Screwing System Feature Tokens for Fast Function Reallocation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for managing optional functionalities in screwing systems are cumbersome, often requiring customers to purchase memory cards or activation codes that include unnecessary features, and do not allow for easy transfer or redeployment of functionalities across different concentrators, leading to inefficiencies and downtime.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize undifferentiated tokens stored in concentrators and a manager, allowing for direct exchange and activation of functionalities between concentrators without central intermediaries, enabling immediate installation, removal, and reallocation of features based on production needs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If memory cards or activation codes are used to manage optional functionalities, then functionalities can be provided to concentrators, but the management becomes cumbersome and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the functionality management from physical media (memory cards, activation codes) and centralizes it in a database accessible by all concentrators. This allows functionalities to be activated remotely and instantly without physical intervention, resolving the contradiction between providing versatility and minimizing installation time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal functionality management system where a single database serves all concentrators in the network. This universal approach allows any concentrator to access and activate any functionality without requiring specific physical media, eliminating the time-consuming process of distributing and installing separate activation methods for each device.
2Adaptability or versatility
If functionalities are transferred between concentrators, then adaptability improves, but current methods require central intermediaries causing downtime
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the functionality management into independent, transferable units called functionalities that can be individually activated or deactivated. This segmentation allows selective redistribution of specific functionalities between concentrators without affecting the entire system, enabling adaptability while maintaining production continuity through targeted rather than system-wide changes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a database as an intermediary that stores functionality information and allows direct access by any concentrator. This database mediator enables concentrators to exchange functionalities directly without requiring physical media or complex central coordination, thus improving both adaptability and productivity by eliminating downtime associated with traditional transfer methods.
3Reliability
If memory cards are permanently connected to hubs, then functionalities are secured, but they cannot be transferred to other hubs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates digital copies of functionality authorizations in a centralized database that can be accessed and replicated by any concentrator in the network. Instead of relying on physical memory cards that must remain in specific hubs, the system uses digital copies that can be instantly transferred and activated on any authorized concentrator, simultaneously maintaining security through centralized control and enabling full transferability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of physical memory cards and their permanent insertion into hubs with a digital information system based on database storage and electronic communication. This substitution eliminates the physical constraints that prevented functionality transfer while maintaining authorization security through digital authentication mechanisms, thus resolving the contradiction between reliability and adaptability.
4Ease of manufacture
If customers purchase memory cards with specific functionalities, then their needs are met, but they pay for unnecessary features
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic functionality activation system where customers can selectively activate only the functionalities they need at any given time. Instead of purchasing static memory cards with fixed functionality sets, the system allows dynamic selection and activation of individual features through the centralized database, enabling customers to pay only for what they actually use while maintaining the ability to change their configuration as needs evolve.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of functionality delivery from a static, pre-configured state (memory cards with fixed features) to a dynamic, on-demand state where functionalities can be individually selected and activated. This parameter change allows customers to precisely match their purchases to their actual needs, eliminating waste from paying for unnecessary features while maintaining ease of customization through the centralized management system.
Data Source
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Figure 3
Figure 4~5A
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for managing optional functionalities (fi) in a tightening system implementing a fleet of at least two concentrators (121, ..., 12N) each controlling at least one production equipment (131, 132, 133, 134), and can be used with at least one optional functionality (fi). Said hubs (121, ..., 12N) each store undifferentiated tokens. Said at least one optional functionality (fi) is assigned a predefined weight, corresponding to a number of tokens, said at least one optional functionality being preinstalled and deactivated in said concentrator. Said at least one functionality can be selectively activated on said concentrator, provided that the concentrator has a number of tokens greater than the weight of said functionality, a quantity of tokens corresponding to the weight of said functionality being debited from said number of tokens of which disposes the concentrator, and said at least one functionality can be selectively deactivated, said tokens corresponding to the weight of said functionality then being made free to use. Two of said concentrators can be transferred (F22) from one to the other of the undifferentiated tokens.