Methods and systems for identifying a replacement motor

• US 10,402,881 B2
• Filed: 02/25/2014
• Issued: 09/03/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Regal Beloit America, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Regal Beloit America, Inc.
• Inventors: Kreidler, Jason Jon, Varano, Stephen Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Thein, Marissa
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kringen, Michelle T
• Application Number:
  US14/189,449
• Publication Number:
  US 20150242923A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,016 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0629 for generating comparisons
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations

Abstract

A client computing device comprising an indicia sensor and a processor coupled to the indicia sensor is described. The processor is configured to receive identification data for an original motor through the indicia sensor, identify a replacement motor based at least in part on the identification data, and identify a local seller of the replacement motor based at least in part on a first location associated with the client computing device and a second location associated with the local seller.

Claims

1. A client computing device comprising:

an indicia sensor configured to capture indicia data by obtaining an image of indicia disposed on an original electric motor and transmit an indicia data signal including the indicia data, the indicia data corresponding to the indicia disposed on or in the original electric motor and including the image, the original electric motor installed in one of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system and a pump system; and

a processor coupled to said indicia sensor, said processor configured to;

receive the indicia data signal transmitted from said indicia sensor;

determine an identification of the original electric motor by extracting the indicia data including the image from the received indicia data signal and perform optical character recognition on the image of the indicia to determine the identification of the original electric motor;

query a database to determine a first set of technical specifications corresponding to the original electric motor, the first set of technical specifications including at least one of torque data, power data, and speed data for the original electric motor;

compare the first set of technical specifications of the original electric motor to a second set of technical specifications stored in the database in association with at least a second electric motor, the second set of technical specifications including at least one of torque data, power data, and speed data for the second electric motor;

determine that the first set of technical specifications correspond with the second set of technical specifications when at least one of the torque data, power data, and speed data for the original electric motor are the same as the at least one of the torque data, power data, and speed data for the second electric motor;

identify the second electric motor as a replacement electric motor based at least in part on the identification data of the original electric motor and the determination that the first set of technical specifications correspond with the second set of technical specifications such that the replacement motor includes proper technical specifications for operation in one of the HVAC system or the pump system, wherein the original electric motor is associated with a first brand and said processor is further configured to identify a replacement motor associated with one of the first brand or a second brand that is different from the first brand; and

identify a local seller of the replacement electric motor based at least in part on a first location associated with said client computing device and a second location associated with the local seller; and

a display coupled to the processor and configured to display at least one of identification data of the replacement motor and the identified local seller of the replacement motor.

2. The client computing device of claim 1, wherein said processor is further configured to compare the first set of technical specifications with the second set of technical specifications by comparing a first torque to a second torque, a first power to a second power, and a first speed to a second speed.

3. The client computing device of claim 1, wherein said processor is configured to:

receive the image of indicia disposed on the original electric motor, the image captured by said indicia sensor; and

transmit the received image to a computing device associated with the local seller.

4. The client computing device of claim 1, wherein said client computing device further comprises a global positioning system (GPS) component and said processor is further configured to determine the first location of said client computing device using said GPS component.

5. The client computing device of claim 1, wherein said processor is further configured to transmit an order for the replacement motor to a computing device associated with the local seller.

6. The client computing device of claim 1, wherein said processor is further configured to recommend the local seller based in part on determining that the replacement motor is in stock at the local seller.

7. The client computing device of claim 1, wherein said processor is further configured to identify the local seller of the replacement motor by at least querying the database that correlates the replacement motor with at least one seller and a respective location of the at least one seller.

8. The client computing device of claim 1, wherein said processor is further configured to:

display an option to order the replacement motor;

receive a selection of the option to order the replacement motor; and

transmit an order for the replacement motor to a computing device associated with the local seller.

9. The client computing device of claim 1, wherein the indicia sensor comprises a camera of a mobile computing device, and the indicia is at least one of printed on the original electric motor itself, engraved on the original electric motor itself, a nameplate attached to the original electric motor, and a tag attached to the original electric motor.

