Patent ID: 6594621
Filing Date: 2003-07-15
Classification: G05B

Abstract:
A system for determining the condition of a plant, plant equipment and plant facilities, at a plurality of inspection sites identified by a plurality of separate, machine-readable, identification codes, the system comprising:at least one portable processing device having an inspection transducer adapted for sensing and storing in said at least one portable processing device a plurality of characteristics of said plant equipment, said plurality of characteristics corresponding to different qualities of said plant equipment, said at least one portable processing device being operable to record at least a selected one of the identification codes associated with said plant equipment; and a central processing system adapted to communicate with and upload from said at least one portable processing device the plurality of characteristics and said at least a selected one of the identification codes, said central processing system being operable in response to more than one of the characteristics and said at least a selected one of the identification codes to (a) calculate a plurality of current conditions based on said more than one of the characteristics, and (b) calculate an overall condition of said plant based on said plurality of current conditions to produce a condition signal signifying the overall condition of the plant, in response to more than one of the plurality of characteristics.