Patent Publication Number: US-2007120663-A1

Title: Method and system for wirelessly monitoring equipment in a collision center

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The invention generally relates to a system and method for monitoring performance of equipment in a collision center.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      A collision center typically utilizes numerous pieces of equipment in the course of repairing vehicles. This equipment includes, but is not limited to, paint spray booths for painting entire vehicles and/or vehicle components, spray guns, air compressors for producing compressed air used by spray booths, spray guns, and other equipment, pumps, handheld power tools, and fixed power tools.  
      In the past, these pieces of equipment have been independent, autonomous devices that are physically located in and around the collision center. Monitoring and maintenance of this often temperamental equipment has been challenging at best, often requiring collision center personnel to personally inspect equipment numerous times a day. This inspection is necessary in order to ensure the proper function of the equipment and avoid costly repairs and downtime. The manual monitoring, inspection, and maintenance of equipment is both costly and inefficient.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION AND ADVANTAGES  
      The subject invention provides a system for monitoring performance of equipment in a collision center. The system includes a piece of equipment for performing an operation in the collision center. A sensor monitors a performance aspect of the piece of equipment and produces data relating to the monitored performance aspect. A wireless transmitter is in communication with the sensor for wirelessly transmitting the data produced by the sensor. The system also includes a computer in communication with the wireless transmitter for receiving the data produced by the sensor.  
      The subject invention also provides a method for monitoring performance of equipment in the collision center. The method includes the step of monitoring the performance aspect of the piece of equipment in the collision center. Data is produced relating to the monitored performance aspect of the piece of equipment. The method also includes the step of wirelessly transmitting the data relating to the monitored performance aspect of the piece of equipment. The data relating to the monitored performance aspect of the piece of equipment is received at the computer.  
      The system and method of the subject invention provide advantages over the prior art. One advantage is that data relating to the performance of the equipment is available in a single location (i.e., the computer). This allows collision center personnel, including supervisors and managers, to easily anticipate and troubleshoot problems with collision center equipment by notifying the personnel of equipment status faster than personal inspection of the equipment. An additional advantage is that with wireless communications, wiring and rewiring of equipment to facilitate communication between the equipment and the computer is not necessary. Equipment, particularly portable equipment, can be easily moved around the collision center, and still be monitored by the computer and collision center personnel. A further advantage is that real-time data regarding the equipment which is collected by the computer may be used in controlling the equipment by adjusting performance parameters of the equipment. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      Other advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated, as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:  
       FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a system showing a first wireless transmitter integrated with a first sensor and a second wireless transmitter integrated with a second sensor;  
       FIG. 2  is a schematic view of the system showing a plurality of sensors and a wireless receiver disposed apart from a computer;  
       FIG. 3  is a schematic view of the system showing a first controller in communication with the first sensor and the first wireless transmitter and a second controller in communication with the second sensor and the second wireless transmitter;  
       FIG. 4  is a schematic view of the system showing a controller in communication with the first and second sensors and a wireless transmitter;  
       FIG. 5  is a schematic view of the system showing the computer disposed apart from a collision center;  
       FIG. 6A  is a block diagram of the steps of a method of the subject invention; and  
       FIG. 6B  is block diagram of addition steps of the method of the subject invention.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      Referring to the Figures, wherein like numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, a system  10  and method  100  for monitoring performance of equipment in a collision center  12  are shown.  
      Referring to  FIG. 1 , the collision center  12  may be an automotive repair facility such as a bump shop, a repair node within an automotive manufacturing plant, or an automotive component supplier. However, those skilled in the art realize that the concepts disclosed herein may be applied to other facilities that utilize equipment in the course of their operations. However, for the purposes of convenience, and to illustrate the preferred embodiments of the invention, the term collision center  12  will be used throughout this disclosure.  
      The collision center  12  typically utilizes numerous pieces of equipment in the course of repairing vehicles  13 . This equipment includes, but is not limited to: paint spray booths and paint spray guns for painting entire vehicles  13  and/or vehicle components; air compressors for producing compressed air used by spray booths, spray guns, and other equipment; paint curing ovens (sometimes incorporated within spray booths); air dryers; framing equipment; welding equipment; pumps; handheld power tools; and fixed power tools.  
