On line interactive execution of process operating procedures

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 including the steps of providing means for the operator to electrically generate an operator response signal in response to a textual statement of recommended operator action by said visual display of said current step, and electrically sequentially selecting the next step in said stored procedure as the current step in response to said operator response signal.

Claim 4

The method of claim 2 including the step of updating the visual indication of the state of the selected process condition to be verified by the current step and the visible statement of recommended operator action in response to changes in the selected process condition as a result of operator response to the recommended action.

Claim 5

The method of claim 2 wherein said step of generating said visual representations includes generating the same at two separate locations and wherein the step of providing means for the operator to electrically generate an operator response signal includes providing such means at said two separate locations.

Claim 6

The method of claim 4 wherein said step of generating a visible textual statement of recommended operator action includes generating a visual indication of which of said two locations at which the action is required.

Claim 7

The method of claim 2 including the steps of electrically monitoring, while successive current steps of said stored step by step procedures are being executed, certain parameter signals representative of another process condition not being addressed by said current steps and simultaneously, with the generation of the visual display of said current step, generating a visual indication of said another process condition when the monitoring step generates an indication that said another process condition is in a specified state which warrants attention.

Claim 8

The method of claim 6 wherein said step of generating a visual indication of said another process condition includes generating a visible textual statement of action recommended in response to said another process condition when the monitoring step generates an indication that the state of the another process condition requires immediate attention and providing a visual indication that said statement of action recommended in response to said another process condition has priority over the action recommended in response to the current step.

Claim 9

The method of claim 7 wherein the step of providing means for the operator to electrically generate an operator response signal includes providing means for the operator to select between electrically generating a complete signal and an override signal, and electrically logging the response signals generated by the operator.

Claim 10

The method of claim 8 including electrically removing the visible textual statement of the action recommended in response to the another process condition upon generation by the operator of either a complete or override signal.

Claim 11

The method of claim 9 wherein the steps of generating the visual representation of said current step and of generating a visual indication of said another process condition include generating said representation and indication at two spaced apart locations and wherein the step of providing means for the operator to select between electrically generating a complete signal and an override signal includes providing such means at both of said spaced apart locations.

Claim 12

The method of claim 8 including generating a prominent visual indication when the values of said specified parameters indicate that the overall status of the process facility is in a state requiring immediate operator action and a visible textual statement of a specified step by step procedure which should be implemented in response thereto, providing means by which the operator can selectively generate a transfer signal in response to the prominent visual indication, and electrically selecting a step of said specified step by step procedure in response to a transfer signal in place of the step which is the current step at the time of the generation of said prominent visual indication.

Claim 13

The method of claim 11 including in response to an override signal generated by the operator, maintaining as the current step, the step which was current at the time that the prominent visual indication was generated.

Claim 14

The method of claim 2 including the steps of continuously electrically monitoring the overall status of the process facility as represented by the values of specified parameters and generating simultaneously with the display of said current step a visual display of said overall status of the process facility.

Claim 15

Apparatus for on-line interactive monitoring of the execution of procedures in a complex process plant comprising: a plurality of sensors for generating sensor signals representative of the current values of a plurality of plant parameters; a storage medium for storing electrical signals representative of the steps of a plurality of step-by-step procedures and a library of textual statements; a digital computer programmed to sequentially select stored signals representative of a --selected one of the steps of one of said plurality of step-by-step procedures as a current step, to process selected sensor signals to determine the status of a process condition selected by the current step and recommended action as a result thereof, and to select from said library textual statement signals representative of the current step, the status of the designated process condition and the recommended action; characterized by a display device for generating a visible display of said textual statements; and an input device including means by which the operator generates a response signal representative of his response to the visible display, said digital computer being further programmed to select the stored signals representative of the next step in the selected step-by-step procedure in response to the response signal.

Claim 16

Apparatus for on-line interactive monitoring of the execution of procedures in a complex process plant comprising: a plurality of sensors for generating sensor signals representative of the current values of a plurality of plant parameters; a storage medium for storing electrical signals representative of the steps of a plurality of step-by-step procedures and a library of textual statements; a digital computer programmed to sequentially select stored signals representative of a --selected one of the steps of one of said plurality of step-by-step procedures as a current step, to process selected sensor signals to determine the status of a process condition selected by the current step and recommended action as a result thereof, and to select from said library textual statement signals representative of the current step, the status of the designated process condition and the recommended action; characterized by a display device for generating a visible display of said textual statements; and an input device including means by which the operator generates a response signal representative of his response to the visible display, said digital computer being further programmed to select the stored signals representative of the next step in the selected step-by-step procedure in response to the response signal.

Claim 17

The apparatus of claim 14 wherein said digital computer is further programmed to generate selected prompts including a prompt to indicate completion of the action recommended by the current step and an alternative prompt to indicate an override of the recommended action, wherein said prompts are visibly displayed in the display device and wherein said input device includes means for the operator to generate alternative response signals responsive to the respective prompts.

Claim 18

The apparatus of claim 15 wherein said digital computer is further programmed to continuously monitor certain of the sensor signals to generate additional status signals representative of the current status of designated process conditions other than the conditions selected by the current steps, and to select from said library additional textual statements in response to the additional status signals, and wherein said display device includes means to generate a visible display of said additional textual statements simultaneously with the display of the textual statements associated with the current step.

Claim 19

The apparatus of claim 16 wherein said digital computer is further programmed to indicate action recommended in response to a specified status of said designated other process conditions, to determine priority between the action recommended in response to the current step and the other process conditions, to select textual statements of action recommended, and to generate prompts associated with the priority action, and wherein said display device includes means to generate a visible display of the priority action textual statement and prompts, and to visually associate the prompts with the priority action recommended.

Claim 20

The apparatus of claim 37 wherein said means for visually associating the prompts with the textual statements of priority action recommended include means for generating different portions of the display in different colors and for generating the textual statement of the priority action recommended and the prompts in the same color.

Claim 21

The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the priority action recommended is to transfer to another of said plurality of step-by-step procedures, wherein said prompts include a prompt for implementing such transfer, wherein said input device includes means to generate a transfer signal in addition to said complete and override signals and wherein said digital computer is programmed in response to said transfer signal to select said another step-by-step procedure and sequentially select the steps thereof as the current step.

Claim 22

The apparatus of claim 19 including means for generating a chronological log of the current steps, the status conditions and the operator generated response signals.

Claim 23

The apparatus of claim 20 wherein said digital computer is further programmed to continuously monitor previously determined sensor signals and to generate therefrom safety status signals representative of overall plant safety conditions, and wherein said display device includes means to generate a visible indication of overall plant safety status in response to the safety status signals simultaneously with the display of said textual statements and additional textual statements.