Vibronic Sensor Adaptive Filter Phase Shift Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vibronic sensors face challenges in maintaining reliability and robustness, especially under external vibrations, due to limitations in phase shift control and filter selectivity, which can lead to loss of resonance and inaccurate measurements.
Innovation Solution
A vibronic sensor with an adaptive filter that alternates between excitation and measurement modes, allowing for setting a predeterminable phase shift between the excitation and received signals, thereby enhancing filter quality and robustness against external influences.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a predeterminable phase shift is set using conventional analog components or digital methods, then the excitation of the mechanically oscillatable unit can be controlled, but the filter selectivity and robustness against external vibrations are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the filter characteristic adaptive rather than fixed. The electronics unit continuously adjusts the filter characteristic to maintain optimal phase shift control, allowing the system to adapt to changing conditions and external vibrations dynamically, thereby improving reliability without requiring overly complex static control mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback by using the received signal to continuously adjust the filter characteristic in the electronics unit. This closed-loop approach ensures that the phase shift between excitation and received signals remains predeterminable even under external vibrations, resolving the contradiction between reliability and control complexity
2Adaptability or versatility
If the filter characteristic is fixed to maintain a predeterminable phase shift, then signal evaluation is simplified, but the sensor cannot adapt to different operating conditions and external influences
Solution Approach 1:
The filter characteristic is made dynamic and adaptive, allowing it to adjust to different operating conditions and external influences while maintaining predeterminable phase shift. This resolves the contradiction by enabling adaptability without sacrificing the simplified signal evaluation approach, as the adaptation occurs automatically within the electronics unit
3Reliability
If continuous excitation is applied to maintain oscillations, then the mechanically oscillatable unit remains in resonance, but external vibrations can cause loss of resonance and measurement inaccuracies
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses feedback by continuously monitoring the received signal and adjusting the filter characteristic accordingly. This allows the system to maintain stable resonance by detecting and compensating for external vibration interference, resolving the contradiction between resonance stability and vulnerability to external vibrations
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs self-service mechanisms where the electronics unit automatically adjusts the filter characteristic based on the received signal without external intervention. This self-adjusting capability enables the sensor to maintain reliable resonance operation while automatically compensating for external vibration effects
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The adaptive filter ensures stable and accurate phase shift control, allowing the sensor to operate reliably across various applications and phase settings, independent of external vibrations, and simplifies signal evaluation by decoupling excitation and measurement signals.
Implementation Method 1
The driving/receiving unit, frequently in the form of an electromechanical transducer unit, which can be, for example, a piezoelectric drive
Implementation Method 2
The driving/receiving unit can receive the mechanical oscillations of the mechanically oscillatable unit and transduce them into an electrical, received signal
Implementation Method 3
an adaptive filter that alternates between excitation and measurement modes, allowing for setting a predeterminable phase shift between the excitation and received signals
Implementation Method 4
These two states, the free state and the covered state, are, in such case, distinguished, for example, based on different resonance frequencies, thus based on a frequency shift
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a vibronic sensor for determining a process variable of a medium in a containment, comprising a mechanically oscillatable unit, a driving/receiving unit and an electronics unit having an adaptive filter. The present invention relates also to a method for operating the sensor. The electronics unit is embodied alternately to execute a first operating mode and a second operating mode. The driving/receiving unit is embodied during the first operating mode to excite the oscillatable unit using an electrical excitation signal. During the second operating mode, the exciting of the oscillatable unit is interrupted and the oscillations of the oscillatable unit are received and transduced into an electrical, received signal. At least one filter characteristic of the adaptive filter is set such that a predeterminable phase shift is present between the excitation signal and the received signal, and the process variable is determined from the received signal.