Materials testing system for generating static and dynamic diagnostic information

Abstract

The disclosed exemplary materials testing system 100 includes a test fixture 102, such as a general-purpose testing machine, configured to determine at least one mechanical property of a test specimen; and a processor configured to generate, in response to a request for a machine-readable code 302, such as a QR code, by encoding static information about the materials testing system 100 and dynamic information representative of a state of the materials testing system 100, and output the machine-readable code 302 on a display 224 of the materials testing system 100 so that a service engineer can directly read the code 302 on the display 224 of the materials testing system 100 when servicing the materials testing system 100 in the field. The dynamic information includes at least one of environmental information measured at the test fixture, security information about the materials testing system, logging data at the materials testing system, load string information about load string equipment installed in the test fixture, motor voltage measured at the test fixture, duty cycle of the test fixture, or cumulative distance traveled by one or more components of the test fixture.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] [Related Applications] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 424,718, filed November 11, 2022, entitled "MATERIAL TEST SYSTEMS FOR GENERATING STATIC AND DYNAMIC DIAGNOSTIC INFORMATION," the entire contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] This disclosure relates generally to mechanical testing, and more particularly to materials testing systems for generating static and dynamic diagnostic information. [Background technology]

[0003] General-purpose testing machines are used to perform mechanical tests, such as compressive strength tests or tensile strength tests, on materials or components. When errors or problems occur with such testing machines, users or owners often seek assistance from the machine manufacturer. To this end, testing machine manufacturers may offer support services, including telephone-based support and / or on-site visits by trained technicians. Summary of the Invention

[0004] A materials testing system for generating static and dynamic diagnostic information is disclosed, the materials testing system being generally illustrated by and generally described with reference to at least one of the figures, and more fully set forth in the claims.

[0005] These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present disclosure will be better understood when the following detailed description is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters represent like parts throughout. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0006] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary testing apparatus for performing mechanical property testing, according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0007] [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the test apparatus of FIG. 1.

[0008] [Figure 3] FIG. 1 illustrates an example user interface that may be displayed by a materials testing system that includes machine-readable code accessible to a computing device.

[0009] [Figure 4] 3 is a flowchart representing example machine-readable instructions that may be executed by the example materials testing system of FIG. 1 and / or FIG. 2 to generate and output machine-readable code containing static and / or dynamic information about the materials testing system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] The drawings are not necessarily to scale. Where appropriate, like or identical reference numbers are used to refer to like or identical components.

[0011] When conventional mechanical testing equipment is not operating as desired, an operator (or other personnel associated with the testing equipment) may contact the manufacturer or distributor of the testing equipment to attempt to troubleshoot the operational problem. To troubleshoot conventional testing systems, contact between a service technician and the testing equipment operator often requires multiple separate contacts, such as phone calls, emails, text chats, and / or other steps, to provide the service technician with the necessary information to resolve the problem to the operator's satisfaction. Such multiple steps can cause frustration for the operator and / or reduce the uptime of the testing equipment for performing mechanical tests. Furthermore, if the problem cannot be resolved by a remote service technician, a service visit by the service technician may be required, which increases service costs for the testing equipment owner and / or support service provider.

[0012] The disclosed exemplary systems and methods improve the ability of test system owners or operators to diagnose common problems encountered with materials testing systems at a lower cost and / or in less time. In some examples, a test system user uses a portable computing device (e.g., a smartphone, tablet computer, etc.) to access static and dynamic information from the materials testing system. The static information can include substantially unchanging information about the test system, such as the materials testing system model number, materials testing system serial number, system identifier (e.g., a combination of the materials testing system model number and serial number), materials testing system type, materials testing system category, materials testing system description, and / or any other substantially unchanging information about the materials testing system. Dynamic information can include information representative of the state of the materials testing system, such as error codes generated in the materials testing system (e.g., codes detected by the system), error messages in the materials testing system (e.g., messages generated in response to problematic user behavior), environmental information measured in the materials testing system, security information about the materials testing system, logged data in the materials testing system, load string information about load string equipment installed in the materials testing system, software versions in the materials testing system, diagnostic information detected in the materials testing system, motor voltages measured in the materials testing system, the duty cycle of the materials testing system, and / or cumulative distance traveled by one or more components of the materials testing system, etc. Such static and / or dynamic information can be used for faster and / or easier troubleshooting of the materials testing system.

