Microwave material contourgraph

Abstract

The utility model discloses a microwave material contourgraph. The microwave material contourgraph comprises a host and at least one measuring module, the host is in communication connection with the measurement module, and the measurement module comprises a support structure and a plurality of microwave measurement units; the plurality of microwave measurement units are arranged on the support structure in an array and are at least used for measuring the contour of a common charge level. According to the microwave material contourgraph provided by the utility model, the microwave measuring units are arranged on the bracket structure in the array to measure the contour of the common material surface, and microwaves can penetrate through a dust environment to detect the material, so that the effective detection of the contour of the material is realized; therefore, the technical problem that an existing material contourgraph adopting the laser and camera principle is difficult to effectively detect the material contours is solved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of material profilers, in particular to a microwave material profiler. Background Art

[0002] Material profilers under existing technologies often use laser or camera principles to scan and detect the material contours in the silo. However, in some contour detection scenarios involving solid materials, there is a lot of dust. For example, solid materials will generate a large amount of dust during the loading and unloading process. These dusts cause the laser signal to attenuate sharply, which makes it difficult for existing material profilers using laser or camera principles to effectively detect the material contour. Utility Model Content

[0003] The purpose of the utility model is to overcome the shortcomings and defects of the prior art and to provide a microwave material profiler that can detect material contours in dusty scenes. Compared with the scanning detection of material contours using laser or camera principles, the microwaves of the microwave material profiler of the present application can penetrate the dusty environment to detect materials, thereby achieving effective detection of material contours.

[0004] A microwave material profiler comprises a host and at least one measuring module; the host is communicatively connected to the measuring module, the measuring module comprises a support structure and a plurality of microwave measuring units; the plurality of microwave measuring units are arranged in an array on the support structure, and are at least used to measure the profile of a common material surface.

[0005] The microwave measuring units are connected to the host computer in a joint communication manner by establishing at least one public communication network; each microwave measuring unit is used at least to obtain the material level information at the corresponding measuring point on the public material surface, and the host computer integrates the material level information at the corresponding measuring point uploaded by each microwave measuring unit through the corresponding public communication network to form material surface contour data and transmits it to the outside.

[0006] Each microwave measuring unit includes a microstrip antenna, which is arranged on a circuit board and transmits and receives microwave signals.

[0007] Among them, each microwave measurement unit includes a microwave measurement structure and an antenna structure, and the antenna structure adopts at least one of a horn antenna and a lens antenna; each microwave measurement structure is a microwave measurement chip or a microwave transmitting and receiving module, and outputs a modulated microwave signal by at least continuous wave modulation or pulse modulation.

[0008] Wherein, the multiple microwave measurement units on each support structure are distributed at least in a linear array.

[0009] The plurality of microwave measuring units on each support structure are arranged equidistantly or unequally.

[0010] The microwave measuring units on each support structure have the same orientation and angle, or have different orientations and / or angles.

[0011] Each microwave measuring unit is connected to the support structure via an adjustment mechanism for adjusting the orientation and / or angle of the microwave measuring unit.

[0012] Each measuring module is surrounded by a cover, and the cover part within the measuring range of the multiple microwave measuring units in each measuring module is made of wave-transmitting material. The cover is at least used to achieve fixed installation of the corresponding measuring module.

[0013] Wherein, the microwave material profiler comprises a cover angle adjustment mechanism for adjusting the installation angle of the cover, which is used to adjust the direction and angle of the microwave measurement unit.

[0014] When a plurality of measurement modules work together, all measurement modules share one host or at least some measurement modules share one host.

[0015] The host computer is connected to the measuring module by at least one communication mode; the communication mode includes one of 485 communication, Modbus communication, network port communication and wireless communication.

[0016] Among them, a driving device is provided; the driving device is communicatively connected to the host, and is at least used to drive the support structure and / or the cover angle adjustment mechanism to move under the control logic of the host, so that the host can obtain line scan data of multiple dimensions based on the control logic and the orientation and angle of each microwave measurement unit, and then integrate all the line scan data to form material surface contour data.

