Patent Description:
Modern conveyor systems, such as elevators, escalators, and moving walkways, are complex technical solutions having a plurality of sub-systems and devices inside. The conveyor systems may, in addition to core solutions, integrate some third party solutions, such as advertisement systems in elevators, which may be maintained and operated by third parties e.g. through sub-systems of the conveyor system in question. For accessing the sub-systems and solutions of the conveyor system there may be implemented so-called application programming interface (API), The application programming interface may be considered as a computing interface that defines interactions between multiple software applications or mixed hardware-software intermediaries. In other words, it may define signaling-related aspects between communicating entities so as to allow e.g. a maintenance of the sub-systems of the conveyor system remotely, or with external terminal devices, where applicable.

The sub-systems of the conveyor system may be divided to safety-critical systems and non-critical systems. The safety-critical systems are managed by the manufacturer of the conveyor system by definition but some of the non-critical systems may be accessed by third-parties as mentioned above if not managed and controlled by the manufacturer of the conveyor system. In any case, the safety-critical systems and applications are such that they are required to be executed all the time the conveyor system is operating. Hence, if such a safety-critical system drops out from service, or gets broken, the operation of the whole conveyor system is prevented. This is not necessarily the case with the non-critical sub-systems and applications because they are not required to be operable even if the conveyor system is in service.

In a document <CIT> it is disclosed an example of a maintenance solution for elevators according to prior art.

Due to the complexity of the conveyor systems there is a need to introduce solutions for performing maintenance tasks digitally over the application programming interfaces, or any other interfaces, so as to allow maintaining the conveyor system optimally.

An object of the invention is to present an apparatus, a method, a computer program, and a conveyor system for managing a maintenance of a conveyor system.

The objects of the invention are reached by an apparatus, a method, a computer program, and a conveyor system as defined by the respective independent claims.

According to a first aspect, an apparatus for managing a maintenance of a conveyor system is provided, the apparatus configured to: receive data indicative of an access right to perform the maintenance of a sub-system of the conveyor system; generate, in response to a detection of an access right to perform the maintenance of the sub-system, a first control signal to disable communicatively reaching the sub-system; generate, in response to a receipt of an acknowledgement signal indicative of a predefined state of the maintenance, a second control signal to enable communicatively reaching the sub-system.

The apparatus may further be configured to: receive, prior to the receipt of data indicative of the access right to perform the maintenance of the sub-system of the conveyor system, a request to perform a maintenance of the conveyor system. For example, the apparatus may be configured to generate a request to provide data indicative of the access right to perform the maintenance.

Further, the apparatus may be configured to determine the sub-system subject to the maintenance from one of: the request to perform a maintenance of the conveyor system; the data indicative of the access right.

The apparatus may be configured to determine the maintenance task of the sub-system from one of: the request to perform a maintenance of the conveyor system; the data indicative of the access right.

The apparatus may advantageously be configured to generate the first control signal to disable communicatively reaching the sub-system by one of: generating the control signal to a respective interface to disable the respective interface; generating the control signal to data center to request disabling of the interface; generating the control signal to disable a service executed by the sub-system; generating the control signal to disable a sub-system level operation.

The first control signal may comprise data providing at least one definition in relation to the disabling communicatively reaching the sub-system. For example, the at least one definition may define at least an estimation of a duration of the disabling.

The apparatus may further be configured to generate a signal to data center, the signal comprising data providing at least one definition in relation to the maintenance.

The apparatus may also be configured to generate the acknowledgement signal in response to a receipt of data indicative of an access right to perform the maintenance of the sub-system of the conveyor system.

Still further, the apparatus may be configured to generate a third control signal to cause an execution of a testing procedure with respect to the sub-system of the conveyor system subject to the maintenance.