[0013] An exemplary materials testing system is disclosed that includes a test fixture configured to determine at least one mechanical property of a test specimen, and a processor configured to generate a machine-readable code by encoding static information about the materials testing system and dynamic information representative of a state of the materials testing system in response to a request for the machine-readable code, and output the machine-readable code, where the dynamic information includes at least one of environmental information measured at the test fixture, security information about the materials testing system, logging data at the materials testing system, load string information about load string equipment installed in the test fixture, motor voltage measured at the test fixture, duty cycle of the test fixture, or cumulative distance traveled by one or more components of the test fixture.

[0014] In some example materials testing systems, the static information includes at least one of a materials testing system model number, a materials testing system serial number, a materials testing system identifier, or a materials testing system description. In some example materials testing systems, the dynamic information further includes at least one of an error code generated in the materials testing system, logged data in the materials testing system, a software version in the materials testing system, or diagnostic information detected in the materials testing system. In some example materials testing systems, the test fixture includes at least one of a crosshead, an actuator, or material fixturing. In some example materials testing systems, the machine-readable code includes a QR code or a barcode.

[0015] An exemplary disclosed method for providing information from a materials testing system includes, in response to a request for a machine-readable code, generating a machine-readable code using a processor of the materials testing system by encoding static information about the materials testing system and dynamic information representative of a state of the materials testing system, and outputting the machine-readable code using the materials testing system, where the dynamic information includes at least one of environmental information measured at a test fixture, security information about the materials testing system, logging data at the materials testing system, load string information about load string equipment installed in the test fixture, motor voltage measured at the test fixture, duty cycle of the test fixture, or cumulative distance traveled by one or more components of the test fixture.

[0016] In some example methods, the outputting includes displaying the machine-readable code on a display. In some example methods, the outputting includes transmitting the machine-readable code via at least one of RFID, near field communication (NFC) transmission, proximity communication, or ultrasonic communication.

[0017] In some example methods, the static information includes at least one of a model number of the materials testing system, a serial number of the materials testing system, an identifier of the materials testing system, or a description of the materials testing system. In some example methods, the dynamic information further includes at least one of an error code generated in the materials testing system, a software version in the materials testing system, or diagnostic information detected in the materials testing system.

[0018] 1 illustrates an exemplary materials testing system 100 for performing mechanical property testing. The exemplary materials testing system 100 may be, for example, a general-purpose testing system capable of performing static mechanical tests. The materials testing system 100 may perform, for example, compressive strength tests, tensile strength tests, shear strength tests, flexural strength tests, flexural strength tests, tear strength tests, peel strength tests (e.g., adhesive bond strength), and / or any other compressive, tensile, torsional, thermal, and / or impact tests. Additionally or alternatively, the materials testing system 100 may perform dynamic tests.

[0019] The example materials testing system 100 includes a test fixture 102 and a computing device 104 communicatively coupled to the test fixture 102. The test fixture 102 applies a load to a material under test 106 and measures a mechanical property of the test, such as a displacement of the material under test 106 and / or a force applied to the material under test 106.

[0020] The example computing device 104 may be used to configure the test fixture 102, control the test fixture 102, and / or receive measurement results from the test fixture 102 for processing, displaying, reporting, and / or any other desired purpose.

[0021] Figure 2 is a block diagram of an example computing system 200 that can be used to implement the materials testing system 100 of Figure 1. The example materials testing system 100 of Figure 2 includes a test fixture 102 and a computing device 104. The example computing device 104 can be a general-purpose computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a mobile device, a server, an all-in-one computer, and / or any other type of computing device.

[0022] The example computing system 200 of FIG. 2 includes a processor 202. The example processor 202 may be any general-purpose central processing unit (CPU) from any manufacturer. In some other examples, the processor 202 may include one or more special-purpose processing units, such as a RISC processor with an ARM core, a graphics processing unit, a digital signal processor, and / or a system-on-chip (SoC). The processor 202 executes machine-readable instructions 204, which may be stored locally in the processor (e.g., an internal cache or SoC), random access memory 206 (or other volatile memory), read-only memory 208 (or other non-volatile memory, such as flash memory), and / or a mass storage device 210. The example mass storage device 210 may be a hard drive, a solid-state storage drive, a hybrid drive, a RAID array, and / or any other mass data storage device.

[0023] The bus 212 allows communication between the processor 202 , the RAM 206 , the ROM 208 , the mass storage device 210 , the network interface 214 , and / or the input / output interface 216 .

[0024] The example network interface 214 includes hardware, firmware, and / or software that connects the computing system 200 to a communications network 218, such as the Internet. For example, the network interface 214 may include IEEE 802.X compliant wireless and / or wired communications hardware for transmitting and / or receiving communications.

[0025] 2 includes hardware, firmware, and / or software that couples one or more input / output devices 220 to the processor 202 to provide input to and / or output from the processor 202. For example, the I / O interface 216 may include a graphics processing unit for interfacing with a display device, a Universal Serial Bus port for interfacing with one or more USB-compliant devices, FireWire, Fieldbus, and / or any other type of interface. The example materials testing system 100 includes a display device 224 (e.g., an LCD screen) coupled to the I / O interface 216. Other example I / O device(s) 220 may include a keyboard, keypad, mouse, trackball, pointing device, microphone, audio speaker, display device, optical media drive, multi-touch touchscreen, gesture recognition interface, magnetic media drive, and / or any other type of input and / or output device.

[0026] The exemplary computing system 200 can access non-transitory machine-readable medium 222 via I / O interface 216 and / or I / O device(s) 220. Examples of machine-readable medium 222 in Figure 2 include optical disks (e.g., compact discs (CDs), digital versatile / video discs (DVDs), Blu-ray® discs, etc.), magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks), portable storage media (e.g., portable flash drives, secure digital (SD) cards, etc.), and / or any other type of removable and / or attached machine-readable medium.

[0027] The example materials testing system 100 of Figure 1 further includes a test fixture 102 coupled to a computing system 200. In the example of Figure 2, the test fixture 102 is coupled to a computing device via an I / O interface 216, such as a USB port, a Thunderbolt port, a FireWire (IEEE 1394) port, and / or any other type of serial or parallel data port. In some other examples, the test fixture 102 is coupled to a network interface 214 via a wired or wireless connection, either directly or via a network 218.

[0028] 2 includes a frame 228, a load cell 230, a displacement transducer 232, a cross member loader 234, a material fixture 236, a controller 238, and a sensor(s) 240. The test fixture 102 may include any number of other transducers based on the type(s) of mechanical test the test fixture 102 is capable of performing. Other test fixtures may be dynamic test fixtures and / or may include different test equipment, while including suitable transducers that generate test data and can be controlled via the computing device 104. The example test fixture 102 may include actuators, load strings, fixture rings, structural members, and / or any other components to facilitate compressive strength testing, tensile strength testing, shear strength testing, bending strength testing, flexural strength testing, tear strength testing, peel strength testing (e.g., adhesive bond strength), and / or any other compressive, tensile, torsional, thermal, and / or impact, and / or dynamic testing.

[0029] The frame 228 provides rigid structural support for the other components of the test fixture 102 on which the test is being performed. The load cells 230 measure the force applied to the material under test by a cross-member loader 234 (e.g., an electric motor, hydraulic pump, pneumatic actuator, and / or other actuator that may be supported by a crosshead, and / or other moving member(s) that couple the actuator to the test specimen) through a material fixture 236. The cross-member loader 234 applies the force to the material under test, while the material fixture 236 (e.g., a grip or other fixturing) grasps or otherwise couples the material under test to the cross-member loader 234. Exemplary material fixtures 236 include grips, grapples, jigs, anvils, compression platens, or other types of fixtures, depending on the mechanical property and / or material being tested.