[0017] The host computer controls the scanning speed or number of scanning points of the microwave material profiler by adjusting the control logic of the driving device.

[0018] The microwave material profiler of the utility model adopts microwave measuring units arranged in an array on a bracket structure to measure the profile of a common material surface. Since microwaves can penetrate dusty environments to detect materials, effective detection of material profiles can be achieved, thereby solving the technical problem that existing material profilers using laser and camera principles are difficult to effectively detect material profiles. At the same time, by adjusting the direction and angle of the microwave measuring units, the scanning points can be increased and the measurement resolution can be improved to adapt to different scenarios and improve the measurement accuracy of the material surface profile. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of a microwave material profiler according to an embodiment of the present utility model.

[0020] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a microwave material profiler according to an embodiment of the utility model after the measuring module is connected to a driving device.

[0021] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the microwave material profiler of an embodiment of the utility model after the measuring module is connected to the cover body and the driving device.

[0022] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of a microwave material profiler according to an embodiment of the utility model in which multiple measuring modules are arranged relatively tilted to perform material surface profile scanning measurement. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] The present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not used to limit the present invention.

[0024] like Figure 1 , Figure 2 as well as Figure 3 As shown, a microwave material profiler according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises a host 1 and at least one measuring module 2; the host is communicatively connected with the measuring module, and the measuring module comprises a support structure 20 and a plurality of microwave measuring units 21 ( Figure 1 4 are shown in the figure, but the actual installation is not limited to this number, and can be more or less, and is not limited to the situations shown in the drawings of the specification); multiple microwave measurement units 21 are arranged in an array on the support structure 20, and are at least used to measure the contour of a common material surface 200.

[0025] Among them, the microwave measurement unit is connected to the host 1 in a joint communication manner by establishing at least one public communication network; each microwave measurement unit is at least used to obtain the level information at the corresponding measurement point on the common material surface 200, and the host 1 integrates the level information of the corresponding measurement point uploaded by each microwave measurement unit through the corresponding public communication network to form material surface contour data and transmits it to the outside.

[0026] The material level information may include the distance between the microwave measuring unit and the measuring point at the corresponding measuring point on the common material surface, the curve information of the material surface at the corresponding measuring point on the common material surface, and other parameter information that can characterize the material surface profile information. The common material surface is the material surface of the material in the preset container 100, and the container may be a silo, a carriage or other similar material storage device, and the public communication network may be a wireless network or a wired network, and may be any available communication network such as a local area network or a wide area network.

[0027] In some embodiments, the host 1 can be a module with computing or data processing functions such as a main control chip, an ARM board, or a computer, and has a data processing unit, a data storage unit, and a communication unit inside. The data processing unit includes a hardware carrier and a software data processing program, which is used to process the level information at the corresponding measuring points on the common material surface measured by each microwave measurement unit, integrate it to form material surface contour data, and transmit the integrated material surface contour data through the communication unit to an external receiving device (such as a monitoring device) for receiving, so as to realize real-time and / or remote monitoring and presentation of the contour changes of the material surface by the external receiving device.

[0028] The microwave material profiler of the utility model is as follows: Figure 1 , Figure 2 as well as Figure 3 As shown, multiple microwave measuring units are arranged in an array on a support structure to measure the contour of a common material surface. Since microwaves can penetrate dust and smoke environments to detect materials, effective detection of material contours is achieved, thereby solving the technical problem that existing material contour meters using laser and camera principles are difficult to achieve effective detection of material contours.

[0029] In some embodiments, each microwave measurement unit comprises a microstrip antenna, which is arranged on a circuit board and is used to transmit and receive microwave signals. The plurality of microwave measurement units are at least distributed in a linear array, thus forming an array antenna. In other embodiments, Figure 1 , Figure 2 as well as Figure 3 As shown, each microwave measurement unit includes a microwave measurement structure 211 and an antenna structure 212, wherein the microwave measurement mechanism is used to output a microwave signal for material surface measurement, and the antenna is used to transmit the microwave signal along a predetermined angle to measure the corresponding measurement point of the material surface. In some embodiments, the microwave measurement structure outputs a modulated microwave signal by at least continuous wave modulation or pulse modulation. In some embodiments, the antenna structure may be at least one of a horn antenna and a lens antenna, or other available antennas; in some embodiments, each microwave measurement structure is a microwave measurement chip or a microwave transmitting and receiving module, or other available microwave measurement modules, and the present application does not limit this.

