Method and system for administering automatic door apparatus, and automatic door apparatus

• US 20040049319A1
• Filed: 09/10/2003
• Published: 03/11/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nabco Ltd. (Nabtesco Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nabco Ltd. (Nabtesco Corporation)
• Inventors: Inoue, Hiroyuki, Iriba, Toru, Kanki, Hisayuki
• Granted Patent: US 7,181,369 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/275
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0243 model based detection method, e.g. first-principles knowledge model
• 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: G05B 23/0283 Predictive maintenance, e.g. involving the monitoring of a system and, based on the monitoring results, taking decisions on the maintenance schedule of the monitored system; Estimating remaining useful life [RUL] preventive maintenance, i.e. planning maintenance according to the available resources without monitoring the system G06Q10/06

Abstract

Disclosed is a system for monitoring automatic door apparatuses installed at different sites by centrally administering maintenance service contents and contents regarding actual repair to compile a database and by rendering personnel in sales agents or maintenance service agents accessible to the database. The system has a multitude of automatic door apparatus each having a communications function, and an administration center communicatively connected with the respective automatic door apparatuses via a communication medium. Each of the automatic door apparatuses sends, to the administration center, operating information of its own with apparatus identification information attached thereto. The administration center is operative to classify the operating information of each door apparatus into a number of categories based on the apparatus identification information for storage, and to output the operating information in response to a calling.

Claims

1. A method for administering a number of automatic door apparatuses installed at different sites, comprising the steps of:

allowing a number of automatic door apparatuses to send their respective operating information to an administration center with apparatus identification information attached thereto;

classifying their respective operating information in accordance with the apparatus identification information;

storing classified operating information; and

outputting the stored operating information depending on a calling condition.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the operating information includes a result on self-diagnosis of the automatic door apparatus regarding abnormality thereof.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising the steps of:

predicting a possible malfunction of the automatic door apparatus based on the stored operating information; and

outputting a result of prediction regarding the possible malfunction.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein a user is accessible to the administration center by communicatively connecting the administration center with an information terminal device provided in a maintenance station which is assigned for the user to carry out maintenance service of the automatic door apparatus, and wherein part or all of the stored operating information is transmittable to the maintenance station in response to a user'"'"'s request of reading out the operating information through the information terminal device.

5. A system for administering a number of automatic door apparatuses, comprising:

a sender which is provided on each of a number of door apparatus to send operating information of its own apparatus with identification information attached thereto; and

an administration center which receives the sent operating information and the identification information of each automatic door apparatus, and classifies the operating information in accordance with the apparatus identification information, and stores the classified operating information for output of the stored operating information in response to a calling.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the administration center is operative to predict a possible malfunction in the requested door apparatus based on the stored operating information, and the administration center includes a malfunction predicting section for outputting a result on prediction regarding the possible malfunction.

7. The system according to claim 5, wherein the administration center includes a search section for allowing a user to make a search relating to the stored operating information under a designated condition.

8. The system according to claim 5, wherein the automatic door apparatus includes a device for self-diagnosing abnormality of the automatic door apparatus, and the sender is operative to send, to the administration center, a result on the self-diagnosis with information relating to occurrence of the abnormality attached thereto when the result on the self-diagnosis includes the information relating to occurrence of the abnormality.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the administration center is communicatively connected with an information terminal device of a maintenance station which is assigned for the user to carry out maintenance service of the automatic door apparatus, and the administration center is operative to send the information relating to occurrence of the abnormality and the self-diagnosis result attached thereto to the information terminal device of the maintenance station which is designated in advance based on the apparatus identification information in response to receiving the information relating to occurrence of the abnormality and the self-diagnosis result attached thereto from the automatic door apparatus.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the information terminal device of the maintenance station is operative to visibly alert occurrence of the abnormality on a display section of the information terminal device along with contents on the abnormality in response to receiving the information relating to occurrence of the abnormality and the self-diagnosis result.

11. The system according to claim 10, wherein at least one of client contact information and maintenance agent contact information is displayed in terms of link or guidance on the display section.

12. The system according to claim 10, wherein a history on repair that has been carried out in response to the contents on the abnormality is visibly displayed on the display section.

13. The system according to claim 9, wherein part or all of the stored operating information, or a result on prediction of a possible malfunction is transmittable to the maintenance station in response to a user'"'"'s request of reading out the operating information or outputting the result on prediction of the possible malfunction through the information terminal device of the maintenance station.

14. An automatic door apparatus comprising:

a door open/close mechanism having a motor for opening and closing a door;

a sensor for detecting an object;

a controller for driving the motor of the door open/close mechanism based on a signal outputted from the sensor to open and close the door;

an operating information extractor which extracts, from the controller, a sensor state information indicating a detected state of the sensor and a door state information indicating an open/close control state of the door, as operating information of the automatic door apparatus, the door state information being cooperatively associated with the sensor state information; and

a memory device which sequentially stores the operating information extracted by the extractor in time-series.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the operating information includes signal information which is communicable between the controller and an external apparatus electrically connectable with the controller.

16. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the automatic door apparatus function of self-diagnosing malfunction or abnormality of the automatic door apparatus with the sensor or its equivalent while storing a result on the self-diagnosis in a memory, and the extractor is operative to extract the self-diagnosis result from the memory as the operating information for storing the self-diagnosis result in the memory device in time-series.

17. The apparatus according to claim 14, further includes a monitor which monitors a malfunction, and the extractor extracts an operation history of the automatic door apparatus from the controller for storage in the memory device.

18. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the extractor extracts an altered designated value when the designated value set in the automatic door apparatus is altered for storage in the memory device.

19. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the extractor updates contents stored in the memory device at a predetermined cycle.

20. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the extractor suspends overwriting of the operating information into the memory device when occurrence of malfunction is detected in the automatic door apparatus, and retains the operating information and the self-diagnosis result before the detection of the occurrence of the malfunction in the memory device.