Abstract:
A Component of a technical installation comprises a memory unit for storing identification data related to the component and/or technical date related to the component and/or a user manual and/or transportation information related to the component and/or links directed to further information related to the component.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application is the US National Stage of International Application No. PCT/EP2004/052859, filed Nov. 8, 2004 and claims the benefit thereof. The International Application claims the benefits of European Patent application No. 03025919.6 filed Nov. 12, 2003. All of the applications are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to a component of a technical installation, in particular the invention relates to technical installations such as power generating plants and their accessories.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     Whenever components or products of a technical installation are shipped to a customer it is necessary to separately ship a documentation including information such as identification data or technical data of the component shipped. Further, in particular with regard to large technical installations, during transportation, erection and commissioning the information of the installation has to be matched with a manual which has to be handed out to the costumer. Then, e.g., at the customer side, it is hard to identify the match between the single component and its documentation, and the manuals often are not at hand. During service life it is difficult to identify the correct spare parts, and the maintenance instructions are not always at one&#39;s fingertips.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     Accordingly, it is the object underlying the invention to provide a component of a technical installation at which the handling of data is simplified and, furthermore, at which and the costs for the technical documentation are lower than for common components of technical installations.  
         [0005]     The object is solved by a component of a technical installation comprising a memory unit for storing identification data related to the component and/or technical data related to the component and/or a user manual and/or transportation information related to the component and/or links directed to further information related to the component.  
         [0006]     The solution according to the invention overcomes the separation between hardware components of technical installations and its identification and description. By providing at least one memory unit at the component in which the different kinds of identification and description of the component and its subsystems are stored the invention avoids mistakes, misunderstanding and delay because of non-availability of documents. Accordingly, the quality and availability of documentation for commissioning, assembly, erection and service staff is continuously improved during the entire lifecycle of the component and its sub-systems.  
         [0007]     According to a preferred embodiment of the component in accordance with the invention the memory unit for storing identification data includes a plant number storage space, a customer number storage space, a serial number storage space, a drawing number storage space, and/or a spare part number storage space.  
         [0008]     Further, preferably, the memory unit for storing technical data related to the component includes a type of component storage space, a basic parameter storage space, and/or a threshold storage space.  
         [0009]     In addition or alternatively, the memory unit for storing a user manual preferably includes a product manual storage space, an operation manual storage space, a service/maintenance instructions storage space, and/or a service/maintenance protocol storage space.  
         [0010]     More preferably, the memory unit for storing transportation information related to the component includes a commissioning manual storage space, a package number storage space, a transportation manual storage space, a transportation protocol storage space, an erection manual storage space, and/or an erection protocol storage space.  
         [0011]     Furthermore, it is preferred that the memory unit for storing links directed to further information related to the component includes a hotline number storage space.  
         [0012]     The above mentioned memory units of preferred embodiments of the invention all improve accessibility to information which is particularly important during the lifecycle of the component of the invention.  
         [0013]     In contrast to written information, the information electronically stored in accordance with the invention can be easily found by providing means for searching information in at least one of the memory units of the component.  
         [0014]     In order to improve accessibility of the information stored in accordance with the invention, the component advantageously further comprises a wired and/or wireless interface for reading information stored in the at least one memory unit.  
         [0015]     Finally, preferably, the component of the invention comprises an interface for connecting the at least one memory unit via an intranet or the internet. Accordingly, a large number of various persons can access the stored data without any need of duplication of these data. For restricting the access to the data a password protection means should be provided. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]     These and other aspects, advantages and salient features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, which, when taken into conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses an embodiment of the invention.  
         [0017]      FIG. 1  is a schematic illustration of an embodiment of a memory unit of the invention.  
         [0018]      FIG. 2  is a schematic illustration of the way of storing and reading information in a memory unit of the invention during the lifecycle of a corresponding component. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0019]      FIG. 1  shows a memory unit  10  in the form of a memory box which is mounted near a bearing pedestal of a power station  11 .  
         [0020]     The memory unit  10  includes a casing  12  having a lock  13 , in which a memory chip  14  is located. the memory chip  14  is one of the kind used in USB memory sticks. The memory chip is electrically connected with an interface  16  in the USB 2.0 standard. The interface  16  includes a cable  17  and a connector  18  at the end of the cable  17 . The interface  16  provides a reading speed of up to 6 MB/s and a writing speed of up to 4.5 MB/s. The memory chip  14  has a memory size of 512 MB. The operating temperature of the memory unit  10  is between 0° F. and 50° F.  
         [0021]     The documents stored in the memory chip  14  are in particular a product manual, an operation manual and erection protocols. The amount of data stored is about 3000 pages in the format of searchable pdf-documents.  
         [0022]     The information stored in the memory unit  10  are classified into four groups: identification, general information, history and documentation. The group of identification includes in particular the serial number, package number, customer, plant, and rating plate data. The general information included data, e.g., of the type of component or system, meta information (like drawing numbers, erection-groups and sequence numbers) and material-subgroups.  
         [0023]     The history group includes the product date, transportation information, erection information, commissioning information, the times of maintenance, and protocols about versions and revision states.  
         [0024]     The documentation group finally includes a product manual, a description, an erection manual, erection drawings, a commissioning manual, a manual concerning the operation, service instructions and at least one hotline-number.  
         [0025]     The search of information stored in the memory unit is improved by a neural network means and the integration of “turnover package” information. Further, there is provided a connection with RF-ID technology to identify single parts, spare parts and turnover packages.  
         [0026]     Furthermore, the memory unit is adapted to support other programs like “tracking and tracing”.  
         [0027]     The information on the memory unit are written and recalled by means of a remote access via the web server technology.  
         [0028]      FIG. 2  depicts the lifecycle of a component in accordance with the invention and the relevant content of the memory chip  14  in respect of the different phases of the lifecycle.  
         [0029]     In general the memory chip  14  exemplary includes identification data, technical data, a handbook, production data, time tables, quality data, shipping instructions and protocols, building instructions and protocols, starting protocols, and maintenance protocols.  
         [0030]     These different kinds of information are stored and retrieved during different phases of the lifecycle of the corresponding component, which are, e.g., the planning and design, the production and assembly, the acceptance, the shipping, the build up, the starting, and the operation. While some of the data are relevant during the entire lifecycle, other information are stored during later phases of the lifecycle and can be easily accessed thereafter via the interface  16 .  
         [0031]     Further, to the above mentioned information the invention provides the possibility to store information within the memory unit which refers to the disassembly and/or the recycle of certain parts of the component. Thus, the invention further improves the possibility to handle parts of the component in a particularly required way even many years after their installation.