      The system  10  of the present invention includes a piece of equipment  14 . This piece of equipment  14  performs an operation for repair of vehicles  13  in the collision center  12  and is preferably located within the confines of the collision center  12 . For purposes of illustration, the piece of equipment  14  may be a paint spray booth  16 . However, it is to be understood that the first piece of equipment  14  may refer to any of the various types of equipment available in the collision center  12 .  
      A sensor  18  monitors a performance aspect of the piece of equipment  14 . Continuing the example of the paint spray booth  16  from above, the performance aspect may include, but is not limited to, a differential pressure across a filter, relative humidity in an air line, baking temperature, an amount of paint in a tank, a rate of air flow, a level of oil, cleanliness of the oil, and a position of a door. The sensor  18  produces data relating to the monitored performance aspect. For example, moisture in paint being applied to the vehicle  13  can result in undesirable results. Consequently, it is critical to measure the relative humidity of compressed air that is used to spray paint onto the vehicle  13 . Therefore, the sensor  18  may be a humidistat when measuring relative humidity as the monitored performance aspect.  
      Of course, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the piece of equipment  14  may include a plurality of sensors  18 , with each sensor  18  monitoring a performance aspect of the piece of equipment  14 . Each of the plurality first sensors  18  may measure different performance aspects or be used redundantly for backup purposes. Those skilled in the art realize a wide variety of sensor types that may be used, including, but not limited to, pressure sensors, temperature sensors, air flow sensors, position sensors, proximity sensors, and vortex sensors. For ease of description, a single sensor  18  will be used in describing the system  10  from here on, but this description should not be read as limiting in any way.  
      Referring again to  FIG. 1 , the system  10  further includes a wireless transmitter  20  in communication with the sensor  18 . The wireless transmitter  20  wirelessly transmits the data produced by the sensor  18 . Preferably, the wireless transmitter  20  is a radio frequency (RF) transmitter for transmitting the data via an RF signal. Examples of RF wireless transmission of data is known to those skilled in the art and is commonly referred to in various implementations and standards such as WiFi, Bluetooth, PCS, GSM, etc. Alternatively, the wireless transmitter  20  may use infrared light, ultraviolet light, or other wireless techniques to wirelessly transmit the data.  
      wireless transmitter  20  may be integrated with the sensor  18 , such that the wireless transmitter  20  and the sensor  18  are one physical component. Alternatively, the wireless transmitter  20  may be a separate component that is electrically connected to the sensor  18 . Those skilled in the art realize that the wireless transmitter  20  may be implemented as a wireless transceiver, i.e., able to transmit and receive wireless signals. Therefore, the sensor  18  is able to wireless receive instructions for configuration, requests for identification, accept instructions, or other features known to those skilled in the art.  
      The system  10  also includes a computer  22  in communication with the wireless transmitter  20 . The computer  22  receives the data produced by the sensor  18 . Preferably, the computer  22  includes a wireless receiver  24  that is integrated with the computer  22 . As with the wireless transmitter  20 , those skilled in the art realize that the wireless receiver  24  may be implemented as a transceiver. Those skilled in the art also realize that the wireless receiver  24  may be a separate component, as shown in  FIG. 2 . The separate wireless receiver  24  may be, but is not limited to, a wireless network router or a wireless network hub.  
      The computer  22  is preferably a standard “desktop” PC based around an Intel microprocessor and running the Microsoft Windows operating system  10 . Of course, numerous other variations for the computer  22  are well known to those skilled in the art. Those variations include, but are not limited to, a laptop PC, an Apple Macintosh system, an Intel-based PC running Linux, a server-style system, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular phone, a microcontroller, a microprocessor, and an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).  
      The use of wireless communication is much preferred as opposed to the use of wired communication (or no communication at all, which is often the case in collision centers  12 ). Wireless communication requires much less infrastructure investment as no expensive cable runs need to be installed in the collision center  12 . Additionally, there is no danger of a cable being cut or damaged, thus resulting in a loss of communication. Furthermore, collision center  12  equipment may be easily moved without having to rewire a wired network.  