According to a second aspect, a method for managing a maintenance of a conveyor system is provided, the method, performed by an apparatus, comprises: receiving data indicative of an access right to perform the maintenance of a sub-system of the conveyor system; generating, in response to a detection of an access right to perform the maintenance of the sub-system, a first control signal to disable communicatively reaching the sub-system; generating, in response to a receipt of an acknowledgement signal indicative of a predefined state of the maintenance, a second control signal to enable communicatively reaching the sub-system.

The method may further comprise: receiving, prior to the receipt of data indicative of the access right to perform the maintenance of the sub-system of the conveyor system, a request to perform a maintenance of the conveyor system. For example, a request to provide data indicative of the access right to perform the maintenance may be generated.

The sub-system subject to the maintenance may be determined from one of: the request to perform a maintenance of the conveyor system; the data indicative of the access right.

The maintenance task of the sub-system may be determined from one of: the request to perform a maintenance of the conveyor system; the data indicative of the access right.

The first control signal to disable communicatively reaching the sub-system may be generated by one of: generating the control signal to a respective interface to disable the respective interface; generating the control signal to data center to request disabling of the interface; generating the control signal to disable a service executed by the sub-system; generating the control signal to disable a sub-system level operation.

The method may further comprise: generating a signal to data center, the signal comprising data providing at least one definition in relation to the maintenance.

The acknowledgement signal may also be generated in response to a receipt of data indicative of an access right to perform the maintenance of the sub-system of the conveyor system.

Still further, the method may further comprise: generating a third control signal to cause an execution of a testing procedure with respect to the sub-system of the conveyor system subject to the maintenance.

According to a third aspect, a computer program is provided, the computer program comprising computer readable program code configured to cause performing of the method according to the second aspect as defined above when said program code is run on one or more computing apparatuses.

According to a fourth aspect, a conveyor system is provided, the conveyor system comprising the apparatus according to the first aspect as defined above.

<FIG> illustrates schematically an environment the present invention for managing a maintenance of a conveyor system <NUM> may be implemented to.

The conveyor system <NUM> may be an elevator, an escalator, or a moving walkway. The conveyor system <NUM> may be communicatively connected to a data center <NUM> which may be considered as a remote entity to the conveyor system <NUM> from which the conveyor system <NUM> may be monitored and controlled to at least to some extent. The data center <NUM> may e.g. refer to a remotely located premises in which a human operator may monitor an operation of one or more conveyor systems through a computer environment communicatively connected to the respective conveyor systems <NUM>. Alternatively or in addition, the computer environment implemented with one or more computing devices and appropriate communication connections may be arranged automatically receive and transmit data from and to the respective conveyor systems <NUM> in order to perform its operation with respect to the conveyor systems <NUM>. Moreover, the environment may comprise an authorization system <NUM> which refers to an implementation at least for managing an access to perform maintenance operations to the conveyor system <NUM>. The authorization system <NUM> may be considered as a computer environment at least configured to manage access rights to the conveyor system <NUM> to perform maintenance operations to the conveyor system <NUM>. The authorization system <NUM> may be implemented with necessary hardware and software and it may comprise input devices, such as readers, e.g. arranged in a location of the conveyor system <NUM> as well as one or more computing devices, such as computers, arranged to communicate with the input devices as well as the conveyor system <NUM>, but possibly also with the data center <NUM>. The computing device of the authorization system <NUM> may be arranged to operate at the location of the conveyor system <NUM>, or remote to that. In accordance with at least some embodiments the authorization system <NUM> may be integrated to the conveyor system <NUM> so that the input devices may be devices of the conveyor system <NUM>, such as applicable user interfaces, whereas a determination of an access right may be determined by the data center <NUM>, if not in the conveyor system <NUM> itself. This kind of approach may be done by arranging a software to be executed by a computing entity of the conveyor system <NUM>, or by a computing entity of the data center <NUM>, causing a respective operation for evaluating if a person is authorized to access the conveyor system <NUM> to perform a maintenance task thereto. The evaluation may be performed e.g. on a basis of data received e.g. from input devices. It is worthwhile to emphasize that the authorization function may be internal operation of the conveyor system <NUM> even if it is schematically illustrated as a separate system in <FIG>. The authorization function may, hence, be executed by a computing entity of the conveyor system <NUM>, such as a controller therein, and configured to execute request-response method to external entities, such as to the data center <NUM>, or any other entities.

