Duct system
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing duct systems lack efficient methods for accurately locating individual duct lines, especially when obscured, and often suffer from errors due to tracer wire disturbances or failures, lacking redundancy and means to identify duct sections or monitor conditions.
Innovation Solution
An electronic duct system with information modules emitting positional and duct properties signals, secured by an oversheath, allowing for networked signal exchange and redundancy, enabling accurate location and condition monitoring of ducts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If tracer wire is used to locate ducts, then location capability is provided, but accuracy deteriorates due to wire displacement or false positives from other metal objects
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the identification function from a separate tracer wire and integrates it directly into the duct structure through molded-in labels or tags. This eliminates the need for a separate locating component that could become disassociated or cause false positives, while maintaining the ability to locate and identify ducts accurately.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the identification and location features directly into the duct structure by molding labels or tags as integral parts of the duct itself. This combination ensures that the identification marker cannot become separated from the duct and eliminates the need for separate tracer wires, thereby improving both reliability and precision of duct location.
2Device complexity
If existing duct systems are used without integrated identification, then system simplicity is maintained, but information gathering capability deteriorates for obscured duct sections
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by incorporating identification labels or tags at specific locations on the duct structure. These localized features provide necessary identification information for obscured duct sections without requiring complex system-wide changes, thereby minimizing overall system complexity while eliminating information loss.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
The present inventive concept includes a duct system and method for using same to map and locate ducts. The duct system includes a duct 12, at least one electronic information module 10 and an oversheath 14 at least partially covering the information module 10 and fixing the information module 10 to the duct 12. The information module 10 i configured to emit a positional signal to enable location of the information module and associated duct and/or mapping of the duct system.