Patent · US Expired

System and method to automate equipment placement at remote sites

US6169987A · kind A · utility

24Cited by
14References
34Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 25, 1997
Grant dateJan 2, 2001
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 25, 2017

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S707/99945
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A system and method for placing articles of manufacture or pieces of equipment at a remote site uses a central database and graphical representations. A site hierarchy, comprising a site, a building at the site, and a floor within the building, is created in the central database. The user can then create graphical objects on a floor at a building, which are also represented in the central database as sequences of points. Specifically, graphical objects are created for a floor within a structure, a zone within the floor, a planning unit within the zone, a row segment within the planning unit, and a footprint (where the article or piece of equipment is placed) within the row segment. The central database can also store tabular (non-graphical) data, regarding the physical characteristics of physical objects (such as the actual area of a row), as well as particular information for each footprint (such as an installation date, an activation date, etc.). Once the graphical objects are established in the hierarchy, a user can modify or view both the graphical data or the non-graphical data from the database.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.