Further aspects of the present invention are now described by referring to <FIG> schematically illustrating another scenario of a system the invention is implementable to. In the scenario the functionality of the authorization system <NUM> of <FIG> is integrated in the conveyor system <NUM> in a manner as described in the forthcoming description. The conveyor system <NUM> may comprise a controller which may be configured to generate control signals to conveyor devices <NUM> which may e.g. be one or more elevators, escalators, or moving walkways. The controller <NUM> may also receive data from the conveyor devices <NUM> and/or from their sub-systems <NUM>. Still further, the controller <NUM> may be communicatively connected to one or more input devices <NUM>, such as user interfaces through which it is possible to provide service calls to the respective conveyor system <NUM>. Alternatively or in addition, the input devices <NUM> may be configured to implement dedicated interfaces for the maintenance task. Such interfaces may be specific reader devices arranged in the location of the respective conveyor system <NUM>, for example. The controller <NUM> may also be communicatively connected to data center <NUM> as discussed in the foregoing description. Still further, the conveyor system <NUM> may comprise a number of other entities not explicitly mentioned herein to maintain simplicity in describing aspects in relation to the present invention.

A technician may be assigned a maintenance task to a respective conveyor system <NUM> which may in accordance with the present example be related to so-called non-critical system of the conveyor system <NUM>. The technician enters a space of the maintenance task and in order to initiate the maintenance of the conveyor system <NUM> an authorization to perform the maintenance is determined. In accordance with an implementation the person willing to access the conveyor system <NUM> may provide data indicative of an access right to perform the maintenance to at least one sub-system <NUM> of the conveyor system <NUM>. The provision of the data may be performed through an input device <NUM> of the conveyor system <NUM>, for example.

In accordance with an example embodiment the input device <NUM> may be a reader device arranged to read an identification device assigned to the technician. The identification device may e.g. be at least one of: a tag equipped with RFID technology, a magnetic card, bar code, QR code, a terminal device carried by the technician equipped with identification function suitable to be read with the input device <NUM>, and so on. Such an identification device is referred with a reference <NUM> in <FIG>. Alternatively or in addition to a physical identification device <NUM> the technician may be aware of a code, implemented e.g. as a data string, which is to be input to the input device <NUM> in the context of authorization. It may also be arranged that in response to an interaction of a physical identification device <NUM> with the input device <NUM> a signal requesting a temporary code for accessing the conveyor system <NUM> may be generated by the input device <NUM>, or the controller <NUM>, receiving data received through the interaction of the identification device <NUM> and the input device <NUM>. As a result, the controller <NUM> or the data center <NUM> (if the controller <NUM> requests such a code from the data center <NUM>) may be configured to generate a code and transmit it to a terminal device <NUM> of the technician. For example, the contact details may be possessed by the respective entity, i.e. the data center <NUM> or the controller <NUM>, together with other related data, if any, such as data related to the maintenance task. In response to the receipt of the code from the respective entity the technician may read it from the terminal device <NUM> and input it to the input device <NUM> comprising such a user interface.

Generally speaking, the terminal device <NUM> may be a wireless communication device configured to communicate at least with one or more entities of the conveyor system <NUM>, such as with the input device <NUM>. The terminal device <NUM> may be configured to implement an appropriate communication technology, such as any short-range communication technology and/or any wide-range communication technology. Hence, the terminal device <NUM> may be configured to communicate with a direct link, to utilize a local wireless network, such as Wi-Fi network, and/or to utilize wire area network, such as a mobile communication network. The terminal device <NUM> may be configured so that it is applied in the maintenance of the conveyor system <NUM> by connecting it to respective entities therein. Some non-limiting examples of the terminal device <NUM> may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, or a laptop computer.

