Relay Audit Interface for Post-Mortem Failure Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for analyzing damaged relay products are inefficient, often requiring significant effort and failing to detect the root cause of damage, especially for configurable products.
Innovation Solution
An audit device with an interface to transfer and store data from relay components, including a non-volatile memory for robust data storage and a reading interface for accessing data without disassembly, facilitating post-mortem analysis and predictive maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If relay products are disassembled and powered up for analysis, then the analysis can be performed, but this leads to considerable effort and time consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by implementing an audit interface and non-volatile memory that continuously collect and store operational data, error logs, and configuration information before failures occur. This pre-captured data eliminates the need for time-consuming disassembly and testing during post-mortem analysis, allowing immediate access to diagnostic information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an audit interface as an intermediary component that mediates between the relay's internal components and the external analysis system. This interface provides direct access to operational data without requiring physical disassembly, serving as a bridge that eliminates the need for invasive analysis methods.
2Reliability
If relay products are disassembled for analysis, then internal components can be inspected, but the root cause of damage often cannot be detected
Solution Approach 1:
The audit interface serves as an intermediary that provides direct access to internal operational data, error logs, and component status information without requiring disassembly. This mediator delivers precise diagnostic information about the root cause of failures, eliminating the need for complex visual inspection and testing of internal components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical disassembly and physical inspection process with an electronic data retrieval system. The audit interface and non-volatile memory provide digital access to operational history and error information, substituting physical manipulation with electronic information access that directly identifies root causes.
3Reliability
If configurable relay products are analyzed using traditional methods, then some data can be obtained, but the analysis becomes even more difficult and less effective
Solution Approach 1:
The audit interface acts as an intermediary that provides structured access to configuration data, operational parameters, and error logs specific to configurable relay products. This mediator organizes and presents configuration-related information in a systematic manner, eliminating the difficulty of analyzing custom-configured parameters through traditional disassembly methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a digital copy of the relay's operational state, configuration parameters, and error history stored in non-volatile memory. This copy preserves all configuration data and operational context without requiring physical access to the device, allowing complete analysis of configurable parameters through data retrieval rather than physical inspection.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to an audit device apparatus and a method for auditing an electronic relay apparatus. The audit device (50) comprises: an audit interface (51), configured to transfer audit data from at least one component of the relay apparatus (10), wherein the audit data are a function of a state of the at least one component and/or of an environment of the electronic relay apparatus (10), to the audit device (50); a non-volatile memory (54, 55), configured to store the audit data; and a reading interface (58), configured to read the audit data from the non-volatile memory (54, 55).