2352results about "Container/cavity capacity measurement" patented technology

The present invention provides an acoustic vibration analyzing apparatus for carrying out acoustic vibration analysis by picking up data of sounds generated due to rotation of a plurality of gears and data of the number of revolutions of a gear selected from a plurality of gears when a transmission of a vehicle having the plurality of gears operates. The acoustic vibration analyzing apparatus comprises an acoustic vibration calculation portion for analyzing acoustic data in terms of frequency, an order calculation portion for calculating an order in compliance with the specifications of a plurality of gears, a speed calculation portion for calculating the speed of a vehicle, and a display unit for displaying acoustic pressure levels with the order and vehicle speed associated therewith.

Various corporate, industry, and regulatory guidelines, best practices and standards are used in establishing acceptable levels of accuracy for volume dimensioning systems used in commerce. A volume dimensioning system can determine at least one distortion value that is indicative of an amount of distortion present in the system and responsive to the amount of distortion, autonomously alter or adjust the units of accuracy of information reported by the system. Such alteration or adjustment of units of accuracy may be performed based on an assessment of the distortion relative to a number of distortion thresholds. Responsive to the assessment, the volume dimensioning system can adjust a unit of accuracy in a representation of volume dimensioning related information.

Volume dimensioning employs techniques to reduce multipath reflection or return of illumination, and hence distortion. Volume dimensioning for any given target object includes a sequence of one or more illuminations and respective detections of returned illumination. A sequence typically includes illumination with at least one initial spatial illumination pattern and with one or more refined spatial illumination patterns. Refined spatial illumination patterns are generated based on previous illumination in order to reduce distortion. The number of refined spatial illumination patterns in a sequence may be fixed, or may vary based on results of prior illumination(s) in the sequence. Refined spatial illumination patterns may avoid illuminating background areas that contribute to distortion. Sometimes, illumination with the initial spatial illumination pattern may produce sufficiently acceptable results, and refined spatial illumination patterns in the sequence omitted.

Volume dimensioning employs techniques to reduce multipath reflection or return of illumination, and hence distortion. Volume dimensioning for any given target object includes a sequence of one or more illuminations and respective detections of returned illumination. A sequence typically includes illumination with at least one initial spatial illumination pattern and with one or more refined spatial illumination patterns. Refined spatial illumination patterns are generated based on previous illumination in order to reduce distortion. The number of refined spatial illumination patterns in a sequence may be fixed, or may vary based on results of prior illumination(s) in the sequence. Refined spatial illumination patterns may avoid illuminating background areas that contribute to distortion. Sometimes, illumination with the initial spatial illumination pattern may produce sufficiently acceptable results, and refined spatial illumination patterns in the sequence omitted.

Method and apparatus for providing a leak detection circuit for data monitoring and management system using the guard trace of a glucose sensor by applying a leak detection test signal to determine whether a leakage current is present is provided. The leak detection circuit may includes an interface circuit such as a capacitor coupled to the guard trace to detect the leakage current when the leak detection test signal is applied to the guard trace, such that the user or patient using the data monitoring and management system such as glucose monitoring systems may be promptly and accurately notified of a failed sensor, and to alert the user to replace the sensor.

A system and method for obtaining a dimension measurement that conforms to a conformance criteria is disclosed. The dimensioning system provides either (i) feedback to confirm that the measurement complies with the criteria or (ii) information on how the measurement geometry could be adjusted in order to provide a compliant measurement in a subsequent dimension measurement.

A gas flow rate verification apparatus is provided for shared use in a multiple tool semiconductor processing platform. The gas flow rate verification apparatus is defined to measure a pressure rate of rise and temperature within a test volume for determination of a corresponding gas flow rate. The apparatus includes first and second volumes, wherein the second volume is larger than the first volume. The apparatus also includes first and second pressure measurement devices, wherein the second pressure measurement device is capable of measuring higher pressures. Based on the target gas flow rate to be measured, either the first or second volume can be selected as the test volume, and either the first or second pressure measurement device can be selected to measure the pressure in the test volume. Configurability of the apparatus enables accurate measurement of gas flow rates over a broad range and in an time efficient manner.

Methods and vaporizer apparatuses that estimate, measure and / or predict the amount of vapor and / or material (including active ingredients) released by the vaporizer apparatus. In particular, described herein are electronic vaporizers and methods of using them that determine a dose / amount of vapor and / or a material in the vapor based primarily or exclusively on the electrical and thermal properties, e.g., power or energy applied to the vaporizing element (e.g., heating coil) and the temperature of the material immediately before and as it is vaporized. Dose information may be used to control operation of the device and / or reported to the user.

The present invention provides an apparatus and method for determining the magnitude of linear and rotational acceleration of an impact to a body part. The apparatus can be used with protective sports equipment, such as a sports helmet, wherein the apparatus includes a battery, a number of accelerometers positioned proximate to the outer surface of the head, and an electronic device with a processor and a transmitter to transmit data received from the accelerometers. To maximize the battery life and minimize power consumption by the electronic device, the apparatus includes a power management system with a sensor assembly. The sensor assembly sends a first signal to the electronic device to initiate operation when the sensor assembly detects the presence of an object within the helmet, and a second signal to the electronic device to cease operation when the sensor assembly detects the absence of the object. The sensor assembly may be a proximity sensor, more specifically an inductive, capacitive, or ultrasonic sensor.

