor is further configured to display a textual version of the fault code on the display element.