IP based voice communication enabled inspection system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An inspection system for inspecting industrial equipment articles, the inspection system comprising:
- a workstation computer for connecting to an Internet Protocol (IP) network;
a visual inspection apparatus for connecting to the IP network, the visual inspection apparatus comprising;
an elongated inspection tube;
a two dimensional image sensor disposed at a distal end of the elongated inspection tube;
a voice coder/decoder for converting analog voice signals into digital form and for converting digital voice signals into analog form;
an acoustic input device generating analog voice signals coupled to said voice coder/decoder;
an acoustic output device receiving analog voice signals coupled to said voice coder/decoder;
a processor for receiving inspection data from at least one of the voice coder/decoder and the two dimensional image sensor, and for transmitting the inspection data over the IP network; and
a display for displaying a graphical user interface configuration window to a user of the visual inspection apparatus, the graphical user interface configuration window including a plurality of selections presented to the user for selectably setting up an IP based voice communication connection between said visual inspection apparatus and the workstation computer, wherein one of the selections comprises a user selectable time duration for initiating the IP based voice communication connection automatically with the workstation computer if the workstation computer has previously received the inspection data collected by the visual inspection apparatus within the user selectable time duration.
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Abstract
An inspection apparatus can be provided in a system with a workstation computer. In one embodiment, the inspection apparatus can include a user interface enabling the inspection apparatus to initiate, responsively to an action by an inspector, an IP based voice communication connection with an external computer of the system. In one embodiment, the inspection apparatus and the workstation computer can be in communication with a central server that can receive data collected by said the inspection apparatus and can receive data requests from the workstation computer.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. An inspection system for inspecting industrial equipment articles, the inspection system comprising:
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a workstation computer for connecting to an Internet Protocol (IP) network; a visual inspection apparatus for connecting to the IP network, the visual inspection apparatus comprising; an elongated inspection tube; a two dimensional image sensor disposed at a distal end of the elongated inspection tube; a voice coder/decoder for converting analog voice signals into digital form and for converting digital voice signals into analog form; an acoustic input device generating analog voice signals coupled to said voice coder/decoder; an acoustic output device receiving analog voice signals coupled to said voice coder/decoder; a processor for receiving inspection data from at least one of the voice coder/decoder and the two dimensional image sensor, and for transmitting the inspection data over the IP network; and a display for displaying a graphical user interface configuration window to a user of the visual inspection apparatus, the graphical user interface configuration window including a plurality of selections presented to the user for selectably setting up an IP based voice communication connection between said visual inspection apparatus and the workstation computer, wherein one of the selections comprises a user selectable time duration for initiating the IP based voice communication connection automatically with the workstation computer if the workstation computer has previously received the inspection data collected by the visual inspection apparatus within the user selectable time duration. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An inspection system for inspecting an industrial equipment article, the inspection system comprising:
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a workstation computer for connecting to an Internet Protocol (IP) network; a visual inspection apparatus for connecting to the IP network, the visual inspection apparatus comprising; an elongated inspection apparatus; a two dimensional image sensor disposed at a distal end of the elongated inspection apparatus; a graphical user interface display comprising a configuration window for displaying to a user of the visual inspection apparatus user selectable setup information for selectively controlling software and hardware enabling an IP based voice communication connection with the workstation computer based on the setup information; and a processor for receiving inspection data generated by the two dimensional image sensor during an inspection of the industrial equipment article, and for transmitting data packets comprising a media file over the IP network to the workstation computer, the media file comprising the inspection data and metadata associated with the media file, the metadata comprising an equipment number of the industrial equipment under inspection, a job number, an inspector, a timestamp, or a combination thereof; and said workstation computer for receiving the media file transmitted by said visual inspection apparatus, the workstation computer being configured to process said media file and to read an IP network address of the visual inspection apparatus from the data packets, and further being configured to automatically establish an IP based voice communication connection between said workstation computer and said visual inspection apparatus responsively to said processing of the media file and determining that an alarm condition exists at the industrial equipment article under inspection based on said processing of the media file. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An inspection system for inspecting an industrial equipment article, the inspection system comprising:
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a workstation computer for connecting to an Internet Protocol (IP) network; a visual inspection apparatus for connecting to the IP network, the visual inspection apparatus comprising; an elongated inspection tube; a two dimensional image sensor disposed at a distal end of the elongated inspection tube; a user interface display for displaying to a user of the visual inspection apparatus a configuration window for selectively controlling software and hardware enabling an IP based voice communication with the workstation computer, the visual inspection apparatus further comprising hardware and software enabling recording of an audio file of an oral conversation between the user of the visual inspection apparatus and a user of the workstation computer utilizing the IP based voice communication during an inspection of the industrial equipment article; and wherein said visual inspection apparatus is configured to collect inspection data generated by the two dimensional image sensor during the inspection of said industrial equipment article, the inspection data stored in a media file corresponding to said industrial equipment article, said visual inspection apparatus is further configured to generate certain metadata to identify the audio file and the media file as being associated with the inspection of the industrial equipment article, and to transmit the audio file, the media file, and the metadata to the workstation computer for storage therein, thereby enabling a common retrieval of the audio file and the media file in response to a search for the metadata. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23)
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24. An inspection system comprising:
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a plurality of inspection apparatuses each having an elongated inspection module and a two dimensional image sensor disposed at a distal end of the elongated inspection module, and each generating image signals corresponding to an inspection of a corresponding article, and each having storage for storing a media file containing the generated image signals and for storing metadata identifying the inspection of the corresponding article, the plurality of inspection apparatuses connected to an Internet Protocol (IP) network; a central server connected to the IP network and in communication with each of said plurality of inspection apparatuses over the IP network; a plurality of workstation computers each connected to the IP network and in communication with said central server over the IP network; wherein the central server is configured to receive and store the media files from each of the plurality of inspection apparatuses, the central server further configured to read and store an IP network address of each of said plurality of inspection apparatuses that is included in a transmission of the received media files; wherein said central server is further configured to receive a data request for one of said media files from a certain one of said workstation computers, the central server further configured to read an IP network address of said certain one of said workstation computers that is included in the received data request; and wherein said central server is configured to utilize said IP network address of an inspection apparatus corresponding to the requested one of the media files and the IP network address of said certain workstation computer to send a command over the network to either the inspection apparatus corresponding to the requested one of the media files or to the certain workstation computer, to establish an IP based voice communication connection between themselves. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification