# US 11,308,019 B2 · Systems and methods for door and dock equipment servicing

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- Number: US 11,308,019 B2
- Document ID: US11308019B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/877,786
- Filed: 2020-05-19
- Published: 2020-12-03
- Granted: 2022-04-19
- Earliest claimed: 2019-05-30
- Assignees: D. H. Pace Company, Inc.
- Applicants: D. H. Pace Company, Inc.
- Inventors: Mike Maloney; Amir Kashani; William A. Snead; William James McGrath; Eric Poulsen
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11308019B2

## CPC

- G06F 13/4068: {Electrical coupling}
- H04L 12/40013: {Details regarding a bus controller}
- H04L 12/40045: {Details regarding the feeding of energy to the node from the bus}
- H04L 67/12: specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
- H04L 67/141: Setup of application sessions (admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70)
- H04L 67/303: Terminal profiles
- G06F 2213/0002: Serial port, e.g. RS232C
- G16Y 10/75: Information technology; Communication
- G16Y 40/10: Detection; Monitoring
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)
- G16Y: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE INTERNET OF THINGS [IoT]

## Abstract

A method for monitoring automatic mechanical devices selected from at least one of automatic doors and automatic dock equipment located at a commercial site. The method may include installing, at the commercial site, a plurality of internet-of-things (IoT) monitoring devices. Each of the IoT monitoring devices may include a plurality of connectors corresponding to respective data communication standards, and a wireless transceiver configured to transmit operational information. Electronic communication between each automatic mechanical device and one of the IoT monitoring devices may be established via one of the connectors. A device profile may be assigned for each of the automatic mechanical devices. Each device profiles defines a respective connector and combination of manufacturer and device model. Data reflecting operational events and states of the automatic mechanical devices is received over the connectors, and corresponding operational information relating to the automatic mechanical devices is transmitted for analysis.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of monitoring a plurality of automatic mechanical devices selected from at least one of automatic doors and automatic dock equipment located at a commercial site, each of the automatic mechanical devices including an integral controller with a communication port, the method comprising:
installing, at the commercial site, a plurality of internet-of-things (IoT) monitoring devices, each of the IoT monitoring devices comprising—
a plurality of connectors respectively corresponding to a plurality of data communication standards,
a wireless transceiver configured to transmit operational information corresponding to data received at least in part over the plurality of connectors,
selecting one of the plurality of connectors of each of the IoT monitoring devices that matches the communication port of a corresponding one of the plurality of automatic mechanical devices, the matching communication port being pre-configured for electronic communication according to one of the plurality of data communication standards;
joining the selected one of the plurality of connectors of each of the IoT monitoring devices to the matching communication port of the integral controller of the corresponding one of the plurality of automatic mechanical devices to establish electronic communication;
establishing a power supply for each of the IoT monitoring devices by joining a power supply circuit of each of the IoT monitoring devices to the integral controller of the corresponding one of the plurality of automatic mechanical devices so that the IoT monitoring device receives an electrical current comprising the power supply from the corresponding one of the plurality of automatic mechanical devices and the power supply circuit converts the voltage of the electrical current for powering the IoT monitoring device;
assigning a plurality of device profiles respectively to the plurality of automatic mechanical devices, each of the plurality of device profiles corresponding to the respective joined connector and a combination of manufacturer and device model;
receiving, over each one of the joined connectors, at least a portion of the data from the plurality of automatic mechanical devices, the data reflecting operational events and states of the plurality of automatic mechanical devices and the received portion including an integral controller error code; and
transmitting, via the wireless transceivers of the plurality of IoT monitoring devices, the operational information of each of the plurality of automatic mechanical devices for analysis based at least in part on each corresponding device profile.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein respective ones of the joined connectors correspond to or comprise at least two of the following: recommended standard 232 (RS-232) and controller area network (CAN bus).

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically encrypting at least a portion of the data from the plurality of automatic mechanical devices at each of the plurality of IoT devices for transmission as at least a portion of the operational information transmitted for analysis.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein—
assignment of each of the plurality of device profiles includes—
at the commercial site, establishing wireless electronic communication via the wireless transceiver of the corresponding IoT monitoring device with at least one remote server,
receiving a user selection of the device profile,
downloading software, from the at least one remote server to the corresponding IoT monitoring device, for refinement and/or conversion of the data received from the corresponding automatic mechanical device, the refinement and/or conversion being performed prior to transmission of the operational information.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, further comprising receiving a portion of the data over one or more input/output (I/O) ports of each of the plurality of IoT monitoring devices.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5, wherein the portion of the data received over the one or more I/O ports of each of the plurality of IoT monitoring devices includes an electrical signal from a relay circuit, further comprising monitoring the electrical signal with general purpose input circuitry configured to monitor voltage levels of external wiring of the corresponding automatic mechanical device.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6, wherein the portion of the data received over the one or more I/O ports includes an electrical signal from a supplemental sensor installed with the IoT monitoring device.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7, wherein each of the plurality of device profiles embodies input from an installation technician supporting conversion and/or refinement of the portions of the data received over the one or more I/O ports.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising—
receiving the operational information corresponding to the plurality of automatic mechanical devices,
retrieving the device profile corresponding to each of the plurality of automatic mechanical devices,
analyzing the operational information corresponding to the plurality of automatic mechanical devices at least in part based on the corresponding device profile to determine a corresponding plurality of device statuses,
transmitting the plurality of device statuses, via at least one application programming interface (API), to respective ones of a plurality of computerized maintenance managements systems corresponding to the plurality of commercial sites.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, wherein determination of a first device status of the plurality of device statuses, with respect to a first automatic device of the plurality of automatic devices, includes analyzing first and second portions of the operational information corresponding to first and second portions of the data, wherein the first and second portions of the data were received from the first automatic device and a second automatic device of the plurality of automatic devices.

### Claim 11

A system for monitoring a plurality of automatic mechanical devices selected from at least one of automatic doors and automatic dock equipment and located across a plurality of commercial sites, each of the automatic mechanical devices including an integral controller with a communication port pre-configured for electronic communication according to a controller data communication standard, the system comprising:
a plurality of internet-of-things (IoT) devices installed at respective ones of the plurality of commercial sites, each IoT device comprising—
a plurality of connectors respectively corresponding to a plurality of data communication standards, one of the plurality of connectors being matched to the communication port and controller data communication standard of a corresponding integral controller of one of the plurality of automatic mechanical devices, the one of the plurality of connectors being joined and in electronic communication with the integral controller of the corresponding one of the plurality of automatic mechanical devices at the matched communication port,
a wireless transceiver configured to transmit operational information corresponding to data received at least in part over the plurality of connectors, the received data including an integral controller error code,
a power supply circuit in electrical communication with and receiving power supplied from the integral controller of the corresponding one of the plurality of automatic mechanical devices, whereby the IoT device receives an electrical current comprising the power supply from the corresponding one of the plurality of automatic mechanical devices and the power supply circuit converts the voltage of the electrical current to power the IoT device;
at least one data processing server in electronic communication with the plurality of IoT devices, the at least one data processing server comprising a processing element and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed by the processing element, cause the at least one processing server to —
receive the operational information corresponding to the plurality of automatic mechanical devices and transmitted according to the plurality of data communication standards,
retrieve a device profile corresponding to each of the plurality of automatic mechanical devices, each of the plurality of device profiles corresponding to the respective joined connector and a combination of manufacturer and device model,
analyze the operational information corresponding to the plurality of automatic mechanical devices at least in part based on the corresponding device profiles to determine a plurality of device statuses,
transmit the plurality of device statuses, via at least one application programming interface (API), to respective ones of a plurality of computerized maintenance managements systems corresponding to the plurality of commercial sites.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The monitoring system of claim 11, wherein respective ones of the joined connectors correspond to or comprise at least two of the following: recommended standard 232 (RS-232) and controller area network (CAN bus).

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The monitoring system of claim 11, wherein each IoT device further comprises a processing element and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed by the processing element of the IoT device, cause the IoT device to automatically encrypt a portion of the data from the corresponding one of the plurality of automatic mechanical devices for transmission as at least a portion of the operational information transmitted for analysis.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

The monitoring system of claim 11, wherein the program instructions, when executed by the processing element, further cause the at least one processing server to receive a plurality of remote selections by an installation technician located at each of the commercial sites, each of the plurality of selections linking one of the plurality of device profiles to a respective one of the IoT devices.

### Claim 15 (depends on 11)

The monitoring system of claim 11, wherein each of the plurality of IoT devices further comprises one or more input/output (I/O) ports configured to receive a portion of the data.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The monitoring system of claim 15, wherein the one or more I/O ports of each of the plurality of IoT monitoring devices is/are configured to receive the portion of the data in the form of an electrical signal from a relay circuit, further comprising general purpose input circuitry configured to monitor voltage levels of external wiring of the corresponding automatic mechanical device and thereby receive the electrical signal.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The monitoring system of claim 16, wherein the one or more I/O ports of each of the plurality of IoT monitoring devices is/are further configured to receive the portion of the data in the form of an electrical signal from a supplemental sensor installed with the IoT monitoring device.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The monitoring system of claim 17, wherein each of the plurality of device profiles embodies input from an installation technician supporting conversion and/or refinement of the portion of the data received over the one or more I/O ports.

### Claim 19 (depends on 11)

The monitoring system of claim 11, wherein determination of a first device status of the plurality of device statuses, with respect to a first automatic device of the plurality of automatic devices, includes analyzing first and second portions of the operational information corresponding to first and second portions of the data, the first and second portions of the data having been received from the first automatic device and a second automatic device of the plurality of automatic devices.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The monitoring system of claim 19, wherein the first and second automatic devices of the plurality of automatic devices are linked in respective ones of the plurality of device profiles based on one or more of the following shared characteristics at a commercial site of the plurality of commercial sites operated by a customer: proximate locations; locations in one or more areas assigned by the customer for the same or similar types and/or volumes of workload; locations in one or more areas assigned by the customer for use with one client; locations in one or more areas assigned by the customer for use with a plurality of similar clients; locations in one or more areas assigned by the customer for use with one good type; locations in one or more areas assigned by the customer for use with a plurality of similar good types; locations in one or more areas expected to be worked and/or overseen by the same or similar personnel; and locations in one or more areas subjected to the same or similar physical and/or environmental conditions.