[0030] The example controller 238 communicates with the computing device 104, for example, receiving test parameters from the computing device 104 and / or reporting measurements and / or other results to the computing device 104. For example, the controller 238 may include one or more communication or I / O interfaces that allow communication with the computing device 104. The controller 238 may control the cross member loader 234 to increase or decrease the applied force, may control the fixture(s) 236 to grip or release the material under test, and / or may receive measurements from the displacement transducer 232, the load cell 230, and / or any other transducer(s).

[0031] The example test fixture 102 may further include one or more sensors 240 that measure conditions within and / or around the test fixture 102 and / or monitor or measure activity by the test fixture 102 . For example, the sensor(s) 240 may include environmental sensor(s) that measure ambient temperature, ambient humidity, and / or any other condition(s) around the test fixture 102 that may affect operation; temperature sensors that measure component temperatures; voltage sensors that measure motor voltages, power supply input voltages and / or power supply output voltages, and / or other voltages in the test fixture 102, duty cycles of components in the test fixture 102, and / or data derived from other voltages; current sensors that measure motor currents, power supply input currents and / or power supply output currents, and / or other currents in the test fixture 102, duty cycles of components, and / or data derived from other currents; distance and / or proximity sensors that measure the distance traveled by components in the test fixture 102 (e.g., the distance traveled by a grip, crosshead, etc.); and / or any other type of sensor for determining relevant information about the test fixture 102.

[0032] In addition to detecting conditions within and / or around the test fixture 102 using sensors, the example processor 202 may monitor other conditions or states of the test fixture 102 and / or computing system 200. For example, the processor 202 may monitor and / or determine error codes generated in the materials testing system (e.g., codes detected or generated by software), error messages in the materials testing system (e.g., messages generated by software in response to problematic user behavior), security information about the materials testing system, logged data in the materials testing system, load string information about load string equipment installed in the materials testing system, software versions in the materials testing system, diagnostic information detected in the materials testing system, and / or any other software-detected information.

[0033] In some examples, one or more conditions or states of the test fixture 102 and / or computing system 200 can be detected using a combination of sensors and software.

[0034] When a user (eg, an operator) encounters a problem with materials testing system 100, the user can access static and / or dynamic information about materials testing system 100 that can assist in resolving the problem.

[0035] To access the static and / or dynamic information, a user can make a specific request via the I / O interface 216. This request can cause the materials testing system 100 to generate a visible code, transmit a radio frequency (RF) transceiver to receive RF transmissions, and / or output a machine-readable code that can be accessed by another computing device via any other method. Exemplary visible codes include one-dimensional or two-dimensional barcodes (e.g., QR Codes or similar). Exemplary RF transmissions can include scanning an RFID tag or RFID reader, communicating via near-field communication (NFC) transmission, and / or any other proximity communication, ultrasonic communication, and / or any other wireless communication.

[0036] In some examples, materials testing system 100 generates machine-readable code that includes static information about materials testing system 100 and dynamic information that represents the state of materials testing system 100. Figure 3 shows an example user interface 300 that may be displayed by materials testing system 100 (e.g., via display device 224 of Figure 2) and that includes machine-readable code 302 accessible to a computing device 304. Materials testing system 100 may generate machine-readable code 302 based on current dynamic information and may update machine-readable code 302 when the dynamic information changes. In some examples, materials testing system 100 selects relevant dynamic information to encode into machine-readable code 302 based on the circumstances in which code 302 is generated, such as a troubleshooting request, an error or problem detected in materials testing system 100, and / or any other circumstances.

[0037] 4 is a flowchart depicting example machine-readable instructions 400 that may be executed by the example materials testing system 100 of FIGS. 1-3 to generate and output machine-readable code that includes static and / or dynamic information about the materials testing system 100. The example instructions 400 may be executed in parallel with or as part of user interface or test control software running on the materials testing system 100 via the computing system 200.