      Because collision centers  12  typically include multiple pieces of equipment, the piece of equipment  14  may also be referred to as a first piece of equipment  14  in order to differentiate one piece of equipment from other equipment. However, this reference should not be read as limiting because those skilled in the art realize that the system  10  only requires a single piece of equipment. Likewise, the sensor  18  may be referred to as a first sensor  18  and the wireless transmitter  20  may be referred to as a first wireless transmitter  20 .  
      Referring again to  FIG. 1 , the system  10  may also include a second piece of equipment  26  for performing a second operation in the collision center  12 . As an example, the second piece of equipment  26  may be an air compressor  28 . A second sensor  30  monitors a performance aspect of the second piece of equipment  26  and produces data relating to the monitored performance aspect. Following the air compressor  28  example, the performance aspect monitored by the second sensor  30  may be a pressure measured in a storage tank of the air compressor  28  or the relative humidity of air within or existing the storage tank.  
      A second wireless transmitter  32  is in communication with the second sensor  30  for wirelessly transmitting the data produced by the second sensor  30 . As with the first wireless transmitter  20 , the second wireless transmitter  32  is preferably an RF wireless transceiver. The second wireless transmitter  32  may be integrated with the second sensor  30  or a separate component. The computer  22  is also in communication with the second wireless transmitter  32  for receiving the data produced by the second sensor  30 .  
      Referring now to  FIG. 3 , the system  10  may include a controller  34  in communication with the sensor  18  and the wireless transmitter  20 . The controller  34  is electrically connected to the piece of equipment  14  and controls the piece of equipment  14 . The controller  34  also communicates the data from the sensor  18  to the wireless transmitter  20 . The controller  34  may be implemented with a programmable logic controller  38  (PLC), such as those manufactured by Rockwell Automation (Allen-Bradley) or Schneider Electric (Modicon, Square D, Telemecanique), a distributed control system  10  (DCS), a PC, a microcontroller, an ASIC, and/or with other suitable devices known to those skilled in the art.  
      Where there are multiple pieces of equipment, the controller  34  may be in communication with the first sensor  18 , the second sensor  30 , the first piece of equipment  14 , and the second piece of equipment  26  for controlling the pieces of equipment  14 ,  26  and communicating the data from the sensors  18 ,  30  to the first wireless transmitter  20 .  
      Referring now to  FIG. 4 , where there are multiple pieces of equipment, the controller  34  may be referred to as a first controller in communication with the first sensor  18  and the first wireless transmitter  20 . The first controller  34  controls the first piece of equipment  14  and communicates the data from the first sensor  18  to the first wireless transmitter  20 . The system  10  may also include a second controller  36  in communication with the second sensor  30  and the second wireless transmitter  32 . The second controller  36  controls the second piece of equipment  26  and communicates the data from the second sensor  30  to the second wireless transmitter  32 .  
      The system  10  preferably includes a display  40  in communication with the computer  22  for displaying the data to a user. The user is typically a collision center  12  supervisor, manager, or maintenance personnel. The data, relating to the pieces of equipment, may be presented on the display in a “dashboard”-type arrangement with other important information concerning collision center  12  operations (e.g., today&#39;s work orders, email, inventory levels, etc.). The display  40  may be embodied as a cathrode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal display (LCD), or plasma screen, such as are commonly used with PCs. Alternatively, the display  40  may also be a light emitting diode (LED) message board, an illuminated light board (“andon” or “bingo” board), or a small LCD screen. Furthermore, the display  40  may be a part of an electronic device separate from the computer  22 , such as a cellular phone, pager, or PDA.  
      The system  10  preferably includes a database  42  in communication with the computer  22 . The database  42  stores the data relating to the monitored performance aspect of the first piece of equipment  14  and/or the monitored performance aspect of the second piece of equipment  26  (e.g., the database  42  includes a plurality of records with each record containing the data at a different time interval). The database  42  is preferably integrated with the computer  22 , with the data being physically stored on storage devices of the computer  22 , such as hard disk drives and random access memory (RAM). However, those skilled in the art realize that the database  42  may be disposed apart from the computer  22 . Furthermore, it is preferred that the database  42  include a plurality of databases that are linked to each other. This configuration is well known to those skilled in the art as a “relational database”.  