In accordance with any scenario with respect to the authorization the controller <NUM> may at some point possess data indicative of an access right to perform the maintenance of the conveyor system <NUM> by means of which it is possible to evaluate if the access right may be authorized i.e. granted to the person represented with the data. The evaluation may be performed by the controller <NUM> or by the data center <NUM> if the data is provided there and such an evaluation of the authorization is managed by the data center <NUM>. The evaluation of the authorization may e.g. be performed by the respective entity so that the data is compared to a reference data and if they match in accordance with a predefined rule, it may be detected that the access right to perform the maintenance work may granted.

The entity configured to perform the authorization to perform the maintenance task may also be configured to determine one or more entities i.e. sub-systems <NUM> of the conveyor system <NUM> to which the maintenance is to be performed. This piece of information may be stored in data storage accessible by the respective entity or the information may be carried through the interaction with the technician and the conveyor system <NUM>. For example, the piece of information may be associated to the technician under authorization and the information may be obtained from the data storage with one or more identification data indicative of the technician if such data is used in the data structure. Further, aspects in relation to the one or more sub-systems <NUM> subject to the maintenance may be stored, such as identifier of the sub-systems <NUM> but also information relating to communication connection to the sub-systems <NUM> in question. Alternative implementations may also be applied to, such as that a general identifier is defined for the maintenance work under which information e.g. in relation to the technician, the sub-systems <NUM> as well as maintenance tasks together with any other relevant information is stored to.

In accordance with at least some example embodiments, the entity performing the authorization may be configured to generate a first control causing a disablement of communicatively reaching the sub-system <NUM> subject to the maintenance. This may refer to an arrangement in which at least an access interface <NUM> at the sub-system <NUM>, such as a modem, is disabled from any external communication, or any communication. Alternatively or in addition, a communication interface <NUM> of the conveyor system <NUM> is disabled so that the sub-system <NUM> subject to the maintenance is not communicatively available to external sources. This may refer to disabling a network address of the sub-system <NUM> in question, for example. Alternatively or in addition, the disabled interface may be so-called application programming interface (API) of the respective sub-system <NUM>. Hence, the first control signal may be generated towards an entity configured to manage a communication connection of the sub-system <NUM> in question and accessing communicatively thereto may be achieved. The first control signal may also be generated in response to a receipt of indication that the maintenance is to be initiated. This may occur e.g. in response to that the technician connects the terminal device <NUM> to the conveyor system <NUM> and e.g. generates a signal indicative of the initiation of the maintenance. The receiving entity of such a signal, such as the controller <NUM> or the data center <NUM> or both, may then cause a generation of the first control signal.

Moreover, in accordance with another example embodiment the first control signal may be arranged to cause that a service executed by the sub-system <NUM> is disabled. On the other hand, according to a still further embodiment the first control signal may be arranged to cause a disablement of a sub-system <NUM> level operation for example so that some part of the sub-system <NUM> disabled. Such embodiments may be arranged by defining the respective control signal so that it accesses the sub-system and causes the operation as described. As a result, the communicative reach of the respective sub-system <NUM> may be disabled.

Generally speaking, the embodiment configured to disable the interface <NUM>, <NUM> so as to disable communicatively reaching the sub-system <NUM> has an advantage that the maintenance operation may be executed so that the sub-system is still operating for the maintenance. For example, this may help, and accelerate, testing the sub-system in response to the maintenance is performed among other advantages, such as the operation of the conveyor system <NUM> may be continued, or at least no additional measures need not to be taken such as reconfiguring the system so that its operation may be continued.