[0038] In block 402, the example materials testing system 100 determines (e.g., via the processor 202) whether a machine-readable code is requested. For example, a user interface of the materials testing system 100 may receive input requesting a machine-readable code, such as by navigating to a troubleshooting interface or other portion of a menu or navigable interface that may display a visible machine-readable code (e.g., a QR code, a barcode, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, the machine-readable code may be requested via an NFC transceiver that receives a request from the computing device 304.

[0039] If a machine-readable code is not requested (block 402), control returns to block 402 to await a request for a machine-readable code. If a machine-readable code is requested (block 402), then in block 404, processor 202 generates the machine-readable code by including static information about materials testing system 100 and dynamic information representative of the state of materials testing system 100.

[0040] Exemplary static information that may be included in the machine-readable code includes substantially unchanging information about the testing system, such as the model number of the materials testing system 100, the serial number of the materials testing system 100, a system identifier (e.g., a combination of the model number and serial number of the materials testing system), the type of materials testing system 100, the category of materials testing system 100, a description of the materials testing system 100, and / or any other substantially unchanging information about the materials testing system 100. Exemplary dynamic information that can be included in the machine-readable code includes information representing the status of the materials testing system 100, such as error codes generated in the materials testing system 100 (e.g., codes detected by the system), error messages in the materials testing system 100 (e.g., messages generated in response to problematic user behavior), environmental information measured in the materials testing system 100, security information about the materials testing system 100 (e.g., user authorizations, firewall settings, open firewall ports, changes to the firewall configuration since a previous connection, default firewall configuration), logged data in the materials testing system 100, load string information about load string equipment installed in the materials testing system 100, software versions in the materials testing system 100, diagnostic information detected in the materials testing system 100, motor voltages measured in the materials testing system 100, the duty cycle of the materials testing system 100 (e.g., average or normal usage duration per period), and / or the cumulative distance traveled by one or more components of the materials testing system 100 (e.g., crosshead, grips, etc.).

[0041] In some examples, the processor 202 can select a subset of available static information and / or a subset of available dynamic information about the materials testing system 100 based on the content of the status information and / or available dynamic information. For example, the processor 202 can select another subset of measurements, log entries, error messages, and / or dynamic information for inclusion in the machine-readable code based on the presence of certain error messages. For example, if a communication error code is present, the processor 202 can select log entries, messages, and / or error codes associated with network communications. In another example, if a hardware or software failure is detected, the processor 202 can include sensor measurements of component status and / or environmental conditions.

[0042] The processor 202 encodes the selected static and / or dynamic information into a machine-readable code based on the request. For example, the processor 202 may generate and display a one-dimensional or two-dimensional barcode for display on a user interface or may generate one or more messages for transmission via NFC, RFID, RF, and / or other wireless communications. At block 406, the processor 202 outputs the machine-readable code. The example instructions 400 then end.

[0043] The methods and systems can be implemented in hardware, software, and / or a combination of hardware and software. The methods and / or systems can be implemented centrally in at least one computing system, or distributed, with different elements distributed across several interconnected computing systems. Any type of computing system or other device adapted to perform the methods described herein is suitable. A typical combination of hardware and software can include a general-purpose computing system, along with a program or other code that, when loaded and executed, controls the computing system to perform the methods described herein. Another typical embodiment can include an application-specific integrated circuit or chip. Some embodiments can include a non-transitory machine-readable (e.g., computer-readable) medium (e.g., a flash drive, optical disk, magnetic storage disk, etc.) that stores one or more lines of machine-executable code, thereby causing the machine to perform a process as described herein. As used herein, the term "non-transitory machine-readable medium" is defined to include all types of machine-readable storage media and to exclude propagating signals.

