MONITORING SYSTEM FOR THE ACQUISITION OF THE LAYER THICKNESS OF DUST IN VENTILATION DUCTS
First Claim
1. A detector comprising:
- a. a plate;
b. a light source positioned to transmit light over a surface of the plate;
c. a light sensor positioned to detect light that has been transmitted by the light source and passed over the surface of the plate; and
d. processing means arranged to determine the depth of a substance on the plate from the amount of light detected by the light sensor.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A monitoring system is disclosed, designed to detect the depth of deposition of a substance on a′ surface (12), such as the depth of dust in a ventilation shaft. The monitoring system includes a light source (14) and a sensor (16, 30). The light source is arranged to transmit light across a detection surface and the sensor is on the other side of the detection surface. When a substance, such as dirt or grease, is deposited on the surface it obstructs the light and the amount of light reaching the sensor decreases. A processing means (26) detects the decrease in light and from this the depth of the deposition on the surface can be calculated. Preferably the sensor comprises a CCD array (32), and the substance throws a shadow on the array. The processing means can then determine the depth of the substance from the position on the array of the edge of the shadow. Preferably the monitoring system is placed in a low power ‘sleep’ mode in between intermittent operations for detecting the depth of the substance. In this, way, it can be battery operated and the battery life is preserved.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A detector comprising:
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a. a plate; b. a light source positioned to transmit light over a surface of the plate; c. a light sensor positioned to detect light that has been transmitted by the light source and passed over the surface of the plate; and d. processing means arranged to determine the depth of a substance on the plate from the amount of light detected by the light sensor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 28, 29)
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18. A detector for detecting the thickness of a substance deposited on a surface, comprising:
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a surface on which a substance may be deposited; a light source arranged to shine light so that the light passes across the surface and, in the case that surface is clear of the substance, at least part of the light passes over the surface unobstructed; a sensor array comprising a plurality of respective light sensor elements positioned at respective different distances in a direction transverse to the surface, and at least some of the respective light sensor elements are exposed to light passing unobstructed over the surface from the light source in the case that the surface is clear of the substance; and a processor arranged to receive signals from the sensor array, representing the amount of light falling on the plurality of light sensor elements, and arranged to detect therefrom the thickness of a substance deposited on the surface. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 34, 35)
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30. A method for detecting the depth of a deposition on a plate comprising the steps of:
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a. transmitting light over a surface of the plate; b. detecting the amount of light that has travelled over the plate; and c. determining, from the detected light, the depth of a deposition on the surface of the plate.
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31. A method of detecting the thickness of a substance on a surface, comprising:
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shining light from a light source across the plate so that at least some of the light falls on a sensor array comprising a plurality of respective light sensor elements positioned at respective different distances in a direction transverse to the surface, subsequently reading out signals from the light sensor elements, and detecting the said thickness from the said signals. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33)
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Specification