Furthermore, at the same time, dependently or independently to each other, another signal may be generated, such as in response to a detection of an access right to perform the maintenance of the sub-system <NUM> or to the generation of the first control signal, which signal may e.g. unlock the sub-system at least to an extent allowing an access to the sub-system <NUM> with the terminal device <NUM> of the technician. Alternatively or in addition, a signal may be generated to the terminal device <NUM> and information may be provided with respect to the sub-system <NUM> subject to the maintenance. For example, the information may comprise data, such as an access code, by means of which the technician may access the sub-system <NUM> in question.

At some point e.g. by applying any of the mechanisms for initiating the maintenance, or at least communicatively connecting the terminal device <NUM> to the conveyor system, and the sub-system <NUM>, e.g. through an interface enabling access to the sub-system <NUM>. Such an access interface is referred with a reference <NUM> in <FIG>. The access interface <NUM> is not necessarily the interface <NUM> of the conveyor system <NUM> which may be disabled to prevent accessing the sub-system <NUM> from external sources. For sake of completeness it is hereby mentioned that the interfaces <NUM> and <NUM> may be the same or different as shown in <FIG>. In order to perform the maintenance, and the maintenance tasks, the terminal device <NUM> may be configured to execute an application dedicated to maintenance operations. Such operations may e.g. be setting new configuration to the sub-system <NUM>, such as updating a software version executed by the sub-system <NUM>, setting new operational values for the sub-system <NUM>, uploading or downloading data to and from the sub-system <NUM> e.g. for back-up purposes, or any similar operation.

At some point the maintenance operation reaches a predefined state, such as it is completed, or it is at any other predefine state. This may be detected by the entity managing the maintenance operation e.g. upon a receipt of an acknowledgement signal from the sub-system <NUM> under maintenance or from the terminal device <NUM>. Alternatively the detection may be performed on a basis of a predefined setting of time wherein the entity may be configured to maintain a timer for the maintenance. For example, each maintenance operation may be assigned with estimated duration of the maintenance operation and a respective value may be provided to the timer in accordance with the maintenance task. Hence, the predefined state of the maintenance may be defined with the timer value and in response to a run-out of the timer, the predefined state, such as completion of the maintenance, may be detected by the entity managing the maintenance from an internal acknowledgement signal indicative of the run-out of the timer.

In response to the detection of the predefined state of the maintenance e.g. from the acknowledgement signal, the entity managing the maintenance operation may be configured to generate a second control signal to enable the access interface <NUM> so as to enable reaching of the sub-system <NUM> communicatively by external entities among others. The external entities may refer to any operator allowed to control the sub-system <NUM>. In other words, the second control signal may cause an activation of the sub-system back to use in the conveyor system <NUM>.

In the foregoing description it is provided a plurality of aspects relating to the present invention. However, the present invention is not only limited to those and in the following further aspects are provided in relation to the present invention.

As discussed, the entity managing the maintenance of the conveyor system <NUM> in the manner as described may receive data indicative of the access right to perform the maintenance of the sub-system <NUM> of the conveyor system <NUM>. In accordance with an example implementation of the invention the entity may be arranged to receive, prior to the receipt of data indicative of the access right to perform the maintenance of the sub-system <NUM> of the conveyor system <NUM>, a request to perform a maintenance of the conveyor system <NUM>. Such a request may trigger a predefined procedure, such as an authorization procedure, by the entity. For example, the entity may be configured to generate a request to provide, or inquire, data indicative of the access right to perform the maintenance. This may refer to prompting the technician to provide necessary pieces of data e.g. though the input device <NUM>. This may be done manually or by using a predefined device or similar.

Moreover, in some examples the entity, such an apparatus implementing a task of the controller <NUM> or an apparatus of the data center <NUM>, may be configured to determine the sub-system <NUM> subject to the maintenance from one of: the request to perform a maintenance of the conveyor system; the data indicative of the access right. In other words, the mentioned signals, or pieces of data, may carry information indicative of the sub-system <NUM>, or at least the piece of information may be used for inquiring the information of the sub-system <NUM> subject to the maintenance from data storage arranged to store such information.