[0044] As used herein, the terms "circuit" and "circuitry" refer to physical electronic components (i.e., hardware) and any software and / or firmware ("code") that can comprise, be executed by, and / or otherwise be associated with hardware. As used herein, for example, a particular processor and memory can include a first "circuit" when executing a first one or more lines of code, and can include a second "circuit" when executing a second one or more lines of code. As used herein, "and / or" refers to any one or more of the items in the list connected by "and / or." As an example, "x and / or y" refers to any element of the triplet {(x), (y), (x, y)}. In other words, "x and / or y" means "one or both of x and y." As another example, "x, y, and / or z" means any element of the seven-element set {(x), (y), (z), (x,y), (x,z), (y,z), (x,y,z)}. In other words, "x, y, and / or z" means "one or more of x, y, and z." As used herein, the term "exemplary" means serving as a non-limiting example, instance, or illustration. As used herein, the term "for example" begins a list of one or more non-limiting examples, instances, or illustrations. As used herein, circuitry is "operable" to perform a function whenever it includes the necessary hardware and code (if either is necessary) to perform that function, regardless of whether implementation of that function is disabled or enabled (e.g., by a user-configurable setting, factory trim, etc.).

[0045] Although the present method and / or system has been described with reference to certain specific embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications and equivalent substitutions may be made without departing from the scope of the present method and / or system. For example, blocks and / or components of the disclosed examples may be combined, divided, rearranged, and / or otherwise modified. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the present disclosure without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present method and / or system is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed. Instead, the present method and / or system includes all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims, both literally and under the doctrine of equivalents.

Claims

1. 1. A materials testing system comprising: a test fixture configured to determine at least one mechanical property of a test specimen; 1. A processor, comprising: generating, in response to a request for a machine-readable code, the machine-readable code by encoding static information about the materials testing system and dynamic information representative of a state of the materials testing system, the dynamic information including at least one of environmental information measured at the test fixture, security information about the materials testing system, logging data at the materials testing system, load string information about load string equipment installed in the test fixture, motor voltage measured at the test fixture, duty cycle of the test fixture, or cumulative distance traveled by one or more components of the test fixture; outputting the machine-readable code; a processor configured to: A materials testing system comprising:

2. The materials testing system of claim 1 , wherein the static information includes a model number of the materials testing system.

3. The materials testing system of claim 1 , wherein the static information includes a serial number of the materials testing system.

4. The materials testing system of claim 1 , wherein the static information includes an identifier for the materials testing system.

5. The materials testing system of claim 1 , wherein the static information includes a description of the materials testing system.

6. The materials testing system of claim 1 , wherein the dynamic information further comprises an error code generated in the materials testing system.

7. The materials testing system of claim 1 , wherein the dynamic information further comprises a software version in the materials testing system.

8. The materials testing system of claim 1 , wherein the dynamic information further comprises diagnostic information detected in the materials testing system.

9. The materials testing system of claim 1 , wherein the test fixture comprises at least one of a crosshead, an actuator, or a material fixturing.

10. The materials testing system of claim 1 , wherein the machine-readable code comprises a QR code or a barcode.

11. 1. A method for providing information from a materials testing system, comprising: In response to a request for a machine-readable code, using a processor of the materials testing system to generate the machine-readable code by encoding static information about the materials testing system and dynamic information representative of a state of the materials testing system, the dynamic information including at least one of environmental information measured at the test fixture, security information about the materials testing system, logging data at the materials testing system, load string information about load string equipment installed in the test fixture, motor voltage measured at the test fixture, duty cycle of the test fixture, or cumulative distance traveled by one or more components of the test fixture; outputting the machine-readable code using the materials testing system; A method comprising:

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the outputting comprises displaying the machine-readable code on a display.

13. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the outputting comprises transmitting the machine-readable code via at least one of RFID, near field communication (NFC) transmission, proximity communication, or ultrasonic communication.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the static information includes a model number of the materials testing system.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the static information includes a serial number of the materials testing system.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the static information includes an identifier for the materials testing system.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the static information includes a description of the materials testing system.

18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the dynamic information further comprises an error code generated in the materials testing system.

19. The method of claim 11 , wherein the dynamic information further comprises a software version in the materials testing system.

20. The method of claim 11 , wherein the dynamic information further comprises diagnostic information detected in the materials testing system.

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