[0030] In some embodiments, such as Figure 1 , Figure 2 as well as Figure 3As shown, the multiple microwave measurement units on each support structure are at least distributed in a linear array, and the multiple microwave measurement units on each support structure are arranged equidistantly or non-equidistantly. The multiple microwave measurement units on each support structure form a linear array, so that the measurement module can perform multi-point measurement on multiple measurement points within the contour range of the common material surface, thereby using the multi-point measurement data to obtain more comprehensive and accurate material surface contour data, so as to ensure that the measured material surface contour data meets the actual requirements.

[0031] In some embodiments, the microwave measuring units 21 on each support structure 20 have the same orientation and angle, or may have different orientations and / or angles. The orientations and / or angles of the multiple microwave measuring units of the measuring module in the present application can be determined according to the size of the area of ​​the material surface to be measured and the position of the measuring point, in the hope of obtaining data from multiple measuring points of the material surface to obtain more accurate data on the profile of the material surface. To this end, it is necessary to adjust the orientation and / or angle of the microwave measuring unit according to the position of the microwave material profiler or the measuring point or the size of the material surface to be measured. Therefore, in the present application, the microwave measuring units on each support structure have the same orientation and angle, or may have different orientations and / or angles. More preferably, the orientation and / or angle of each microwave measuring unit can be adjusted, not fixed, and can be adjusted by a corresponding adjustment mechanism 213 that can change the orientation and / or angle of the microwave measuring unit. The adjustment mechanism 213 can be a manual adjustment mechanism or an automatic adjustment mechanism, or an adjustment mechanism with both manual and automatic adjustment modes.

[0032] Based on the provision of a microwave measurement unit, in some embodiments, such as Figure 1 , Figure 2 as well as Figure 3 As shown, each microwave measurement unit is connected to the support structure through an adjustment mechanism 213 for adjusting the direction and / or angle of the microwave measurement unit, that is, the microwave measurement unit is installed on the adjustment mechanism, and the adjustment mechanism is installed on the support structure. The adjustment mechanism can realize the adjustment of the direction and / or angle of each microwave measurement unit, such as through horizontal rotation, up and down rotation or pitching movement and other motion modes to realize the adjustment of the direction and / or angle of each microwave measurement unit in three-dimensional space, which can be realized by using an available mechanism with multiple motion modes. In some embodiments, see Figure 3 As shown, each measuring module 2 can be surrounded by a cover 22. The cover part within the measuring range of the multiple microwave measuring units 21 in each measuring module 2 is made of wave-transparent material. The cover is at least used to achieve the fixed installation of the corresponding measuring module, fixed to the bracket structure 20, and form a modular overall structure, which can be directly installed and used as a measuring device when in use.

[0033] The measuring module is provided with a cover, which can protect the measuring module, prevent damage to the measuring module caused by external impact or other external forces, and facilitate the installation and fixation of the measuring module. In order not to affect the measurement of the measuring module, the emission or transmission of the microwave signal, the cover part within the measuring range of multiple microwave measuring units in each measuring module is made of wave-transparent material to ensure that the transmission of the measured signal is not affected or interfered by the cover. The cover can be made of plastic material or metal material or other available materials, and can be designed to conform to the shape of the measuring module, wrapped around the outside of the measuring module to form protection, and can have a fixed installation structure that is convenient for the installation and fixation of the measuring module. The shape can be set according to the situation. Through the setting of the cover, a measuring module can be formed into an integral structure, which is convenient for installation and fixation.