      The computer  22 , being in communication with the database  42 , may perform data analysis operations on the data from the sensors  18 ,  30 . For instance, the computer  22  may compare the data stored in the database  42  to determine a trend in the monitored performance aspects of the first piece of equipment  14  and/or the second piece of equipment  26 . For example, the trend of the differential pressure across the filter of the paint spray booth  16  may be increasing as the paint spray booth  16  is utilized, showing a gradual clogging of the filter.  
      The computer  22  may also establish a maintenance schedule for the first piece of equipment  14  and/or the second piece of equipment  26  based on the trend. Following the previous example, the filter of the paint spray booth  16  should be replaced when the differential pressure reaches a predetermined setpoint. To establish the maintenance schedule for the filter, the computer  22  extrapolates the trend to determine a suggest day and/or time to replace the filter or an amount of useful life on the filter. Those skilled in the art realize additional uses for the data stored in the database  42  of the computer  22 .  
      Where at least one of the wireless transmitters  20 ,  32  and the wireless receiver  24  are transceivers, the system  10  may be used to send commands from the computer  22  to the piece of equipment  14 . Therefore, the computer  22  may control the operation of the piece of equipment  14 , e.g., to turn the piece of equipment  14  on or off. Furthermore, the computer  22  may also adjust operation of at least one of the pieces of equipment  14 ,  26  in response to the data relating to the monitored performance aspect of the at least one of the pieces of equipment  14 ,  26 . For example, the computer  22  may have determined a downward trend in air flow in the paint spray booth  16 . In response to this downward trend, the computer  22  may send a command to increase a speed of a fan of the paint spray booth  16 . This command may be sent to the controller  34  or to a fan motor drive (e.g., a variable frequency drive) that is in communication with the wireless transmitter  20  (transceiver).  
      The computer  22  is preferably located within the collision center  12 . This allows collision center  12  supervisors, managers, and maintenance personnel who are “on-site” to review and/or manipulate the data. Alternatively, the computer  22  may be located remote from the collision center  12 , as shown in  FIG. 5 . By locating the computer  22  remote from the collision center  12 , the computer  22  may be safer from accidental damage that could occur in an often unpredictable collision center  12  environment. Furthermore, the computer  22  maybe located in a headquarters for a collision center chain or a company that provides data collection services for multiple collision centers  12 . The first and second wireless transmitters  20 ,  32  may communicate with the computer  22  wirelessly via a cellular telephone network  44 . However, those skilled in the art realize other techniques to wirelessly communicate between the collision center  12  and the remote computer  22 , including, but not limited to, a dedicated-frequency microwave link. Additionally, a wireless hub, located within the collision center  12 , may receive the data from the wireless transmitters  20 ,  32 , and transmit the data via a wired network, such as the Internet.  
      Referring now to  FIG. 6A , the method  100  of the subject invention for monitoring performance of equipment in the collision center  12  includes the step of monitoring a performance aspect of the piece of equipment  14  in the collision center  12 . The method  100  continues with the step of producing data relating to the monitored performance aspect of the piece of equipment  14 . The method  100  also includes the step of wirelessly transmitting the data relating to the monitored performance aspect of the piece of equipment  14 . The data is received at the computer  22 . The method  100  further includes the step of displaying the data relating to the monitored performance aspect of the piece of equipment  14  on a display  40  in communication with the computer  22 .  
      Referring now to  FIG. 6B , the method  100  may also include the additional steps of storing  112  the data relating to the monitored performance aspect of the piece of equipment  14  in the database  42 , comparing  114  the data stored to determine a trend in the monitored performance aspect of the piece of equipment  14 , and establishing  116  a maintenance schedule based on the trend in the monitored performance aspect of the piece of equipment  14 . The method  100  may also include the step of adjusting  118  operation of the piece of equipment in response to the data relating to the monitored performance aspect of the piece of equipment.  
      Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. The invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described within the scope of the appended claims.