Still further, the entity may be configured to perform the generation of the first control signal to disable communicatively reaching the sub-system <NUM> so that the generation comprises one of: generating the control signal to the respective communication interface <NUM>; generating the control signal to data center <NUM> to request disabling of the communication interface <NUM>; generating the control signal to disable a service executed by the sub-system <NUM>; generating the control signal to disable a sub-system level operation. The implementation in which the control signal is generated to the data center <NUM> may be performed if the entity managing the maintenance is another entity to the data center <NUM> and the data center is authorized to manage the communication interface <NUM> e.g. by disabling the communication interface <NUM>. The first control signal may also comprise a piece of data providing at least one definition in relation to the disabling the communication interface <NUM>. For example, the at least one definition may define at least an estimation of a duration of the disabling which may be indicative on an estimated duration of the maintenance, or at least the duration of the disablement.

In case the management of the maintenance occurs locally at a location of the conveyor system <NUM> e.g. so that the controller <NUM> is configured to manage the operations, such as the authorization, the entity i.e. the controller <NUM> may be configured to generate a signal to the data center <NUM> wherein the signal may comprise data providing at least one definition in relation to the maintenance. For example, it may only indicate to the data center <NUM> that the maintenance is initiated, or at least requested, with respect to the sub-system <NUM>, but also any other data as discussed. The data center may e.g. set its data records accordingly e.g. for providing information to any entity that the sub-system <NUM> is under maintenance and the access thereto is prevented.

In the context of any of the examples as discussed in the foregoing description, the entity may also be configured to generate the acknowledgement signal so that it is performed in response to a receipt of data indicative of the access right to perform the maintenance of the sub-system <NUM> of the conveyor system <NUM>. This may refer to an implementation of the invention so that the technician may indicate that the maintenance is at a predefined state by providing data indicative the access right to perform the maintenance. In other words, the same mechanism, and operation, may be performed e.g. through the input device <NUM> which was applied in the context of an initiation of the maintenance and in that manner the data may be delivered to the entity for an evaluation of the correctness so as to perform a decision on the generation of the acknowledgement signal.

In accordance with some further example embodiment the entity may further be configured to generate a third control signal to cause an execution of a testing procedure with respect to the sub-system <NUM> of the conveyor system <NUM> subject to the maintenance. The aim is to test the sub-system <NUM> in response to the maintenance operation before it is taken back into use in the conveyor system <NUM>. The third control signal may be an internal signal in the entity which initiates a predefined testing procedure towards the sub-system <NUM>, or towards any other entity, causing the testing procedure towards the sub-system <NUM>. In accordance with some examples, the entity may be configured to generate the third control signal in response to one of the following events: in response to the receipt of the acknowledgement signal indicative of the predefined state of the maintenance; in response to the generation of the second control signal. The first one may refer to an implementation in which the sub-system <NUM> is tested before the operation of the sub-system <NUM> is enabled again whereas the latter refers to an implementation in which the operation of the sub-system <NUM> is enabled and then tested.

A further aspect is that due to a nature of accessibility to perform the maintenance over an applicable communication interface it may occur that the sub-system <NUM> in question may be accessed from a plurality of locations, such as remotely and locally. However, it may be desirable that the accessing does not occur concurrently in time. Hence, some aspects of the present invention may relate to a mechanism to manage the maintenance task so that prior to granting an access to perform the maintenance task in the manner as described it is determined if there are any pending operations towards the same sub-system <NUM>, or the conveyor system. For example, it may occur that the sub-system <NUM> is remotely configured in some manner when the technician is accessing the sub-system <NUM> locally. In this kind of situation, an embodiment of the invention may comprise a procedure in which the technician is prevented to access the sub-system <NUM> until the prior operation is completed. For example, the entity configured to manage the perform the authorization may receive the information on the pending operation with respect to the sub-system <NUM> and cause a logging out of the user from the conveyor system <NUM>, or at least inform the technician to wait until the prior operation is completed, or at least it has entered to a predefined stage and access to another maintenance task may be granted.

