TECHNICAL FIELD AND PRIOR ART

The invention relates to a method for matching data from an external electronic device with status data of a weaving machine stored in a data portal.

In the context of the application, an electronic device is a device that can create, generate, send, share, communicate, receive, store, display and/or process information, and such electronic devices shall include, but not be limited to desktops, laptops, tablets, peripherals, servers, mobile telephones, smartphones, and any similar electronic device which currently exists or may exist as technology develops or such comparable items as technology develops.

An external electronic device is an electronic device, which is not part of the weaving machine and/or a weaving machine periphery.

In the context of the application, status data of a weaving machine is data describing a status of the weaving machine, which data can be derived from settings of the weaving machine and/or which data can be measured by sensors of the weaving machine. In embodiments, the status data comprises also a weaving machine identification to distinguish status data of different weaving machines.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is the object of the invention to provide a method and a system for a user-friendly matching of data from an external electronic device with status data of a weaving machine stored in a data portal.

This object is solved by the method with the features of claim 1 and the system with the features of claim 8. Preferred embodiments are defined in the dependent claims.

According to a first aspect, a method for matching data from an external electronic device with status data of a weaving machine stored in a data portal is provided, wherein upon an operator request unique tag data is created, wherein status data of the weaving machine taken at a time of the operator request and the unique tag data are stored in the data portal, wherein a unique digital label representing the unique tag data is displayed on a monitor of the weaving machine and is acquired by the external electronic device, and wherein the unique tag data belonging to the unique digital label is associated with data from the external electronic device, so that the data from the external electronic device and the status data of the weaving machine can be matched using the unique tag data.

Throughout this description and the claims, the indefinite article “a” or “an” means “one or more”. Reference to “a first element” does not mandate presence of “a second element”. Further, the expressions “first” and “second” are only used to distinguish elements from one another and are not to be interpreted as indicating any order.

The data portal in embodiments of the invention is remote from the weaving machine and is for example a cloud storage system, wherein data can be retrieved by different entities from the data portal.

In one embodiment, time coordinates are stored together with the status data of the weaving machine in the data portal and the unique tag data comprises a time coordinate indicating the time of the operator request, which can be used for matching the status data of the weaving machine with data from an external electronic device. In other embodiments, the unique tag data comprises additional information, for example data related to a weaving machine identification, a location of the weaving machine and/or other parameters defining the weaving machine, wherein the unique tag data is stored with the status data in the data portal.

In the context of the application, a unique digital label is an unambiguous representation of unique tag data in a visual or machine-readable form. Unique digital labels include, but are not limited to linear barcodes, matrix barcodes, for example QR codes, numeric codes, alphanumeric codes, and others, which currently exist or may exist as technology develops.

The unique digital label is acquired by the external electronic device, wherein in the context of the application the expression “acquired” is used for describing any technical mode or any other way for transferring the unique digital label and/or the unique tag data represented by the unique digital label to the external electronic device, wherein in particular in an embodiment the label is scanned and digitally taken in by the external electronic device. In another embodiment, the unique digital label is an alphanumeric code, which is acquired by the external electronic device via manual input.

The unique digital label and/or the unique tag data allow matching data from the external electronic device and status data of the weaving machine associated with a period of time shortly before or after or when taking, capturing, generating, or otherwise gathering the data by the external electronic device. This allows matching the data from the external electronic device and the status data of the weaving machine at a later stage without any additional input from an operator.

In an embodiment, for an evaluation of the data from the external electronic device, a transfer request is sent from the external electronic device to the data portal using the unique tag data, and matching status data of the weaving machine is transferred to the external electronic device.

According to another embodiment, the data from the external electronic device is sent together with the unique tag data to the data portal, wherein at the data portal the data from the external electronic device and the status data of the weaving machine are matched using the unique tag data. In other words, the data from the external electronic can be stored at the data portal and associated via the unique tag data with status data of the weaving machine of the period of time when taking, capturing, generating, or otherwise gathering the data by the external electronic device. The data from the external electronic device and the matching status data of the weaving machine can be retrieved from the data portal for an evaluation at a later time.

In an embodiment, the unique digital label is acquired by the external electronic device from the monitor of the weaving machine using an image-capturing apparatus. As mentioned above, the expression “acquired” is used for any technical mode or any other way of transferring the unique digital label and/or the content thereof to the external electronic device. An appropriate imagecapturing apparatus can be chosen depending on the type of unique digital label and can be part of the external electronic device. In embodiments, the unique digital label is chosen so that an image-capturing apparatus of a state-of-the-art electronic device, such as for example a camera of a smartphone, can be used for copying and/or reading the unique digital label.

In an embodiment, the weaving machine continuously or on an intermittent basis sends status data to the data portal, wherein preferably the status data comprises a time coordinate.

In other embodiments, the weaving machine only or also at the time of creating the unique tag data sends status data of the weaving machine with the unique tag data to the data portal. In an embodiment, the unique tag data comprises a time coordinate and/or the weaving machine identification.

In an embodiment, separate data portals are provided for different weaving machines. In other embodiments, the data portal stores status data of two or more weaving machines, wherein the data from the external electronic device is matched to the status data of one of the two or more weaving machines using the unique tag data. For example, the data portal is a cloud system storing status data of different weaving machines from one or several weaving mills. For this purpose, in an embodiment, the unique tag data comprises a weaving machine identification.

The external electronic device in embodiments is a mobile telephone, a smartphone, a tablet computer, or any similar electronic device, wherein an operator of the weaving machine can take, generate, capture, or otherwise gather data using the external electronic device, for example by taking a photograph, recording a voice or sound message, or typing a notice.

In particular, in one embodiment the data from the external electronic device comprises a photograph taken by the external electronic device.

According to a second aspect, a system is provided comprising a data portal storing status data of a weaving machine, a first computer program comprising instructions to cause a control unit for a weaving machine to create upon an operator request unique tag data, wherein the data portal is configured to store status data of the weaving machine taken at the time of the operator request and the unique tag data, the first computer program further comprising instructions to cause the control unit for the weaving machine to display a unique digital label representing the unique tag data on a monitor of the weaving machine, a second computer program comprising instructions to cause an external electronic device to acquire the unique digital label and to associate the unique tag data belonging to the unique digital label to data from the external electronic device, so that the data from the external electronic device and the status data of the weaving machine can be matched using the unique tag data.

The first computer program is designed to run on a control unit for a weaving machine, and the second computer program is designed to run on an external electronic device. The second computer program is in embodiments a mobile app, designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone or a tablet computer.

In an embodiment, the second computer program comprises instructions to cause the external electronic device to send data from the external electronic device together with the unique tag data to the data portal, wherein the data portal comprises a third computer program comprising instructions to match the data from the external electronic device and the status data of the weaving machine using the unique tag data. The third computer program in embodiments is designed to allocate the data received from the external electronic device to the status data already stored in the data portal. In other embodiments, the data received from the external electronic device is stored at a different memory and only logically linked to the status data to allow the data from the external electronic device to be retrieved from the data portal together with the status data.

In an embodiment, the second computer program comprises instructions to acquire the unique digital label from the monitor of the weaving machine using an external electronic device with an image-capturing apparatus. In an embodiment, the unique digital label is scanned using a standard program associated with the image-capturing apparatus on the external electronic device, wherein the unique digital label comprises instructions causing the second computer program to start and to acquire the unique digital label, for example to read the data from the unique digital label. In other embodiments, the second computer program is started, and the unique digital label is scanned and read using the second computer program.

In an embodiment, the first computer program comprises instructions to send continuously or on an intermittent basis status data of the weaving machine to the data portal.

In alternative or in addition, the first computer program comprises instructions to send status data of the weaving machine and created unique tag data to the data portal at the time of creating the unique tag data.

In an embodiment, the data portal stores status data of two or more weaving machines, wherein the third computer program comprises instructions to match the data from the external electronic device to the status data of one of the two or more weaving machines using the unique tag data. In other words, the unique tag data comprises data for a weaving machine identification, in other words data for identifying the weaving machine.

In an embodiment, the second computer program comprises instructions to send data from the external electronic device to the data portal that comprises a photograph taken by the external electronic device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following, embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to a drawing. Fig. 1 shows a set-up of a system for matching data from an external electronic device with status data of a weaving machine.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Fig. 1 shows a set-up of a system for matching data from an external electronic device 1 with status data of a weaving machine 2.

The set-up comprises a data portal 3, wherein status data of the weaving machine 2 is sent or transferred to the data portal 3 and stored in the data portal 3. The data portal 3 is an external server or computer, for example a cloud storage system.

In an embodiment, the weaving machine 2 is continuously connected to the data portal 3 via a wired or a wireless data link 4 schematically shown by an arrow, wherein status data of the weaving machine 2 is continuously sent or transferred to the data portal 3. In other embodiments, status data of the weaving machine 2 is sent or transferred to the data portal 3 on an intermittent basis. For this purpose, in one embodiment an external data storage device, for example a USB stick, is used and/or the weaving machine 2 is temporarily connected to the data portal 3 via a wired or wireless data line.

An operator can take, capture, generate or otherwise gather data using the external electronic device 1 and forward the data from the external electronic device 1 to the data portal 3 via a wired or a wireless data link 5 schematically shown by an arrow.

Unique tag data is used to allow for a reliable and user-friendly matching of data from the external electronic device 1 with status data of the weaving machine 2 stored in the data portal 3.

For this purpose, upon an operator request the unique tag data comprising in an embodiment a time coordinate and preferably also a weaving machine identification is created, and status data of the weaving machine 2 taken at the time of the operator request and the created unique tag data are stored in the data portal 3. Further, a unique digital label 6 representing the unique tag data is displayed on a monitor 7 of the weaving machine 2. For sake of clarity, the monitor 7 of the weaving machine 2 is also shown in enlarged scale in Fig. 1 indicated via an arrow. The unique digital label 6 is for example a matrix barcode, such as a QR code.

The unique digital label 6 can be acquired by the external electronic device 1 , for example copied or scanned and read, and the unique tag data belonging to the unique digital label 6 can be associated with data from the external electronic device 1 , so that the data from the external electronic device 1 and the status data of the weaving machine 2 can be matched using the unique tag data.

