Industrial automation emergency stop with state indictor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9349546-B2
Application number	US-201313756186-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 31, 2013
Priority date	Jan 31, 2013
Publication date	May 24, 2016
Grant date	May 24, 2016

Abstract

The embodiments described herein include a system and a method. One embodiment provides an industrial automation system an emergency stop system configured to interrupt power to at least a portion of an industrial control system. The industrial automation system further includes a user perceptible indicator associated with the emergency stop system that in use provides an indication to a user of an operative state of the emergency stop system.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An emergency stop button comprising:
a button body; and
a user perceptible indicator configured to provide a visual indication of when the emergency stop button is in an operative state, wherein the emergency stop button is in the operative state when communicatively coupled to an emergency stop system and the emergency stop system is capable of interrupting power to at least a portion of an industrial automation system if the emergency stop button is actuated;
wherein the user perceptible indicator comprises a light source that is illuminated to indicate the operative state of the emergency stop button such that the button body is configured to be a same color when the emergency stop button is in the operative state and when the emergency stop button is not in the operative state.

2. The emergency stop button of claim 1 , wherein the user perceptible indicator comprises a light source disposed directly adjacent to the button body.

3. The emergency stop button of claim 1 , wherein the user perceptible indicator is configured to have a first color when the emergency stop button is in the operative state and to change color to a second color when the emergency stop button is not in the operative state.

4. The emergency stop button of claim 3 , wherein the first color is yellow.

5. The emergency stop button of claim 1 , wherein the emergency stop button is not operative when not communicatively coupled to the emergency stop system.

6. The emergency stop button of claim 1 , wherein the button body comprises a generally opaque colored body, and the user perceptible indicator comprises a light source disposed in a recess in the button body so as to be visible to a user.

7. The emergency stop button of claim 6 , wherein the button body and the light source are red.

8. The emergency stop button of claim 1 , wherein the user perceptible indicator is configured to provide a visual indication of when the emergency stop system is not in the operative state.

9. The emergency stop button of claim 1 , wherein the user perceptible indicator comprises a light source disposed in a circle around the button body.

10. The emergency stop button of claim 1 , wherein the same color is red.

11. An industrial automation emergency stop system comprising:
an emergency stop circuit coupled to an emergency stop button, wherein the emergency stop circuit is configured to interrupt power to an automation device; a sensor, an automation controller, or any combination thereof when the emergency stop circuit is in an operative state and the emergency stop button is actuated; and
state detection logic configured to determine whether the emergency stop circuit is in the operative state,
wherein the emergency stop button is configured to be a first version of a color when the emergency stop circuit is in the operative state and a second version of the color when the emergency stop circuit is not in the operative state.

12. The system of claim 11 , comprising a light source configured to facilitate changing the emergency stop button from the first version of the color to the second version of the color and vice versa.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the light source is disposed within the emergency stop button.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the first version of the color is a light red color and the second version of the color is a dark red color.

15. A method of operating an emergency stop system, comprising:
determining, using state detection logic, whether the emergency stop system is operative;
in response to determining that the emergency stop system is operative, instructing an emergency stop button, using the state detection logic, to change from a first version of a color to a second version of the color, wherein the second version of the color is configured to indicate that the emergency stop system will cut power to an industrial automation system when the emergency stop button is actuated and the first version of the color is configured to indicate that the button is an emergency stop button that is not operative.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the first version of the color is dark red and the second version of the color is light red.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein instructing the emergency stop button to change from the first version of the color to the second version of the color comprises instructing a light source disposed within the emergency stop button to turn on.

18. The method of claim 15 , comprising, in response to determining that the emergency stop system is not operative, instructing the emergency stop button to change from the second version of the color to the first version of the color.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein instructing the emergency stop button to change from the second version of the color to the first version of the color comprises instructing a light source disposed within the emergency stop button to turn off.

Assignees

• Rockwell Automation Tech Inc

Inventors

• Dotson Gary

Classifications

• H01H47/002

  Monitoring or fail-safe circuits · CPC title

• H01H9/161

  comprising light emitting elements · CPC title

• H01H3/022 Primary

  Emergency operating parts, e.g. for stop-switch in dangerous conditions · CPC title

• H01H9/00 Primary

  Details of switching devices, not covered by groups H01H1/00 - H01H7/00 · CPC title

• G05B2219/50198

  Emergency stop · CPC title