Systems and methods integrating multiple pieces of industrial equipment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016285274-A1
Application number	US-201514871002-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 30, 2015
Priority date	Mar 27, 2015
Publication date	Sep 29, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

In one embodiment, a manifold apparatus may include a number of housings. The housings may receive an electrical or a fluid conduit. The manifold apparatus may also include an actuation mechanism of each of the number of housings configured to control a supply of electricity or fluid from the respective electrical or fluid conduit to one or more industrial automation equipment, and a locking mechanism including a number of armatures. Each of the number of armatures is associated with a respective housing of the plurality of housings, and each of the number of armatures is configured to physically prevent a respective actuation mechanism of the respective housing from changing states.

First claim

1 . A manifold apparatus, comprising:
a plurality of housings, wherein each housing is configured to receive an electrical or a fluid conduit; an actuation mechanism of each of the plurality of housings configured to control a supply of electricity or fluid from the respective electrical or fluid conduit to one or more industrial automation equipment; a locking mechanism comprising a plurality of armatures, wherein each of the plurality of armatures is associated with a respective housing of the plurality of housings, and wherein each of the plurality of armatures is configured to physically prevent a respective actuation mechanism of the respective housing from changing states.

2 . The manifold apparatus of claim 1 , comprising a processor configured to control an operation of the actuation mechanism, which comprises an electrical switch or a valve.

3 . The manifold apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to receive a signal to open or close the electrical switch of each of the plurality of housings, open or close the valve of each of the plurality of housings, or both based on a plurality of positions of the plurality of armatures.

4 . The manifold apparatus of claim 3 , comprising a computing device configured to provide the signal, wherein the computing device is configured to assist in placing a machine offline according to a lockout-tagout procedure and the machine is coupled to the electrical or fluid conduit.

5 . The manifold apparatus of claim 2 , wherein a size of each of the plurality of armatures depends on an arrangement of the plurality of armatures relative to the plurality of housings.

6 . The manifold apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of armatures is configured to be manually actuated.

7 . The manifold apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to determine whether proper personal protective equipment is present before opening or closing the actuation mechanism.

8 . The manifold apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to receive a confirmation from the one or more industrial automation equipment connected to the actuation mechanism is opened or closed.

9 . The manifold apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the processor is configured to send the confirmation to a computing device, wherein the confirmation causes the computing device to place a machine offline.

10 . The manifold apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of housings comprises a light indicator configured to indicate a status of the electrical switch or the valve.

11 . The manifold apparatus of claim 10 , wherein each of the plurality of armatures comprises an opening such that the light indicator is visible when the plurality of armatures is closed.

12 . An industrial automation system, comprising:
one or more industrial automation equipment; a manifold apparatus comprising: a plurality of housings, wherein each housing is configured to receive an electrical line or a fluid source, wherein each of the plurality of housings comprise:
an electrical switch configured to connect and disconnect the electrical line to one or more industrial automation equipment, a valve configured to connect and disconnect the fluid source to the one or more industrial automation equipment, or some combination thereof;
a locking mechanism configured to attach to the manifold apparatus, wherein the locking mechanism comprises a plurality of armatures that are each configured to physically prevent a respective electrical switch or a respective valve of a respective one of the plurality of housings from changing states, wherein each of the plurality of armatures is associated with a respective housing of the plurality of housings; and a processor configured to control an operation of the electrical switch and the valve.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the fluid source comprises a conduit for nitrogen, fuel, air, water, or some combination thereof.

14 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of armatures are arranged adjacently to one another in order by size, wherein an armature in the back of the order is the longest and configured to actuate any preceding shorter armatures when actuated.

15 . The manifold apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the processor is configured to determine whether proper personal protective equipment is present before opening or closing the electrical switch of each of the plurality of housings, the valve of each of the plurality of housings, or both.

16 . The manifold apparatus of claim 14 , wherein each of the plurality of armatures comprises an opening such that a light indicator of each of the plurality of housings is visible when the plurality of armatures is closed.

17 . The manifold apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to coordinate the opening and closing of the electrical switch and the valve of the plurality of housings with a computing device, wherein the computing device is configured to assist in placing the one or more of industrial automation equipment offline.

18 . A method, comprising:
receiving, by a processor, one or more signals configured to:
connect or disconnect a plurality of electrical lines via a respective plurality of electrical switches included in a plurality of housings of a manifold apparatus;
connect or disconnect a plurality of liquid or gas sources via a respective plurality of valves included in the plurality of housings, wherein the manifold apparatus is configured to operate in an industrial environment and the plurality of electrical lines and the plurality of liquid or gas sources are coupled to a machine in the industrial environment; and
controlling, via the processor, a locking mechanism attached to the manifold apparatus, wherein the locking mechanism comprises a plurality of armatures configured to physically prevent a respective electrical switch or a respective valve of a respective housing from changing states, wherein each of the plurality of armatures is associated with a respective housing of the plurality of housings based on the one or more signals.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the one or more signals are received from an input interface of the manifold apparatus, a computing device, a cloud-based computing system, or some combination thereof to facilitate placing the machine offline.

20 . The method of claim 18 , comprising receiving, via the processor, a confirmation that the plurality of electrical lines connect or disconnect successfully, the plurality of liquid or gas sources connect or disconnect successfully, or some combination thereof.

21 . The method of claim 18 , comprising:
receiving, by the processor, one or more signals to connect or disconnect the plurality of electrical lines via the respective plurality of electrical switches of the plurality of housings included in the manifold apparatus, to connect or disconnect the plurality of liquid or gas sources via the respective plurality of valves of the plurality of housings, or both to the industrial automation equipment; determining, via the processor, whether personal protective equipment (PPE) is present; and controlling, via the processor, the plurality of armatures of the locking mechanism to operate the plurality of electrical switches and the plurality of valves of the plurality of housings based on the signals when PPE is being used.

Assignees

• Rockwell Automation Tech Inc

Inventors

• Jauquet John J
• Michalscheck Jimi R
• Michalscheck Kelly A
• Korpela Jessica L
• Reissner Kyle K
• Vasko David A
• Fordenwalt Matthew W
• Ericsson Matthew R
• Wilber Andrew

Classifications

• G07C9/28

  the pass enabling tracking or indicating presence · CPC title

• Y02P90/02

  Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS] · CPC title

• G07C9/00896

  specially adapted for particular uses · CPC title

• G05B19/4184

  characterised by fault tolerance, reliability of production system · CPC title

• H02J4/00 Primary

  Circuit arrangements for mains or distribution networks not specified as AC or DC; Circuit arrangements for mains or distribution networks combining AC and DC sections or sub-networks (arrangements using intermediate DC-AC-DC conversion H02J1/002; arrangements using high-voltage DC [HVDC] links H02J3/36) · CPC title