Remote supervisory monitoring and control apparatus connected to monitored equipment

• US 4,996,703 A
• Filed: 01/28/1988
• Issued: 02/26/1991
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/1986
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: SRCH. Networking Limited Liability Company
• Original Assignee: William F. Gray
• Inventors: Gray, William F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ng, Jin F.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Woo, Stella L.
• Application Number:
  US07/149,671
• Time in Patent Office: 1,125 Days
• Field of Search: 379/40, 379/41, 379/46, 379/51, 379/88, 379/102, 379/104, 379/105, 379/106, 340/825.18, 340/825.22, 364/200, 364/900
• US Class Current: 379/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/007 with remote control systems remote control in general G08C
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/04 with alarm systems, e.g. fire, police or burglar alarm systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 379/914 Programmable telephone component

Abstract

A monitoring and control system has a programmable apparatus connected to equipment to be monitored. The apparatus receives inputs from the monitored equipment, detects alarm conditions when the monitored inputs reach predetermined values, dials automaticaly over the telephone network to reach an operator when an alarm condition is detected, provides complete status of monitor and control ports by synthesized voice, operates under programs in an operator-controlled mode or in an automatic mode to produce control signals of different form to control the monitored equipment in response to control commands from a first source when in the operator controlled mode and from a second source when in the automatic mode, the programs providing the second source of control commands when in the automatic mode and defining:

(a) the source of control commands according to whether the apparatus is in operator-controlled or automatic mode and

(b) the response to the control commands represented by the form of the control signals at the output ports of the microprocessor.

Claims

1. A monitoring and control apparatus including an apparatus connected to equipment components at a work site, said apparatus comprising:

monitoring means connected to said components for sensing parameters representing equipment conditions at monitored points in said components and for producing data signals representing the sensed parameters;

programmable means including a microprocessor means having input and output ports;

said programmable means having a memory means storing programs which operate said microprocessor means to receive at said input ports and store status signals from said monitoring means, to process control commands derived from a first source when in an operator-controlled mode and from a second source when in an automatic mode, and to produce at said output ports control signals of different form to control the monitored equipment in response to control commands from one of the sources, a first form of control signal producing a first type of equipment response and a second form of control signal producing a second type of equipment response to control equipment conditions;

telephone interface means for transmitting over a public telephone network a predetermined sequence of dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signals, for transmitting synthesized voice signals to an operator of an off-hook telephone, and for receiving operator-generated DTMF signals representing the first source of control commands to control equipment conditions;

voice synthesizer means operated by said microprocessor means to produce and transmit over the telephone network via said interface means oral announcements of component conditions based upon the status signals;

said programmable means also having memory means storing programs which provide the second source of control commands when in the automatic mode and;

(a) recognize the source of control commands as operator-generated DTMF signals if the apparatus is in operator-controlled mode or as signals produced by preprogrammed operation of said programmable means responsive to a particular condition in said components if the apparatus is in automatic mode; and

(b) define the response to the control commands represented by the form of the control signals supplied to at least one of the output ports of said microprocessor means;

an equipment component including a motor having a rotor connected to a parameter-adjusting element;

switch means connected to said at least one of said output ports for receiving the control signals and to said motor for energizing said motor;

wherein a program stored in said memory means defines a response to a control command in the form of control signals which actuate said switch to energize said motor to shift said parameter-adjusting element to a desired state and thereby incrementally adjust the parameter; and

wherein said microprocessor means is operative to produce the control signals at said at least one of said output ports in accordance with a control command from one of said sources.

2. Apparatus which monitors and controls equipment at a remote site, said apparatus comprising:

a condition sensing monitor having a plurality of input and output ports connected to a plurality of monitored points in equipment at a remote site, said monitor producing data signals representing sensed conditions;

a programmable microprocessor including programs which direct said microprocessor to control the operations of said apparatus in either an operator-controlled mode or an automatic mode for each output port and to receive and store the data signals of said monitor and to produce alarm signals representing alarm conditions when the data signals of said monitor reach predetermined values, said output ports being connected to circuits for controlling output parameters and carrying out equipment control functions to correct the alarm conditions;

a transmitter coupled to a public telephone network, said transmitter being operative to produce and transmit over the public telephone network a predetermined sequence of dual-tone, multi-frequency (DTMF) signals to different called devices responsive to receipt of an alarm signal from said microprocessor;

an input/output signal device operable responsive to the alarm signals and an off-hook condition of one of the called devices on the public telephone network, said input/output signal device being operative to produce and transmit over the public telephone network an announcement of an alarm condition corresponding to an alarm signal;

a receiver connected to the public telephone network and operative to receive signals produced at the off-hook one of the called devices, said apparatus having multiple privilege levels including an operator privilege level established when signals coupled through said receiver are in the form of a prescribed operator privilege code and a programmer privilege level established when signals coupled through said receiver are in the form of a prescribed programmer privilege code, and said apparatus having a different response to received signals depending on which privilege level is established in the apparatus;

said microprocessor being connected to said input/output signal device and further including programs which direct said microprocessor to communicate data signals and alarm signals to said input/output signal device, said input/output signal device producing and transmitting responsive thereto over the public telephone network to the off-hook one of the called devices an announcement of the sensed equipment conditions including status reports of predetermined sensors and alarm conditions;

said microprocessor further including programs operable when said apparatus is in the operator-controlled mode for one of said output ports and after the operator privilege level has been established which direct said microprocessor to receive subsequently transmitted signals from the off-hook one of the called devices representing desired states of said one output port and circuits connected thereto, and to set said one output port and circuits connected thereto in the desired states to control output parameters and carry out equipment control functions in accordance with the contents of the subsequently transmitted signals;

a programmable memory connected to said microprocessor, said microprocessor further including programs directing said microprocessor to store instructions and parameters in said programmable memory for operation of said microprocessor to control said output ports in both the operator-controlled mode and the automatic mode;

instructions stored in said memory comprising programs used by said microprocessor in both the operator-controlled mode and the automatic mode of said output ports to monitor the status of equipment at the site, to detect alarm conditions based upon a comparison of the data signals produced by said condition sensing monitor with the predetermined values, the predetermined values comprising input parameters stored in said memory, and to generate alarm signals if the comparison detects alarm conditions;

instructions stored in said memory also comprising programs used by said microprocessor in the operator-controlled mode to set said output ports to control output parameters and carry out equipment control functions responsive to signals received from the called device;

instructions stored in said memory also comprising programs used by said microprocessor in the automatic mode without intervention through the public telephone network to set said output ports to control output parameters and carry out equipment control functions responsive to an alarm condition;

said microprocessor further including programs operable only after a programmable privilege level is established which direct said microprocessor to receive subsequently transmitted signals to set said output ports in either the automatic or operator-controlled modes and, when representing modifications to or changes in output port settings and input and output parameters including privilege level codes, to reprogram said memory in accordance with the contents of the last-mentioned subsequently transmitted signals.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the equipment control functions carried out in the operator-controlled and automatic modes include at least one of the functions of initiating remote testing, switching to standby equipment, enabling/disabling, setting operator-controlled/automatic modes, and controlling an output as normally open/closed.