As mentioned above, in one embodiment, the unique digital label 6 displayed on the monitor 7 is a matrix barcode, such as a QR code, wherein the unique digital label 6 can be scanned and digitally taken in by the external electronic device 1. In another embodiment, the unique digital label 6 displayed on the monitor 7 is an alphanumeric code, which is acquired by the external electronic device 1 via manual input by an operator into the external electronic device 1 .

The system comprises a first computer program, which can run on a control unit 8 for the weaving machine 2, and a second computer program, which can run on the external electronic device 1. In the embodiment shown, the control unit 8 for the weaving machine 2 is arranged at the weaving machine, but the control unit 8 can also be located at another location.

The first computer program comprises instructions to cause the control unit 8 for the weaving machine 2 to create upon an operator request the unique tag data. The data portal 3 is configured to store status data of the weaving machine 2 taken at the time of the operator request and the unique tag data created at the time of the operator request. The first computer program further comprising instructions to cause the control unit 8 for the weaving machine 2 to display the unique digital label 6 representing the unique tag data created at the time of the operator request on a monitor 7 of the weaving machine 2.

The second computer program comprises instructions to cause an external electronic device 1 to acquire the unique digital label 6, for example to scan and read the unique digital label 6, and to associate the unique tag data belonging to the unique digital label 6 to data from the external electronic device 1 , so that the data from the external electronic device 1 and the status data of the weaving machine 2 can be matched using the unique tag data.

In the following, exemplary situations employing a method for data matching using the unique digital label 6 are described.

In a first situation, an operator, for example a quality controller makes a poor-quality observation of a woven fabric. The operator takes a photograph of the woven fabric with an external electronic device 1 , for example a smartphone. The operator then causes the weaving machine 2 to generate a unique tag data and to display a unique digital label 6 representing the unique tag data on the monitor 7 of the weaving machine 2. The operator can use the external electronic device 1 to acquire the unique digital label 6, for example to scan the unique digital label 6 using a camera of the external electronic device 1 , and the unique tag data can be linked to the photograph taken with the external electronic device 1. The operator can then upload the photograph taken with the external electronic device 1 to the data portal 3 together with the unique tag data, wherein the unique tag data was read from the unique digital label 6, and/or together with the unique digital label 6 acquired from the monitor 7. At the data portal 3, the photograph can be linked to status data of the weaving machine 2 having a matching unique tag data.

This allows for example to create an online logbook, wherein photographs taken by external electronic devices 1 or other data recorded or created using external electronic devices 1 are assigned to the matching status data of the weaving machine 2, in particular status data of the weaving machine 2 associated to the unique tag data, for example having a matching time coordinate and/or a matching weaving machine identification.

In a second situation, the weaving machine 2 is stopped due to a warp thread break or a weft thread break. At the time of the stop, the operator causes the weaving machine 2 to generate a unique tag data and to display a unique digital label 6 representing the unique tag data on the monitor 7 of the weaving machine 2. Then after the weaving machine 2 is started again, the operator can take photographs of the woven fabric using the external electronic device 1 after a number of weft insertions, which photographs show a possible starting mark in the woven fabric. Then the external electronic device 1 can acquire, for example read or copy, the unique digital label 6, send the photographs to the data portal 3 with the unique tag data associated to the unique digital label 6, and the data from the external electronic device 1 and the status data of the weaving machine 2 can be matched using the unique tag data.

In a third situation, an operator retrieves status data from the data portal 3, which matches the unique tag data, for example to evaluate what might have caused a particular situation. For this purpose, in one embodiment data from the external electronic device 1 is sent to the data portal 3 together with the unique tag data, wherein the data from the external electronic device 1 can be evaluated in the context of matching status data of the weaving machine 2 by a user working remote from the weaving machine 2, for example by a manufacturer of the weaving machine or a support service.

The data from the external electronic device 1 and the status data of the weaving machine 2 can be processed in a processor at the data portal 3, and the data portal 3 and/or a support service can forward suggestions or instructions to the external electronic device 1 , so that the operator using the electronic device 1 can set the weaving machine 2 in an easy way by following the suggestions or instructions. Otherwise, the instructions can be forwarded to the weaving machine 2, so that the weaving machine 2 can carry out the instructions without any intervention of the operator.

In other words, further processing of matched status data of the weaving machine 2 and data of the external electronic device 1 can take place at the data portal 3. This processing may result in forwarding suggestions to the external electronic device 1 or to the weaving machine 2. Similar, adjustments made by an operator or automatically by the weaving machine 2 can be supervised at the data portal 3, for example based on photographs taken by the external electronic device 1 , voice or sound messages recorded by the external electronic device 1 and/or notices typed in the external electronic device 1 that are forwarded to the data portal 3. For example, the photographs are processed for supervising an occurrence of starting marks on a weaving machine 2. These processes of the status data of the weaving machine 2 and data of the external electronic device 1 can be done offline and remote from the weaving machine 2 on a computer at the data portal 3 in the cloud, and adjustments or settings of the weaving machine 2 can be carried out based on the result of the processing.