Abstract:
In a method for producing an item list of components for the assembly of a module including the components at a first location, wherein the components can be taken from a number of offered components, the offered components are provided with a reference number and are accessible from the first location, and at least one individual property of each component is stored together with its reference number in a databank that is arranged at a second location different from the first location.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention is directed to a method for producing an item list of components for the assembly into a module. 
   2. Description of the Prior Art 
   A module of the above type is, for example, a radiation detector of a computed tomography apparatus that has a number of identical detector modules as components. Each detector module in turn comprises a plurality of detector elements. The image-relevant physical properties of such detector elements, however, vary from detector module to detector module dependent on manufacture. In order to obtain a good image quality for CT images produced with the radiation detector, only detector modules whose image-relevant physical properties are matched optimally well to one another can be employed for the assembly of the radiation detector. For example, the image-relevant physical properties of the detector modules can be measured by the manufacturer before the detector modules are warehoused, the detector modules can be provided with a reference number and this information can be stored in a data bank. 
   When the manufacturer of the detector modules intends to assemble a radiation detector from the detector modules, for example, the manufacturer can determine suitable detector modules and their installation position with a method disclosed in German PS 198 11 044 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,137,859. This method is based on the image-relevant physical properties of the detector modules that have been measured and stored being used in an automated manner with a computer program stored in a computer to select modules for assembling the detector. 
   When the manufacturer of the detector modules supplies detector modules to further manufacturers of radiation detectors who assemble radiation detectors from the delivered detector modules and would like to employ the physical properties of the detector modules measured by the manufacturer of the detector modules and the aforementioned computer program for determining suitable detector modules and their installation positions, the manufacturer of the detector modules must supply the further manufacturer of radiation detectors with the measured, image-relevant physical properties of the detector modules and with the computer program. The further manufacturers of radiation detectors then can install this computer program on their own computers and employ it. A disadvantage of this procedure, however, is that the computer program would have to be adapted to the conditions at the further manufacturers. Such an adaptation of the computer program is relatively complicated. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method that allows for a facilitated assembly of the module from the components. 
   This object is achieved in accordance with the invention in a method for producing an item list of components for the assembly of a module including the components at a first location, wherein the components can be taken from a number of offered components, the offered components being provided with a reference number and being accessible from the first location, and wherein at least one individual property of each component is stored together with its reference number in a databank that is arranged at a second location different from the first location, including the following method steps:
         a) Generating an inquiry for producing the item list from the first location;   b) Communicating the inquiry from the first location to the second location;   c) Based on the inquiry and on the properties and reference numbers of the components stored in the databank, producing the item list at the second location, the item list includes an indicator for a property of each component correlated with the reference numbers for that component; and   d) Communicating the item list from the second location to the first location.       

   An item list of components is required at the first location since the module is to be assembled thereat. Data needed for producing the item list, i.e. the individual property of each component accessible at the first location stored in the databank, however, are available only at the second location. The individual property can, for example, be an image-relevant physical property of a detector module when a radiation detector is to be assembled. 
   After the information to the effect that an item list is required has been communicated to the second location, the item list is produced at the second location on the basis of the information stored in the databank. The item list, which includes a particular about the components to be employed together with their reference numbers, is subsequently transmitted from the second location to the first location. 
   Consequently, it is possible, based on information that is accessible only at the second location, to produce an item list of components that is required at another location, namely at the first location. The module can be assembled at the first location on the basis of this item list. 
   One advantage of this method is that the databank is arranged at a central location, i.e., the second location. This is especially advantageous when modules are to be assembled from the components at different first locations. The databank must then be implemented such that it takes only those components into consideration for producing the item list for a specific first location that are also accessible from this first location at which the module is to be assembled. The databank thus can be centrally maintained. 
   In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the assembly of the module is followed by a final check at the first location, and the data allocated to the final check are communicated from the first location to the second location. Faulty component parts are recognized as faulty at the second location on the basis of the communicated data A suitable component as a replacement for a faulty component is determined from the number of components that are still available taking the property stored in the databank into consideration, and the reference number of the identified component is communicated from the second location to the first location. The final check is thus implemented at the first location but the evaluation thereof is implemented at the second location. If components are faulty, this is recognized at the second location; since the information about the components that are still available for selection and about their individual properties are also available there, a replacement for the faulty component can be identified at the second location. Subsequently, the reference number of the replacement is communicated from the second location to the first location, so that the faulty component can be replaced by a suitable component at the first location. 
