System for remotely managing maintenance of a set of facilities

• US 7,475,122 B2
• Filed: 10/04/2001
• Issued: 01/06/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jean-Patrick Azpitarte
• Original Assignee: Jean-Patrick Azpitarte
• Inventors: Azpitarte, Jean-Patrick
• Primary Examiner(s): Jaroenchonwanit; Bunjob
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chankong; Dohm
• Application Number:
  US09/971,946
• Publication Number:
  US 20020059412A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,651 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/224, 709/225, 714/47, 702/188
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/042 using digital processors G05B19/05 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/24001 Maintenance, repair
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/24048 Remote test, monitoring, diagnostic
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/24113 No transmission of errors to central during intervention of maintenance operator
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0748 in a remote unit communicating with a single-box computer node experiencing an error/fault remote testing G06F11/2294
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2294 by remote test
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063114 Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group

Abstract

This system comprises local monitoring units installed in close proximity to the facilities to be monitored, each of which comprises a device for detecting facility malfunctions; a first computer made available to the facility maintenance company, connected to the local units through a transmission network for receiving and processing fault information transmitted from the local units; a second computer made available to a facility management company, which receives the same information as the first computer from the local units; each local unit being associated with a facility and further comprising a control device for allowing a maintenance engineer to signal the beginning and the end of an inspection of the associated facility, these events being transmitted to the computers which comprise a device for storing all information transmitted by the local units.

Claims

1. A system for remotely and automatically controlling, by a facilities management company, maintenance of facilities by a maintenance company with regards to a contract binding the maintenance company to the facilities management company, said system comprising:

local monitoring units, each local monitoring unit being installed in close proximity to at least one piece of said facilities and associated thereto, each local monitoring unit comprising;

means for measuring operation parameters of the associated pieced of facilities for detecting an operational state thereof;

control means for allowing a maintenance technician to real time notify the start and the end time of his maintenance or repair task performed on the associated piece of facilities or to notify that the associated piece of facilities is out of order for a long period because works are in progress, said control means being independent from the operational state of the associated piece of facilities,

a transmission network, and

means for transmitting through said transmission network said detected operational state of said associated piece of facilities and said maintenance task start and end times;

a first and a second computer, each computer being connected to the local monitoring units through said transmission network and comprising means for receiving and processing said detected operational state and said maintenance task start and end times transmitted by the local monitoring units, and

means for storing all information transmitted by the local monitoring units, said first computer being available to the maintenance company and being used to manage the maintenance of said facilities, and said second computer being available to the facilities management company and being used to automatically control the maintenance and repair tasks performed by the technicians of said maintenance company on said facilities with regards to their contractual obligations.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein each of said local monitoring units comprises means for preventing the local monitoring unit from transmitting through said transmission network information relating to the detected operational state of the associated piece of facilities between said start and end times of said maintenance, repair or works task signaled using said control means.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein each of said first and second computers is connected to a data base collecting all information relating to the facilities and the maintenance thereof, and the information transmitted by said local monitoring units.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first and second computers comprise:

means for counting a number of maintenance tasks carried out for each piece of said facilities during a first period of time, for comparing said maintenance task number to a first threshold, and for displaying a first maintenance fault signal if the maintenance task number does not reach said first threshold at the end of said first period of time;

means for computing a total duration of the maintenance tasks performed on each piece of said facilities during a second period of time, for comparing said total duration to a second threshold, and for displaying a second maintenance fault signal if said total duration is not at least equal to said second threshold at the end of said second period of time;

means for computing an elapsed time between a time when a piece of said facilities is detected as malfunctioning and the start time of a repair task on said piece of facilities, for comparing said elapsed time with a third threshold, and for displaying a third maintenance fault signal when said elapsed time exceeds said third threshold; and

means for comparing a restart time to put a piece of said facilities to a normal operational state after the start time of a repair task on said piece of facilities with a fourth threshold, and for displaying a fourth maintenance fault signal when said restart time exceeds said fourth threshold.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the second computer comprises means for computing penalties to be applied to the maintenance company if a maintenance fault concerning the exceeding of one of the four said thresholds have been detected by said second computer.

6. The system according to claim 4, wherein the first and second thresholds are set as a function of said facilities, and wherein the third and fourth thresholds are defined as a function of the detected malfunction or type of repair, said thresholds being as defined by a maintenance contract binding the maintenance company to the managing company.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein transmissions between the local monitoring units and the first and second computers are carried out through a basic wire or radio telephone network and wherein the local monitoring units further comprise means for setting-up a link between the local monitoring units and the first and second computers through a radio telephone network, when the local monitoring units cannot access a basic telephone network.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein at least one local monitoring unit of a group of said local monitoring units which are installed close from one another comprises a data transmission unit, wherein said data transmission unit comprises means for transmission over the basic telephone network and means for transmission over the radio telephone network, and wherein other local monitoring units of the site comprising means for connection to said data transmission unit.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the radio telephone network transmission means in the data transmission unit are provided with a backed-up power supply for sending a power supply fault message when the local monitoring unit is no longer powered.

10. The system according to claim 1, wherein each of said local monitoring units comprises means for detecting internal faults pertaining to operation of said local monitoring unit, and means for sending malfunction information to a third computer if such internal faults are detected, said third computer being connected to the local monitoring units through said transmission network and comprising means for receiving and processing and storing into a database the internal malfunction information transmitted by the local monitoring units.

11. The system according to claim 1, wherein each of said local monitoring units comprises:

means for starting a first timer after a malfunction has been detected on the associated piece of facilities;

means for starting a second timer if the first timer has timed out without the corresponding fault having disappeared;

means for sending a malfunction message to the first and second computers if the second timer has timed out without the corresponding fault having disappeared;

means for starting a third timer after a fault has disappeared; and

means for transmitting a fault disappearance message if the third timer has timed out without the corresponding fault reoccurring.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein a respective duration for each of the first, second and third timers is determined independently from each other as a function of each malfunction type.