Shift-Register Wear Sensor for Fast Low-Power Wear Measurement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional wear sensors with resistor-based designs face challenges such as long measurement times, lack of redundancy, and increased complexity, which limits their scalability and increases manufacturing costs, while Zener diode-based designs suffer from high power consumption and voltage requirements.
Innovation Solution
A wear sensor with an electrical circuit comprising a sequence of discrete elements, such as flip-flop elements, that can temporarily hold digital data values and are sequentially decoupled by wear, reducing the number of elements in the sequence, allowing for faster measurements and reduced power consumption without the need for multiple analogue-to-digital converters or step-up converters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If resistor-based designs are used for wear sensors, then wear measurement can be achieved, but measurement time increases and device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical/resistor-based measurement system with a digital electronic system using flip-flop elements and shift registers. This substitution enables parallel processing of wear data from multiple discrete elements simultaneously, dramatically reducing measurement time while maintaining accuracy. The digital approach allows the system to process multiple sensor elements in parallel rather than sequentially as in resistor-based designs.
2Measurement precision
If resistor-based designs are used for wear sensors, then wear measurement can be achieved, but device complexity and manufacturing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple discrete sensor elements into a unified digital circuit architecture using shift registers and flip-flops. Instead of requiring separate measurement circuits for each sensor element, the system combines all elements into a single integrated digital processing path. This merging reduces the overall number of components, simplifies the circuit design, and lowers manufacturing complexity while preserving the ability to measure wear across multiple discrete elements.
3Measurement precision
If Zener diodes are used in wear sensor circuits, then voltage measurement is possible, but power consumption increases and voltage requirements exceed battery capacity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent fundamentally changes the electrical parameters of the sensor circuit by replacing Zener diodes (which operate in breakdown mode requiring high voltage) with digital logic elements operating at low voltages. The shift register and flip-flop circuitry operates directly from standard battery voltages (3-5V), eliminating the need for voltage multiplication circuits. This parameter change dramatically reduces power consumption while maintaining the ability to sense and measure wear through changes in the digital signal state.
4Measurement precision
If Zener diodes are used in wear sensor circuits, then voltage measurement is possible, but additional circuit components are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the Zener diode-based voltage measurement approach entirely from the circuit design. Instead, it uses digital logic elements (flip-flops and shift registers) that inherently provide both the sensing and measurement functions without requiring external voltage multiplication circuits or constant current sources. This extraction eliminates unnecessary components and simplifies the overall circuit architecture.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a wear sensor, a method for sensing wear occurring to an object, and an equipment subject to wear. The present invention further relates to a wear sensing system comprising the wear sensor and a measuring device for measuring an amount of wear occurring to an object. The wear sensor comprises an electrical circuit comprising a sequence of discrete elements, each discrete element being capable to temporarily hold a digital data value, wherein the electrical circuit is configured to sequentially transfer the digital data value from a first discrete element on a first edge of the wear sensor to subsequent discrete elements toward a second edge of the wear sensor, wherein each discrete element is capable of being electrically decoupled from the electrical circuit, sequentially in a direction from the second edge by action of wear on the wear sensor. A number of discrete elements in the sequence is reduced when wear occurs on the wear sensor.