A system for monitoring air quality conditions, comprising, a multi-point air monitoring system comprising, a plurality of sensors for collecting air quality data from a plurality of at least partially enclosed areas; one or more data processing units for processing one or more air quality parameters based on the collected air quality data; and one or more communication devices for communicating the data from the sensor to the processing unit; and a signal processing controller that generates one or more blended air quality parameter signals via the multi-point air monitoring system based at least in part on one or more of the processed air quality parameters representative of data from a plurality of the sensors.

A method for determining a burst pipe that requires immediate feeding-valve closing using acoustic and / or vibration sensors coupled to the pipe lor detecting signals, a microprocessor for analyzing signals from said sensors in real-time, a memory coupled to said microprocessor for storing data, including digital signatures acoustic and / or vibration signatures, as well as an actuator electrically coupled to said microprocessor and mechanically coupled to said feeding-valve. When the sensor signals match stored leak-signatures or when a persistent sensor signal produces no match, the system of the present invention initiates a valve closing. To improve detection, signals from other sensors, i.e. water sensors, smoke detectors, heat sensors or acoustic / vibration sensors mounted on other pipes are also used. Some of the said systems have IP addresses and can communicate over the Internet or wirelessly with others.

A method for monitoring the health of a system comprises performing at each of a plurality of times the steps of:constructing a condition signature from a plurality of condition indicators including (a) a plurality of vibration measurements acquired from the system or (b) one or more vibration measurements and one or more performance parameter measurements acquired from the system;predicting a normal signature from a model defining one or more inter-dependencies between said condition indicators, the normal signature corresponding to the condition signature for a healthy system;comparing the condition signature with the normal signature; andregistering an event if the condition signature differs from the normal signature by more than a predetermined threshold.

A vibration data collection system performs an integration or differentiation process on incoming digitized vibration data in real time. The system uses a digital Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) filter running at the input data rate to provide the integration or differentiation function. With this approach, the system reduces hardware complexity and data storage requirements. Also, the system provides the ability to directly integrate or differentiate stored time waveforms without resorting to FFT processing methods.

A method for determining a preferred operating gradient for use in attaining a life objective for an electrical energy storage device in a hybrid vehicle is disclosed. A present state-of-life of the electrical energy storage device is provided and a life target for the electrical energy storage device is established as a predetermined limit in a predetermined metric at a predetermined state-of-life of the electrical energy storage device. A state-of-life gradient is then determined with respect to the predetermined metric which converges the state-of-life of the electrical energy storage device to the life target.

A system for facilitating pipeline management, software, and methods are provided. The system includes a pipeline company computer positioned at a pipeline company site to define a pipeline company server, having a processor, memory coupled to the processor to store software and database records therein, a graphical display coupled to the processor for displaying graphical images and a user interface coupled to the processor to provide a user access to manipulate the software and database records, and pipeline information management analyzing software to analyze pipeline management requirements. The system also includes an area network in communication with the server, a remote user computer in communication with the area network, positioned remote from the server at remote site, and positioned to access the pipeline information management analyzing software, and a portable user computer adapted to interface with the area network to access the pipeline information management analyzing software to provide the field user access to the server database.

A method and apparatus are disclosed for determining status of a canister of a topical negative pressure (TNP) system. The method includes the steps of monitoring pressure provided by a pump element of the TNP system, determining at least one characteristic associated with the monitored pressure and determining status of at least one parameter associated with a canister of the TNP system responsive to the determined characteristics.

There is provided a method for detecting and locating leaks in a pipeline network in real-time. A flow model is provided that characterizes flow behavior for at least one of steady and unsteady states respectively corresponding to an absence and a presence of model leaks in the pipeline network, the flow model including a leaking factor kL. A deterministic model is provided to evaluate at least one of a leak status and a no leak status relating to the pipeline network using deterministic criteria. The deterministic criteria is based on a Liapunov Stability Theory. A deviation matrix is constructed based on the flow model and the deterministic model to generate eigenvalues. A leak alarm is generated when at least one of the eigenvalues is less than a predetermined value.

Under a known pressure is externally applied to a reference member to which an optical fiber is fixed, test light is allowed to enter the optical fiber, and at least one of a reference Brillouin measurement for determining a reference Brillouin frequency shift amount based on the Brillouin scattering phenomenon, and a reference Rayleigh measurement for determining a reference Rayleigh frequency shift amount based on the Rayleigh scattering phenomenon is performed. A Brillouin measurement coefficient or a Rayleigh measurement coefficient is determined from these calculation results. An optical fiber is fixed to a sample member, the volumetric change of which is unknown, and the same sample Brillouin measurement or sample Rayleigh measurement is performed to determine the frequency shift amount. The volumetric change of the sample member is determined from the sample Brillouin or the sample Rayleigh frequency shift amount, and from the Brillouin or the Rayleigh measurement coefficient.