10. A computer-implemented method for identifying a replacement electric motor, said method implemented by a client computing device that includes an indicia sensor and a processor, said method comprising:

capturing, by the indicia sensor, indicia data corresponding to indicia disposed on or in an original electric motor installed in one of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system and a pump system by obtaining an image of the indicia disposed on the original electric motor;

transmitting, by the indicia sensor, an indicia data signal that includes the indicia data and the image;

receiving, by the processor, the indicia data signal transmitted from said indicia sensor;

determining, by the processor, an identification of the original electric motor by extracting the received indicia data including the image and performing optical character recognition on the image of the indicia to determine the identification of the original electric motor;

querying, by the processor, a database to determine a first set of technical specifications corresponding to the original electric motor, the first set of technical specifications including at least one of torque data, power data, and speed data for the original electric motor;

comparing, by the processor, the first set of technical specifications of the original electric motor to a second set of technical specifications stored in the database in association with at least a second electric motor, the second set of technical specifications including at least one of torque data, power data, and speed data for the second electric motor;

determining, by the processor, that the first set of technical specifications correspond with the second set of technical specifications when at least one of the torque data, power data, and speed data for the original electric motor are the same as the at least one of the torque data, power data, and speed data for the second electric motor;

identifying, by the processor, the second electric motor as the replacement electric motor based at least in part on the identification data of the original electric motor and the determination that the first set of technical specifications correspond with the second set of technical specifications such that the replacement motor includes proper technical specifications for operation in one of the HVAC system or the pump system, wherein the original electric motor is associated with a first brand and the processor is further configured to identify a replacement motor associated with one of the first brand or a second brand that is different from the first brand;

identifying, by the processor, a local seller of the replacement electric motor based at least in part on a first location associated with the client computing device and a second location associated with the local seller; and

displaying at least one of identification data of the replacement motor and the identified local seller of the replacement motor on a display device of the client computing device.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving the image of indicia disposed on the original electric motor, the image captured by said indicia sensor; and

transmitting the received image to a computing device associated with the local seller.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the client computing device further includes a global positioning system (GPS) component, said method further comprising determining the first location of the client computing device using the GPS component.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising transmitting an order for the replacement motor to a computing device associated with the local seller.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein comparing the first set of technical specifications with the second set of technical specifications further comprises comparing at least one of a first torque to a second torque, a first power to a second power, and a first speed to a second speed.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising:

displaying an option to order the replacement motor;

receiving a selection of the option to order the replacement motor; and

transmitting an order for the replacement motor to a computing device associated with the local seller.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon, wherein when executed by a client computing device having at least one processor coupled to an indicia sensor, the computer-executable instructions cause the client computing device to:

capture, by the indicia sensor, indicia data corresponding to indicia disposed on or in an original electric motor installed in one of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system and a pump system by obtaining an image of the indicia disposed on the original electric motor;

transmit, by the indicia sensor, an indicia data signal that includes the indicia data and the image;

receive the indicia data signal transmitted from said indicia sensor;

determine an identification of the original electric motor by extracting the received indicia data including the image and perform optical character recognition on the image of the indicia to determine the identification of the original electric motor;

query a database to determine a first set of technical specifications corresponding to the original electric motor, the first set of technical specifications including at least one of torque data, power data, and speed data for the original electric motor;

compare the first set of technical specifications of the original electric motor to a second set of technical specifications stored in the database in association with at least a second electric motor, the second set of technical specifications including at least one of torque data, power data, and speed data for the second electric motor;

determine that the first set of technical specifications correspond with the second set of technical specifications when at least one of the torque data, power data, and speed data for the original electric motor are the same as the at least one of the torque data, power data, and speed data for the second electric motor;

identify the second electric motor as a replacement electric motor based at least in part on the identification data of the original electric motor and the determination that the first set of technical specifications correspond with the second set of technical specifications such that the replacement motor includes proper technical specifications for operation in one of the HVAC system or the pump system, wherein the original electric motor is associated with a first brand and the client computing device is further configured to identify a replacement motor associated with one of the first brand or a second brand that is different from the first brand;

identify a local seller of the replacement electric motor based at least in part on a first location associated with the client computing device and a second location associated with the local seller; and

display at least one of identification data of the replacement motor and the identified local seller of the replacement motor on a display device of the client computing device.