Fill-level gauge havig a first and a second operating mode

Abstract

A fill-level gauge for process automation in an industrial or private setting, comprising a control circuit configured to carry out measurement operation of the fill-level gauge alternatively in a first operating mode or a second operating mode, a spurious echo suppression of the second operating mode being different from that of the first operating mode.

Description

[0001] Level measuring device with a first and a second operating mode

[0002] Reference to related applications

[0003] This application claims priority from German patent application No. 10 2023 206 031.0, filed on June 27, 2023, which is incorporated in its entirety by reference into this document.

[0004] Field of the invention

[0005] The present invention relates to level measurement technology. In particular, the present invention relates to a level measuring device for process automation in industrial or private environments, a method for performing a level measurement operation of a level measuring device, a program element, and a computer-readable medium.

[0006] Technical background

[0007] Level measurement technology uses level measuring devices that have antennas that radiate measurement signals toward a product's surface and receive the reflected measurement signals from the product's surface to calculate the level. Examples of such measuring devices include level radar devices.

[0008] The antennas of level gauges often extend into the container and are thus exposed to the container's atmosphere. This can lead to contamination of the antenna, which can negatively impact measurement quality. To clean the level gauge or the container of such buildup, flushing systems can be used, for example, so-called spray balls, which spray the level gauge's antenna with a spray agent, thus removing any buildup.

[0009] The rinsing process can influence the measurement result and lead to measurement inaccuracies or even incorrect measurements.

[0010] Summary

[0011] Against this background, it is an object of the present disclosure to keep the measurement quality at a minimum level even under strongly changing environmental conditions.

[0012] This object is achieved by the features of the independent patent claims. Further developments of the present disclosure emerge from the subclaims and the following description of embodiments.

[0013] A first aspect of the present disclosure relates to a level measuring device configured for process automation in an industrial or private environment. It comprises a control circuit configured to perform a level measuring operation of the level measuring device in either a first operating mode or a second operating mode. The second operating mode, for example, has a different interference echo suppression than the first operating mode. In particular, it can be provided that the different operating modes can be configured by the user. In particular, more than two modes can also be provided.

[0014] The term false echo suppression originates from the field of echo curve analysis. For example, vessel installations cause reflections of the measurement signal, which are visible in the measured echo curve. It is often difficult to distinguish such false echoes from the actual level echo, which can lead to the echo curve being misinterpreted and the resulting incorrect level value being calculated. However, if the location in the echo curve where a false echo is expected is known, it can be suppressed in the echo curve analysis.

[0015] In the second operating mode, the level measuring device has a different (or additional) false echo suppression than in the first operating mode. For example, the first operating mode is the normal level measuring mode, whereas the second operating mode is used when the ambient conditions in the container atmosphere change significantly due to special circumstances. Examples of such special circumstances include the filling of the container or a flushing process with a flushing device, such as a spray ball. During a filling process, especially when filling with splashing, sticky medium, adhesions can occur on the antenna, which, if not detected, can lead to incorrect measurements.This is also the case during a rinsing process, where it can happen that the water film, water jet or spray mist produced by the spray ball or another spray device is identified as the fill level, which results in an incorrect measurement.

[0016] However, if the device knows that a flushing process is being started, the control circuit can identify and suppress an interference echo generated by the spray film of the spray device.

[0017] Likewise, when quickly filling with splashing, sticky medium, it can check whether the antenna is contaminated with deposits and also suppress the associated interference echoes.

[0018] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the second operating mode has a lower measurement accuracy than the first operating mode. Due to this lower measurement accuracy, it is already possible for "smaller" interference echoes to not be detected as echoes at all and thus also not to be incorrectly identified as level echoes. To still achieve good measurement quality, the second operating mode can have a longer measurement time per level measurement than the first operating mode. A shorter measurement time per level measurement can also be provided, since it is expected that the level will change only slightly during cleaning. In particular, an average of several level measurements can be carried out.

[0019] According to a further embodiment of the present disclosure, the second operating mode comprises a false echo suppression of a false echo caused by splashing or dust formation during a rapid filling process.

[0020] According to a further embodiment of the present disclosure, the second operating mode is triggered by an activation command from an external controller to a flushing device or by a start command for a filling process.

[0021] According to a further embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit is configured to detect adhesions on an antenna of the level measuring device and then automatically trigger a cleaning process and switch from the first operating mode to the second operating mode.

[0022] According to a further embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit is configured to determine, after termination of the second operating mode and switching to the first operating mode, whether adhesions are still present on the antenna.

[0023] According to a further embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit is configured to read the cleaning process again if it has determined that there are still adhesions on the antenna.

[0024] A further aspect of the present disclosure relates to a method for performing a level measurement operation of a level measuring device in either a first operating mode or a second operating mode, in which the level measurement operation is initially performed in the first operating mode. If a control command is received from an external controller, a switchover from the first operating mode to the second operating mode occurs. The level measurement operation then continues in the second operating mode, wherein the second operating mode has a different interference echo suppression than the first operating mode. According to a further embodiment of the present disclosure, the control command is an activation command to a flushing device or a start command for a filling process.

[0025] Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to a program element that, when executed on a control circuit of a level measuring device, instructs the level measuring device to perform the method steps described above and below.

[0026] Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to a computer-readable medium on which a program element described above is stored.

[0027] The term "process automation in industrial environments" can be understood as a branch of technology that includes measures for operating machines and systems without human intervention. One goal of process automation is to automate the interaction of individual components of a plant in the chemical, food, pharmaceutical, petroleum, paper, cement, shipping, or mining industries. A variety of sensors can be used for this purpose, which are specifically adapted to the specific requirements of the process industry, such as mechanical stability, insensitivity to contamination, extreme temperatures, and extreme pressures. Measured values ​​from these sensors are usually transmitted to a control room, where process parameters such as fill level, limit level, flow rate, pressure, or density are monitored, and settings for the entire plant can be changed manually or automatically.

[0028] A sub-area of ​​process automation in the industrial environment concerns the logistics automation of plants and the logistics automation of supply chains. With the help of distance and angle sensors, processes inside or outside a building, or within a single logistics facility, are automated in the field of logistics automation. Typical applications for logistics automation systems include baggage and freight handling at airports, traffic monitoring (toll systems), retail, parcel distribution, and building security (access control). What the aforementioned examples have in common is that the respective application requires presence detection in combination with precise measurement of the size and location of an object.For this purpose, sensors based on optical measuring methods using lasers, LEDs, 2D cameras or 3D cameras that measure distances according to the time of flight (ToF) principle can be used.

[0029] Another sub-area of ​​process automation in the industrial environment concerns factory-to-production automation. Applications for this can be found in a wide variety of industries, such as automotive manufacturing, food production, the pharmaceutical industry, and packaging in general. The goal of factory automation is to automate the production of goods using machines, production lines, and / or robots, i.e., to run the process without human intervention. The sensors used here and the specific requirements regarding measurement accuracy for detecting the position and size of an object are comparable to those in the previous example of logistics automation.

[0030] The terms used in the claims should be construed to give them the broadest possible reasonable interpretation consistent with the foregoing description. For example, the use of the article "a" or "the" in introducing an element should not be construed to exclude a plurality of elements. Likewise, the mention of "or" should be construed to include a plurality of elements, so that the mention of "A or B" does not exclude "A and B" unless it is clear from the context or the preceding description that only one of A and B is intended.Furthermore, the phrase "at least one of A, B, and C" should be understood as one or more elements from a group of elements consisting of A, B, and C, and should not be interpreted as requiring at least one of each of the listed elements A, B, and C, regardless of whether A, B, and C are related as categories or otherwise. Furthermore, reference to "A, B, and / or C" or "at least one of A, B, or C" should be interpreted to include each individual unit of the listed elements, e.g., A, each subset of the listed elements, e.g., A and B, or the entire list of elements A, B, and C. Further embodiments of the present disclosure are described below. Where the same reference numerals are used in the following description of the figures, they denote the same or similar elements. The representations in the figures are schematic and not to scale.

[0031] Short description of the characters

[0032] Fig. 1 shows a level measuring arrangement according to an embodiment in a first state.

[0033] Fig. 2 shows the level measuring arrangement of Fig. 1 in a second operating state.

[0034] Fig. 3 shows a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0035] Detailed description of embodiments

[0036] Fig. 1 shows a level measurement system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which is in a first operating mode. The level measurement system comprises a level measuring device 100 installed on a container 105, wherein the antenna of the level measuring device 100 extends into the container and is thus exposed to the container atmosphere. A liquid filling material 106 is located in the container 105, the level of which is measured contactlessly.

[0037] Also located in the container is a rinsing device 103, for example in the form of a rinsing ball.

