Heating element condition monitor
First Claim
1. A method for monitoring the condition of a material comprising:
- determining a characteristic of a material;
setting said characteristic at an initial time as a reference baseline;
monitoring said characteristic to determine any change occurring therein over time as compared against the reference baseline; and
sending a signal to a decision making authority that the change has attained a predetermined threshold level.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for monitoring the condition of an electric current-carrying heating element involving installing the heating element in a location and setting the initial composition Ci of the material as a reference baseline at an initial time Ti corresponding to said installation of the heating element. Data is then collected reflecting the subsequent composition Cs of the heating element material after a subsequent time Ts at the installed location and any change in the material composition of the heating element between Ti and Ts is monitored. An alarm is sent when the change reaches a threshold value indicating a possible failure condition. According to one embodiment, an impedance monitor is provided that calculates and compares impedance at the required levels of accuracy to determine changes in material composition. The impedance monitor, or portions thereof may be embedded within a microcontroller for increased portability and functionality.
21 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method for monitoring the condition of a material comprising:
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determining a characteristic of a material;
setting said characteristic at an initial time as a reference baseline;
monitoring said characteristic to determine any change occurring therein over time as compared against the reference baseline; and
sending a signal to a decision making authority that the change has attained a predetermined threshold level. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for monitoring the condition of an electrical current-carrying heating element comprising:
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determining the initial composition of a material of the heating element as a reference baseline at an initial time;
collecting data reflecting the subsequent composition of the heating element material after a time interval;
setting a threshold level of change in the subsequent composition from the initial composition;
monitoring a change between the subsequent composition and the initial composition occurring after the time interval has passed; and
sending a signal to a decision making authority if the change has reached or exceeded the threshold level. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus for monitoring the condition of the material of an electric current-carrying heating element comprising:
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means for determining the initial composition of the material as a reference baseline at an initial time;
means for collecting data reflecting the subsequent composition of the heating element material after a specified time interval;
means for setting a threshold level of change in the subsequent composition from the initial composition;
means for monitoring a change in the data after the interval has passed; and
means for sending a signal to a decision making authority if the change has reached or exceeded the threshold level. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification