Monitoring apparatus and monitoring object apparatus

• US 7,047,142 B2
• Filed: 02/25/2002
• Issued: 05/16/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: ARKRAY, Inc
• Original Assignee: ARKRAY, Inc
• Inventors: Harada, Toshihiko, Wada, Atsushi
• Primary Examiner(s): Barlow, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Washburn, Douglas N
• Application Number:
  US10/468,657
• Publication Number:
  US 20050033527A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,541 Days
• Field of Search: 734/321, 700/1, 700/95, 700/108, 700/109, 700/110, 700/275, 702/33, 702/35, 702/57, 702/58, 702/108, 702/113, 702/114, 702/115, 702/182, 702/183, 702/185, 702/188, 702/189
• US Class Current: 702/35
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 21/00 Measuring or testing not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 3/08 with provision for safeguarding the apparatus, e.g. against abnormal operation, against breakdown
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0227 Qualitative history assessment, whereby the type of data acted upon, e.g. waveforms, images or patterns, is not relevant, e.g. rule based assessment; if-then decisions
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0264 Control of logging system, e.g. decision on which data to store; time-stamping measurements

Abstract

A monitoring system for monitoring the state of a monitoring object apparatus so as to detect a foretoken of failure. A host computer (100) of a manufacturer/dealer of a clinical check apparatus (200) receives state data of respective parts from parts sensors (203a, 203b, . . .) of the clinical check apparatus (200) of a user and the received state data is compared to a prediction condition stored in a condition storage block (104) in a state monitoring block (105), thereby detecting a foretoken of failure. The prediction condition includes a condition created in accordance with service life of each of the parts and a condition created upon occurrence of a failure in accordance with transition of the state data prior to the occurrence of the failure.

Claims

1. A monitoring device, comprising:

a status data receiving part that receives status data representing a status of a monitored device from the monitored device through a communication network;

a condition storing part that stores a condition for prediction;

a status monitoring part that compares the status data with the condition for prediction in the condition storing part so as to predict an abnormality,

wherein the condition for prediction includes a condition for prediction created based on a change pattern of the status data that provides an indication of the abnormality, the status data being obtained before a point in time at which the abnormality is caused in the monitored device;

a data storing part that accumulates the status data received from the monitored device; and

an abnormality analyzing part that newly creates the condition for prediction based on a transition of the status data before the point in time at which the abnormality is caused using the status data accumulated in the data storing part and has the condition for prediction stored in the condition storing part,

wherein when the status data meets either of the condition for prediction newly created by the abnormality analyzing part or the condition for prediction prestored in the condition storing part, the status monitoring part judges that there is a high possibility of occurrence of the abnormality.

2. The monitoring device according to claim 1,

wherein the condition for prediction created is a condition created based on transitions of the status data with a common change pattern among transitions of the status data that are observed in at least two monitored devices in which a common abnormality is caused.

3. The monitoring device according to claim 1,

wherein the condition for prediction further includes a condition for prediction created based on life data of a component of the monitored device.

4. The monitoring device according to claim 1,

wherein the status data includes outputs of various types of sensors that are provided in the monitored device, and

the condition for prediction includes a condition for prediction corresponding respectively to the outputs of the various types of sensors.

5. The monitoring device according to claim 1,

further comprising a communication part that transmits a notification that an abnormality is predicted by the status monitoring part to the monitored device through the communication network.

6. The monitoring device according to claim 5,

wherein the communication part transmits a direction on how to correct the abnormality.

7. The monitoring device according to claim 1,

wherein the monitored device comprises a component that performs a predetermined operation repeatedly in the case where the predetermined operation has failed to be completed successfully, and a number of repetitions of the predetermined operation performed till successful completion is output as the status data, and

a condition for prediction used to predict an abnormality of the component includes that a value of the status data corresponding to the number of repetitions becomes higher than values in a predetermined range.

8. The monitoring device according to claim 1,

wherein manufacture-related data regarding each of the monitored devices are stored,

upon detection of occurrence of a common abnormality in a plurality of the monitored devices, the monitoring device refers to the manufacture-related data regarding the plurality of the monitored devices, and

in the case where there is a piece of the manufacture-related data common to at least part of the plurality of the monitored devices, the monitoring device determines the monitored devices, each applying to the piece of the manufacture-related data, other than the at least part of the plurality of the monitored devices.

9. The monitoring device according to claim 8,

wherein the manufacture-related data includes at least one piece of data selected from the group consisting of:

a manufacture lot identifier of a monitored device, a date of manufacture of the monitored device, a manufacture lot identifier of a component of the monitored device, and a date of manufacture of the component of the monitored device.

10. A program recording medium on which a program is recorded that allows a computer to perform a process characterized by:

receiving status data representing a status of a monitored device from the monitored device;

comparing the status data with a condition for prediction that was stored in a condition storing part and includes a condition created based on a change pattern of the status data that provides an indication of an abnormality, the status data being obtained before a point in time at which the abnormality is caused in the monitored device with the status data;

accumulating the status data received from the monitored device;

newly creating the condition for prediction based on a transition of the status data before the point in time at which the abnormality is caused, using the status data accumulating in the data storing part, and storing the condition for prediction in the condition storage part; and

providing to the monitored device a notification that abnormality is predicted when the status data meets either of the newly-created condition for prediction or the condition for prediction prestored in the condition storage part.