   The inquiry and the item list in one version of the invention are communicated via an information transmission network. According to one embodiment of the invention, the information transmission network can be the Internet or an Intranet. 
   According to a preferred version of the invention, the item list is produced by the manufacturer of the components. The manufacturer of the components thus can offer the production of the item list as a service and can thereby enhance the attractiveness of the components from that manufacturer. 
   In a further embodiment of the invention the components are detector modules and the module is a radiation detector of a computed tomography apparatus. According to one version of the invention, further, the individual property of the detector module is an image-relevant physical property of the detector module, and the item list also includes a particular about an installation position of the detector module in the radiation detector. 
   An especially high image quality of CT images produced with the radiation detector can be achieved when, according to a further embodiment of the invention, the components and their installed positions in the radiation detector are determined at the second location on the basis of a computer program. This computer program can, in particular, be based on the method disclosed in the aforementioned German PS 198 11 044. 

   
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  schematically illustrates an assembly floor of a manufacturer of radiation detectors. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a radiation detector assembled using the inventive method. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates an Internet page suitable for use in the inventive method. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates an item list produced by the inventive method. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1  shows an assembly floor  1  with connected warehouse  2  of a manufacturer of radiation detectors. In the case of the present embodiment, approximately 200 detector modules  3  formed by detector elements are stored in the warehouse  2 . Employees  4  of the manufacturer of radiation detectors are capable of assembling radiation detectors from the detector modules  3  therefrom. In the exemplary embodiment, the manufacturer manufactures radiation detectors that have either  26  detector modules  3  (Type A), 42 detector modules  3  (Type B) or 48 detector modules  3  (Type C). The radiation detectors of the Type A, B and C thus mainly differ in terms of the number of detector modules  3  employed. 
   In the exemplary embodiment, the detector modules  3  are fabricated by a supplier in the supplier&#39;s factories  10  and are supplied to the manufacturer of radiation detectors. Due to manufacturing tolerances, the detector elements  3  fabricated by the supplier differ slightly in terms of their image-relevant physical properties. So that the manufacturer of radiation detectors can assemble a radiation detector from the detector elements  3  with which the manufacturer has been supplied, the radiation detector being suitable for producing CD images of high image quality, the detector modules  3  employed for the assembled radiation detector must match one another with respect to the image-relevant physical properties. Employees  11  of the supplier therefore determine image-relevant physical properties of each and every detector module  3  after the manufacture and before the delivery of the detector elements  3  to the manufacturer of radiation detectors, provide it with its reference number and store the reference number together with the physical properties of the corresponding detector module  3  in a databank  12  that is located in a business office  16  of the supplier. 
   In the exemplary embodiment, the employees  4  of the manufacturer of radiation detectors wish to assemble a radiation detector of the type A, i.e. a radiation detector comprising  26  detector modules  3 . A radiation detector of the type A is shown as an example schematically in  FIG. 2 . 
   The radiation detector  20  shown in  FIG. 2  is employed, for example, in computed tomography apparatus of the third generation. The radiation detector  20  has a curved arrangement of—in the present exemplary embodiment— 26  detector modules  3  having the installed positions E 1  through E 26  that are arranged such that they are impacted by an x-ray beam that emanates from the focus F of an x-ray source (not shown) and that is gated fan-shaped and whose edge rays are referenced RS. 
   The central ray of the fan-shaped x-ray beam ZS—in a way that is standard in modern computed tomography systems—is not identical with the connecting straight line (referenced G) between the detector middle and the focus F, but is offset relative to this connecting straight line G. 
   The point C around which the radiation detector  20  and the x-ray source rotate in a known way during operation of the computed tomography apparatus lies on the central ray ZS. 
   Before the employees  4  of the manufacturer of radiation detectors assemble the radiation detector  20  shown in  FIG. 2 , they need an item list with which  26  suitable detector modules  3  can be selected from the warehouse  2  for the assembly of the radiation detector  20 . In order to obtain the item list, they use a computer  13  situated in the assembly floor  1  and connected to the Internet, the computer  13  having a monitor  13   a , a keyboard  13   b  and a computer mouse  13   c , to contact an Internet server  14  that is located in the business office  16  of the supplier in the exemplary embodiment. 
   In the exemplary embodiment, the Internet browser Netscape® is stored in the computer  13 . After the employees  4  of the manufacturer of radiation detectors have called the Internet browser Netscape® with the computer  13 , have contacted the Internet server  14  of the supplier with an Internet address allocated to the Internet server  14 , and have verified their access authorization by means of an identifier allocated to the manufacturer of radiation detectors, an Internet page  30  shown in  FIG. 3  is built up on the monitor  13   a.    
