Field device maintenance apparatus

• US 8,571,833 B2
• Filed: 03/23/2011
• Issued: 10/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yokogawa Electric Corporation
• Original Assignee: Yokogawa Electric Corporation
• Inventors: Fujisaki, Morihiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Taningco, Alexander H
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lee, Paul D
• Application Number:
  US13/069,833
• Publication Number:
  US 20110238375A1
• Time in Patent Office: 951 Days
• Field of Search: 702/116, 702/183, 702/184, 702/187, 700/52, 700/83, 714/46
• US Class Current: 702/184
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0267 Fault communication, e.g. human machine interface [HMI]

Abstract

A field device maintenance apparatus includes a field device connection unit that communicates with a field device whose operation contents are defined by parameters; a work-information acquisition unit that acquires parameter attribute information including whether or not the individual parameters are displayable and work instruction information that shows work contents; a display unit that displays one or more of the parameters of the field device depending on whether or not the individual parameters are displayable according to the parameter attribute information; an operation accepting unit that accepts a changing operation for changing one or more of the parameters displayed by the display unit; and an operation-history-information recording unit that records a history of operations accepted by the operation accepting unit.

Claims

1. A field device maintenance system, comprising:

a field device maintenance apparatus that performs maintenance of a field device whose operation contents are defined by a plurality of parameters, wherein the field device maintenance apparatus performs maintenance of the field device by changing a parameter in the field device; and

a manager device,

wherein the manager device accepts setting of parameter attribute information including whether or not individual parameters provided in the field device to be maintained are displayable by the field device maintenance apparatus, and accepts input of work instruction information that shows work contents, and

wherein the field device maintenance apparatus comprises;

a field device connection unit that communicates with the field device;

a work-information acquisition unit that acquires the parameter attribute information and the work instruction information which are accepted by the manager device;

a display unit that displays one or more of the parameters of the field device depending on whether or not the individual parameters are displayable according to the parameter attribute information;

an operation accepting unit that accepts a changing operation for changing in the field device the one or more of the parameters displayed by the display unit; and

an operation-history-information recording unit that records a history of operations accepted by the operation accepting unit; and

wherein the parameter attribute information includes whether or not the individual parameters are changeable, and

wherein the manager device is configured to accept setting of an attribute as changeable only for one or more of the parameters that are set to be displayable, and

the operation accepting unit of the field device maintenance apparatus is configured not to accept the changing operation for one or more of the parameters that are set to be unchangeable.

2. The field device maintenance system according to claim 1, wherein the manager device records the parameter attribute information and the work instruction information thus accepted on a portable recording medium, and the work-information acquisition unit of the field device maintenance apparatus acquires the parameter attribute information and the work instruction information from a portable recording medium.

3. The field device maintenance system according to claim 2, wherein the operation-history-information recording unit of the field device maintenance apparatus records the history of the operations on the portable recording medium, and

the manager device reads out the history of the operations from the portable recording medium and stores the history.

4. The field device maintenance system according to claim 3, wherein the operation accepting unit of the field device maintenance apparatus stops accepting the changing operation for the parameters when the operation accepting unit is informed that the changing operation for changing the parameters has been completed.

5. The field device maintenance system according to claim 2, wherein the operation accepting unit of the field device maintenance apparatus stops accepting the changing operation for the parameters when the operation accepting unit is informed that the changing operation for changing the parameters has been completed.

6. The field device maintenance system according to claim 1, wherein the manager device records the parameter attribute information and the work instruction information thus accepted on a portable recording medium, and the work-information acquisition unit of the field device maintenance apparatus acquires the parameter attribute information and the work instruction information from a portable recording medium.

7. The field device maintenance system according to claim 6, wherein the operation-history-information recording unit of the field device maintenance apparatus records the history of the operations on the portable recording medium, and

the manager device reads out the history of the operations from the portable recording medium and stores the history.

8. The field device maintenance system according to claim 7, wherein the operation accepting unit of the field device maintenance apparatus stops accepting the changing operation for the parameters when the operation accepting unit is informed that the changing operation for changing the parameters has been completed.

9. The field device maintenance system according to claim 6, wherein the operation accepting unit of the field device maintenance apparatus stops accepting the changing operation for the parameters when the operation accepting unit is informed that the changing operation for changing the parameters has been completed.

10. The field device maintenance system according to claim 1, wherein the operation accepting unit of the field device maintenance apparatus stops accepting the changing operation for the parameters when the operation accepting unit is informed that the changing operation for changing the parameters has been completed.

11. The field device maintenance system according to claim 1, wherein the operation accepting unit of the field device maintenance apparatus stops accepting the changing operation for the parameters when the operation accepting unit is informed that the changing operation for changing the parameters has been completed.