[0034] In some embodiments, the microwave material profiler may further include a cover angle adjustment mechanism (not shown) for adjusting the cover installation angle, which may be provided on the cover to connect the cover to its installation structure. During installation, the orientation and angle of the microwave measuring unit may be adjusted by adjusting the installation angle of the cover, thereby adjusting the orientation and / or angle of the microwave measuring unit according to the position of the microwave material profiler or the measuring point or the size of the material surface to be measured.

[0035] In the present application, when used for material measurement, the measuring module 2 is one or more, and the number can be determined according to the size of the common material surface to be measured. When there are more than one measuring modules working together, all measuring modules share one host. By sharing the host, one host can be used to process the data of multiple measuring modules, and the contour data of the material surface can be integrated and transmitted to the outside, so that the microwave material profiler has a high degree of integration, better layout, simpler data processing algorithm, and easier data processing. Some measuring modules 2 can also share one host. If the measuring modules 2 are more than two, every two measuring modules 2 can be arranged in an eight-shaped shape, such as Figure 4 As shown, two rows of measurement structures are formed, and each row of measurement structures may include a plurality of measurement modules 2, which may be arranged at intervals to scan and measure the material surface, or may be installed in other ways, not limited to Figure 4 The embodiment shown.

[0036] Among them, the host 1 in the present application uses at least one communication mode to establish a communication connection with the measurement module 2; optionally, the communication mode includes at least one of 485 communication, Modbus communication, network port communication, and wireless communication. If other available communication modes are used, they are not limited to this, and can be wired communication or wireless communication. The specific selection is determined according to the situation, such as Figure 1 , Figure 2 as well as Figure 3 As shown, a wired communication cable 23 can be used to connect to the host 1 for communication.

[0037] In some embodiments, see Figure 2 , Figure 3 As shown, further, a driving device 3 is also provided; the driving device can be communicatively connected with the host 1, and is at least used to drive the support structure 20 or the cover body angle adjustment mechanism to move under the control logic of the host 1, so that the host can obtain line scan data of multiple dimensions based on the control logic and the orientation and / or angle of each microwave measurement unit, and then integrate all the line scan data to form material surface contour data, and the driving device 3 is connected with the support structure and / or the cover body angle adjustment mechanism to drive the support structure and / or the cover body angle adjustment mechanism to rotate, so that the measuring module of the microwave measurement profiler rotates synchronously, thereby adjusting the orientation and angle of the microwave measurement unit of the measuring module, and obtaining line scan data of multiple dimensions through the control logic of the host and the orientation and / or angle of each microwave measurement unit.

[0038] In some embodiments, the driving device includes a driving motor, whose output shaft can be directly connected to the support structure and / or the cover body angle adjustment mechanism, or connected to the support structure and / or the cover body angle adjustment mechanism through a coupling, and can drive the support structure and / or the cover body angle adjustment mechanism and the corresponding microwave measurement unit when working, and move at a preset speed or trajectory in three-dimensional space according to the control logic of the host. The microwave measurement unit scans the material surface at multiple predetermined positions or ranges of the material surface, obtains multiple-dimensional line scan data of the material surface and transmits them to the host, which obtains multiple-dimensional line scan data and integrates all the received line scan data to form material surface contour data.

[0039] In some embodiments, the host 1 may be non-rotating and in a fixed dynamic state. The support structure and the microwave measurement unit thereon are driven by the driving device 3 to rotate to perform scanning measurement of the material surface profile. In this case, the host and the measurement module are installed and arranged separately.

[0040] In some implementation schemes, the host and the support structure and the microwave measurement unit thereon can also rotate synchronously to perform scanning measurement of the material surface profile. In this case, the host can be installed on the support structure or fixed to the support structure through a connector.

[0041] In some embodiments, the host 1 can control the scanning speed or scanning points of the microwave material profiler by adjusting the control logic of the driving device 3. When the microwave material profiler is used to scan and measure the material surface, the scanning speed and scanning angle or number of points of the profiler can be controlled by controlling the rotation speed of the driving device, so as to achieve the desired scanning measurement effect.

