Unmanned diagnostic communications system for computer controlled machine tools

Claim 2

An unmanned diagnostic communication system for automatically analyzing the operation of a remotely situated computer controlled machine tool and for diagnosing abnormalities disclosed during machine tool operation characterized by a diagnostic communication computer system programmed to monitor the operation of a remotely situated computer controlled machine tool in response to identifying data from the computer controlled machine tool indicative of the machine tool type and programmed to diagnose any machine tool abnormalities in accordance with data transmitted from the computer controlled machine tool indicative of machine tool operating characteristics; a communication channel between said diagnostic communication computer system and the remotely situated computer controlled machine tool for carrying instructions from the diagnostic communication computer system to the remotely situated computer controlled machine tool to direct machine tool operation and for carrying data from the remotely situated computer controlled machine tool indicative of the machine tool type and indicative of machine tool operating characteristics to said diagnostic communication computer system; and means coupled between said communication channel and said diagnostic communication system and coupled between said communication channel and the remotely situated computer controlled machine tool for automatically establishing a communications link between said diagnostic communications system and a remotely situated computer controlled machine tool in response to an operator-initiated command entered to the remotely situated computer controlled machine tool.

Claim 3

The system according to claim 1, characterized in that said diagnostic communications computer system comprises a processor; a first block of memory containing an operating system for directing the operation of said processor; a second block of memory containing computer executable diagnostic programs which, when executed by the machine tool control system of a computer controlled machine tool, cause the transmission of data across said communication channel to said processor indicative of machine tool control system operating characteristics; a third block of memory containing machine tool executable diagnostic programs which, when executed by the machine tool control system of a computer controlled machine tool, cause the transmission of data across said communication channel to said processor indicative of machine tool operating characteristics; and a fourth block of memory containing analytic programs which, when executed by said processor, allows said processor to diagnose computer controlled machine tool abnormalities from said data transmitted across said communication channel indicative of the machine tool control system operating characteristics and machine tool operating characteristics; an input/output interface for coupling said processor to said means for automatically establishing a communication link between said diagnostic communication system and said remotely situated computer controlled machine tool; and a disk drive coupled through said input/output interface to said processor for storing information indicative of the type of computer numerically controlled machine tool interfacing said diagnostic communication system and of the type of computer executable diagnostic program and machine tool executable diagnostic program to be transmitted from said second and said third memory blocks, respectively, to said machine tool control system during diagnostic analysis thereof.

Claim 4

The system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said communication channel comprises a long distance telephone line.

Claim 5

The system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said communication channel comprises a microwave link coupled at each end to a local telephone line.

Claim 6

The system according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that said means for automatically establishing a communication link between said diagnostic communication system and the remotely situated computer controlled machine tool comprises an auto dialer coupled between the control system of a computer controlled machine tool and said communication channel for automatically transmitting an identifying code in response to a test command entered to the machine tool control system by an operator; a communications modulator/demodulator coupled in parallel with said auto dialer for transmitting data between said communication channel and the machine tool control system; and an auto answer communications modulator/demodulator coupled between said communications channel and being automatically operative in response to the identifying code transmitted by said auto dialer across said communication channel to transmit data between said communication channel and said diagnostic computer.