A method for locating gas leaks from underground gas pipelines in which a first acoustic sensor having a first signal output is positioned in ground disposed substantially above or at a distance from the underground gas pipeline. At least one second acoustic sensor having a second signal output is positioned in the ground at a plurality of locations substantially above the underground gas pipeline. The output signals from the acoustic sensors are measured for each location of the second acoustic sensor and the signals are adaptively filtered to remove common noise signal components. The statistical minima of these rms voltages are determined for both the first output signal and the adaptively filtered second output signals and the differences determined. The location of the second acoustic sensor corresponding to the largest positive said difference is the location closest to the leak site.

A contact sensitive device includes a member capable of supporting bending waves and a plurality of sensors mounted on the member for measuring bending wave vibration in the member. The sensors measure the bending wave signals and by calculating a phase angle for each measured bending wave signal and a phase difference between the phase angles of least two pairs of sensors so that at least two phase differences are calculated, the location of the contact can be determined.

A method of authenticating the identity of a user to determine access to a system includes providing a plurality of factor-based data instances corresponding to a user, evaluating the factor-based data instances to determine if the user's identity is authenticated, and granting or restricting the user's access to the system if the user's identity is authenticated. More particularly, the method includes providing a modified data instance based on a second data instance, generating a key based on a first data instance, applying the key to the a modified data instance to generate a recovered data instance, interrogating the recovered data instance against the second data instance to generate an authentication value as a result of a correspondence evaluation, and granting or restricting the user's access to the system based at least in part on the validity of the authentication value.

A chatter vibration detection method includes acquiring vibration data of a tool (4) at a time of machining a workpiece at a predetermined sampling period (Δt), calculating an autocorrelation coefficient (Rxx′) corresponding to a time required for a cutting edge (4a, 4b) to contact the workpiece (W) several times based on acquired time series vibration data and calculating a period (Tx) of characteristics of the calculated autocorrelation coefficient (Rxx′), and deciding that chatter vibration occurs when a contact period (T1) at which the cutting edge (4a, 4b) contacts the workpiece (W) is not an integral multiple of the calculated period (Tx).

A flow cytometry apparatus and methods to process information incident to particles or cells entrained in a sheath fluid stream allowing assessment, differentiation, assignment, and separation of such particles or cells even at high rates of speed. A first signal processor individually or in combination with at least one additional signal processor for applying compensation transformation on data from a signal. Compensation transformation can involve complex operations on data from at least one signal to compensate for one or numerous operating parameters. Compensated parameters can be returned to the first signal processor for provide information upon which to define and differentiate particles from one another.

A service provider receives fluid test data generated from multiple different entities and permits authorized users affiliated with the different entities, as well as others, to visualize information associated with that data to via the Internet using graphical computer interfaces at respective computers. The fluid test data can be gathered using portable sensor units equipped with GPS and wireless communication to transmit the fluid test data and geographical information to the service provider.

The present invention provides systems and methods that identify a flow anomaly to an operator or other person by: executing a first device of a plurality of water using devices; receiving flow data on a quantity of water used by the first device during a time period required to generate a first water use signature from the first device; comparing a future water use pattern against the first water use signature to identify a flow anomaly with the first device; and providing information regarding the flow anomaly to the person. Identifying anomalies can be useful in numerous ways, including discovering problems that need fixing, reducing waste, and even calculating appropriate irrigation application rates.

The invention provides a system for leak detection of a fluid in a pipe network. The system includes flow meters, and vibration detectors adapted to be attached to a pipe at a location in the pipe network. A processor analyzes signals generated by the flow meters and vibration detectors to identify the presence of one or more leaks in the pipe network. The invention also provides a method for detecting and localizing leaks in a pipeline network, and a device comprising a flow meter integral with a vibration detector for use in the system of the invention.

A method for detecting an anomaly, such as a crack, in a rotor includes measuring the rotational speed and vibration of the rotor. A vibration signal synchronous with the frequency of rotation is filtered from the vibration measurement. A background vibration vector is then subtracted from the synchronous vibration signal to produce a vibration difference signal. The phase and amplitude of the vibration difference signal are measured and evaluated to determine whether an anomaly has developed. An apparatus for performing this method includes vibration and speed sensors coupled to a filter for extracting a signal from the vibration measurement having a frequency synchronous with the rotation of the rotor. A processor is coupled to the filter and the speed sensor and is programmed to perform the processing steps, described above.

A method to identify a water flow anomaly in a system having first and second water using devices to generate baseline data that preferably has water use signatures and corresponding water pressure information regarding the water using devices; comparing the baseline data with actual water usage signatures and corresponding actual water pressure information to identify a flow anomaly with the water using devices; and providing information on the flow anomaly to an individual. It is especially contemplated that baseline data are generated for multiple devices coupled to a common water supply system, with baseline data from two or more water using devices compared against future water use patterns of the same devices. Apparatus to accomplish these tasks is preferably housed in an irrigation controller, which may be advantageously coupled to a flow meter.