Wireless Sensor Enclosure Sealing and Protocol Mediation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The complexity of wireless sensor networks in industrial settings is exacerbated by the need for multiple standards and protocols, leading to difficult programming and integration, with existing solutions failing to provide ease of use, security, and robustness, particularly in hazardous environments.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising wireless sensors with a stainless steel and glass enclosure, featuring a hermetically sealed battery, piezoelectric pressure detectors, and a wireless transceiver for remote control and data transmission, along with a method for partitioning complexity into separate sensor, antenna, and human-machine interface components, enabling easier installation, maintenance, and secure data transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple wireless standards and protocols are used in industrial sensor networks, then versatility and adaptability are improved, but device complexity and programming difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a wireless gateway as an intermediary device between sensors and control systems. The gateway handles protocol conversion and communication, allowing sensors to use simple protocols while the gateway manages complexity. This mediator approach resolves the contradiction by isolating protocol diversity in a separate layer, keeping sensor programming simple while maintaining versatility through the gateway's multi-protocol support.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is divided into separate functional modules: sensors, wireless gateways, and control systems. Each component has a specific role, with sensors focusing only on data collection using simple protocols. The segmentation allows each part to be optimized independently, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining adaptability across different wireless standards through the gateway layer.
2Reliability
If sensor systems are designed for remote operation in hazardous environments, then reliability is improved, but ease of operation decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The wireless gateway acts as an intermediary that bridges the gap between hazardous environment sensors and safe operator locations. It receives data from sensors in hazardous areas and transmits it to control systems or displays in safe zones. This allows operators to monitor and control systems remotely without direct exposure to hazards, maintaining both reliability and ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces direct mechanical access to sensors in hazardous environments with wireless communication. Instead of requiring operators to physically access sensors in dangerous locations, the system uses wireless transceivers to transmit data and control signals, eliminating the need for physical presence in hazardous areas while maintaining full operational capability.
3Ease of operation
If wireless sensors include integral displays and buttons for local interaction, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity and sealing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the display and button interfaces from the sensor unit and relocates them to external devices or the gateway system. The sensor itself remains a simple sealed unit with only essential sensing components. This extraction eliminates the sealing complexity that would be required to protect displays and buttons while maintaining ease of operation through remote display and control interfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces physical buttons and displays with wireless communication interfaces. Instead of requiring mechanical buttons and visual displays on the sensor, the system uses wireless signals for user interaction, eliminating the need for sealed mechanical interfaces while maintaining full operational capability through remote access.
4Reliability
If wireless sensors use hermetically sealed batteries for long-term operation, then reliability is improved, but ease of repair and battery replacement decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the power system into a hermetically sealed internal battery for long-term reliability and an external replaceable battery module for easy replacement. The internal sealed battery ensures protection from environmental factors and long operational life, while the external module can be independently removed and replaced without affecting the sealed unit, resolving the contradiction between reliability and ease of repair.
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 solution enhances interconnectivity and security, reduces installation complexity, and allows for robust, user-friendly operation in hazardous environments while minimizing network disruptions and energy consumption.
Implementation Method 1
including piezoelectric pressure detectors for allowing a user to locally interact with the sensor by pressing on the case
Data Source
AI summary
A wireless sensor preferably has a case which is intrinsically safe and has no exposed parts which can become not intrinsically safe due to the passage of time or through contact with chemicals typically encountered in a location where the wireless sensor is used. It preferably has no integral visual display other than lights, and it preferably includes at least one signal light. The sensor preferably includes a wireless transceiver for allowing remote read and remote control of the sensor. The sensor preferably includes piezoelectric pressure detectors for allowing a user to locally interact with the sensor by pressing on the case. Data can be automatically harvested from the sensors by a portable electronic data-retrieving device which is usually geographically remote from the sensors when the portable electronic data-retrieving device and the sensors are in range of a wireless system which allows them to communicate when they are geographically proximate each other.