As mentioned herein the entity managing the maintenance in the manner as described may be an entity of the conveyor system <NUM> or it may be an entity belonging conceptually to the data center <NUM>. The entity may refer to an apparatus configured to perform the management of the maintenance, or a plurality of apparatuses to perform the same. The application of the plurality of apparatuses may be implemented so that a first number of apparatuses reside conceptually in the conveyor system <NUM> and a second number of apparatuses reside in the data center <NUM>, for example. Hence, the invention is possible to establish in a distributed computing environment, such as by applying cloud computing for the task.

An example of an apparatus configurable to implement the present invention is schematically illustrated in <FIG>. The apparatus of <FIG> may e.g. be configured to perform a function of the controller <NUM> as described or a computing device of the data center <NUM> so as to manage the maintenance. For sake of clarity, it is worthwhile to mention that the block diagram of <FIG> depicts some components of an entity that may be employed to implement a functionality of the apparatus <NUM>, <NUM>. The apparatus <NUM>, <NUM> comprises a processor <NUM> and a memory <NUM>. The memory <NUM> may store data, such pieces of data as described but also computer program code <NUM> causing the management of the maintenance in the described manner. The apparatus <NUM>, <NUM> may further comprise a communication interface, such as a wireless communication interface or a communication interface for wired communication, or both. The communication interface may thus comprise one or more modems, antennas, and any other hardware and software for enabling an execution of the communication e.g. under control of the processor <NUM>. The communication interface <NUM> may also comprise a portion implementing the communication interface towards the sub-system <NUM> in question which portion may be controlled in the described manner in at least some embodiments of the invention. Furthermore, I/O (input/output) components may be arranged, together with the processor <NUM> and a portion of the computer program code <NUM>, to provide a user interface for receiving input from a user, such as from a technician, and/or providing output to the user of the apparatus when necessary. In particular, the user I/O components may include user input means, such as one or more keys or buttons, a keyboard, a touchscreen, or a touchpad, etc. The user I/O components may include out-put means, such as a loudspeaker, a display or a touchscreen. The components of the apparatus may be communicatively connected to each other via data bus that enables transfer of data and control information between the components.

The memory <NUM> and a portion of the computer program code <NUM> stored therein may further be arranged, with the processor <NUM>, to cause the apparatus <NUM>, <NUM> to perform at least a portion of a method for managing the maintenance as is described herein. The processor <NUM> may be configured to read from and write to the memory <NUM>. Although the processor <NUM> is depicted as a respective single component, it may be implemented as respective one or more separate processing components. Similarly, although the memory <NUM> is depicted as a respective single component, it may be implemented as respective one or more separate components, some or all of which may be integrated/removable and/or may provide permanent / semi-permanent / dynamic / cached storage.

The computer program code <NUM> may comprise computer-executable instructions that implement functions that correspond to steps implemented in the management of the maintenance when loaded into the processor <NUM> of the controller <NUM>. As an example, the computer program code <NUM> may include a computer program consisting of one or more sequences of one or more instructions. The processor <NUM> is able to load and execute the computer program by reading the one or more sequences of one or more instructions included therein from the memory <NUM>. The one or more sequences of one or more instructions may be configured to, when executed by the processor <NUM>, cause the apparatus to perform a method as explicitly described in the forthcoming description. Hence, the apparatus <NUM>, <NUM> may comprise at least one processor <NUM> and at least one memory <NUM> including the computer program code <NUM> for one or more programs, the at least one memory <NUM> and the computer program code <NUM> configured to, with the at least one processor <NUM>, cause the apparatus to perform the method.

The computer program code <NUM> may be provided e.g. a computer program product comprising at least one computer-readable non-transitory medium having the computer program code <NUM> stored thereon, which computer program code <NUM>, when executed by the processor <NUM> causes the apparatus <NUM>, <NUM> to perform the method. The computer-readable non-transitory medium may comprise a memory device or a record medium such as a CD-ROM, a DVD, a Blu-ray disc, or another article of manufacture that tangibly embodies the computer program. As another example, the computer program may be provided as a signal configured to reliably transfer the computer program.

