Sensor hub comprising a rotation encoder
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a rotation sensor configured to receive power from a controller of a monitored machine;
a wireless communication module;
a processing device, operatively connected to the rotation sensor and the wireless communication module, configured to receive the power from the controller of the monitored machine and to receive unprocessed sensor data directly from the rotation sensor and calculate speed and/or relative position and allow the unprocessed rotation sensor data to travel on to the controller unchanged for purpose of deterministic control of the machine and machine diagnostic sensor data to be gathered and sent, to an external processing device via the wireless communication module;
a signal path, independent of the processing device and wireless communication module, configured to provide only the directly obtained unprocessed rotation sensor data to the controller of the monitored machine whereby failure of the wireless communication module or the processing device will not prevent provision of the rotation sensor data to the controller and wherein speed and relative position data are time stamped, but only for the purposes of realignment with other time stamped data for trend analysis.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A sensor hub for use in machine condition monitoring comprising a rotation sensor and a wireless communication module each operatively connected to a processing device. The rotation sensor and processing device are configured to receive power from a controller of the monitored machine. One or more additional sensors, which may be associated with the monitored machine or another machine, may also be operatively connected to the processing device. In an embodiment, the additional sensors may comprise any one or more of, or any combination of, an accelerometer, a temperature sensor, an acoustic sensor, an high frequency sensor, an humidity sensor, a barometric pressure sensor, a current sensor or a proximity sensor. The wireless communication module may support an ad hoc wireless communication protocol. Further, the wireless communication module may receive additional sensor data from one or more wireless sensor nodes associated with the monitored machine or another machine.
106 Citations
18 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a rotation sensor configured to receive power from a controller of a monitored machine; a wireless communication module; a processing device, operatively connected to the rotation sensor and the wireless communication module, configured to receive the power from the controller of the monitored machine and to receive unprocessed sensor data directly from the rotation sensor and calculate speed and/or relative position and allow the unprocessed rotation sensor data to travel on to the controller unchanged for purpose of deterministic control of the machine and machine diagnostic sensor data to be gathered and sent, to an external processing device via the wireless communication module; a signal path, independent of the processing device and wireless communication module, configured to provide only the directly obtained unprocessed rotation sensor data to the controller of the monitored machine whereby failure of the wireless communication module or the processing device will not prevent provision of the rotation sensor data to the controller and wherein speed and relative position data are time stamped, but only for the purposes of realignment with other time stamped data for trend analysis. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system comprising:
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a sensor hub comprising a rotation sensor configured to receive power from a controller of a monitored machine, a wireless communication module, and a processing device configured to receive the power from the controller of the monitored machine and operatively connected to the rotation sensor and the wireless communication module, the sensor hub further comprising a signal path, independent of the processing device and wireless communication module, configured to provide only unprocessed rotation sensor data to the controller for the sole purpose of deterministic control of the monitored machine whereby failure of the wireless communication module or the processing device will not prevent provision of the rotation sensor data to the controller; and a wireless access point in wireless communication with the wireless communication module and operatively connected to an external processing device, wherein the processing device is operative to receive rotation sensor data from the rotation sensor and send speed data or position data or both, based on the rotation sensor data, to the external processing device via the wireless communication module and the wireless access point. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification