DATA COLLECTOR FOR AN INTERNAL ENGINE COMPONENT

• US 20140245821A1
• Filed: 03/04/2013
• Published: 09/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tenneco Incorporated (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Federal-Mogul Corporation (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Miller, Andrew J., Neuendorf, Jonathan Owen
• Granted Patent: US 8,844,341 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 73/114.01
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 15/04 Testing internal-combustion engines
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 15/048 by monitoring temperature
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49002 Electrical device making

Abstract

An internal engine component including a data collector assembly is provided. The data collector assembly includes a sensor for sensing a condition and for generating a signal corresponding to the condition and a digital to analog converter for converting the signal to a digital signal. The data collector assembly also includes a memory for storing data, a clock and a processor. A power source is electrically connected to the sensor, the analog to digital converter, the memory, the clock and the processor. During an engine test, the processor, sensor, digital to analog converter, clock and memory are substantially the only devices that draw electricity from the power source.

Claims

1. A data collector for collecting and storing data related to at least one condition of an internal engine component during an engine test, comprising:

at least one sensor for sensing at least one condition of the internal engine component and for generating at least one signal corresponding to said sensed condition;

at least one analog to digital converter in electrical communication with said at least one sensor for converting said signal into at least one digital signal;

at least one memory for storing data;

a clock;

at least one processor in electrical communication with said at least one analog to digital converter, said at least one memory and said clock, wherein said at least one processor processes said at least one signal and stores data corresponding to said at least one digital signal on said memory; and

at least one power source electrically connected to said at least one sensor, said at least one analog to digital converter, said at least one memory, said at least one processor and said clock, and wherein said sensor, said at least one analog to digital converter, said at least one memory, said at least one processor and said clock are configured to be substantially the only devices that draw electricity from said at least one power source during the engine test.

2. The data collector as set forth in claim 1 wherein said at least one processor only stores data in said memory in response to said at least one signal from said at least one sensor crossing a predetermined threshold.

3. The data collector as set forth in claim 1 wherein said processor processes said at least one digital signal at a predetermined frequency and processes and stores data in said memory an increased frequency in response to said at least one signal crossing a predetermined threshold.

4. The data collector as set forth in claim 1 wherein said at least one sensor is further defined as a plurality of temperature sensors.

5. The data collector as set forth in claim 4 wherein said temperature sensors are thermocouples or thermistors.

6. The data collector as set forth in claim 1 further including a computer connection port in electrical communication with said memory for uploading said data stored on said memory to an external computer.

7. The data collector as set forth in claim 6 wherein said computer connection port is a serial connector.

8. The data collector as set forth in claim 1 wherein said at least one power source is at least one battery.

9. An internal engine component, comprising:

a body;

at least one sensor for sensing at least one condition and for generating at least one signal corresponding to said sensed condition and coupled to said body;

at least one analog to digital converter in electrical communication with said at least one sensor for converting said signal into at least one digital signal;

a memory for storing data;

a clock;

a processor in electrical communication with said at least one analog to digital converter, said at least one memory and said clock, wherein said processor processes said at least one signal and stores data corresponding to said at least one signal on said memory; and

a power source electrically connected to said at least one sensor, said at least one analog to digital converter, said memory, said processor and said clock, and wherein said at least one sensor, said at least one analog to digital converter, said memory, said processor and said clock are configured to be substantially the only devices that draw electricity from said power source during an engine test.

10. The internal engine component as set forth in claim 9 wherein said processor only stores data in said memory in response to said at least one signal crossing a predetermined threshold.

11. The internal engine component as set forth in claim 9 wherein said processor processes said at least one signal at a predetermined frequency and processes said at least one signal and stores data in said memory at an increased frequency in response to said at least one signal crossing a predetermined threshold.

12. The internal engine component as set forth in claim 9 further including a computer connection port in electrical communication with said memory for uploading said data stored on said memory to an external computer.

13. The internal engine component as set forth in claim 9 wherein said at least one power source is a battery.

14. A method of making an internal engine component, comprising the steps of:

preparing a body of an internal engine component;

coupling to the body of the internal engine component at least one sensor configured to sense a condition and generate a signal corresponding to the sensed condition;

coupling to the body of the internal engine component at least one analog to digital converter for converting the signal into a digital signal, at least one memory for storing data, a clock and at least one processor and wherein the processor is in electrical communication with the at least one analog to digital converter, the at least one memory and the clock; and

coupling at least one power source to the body and electrically connecting the power source to the at least one memory, the processor, the at least one sensor, the at least one analog to digital converter and the clock and wherein the at least one memory, the processor, the at least one sensor, the at least one analog to digital converter and the clock are configured to be substantially the only devices that draw electricity from the at least one power source during an engine test.

15. A method of collecting and storing data corresponding to a condition of an internal engine component, comprising the steps of:

preparing an internal combustion engine including at least one internal engine component with a data collector coupled thereto, wherein the data collector includes at least one sensor, at least one analog to digital converter, a processor, a memory and a clock;

testing the internal combustion engine;

sensing with the at least one sensor at least one condition of the internal engine component;

generating at least one signal corresponding to the at least one condition sensed by the at least one sensor;

converting the at least one signal to at least one digital signal with the analog to digital converter;

storing data corresponding to the at least one digital signal in the memory; and

powering the sensor, analog to digital converter, processor, memory and clock with at least one power source, wherein the sensor, analog to digital converter, processor, memory and clock are substantially the only devices drawing electricity from the at least one power source during the engine test.

16. The method as set forth in claim 15 wherein the step of storing data in the memory is only in response to the at least one signal crossing a predetermined threshold.

17. The method as set forth in claim 15 wherein the sensing and generating steps are performed at a predetermined frequency and the sensing, generating and storing steps are performed at an increased frequency in response to the at least one signal crossing a predetermined threshold.

18. The method as set forth in claim 15 further including the step of extracting the data from the memory to another device only after the engine test has completed.

19. The method as set forth in claim 15 wherein the internal engine component is a piston, a pin or a connecting rod.

20. The method as set forth in claim 15 wherein the at least one power source is a battery.