Still further, the computer program code <NUM> may comprise a proprietary application, such as computer program code for causing an execution of the method in the manner as described in the description herein.

Any of the programmed functions mentioned may also be performed in firm-ware or hardware adapted to or programmed to perform the necessary tasks.

As already mentioned, the entity performing the method may also be implemented with a plurality of apparatuses, such as the one schematically illustrated in <FIG>, as a distributed computing environment. For example, one of the apparatuses may be communicatively connected with other apparatuses, and e.g. share the data of the method, to cause another apparatus to perform at least one portion of the method. As a result, the method performed in the distributed computing environment generates the detection result as described.

For sake of completeness, even if at least some aspects of the management of the maintenance are described in the foregoing description a method in accordance with an example is explicitly disclosed in the forthcoming description by referring to <FIG>. In other words, <FIG> illustrates schematically a method according to an example for managing the maintenance of the conveyor system <NUM>, and specifically the sub-system <NUM> therein. The method according to the example embodiment is described from the apparatus <NUM>, <NUM> point of view. First, the apparatus <NUM>, <NUM> may receive <NUM> data indicative of an access right to perform a maintenance of a sub-system <NUM> of the conveyor system <NUM>. The apparatus <NUM>, <NUM> is configured to perform a detection <NUM>, based on the received data, if the requested may be provided an access right to perform maintenance to the conveyor system <NUM>, and the sub-system <NUM> therein. The detection step <NUM> may generate a result indicating that no access right may be granted (the branch denoted with "NO" in <FIG>) and the apparatus <NUM>, <NUM> may be returned to receive data, or at least to way for another access attempt. Alternatively, the apparatus <NUM>, <NUM> may be configured to detect <NUM>, through an evaluation process, that the access right may be granted (the branch denoted with "YES" in <FIG>). In response to the detection of an access right to perform the maintenance of the sub-system a first control signal may be generated <NUM> to disable communicatively reaching the sub-system <NUM>. The disabling may be performed in any of the manner as described in the foregoing description. During the time window the interface is disabled the sub-system <NUM> in question may be maintained in a manner and at some point, the apparatus <NUM>, <NUM> receives <NUM> an acknowledgement signal which is indicative of a predetermined state of the maintenance, such as the maintenance work is completed. In response to the receipt of an acknowledgement signal <NUM> a second control signal is generated <NUM> which causes an enablement of the interface to communicatively reach the sub-system <NUM> through the respective interface.

The method in accordance with the present invention may comprise further steps as described in the foregoing description relating to other figures. Moreover, the described steps of <FIG> may comprise sub-steps for implementing the step as described.

The invention as described with the help of examples is mainly related to a maintenance of a non-safety-critical sub-system in the conveyor systems <NUM>. However, the invention may also be applied with the safety critical sub-systems in case the maintenance task itself does not risk the operation of such a sub-system, but for safety reasons any external communication is prevented with the solution.

Claim 1:
An apparatus (<NUM>, <NUM>) for managing a maintenance of a conveyor system (<NUM>), the apparatus (<NUM>, <NUM>) configured to:
receive (<NUM>) data indicative of an access right to perform the maintenance of a sub-system (<NUM>) of the conveyor system (<NUM>),
characterized in that the apparatus (<NUM>, <NUM>) further configured to:
generate (<NUM>), in response to a detection (<NUM>) of an access right to perform the maintenance of the sub-system (<NUM>), a first control signal to disable communicatively reaching the sub-system (<NUM>) from external sources,
generate (<NUM>), in response to a receipt (<NUM>) of an acknowledgement signal indicative of a predefined state of the maintenance, a second control signal to enable communicatively reaching the sub-system (<NUM>) from the external sources.