[0038] The flushing ball 103 can eject flushing fluid, which is used to clean the container and, in particular, the level radar antenna. In particular, the flushing ball can be used for sterilization. In this context, this is referred to as SIP (Sterilization in Process). The level measuring device 100 is connected wired or wirelessly to an external controller 102 and a display device 104. During normal operation, which is shown in Fig. 1, the level measuring device operates in the first operating mode. The temperature in the container 105 also corresponds to the temperature during normal operation, for example, 80 degrees Celsius.

[0039] Fig. 2 shows the measuring system of Fig. 1, but this time at an elevated temperature of, for example, 130 degrees Celsius. The rinsing operation by the rinsing device 103 is running and the antenna of the level measuring device 100 is being cleaned. To start the rinsing operation, a corresponding command is sent from the external controller 102 to the spray cone. This command can be sent simultaneously to the level measuring device, and in particular to the control circuit 101 of the level measuring device, which then switches from the first operating mode to the second operating mode. It can also be provided that the controller 102 sends two different commands: the first command to the spray device 103 to start the spraying process and the second command to the control circuit 101 to switch from the first operating mode to the second operating mode.

[0040] During flushing operation, shown in Fig. 2, altered environmental conditions prevail (increased humidity and elevated temperature). Because the level gauge has been switched to the second operating mode, it can reliably determine the level even under these conditions. In particular, the second operating mode is less sensitive to environmental influences.

[0041] For example, increased noise suppression can be used during the cleaning process, enabling level measurement in addition to normal operation.

[0042] Once the spraying process is complete, the level gauge can be configured to detect this (since the echo curve changes upon completion of the spraying process) and automatically switch back to the first operating mode. If, in the first operating mode, it detects that the antenna still has significant buildup, making measurement difficult or even impossible, the device determines that it has not been sufficiently cleaned and restarts the spraying process. At the same time, shortly before or after, it switches back from the first operating mode to the second operating mode.

[0043] Adhesions can be detected in particular by detecting an echo close to the antenna in the echo curve.

[0044] Fig. 3 shows a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention. In step 301, the level measuring device switches to the first operating mode and measures the level in step 302. In step 303, a flushing process is started, and the measuring device switches to the second operating mode.

[0045] In step 304, the fill level is calculated in the second operating mode. In step 305, the flushing process is stopped, and in step 306, after switching back to the first operating mode, the measuring device determines that there are still deposits on the antenna. The method then returns to step 302 and the flushing process is restarted.

Claims

Patent claims 1. A level measuring device (100) configured for process automation in an industrial or private environment, comprising: a control circuit (101) configured to perform a level measuring operation of the level measuring device in either a first operating mode or a second operating mode; wherein the second operating mode has a different interference echo suppression than the first operating mode.

2. Level measuring device (100) according to claim 1, wherein the second operating mode has a lower measuring accuracy than the first operating mode.

3. Level measuring device (100) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second operating mode has a higher measuring time per level measurement or a higher averaging of successive level measurements than the first operating mode.

4. Level measuring device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the first operating mode comprises a false echo suppression of a false echo caused by a spray film from a spray ball.

5. Level measuring device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the second operating mode comprises a false echo suppression of a false echo caused by splashing or dust formation during a rapid filling process.

6. Level measuring device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the second operating mode is triggered by an activation command from an external controller (102) to a flushing device (103) or by a start command for a filling process.

7. Level measuring device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the control circuit (101) is configured to detect adhesions on an antenna (104) of the level measuring device and then to trigger a cleaning process and to switch from the first operating mode to the second operating mode.

8. Level measuring device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the control circuit (101) is configured to determine, after termination of the second operating mode and switching to the first operating mode, whether adhesions are still present on the antenna.

9. Level measuring device (100) according to claim 8, wherein the control circuit (101) is configured to trigger the cleaning process again if it has determined that there are still deposits on the antenna.

10. A method for performing a level measurement operation of a level measuring device in either a first operating mode or a second operating mode, comprising the steps: Carrying out the level measurement operation in the first operating mode; Receiving a control command from an external controller (102); Carrying out the level measurement operation in the second operating mode; wherein the second operating mode has a different interference echo suppression than the first operating mode.

11. Method according to claim 10, wherein the control command is an activation command to a flushing device (103) or a start command for a filling process.

12. A program element which, when executed on a control circuit (101) of a level measuring device (100), instructs the level measuring device to perform the following steps: Carrying out the level measurement operation in the first operating mode; Receiving a control command from an external controller (102); Performing the level measurement operation in the second operating mode; wherein the second operating mode has a different interference echo suppression than the first operating mode.

13. A computer-readable medium on which a program element according to claim 12 is stored.

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