   Using the Internet page  30 , the employees  4  of the manufacturer of radiation detectors can decide whether they wish to assemble a radiation detector of the type A, B or C in that using a mark that is not shown in  FIG. 3  but is well-known and can be mixed into the Internet page  30  and moved with the computer mouse  13   c , they provide a box  31   a    31   b  or  31   c  allocated to the words Type A, Type B or Type C of the Internet page  30  with an x. Since the employees  4  of the manufacturer of radiation detectors given the present exemplary embodiment wish to assemble a radiation detector of the type A, they provide the box  31   a  with an x. Subsequently, they click the field  32  that is provided with the word “input” with the computer mouse  13   c . Subsequently, the information that the employees  4  of the manufacturer of radiation detectors wish to assemble a radiation detector  20  of the type A from the detector modules  3  stored in the warehouse  2  is communicated to the Internet server  14  of the supplier. 
   In the case of the present exemplary embodiment, a computer program is stored in the Internet server  14  that, moreover, is connected to the databank  12 , the computer program (based on the method disclosed in German OS 198 11 044) determines detector modules  3  located in the warehouse  2  and suitable for the assembly of the radiation detector  20  based on the inquiry of the employees  4  of the manufacturer of radiation detectors and based on the image-relevant physical properties of the detector modules  3  supplied to the manufacturer of radiation detectors that are stored in the databank  12 . In addition to the suitable detector modules  3 , the computer program stored in the Internet server  14  also determines the corresponding installed positions E 1  through E 26  of the radiation detector  24  the identified detector modules  3 . 
   After the computer program has determined the detector modules  3 , their reference numbers and the corresponding installed positions E 1  through E 26 , the computer program generates an item list  40  shown in  FIG. 4  that is communicated from the Internet server to the computer  13 . Subsequently, an Internet page  41  that comprises the item list  40  and that is shown in  FIG. 4  is built up on the monitor  13   a.    
   The item list  40  has two columns  42  and  43 . The column  42  includes a particular about the installed positions E 1  through E 26  of the detector modules  3  identified by the computer program of the Internet server  14 , and the column  43  comprises a particular about the corresponding reference numbers of the identified detector modules  3 . Subsequently, the employees  4  of the manufacturer of radiation detectors can get the corresponding detector modules  3  from the warehouse  2  and assemble the radiation detector  20 . 
   After the employees  4  of the manufacturer of radiation detectors have assembled the radiation detector  20 , they check the correct functioning of the radiation detector  20  with a monitoring device  15  shown in  FIG. 1  that is connected to the computer  13 . The data acquired during the check of the radiation detector  20  are communicated after the end of the check event to the Internet server  14  of the supplier with the computer  13  via the Internet, the Internet server  14  recognizing incorrectly installed detector modules  3  in an automated fashion by means of a computer program stored in the Internet server  14 . Subsequently, the computer program determines a replacement for the faulty detector modules  3  based on the faulty detector modules  3 , their installed positions and their image-relevant physical properties stored in the databank  12  and based on the other detector modules  3  installed in the radiation detector  20  and on the detector modules  3  that are still available in the warehouse  2 . 
   Subsequently, the computer program stored in the Internet server  14  generates an e-mail that is sent to the computer  13  and contains a particular about the faulty detector modules  3 , their installed positions and their replacements including reference numbers. If none of the detector modules  3  installed in the radiation detector  20  are faulty, the Internet server  14  automatically generates an email having a particular to the effect that the assembled radiation detector  20  is fault-free and sends this e-mail to the computer  13 . 
   A final check of the radiation detector  20 , moreover is optional for the inventive method. Instead of detector modules  3 , individual detector elements can also be employed for the assembly of a radiation detector. The radiation detector  20  need not necessarily be a single-line radiation detector. 
   The inventive method is not limited to the assembly of a radiation detector. It can also be employed for the assembly of other modules, whereby the components needed for the assembly of the module need not necessarily be detector modules. 
   The image-relevant physical properties of the detector modules  3  stored in the databank  12  are only an example of an individual property of a component. 
   The databank  12  also need not necessarily be operated by the manufacturer of the detector modules  3 . It is also not compulsory that the Internet be employed as information transmission network. In particular, an Intranet can also be employed. 
   Although modifications and changes may be suggested by those skilled in the art, it is the intention of the inventors to embody within the patent warranted hereon all changes and modifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of their contribution to the art.