Method and apparatus for remote control and monitoring of heat-treatment equipment
AssigneeSuperheat FGH Technologies Inc.
InventorDavid Norman MacArthur
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A remote control and monitoring apparatus for heat-treatment equipment, including heating elements installed on a workpiece at a work site to perform a heat-treatment operation, has a data acquisition and control unit, a heat-treatment unit, a communication bridge, and a control center, to permit the heat-treatment equipment installed at the work site to be controlled and monitored at a distant control facility.
Claims9
A method of remote control and monitoring of heat-treatment equipment, comprising heating elements installed on a workpiece at a work site to perform a heat-treatment operation, the method comprising the steps of:
- installing a communication bridge and a heat-treatment unit at the work site and connecting the communication bridge and heat-treatment unit via a local communication network at the work site;
- connecting the heating elements with the heat-treatment unit;
- installing one or more data acquisition and control units adjacent the workpiece, each having a plurality of thermocouples attached to the workpiece for monitoring the temperature of the workpiece;
- connecting the one or more data acquisition and the control units with the heat-treatment unit to transmit the temperature of the workpiece to the heat-treatment unit;
- connecting the communication bridge with a control center via a second communication network;
- transmitting instructions and parameters specific to the heat-treatment operation from the control center to the heat-treatment unit, via the communication bridge;
- transmitting the temperature of the workpiece from the one or more data acquisition and the control units to the heat-treatment unit and the control center;
- receiving, storing, and processing the temperature of the workpiece by the heat-treatment unit and the control center;
- and controlling the heating elements by the heat-treatment unit according to the instructions to maintain the temperature of the workpiece.
A remote control and monitoring apparatus for heat-treatment equipment having heating elements installed on a workpiece at a work site to perform a heat-treatment operation, the remote control and monitoring apparatus comprising one or more data acquisition and control units, a heat-treatment unit, a communication bridge, and a control center,
- wherein each of the one or more data acquisition and control units has a plurality of thermocouples attached to the workpiece to monitor the temperature of the workpiece and is in communication with the heat-treatment unit,
- wherein the heat-treatment unit has a power supply and a computer processor, configured with instructions and parameters specific to the heat-treatment operation, and receives, stores, and processes the temperature of the workpiece from the one or more data acquisition and control units and controls the power to the heating elements according to the instructions in order to maintain the temperature of the workpiece within the parameters,
- wherein the communication bridge is in communication with the heat-treatment unit and the control center, and
- wherein the control center has a computer processor configured with the instructions and parameters and receives, stores, and processes the temperature of the workpiece.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.