[0042] From the above description, it can be seen that the microwave material profiler of the utility model, after adopting microwave measuring units arranged in an array on a bracket structure to form an integral measuring module, can realize multi-angle rotation for scanning measurement or adopt multiple measuring modules for synchronous measurement when measuring the contour of a common material surface. Moreover, since microwaves can penetrate dusty environments to detect materials, effective detection of material contours can be achieved, thereby solving the technical problem that the existing material profilers using laser and camera principles are difficult to achieve effective detection of material contours. At the same time, by adjusting the direction and angle of the microwave measuring unit, the scanning points can be increased and the measurement resolution can be improved to adapt to different scenarios and improve the measurement accuracy of the material surface contour.

[0043] The above shows and describes the basic principle and main features of the utility model and the advantages of the utility model. For those skilled in the art, it is obvious that the utility model is not limited to the details of the above exemplary embodiments, and the utility model can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or basic features of the utility model.

[0044] Therefore, no matter from which point of view, the embodiments should be regarded as illustrative and non-restrictive, and the scope of the present invention is limited by the appended claims rather than the above description, and it is intended that all changes falling within the meaning and scope of the equivalent elements of the claims are included in the present invention.

[0045] In addition, it should be understood that although the present specification is described according to implementation modes, not every implementation mode contains only one independent technical solution. This description of the specification is only for the sake of clarity. Those skilled in the art should regard the specification as a whole. The technical solutions in each embodiment may also be appropriately combined to form other implementation modes that can be understood by those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. Microwave material profiler, characterized in that: It includes a host and at least one measuring module; the host is communicatively connected with the measuring module, and the measuring module includes a support structure and a plurality of microwave measuring units; the plurality of microwave measuring units are arranged in an array on the support structure and are at least used to measure the contour of a common material surface.

2. The microwave material profiler according to claim 1, characterized in that: The microwave measurement unit is connected to the host computer in a joint communication manner by establishing at least one public communication network.

3. The microwave material profiler according to claim 1, characterized in that: Each microwave measuring unit includes a microstrip antenna, which is arranged on a circuit board and transmits and receives microwave signals.

4. The microwave material profiler according to claim 1, characterized in that: Each microwave measurement unit includes a microwave measurement structure and an antenna structure, and the antenna structure adopts at least one of a horn antenna and a lens antenna; each microwave measurement structure is a microwave measurement chip or a microwave transmitting and receiving module, and outputs a modulated microwave signal by at least continuous wave modulation or pulse modulation.

5. The microwave material profiler according to claim 1, characterized in that: The multiple microwave measurement units on each support structure are distributed at least in a linear array.

6. The microwave material profiler according to claim 1, characterized in that: The multiple microwave measurement units on each support structure are arranged with equal or non-equal distances.

7. The microwave material profiler according to claim 1, characterized in that: The microwave measuring units on each support structure have the same orientation and angle, or have different orientations and / or angles.

8. The microwave material profiler according to claim 1, characterized in that: Each microwave measuring unit is connected to the support structure via an adjustment mechanism for adjusting the orientation and / or angle of the microwave measuring unit.

9. The microwave material profiler according to claim 1, characterized in that: Each measuring module is surrounded by a cover, and the cover part within the measuring range of the multiple microwave measuring units in each measuring module is made of wave-transmitting material. The cover is at least used to achieve fixed installation of the corresponding measuring module.

10. The microwave material profiler according to claim 9, characterized in that: A cover angle adjustment mechanism for adjusting the installation angle of the cover is included, and is used to adjust the direction and angle of the microwave measurement unit.

11. The microwave material profiler according to claim 1, characterized in that: When a plurality of measurement modules work together, all measurement modules share one host or at least some measurement modules share one host.

12. The microwave material profiler according to claim 1, characterized in that: The host computer is connected to the measuring module by at least one communication mode; the communication mode includes at least one of 485 communication, Modbus communication, network port communication and wireless communication.

13. The microwave material profiler according to claim 10, characterized in that: It includes a driving device; the driving device is communicatively connected with the host and is at least used to drive the support structure and / or the cover body angle adjustment mechanism to move.

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