Fuel Dispensing Environment Component Health Monitoring
First Claim
1. A method of monitoring at least one component in a fuel dispensing environment, said method comprising the steps of:
- providing a control system having a memory, said memory having stored therein information representative of at least one first vibration characteristic of said at least one component;
providing at least one sensor in electronic communication with said control system, said at least one sensor operative to sense vibration characteristics of said at least one component;
coupling said at least one sensor with said at least one component;
sensing at least one second vibration characteristic of said at least one component using said at least one sensor;
transmitting information representative of said at least one second vibration characteristic to said control system; and
comparing said information representative of said at least one second vibration characteristic to said information representative of said at least one first vibration characteristic.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and systems for monitoring the health and operational status of components in a fuel dispensing environment. In one aspect, a method includes providing a control system having a memory in which is stored information representative of a first vibration characteristic of a component, providing a sensor in electronic communication with the control system, the sensor operative to sense vibration characteristics of the component, and coupling the sensor with the component. The method also includes sensing a second vibration characteristic of the component using the sensor, transmitting information representative of the second vibration characteristic to the control system, and comparing the information representative of the second vibration characteristic to the information representative of the first vibration characteristic.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method of monitoring at least one component in a fuel dispensing environment, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a control system having a memory, said memory having stored therein information representative of at least one first vibration characteristic of said at least one component; providing at least one sensor in electronic communication with said control system, said at least one sensor operative to sense vibration characteristics of said at least one component; coupling said at least one sensor with said at least one component; sensing at least one second vibration characteristic of said at least one component using said at least one sensor; transmitting information representative of said at least one second vibration characteristic to said control system; and comparing said information representative of said at least one second vibration characteristic to said information representative of said at least one first vibration characteristic. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A fuel dispenser, comprising:
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fuel flow piping for providing fluid communication between a source of fuel and a fueling nozzle; a plurality of fuel handling components disposed along said fuel flow piping; a control system; at least one vibration sensor in electronic communication with said control system, said at least one vibration sensor coupled with one of said plurality of fuel handling components; said at least one vibration sensor operative to sense at least one vibration characteristic of said one of said plurality of fuel handling components; said control system operative to obtain information representative of said at least one vibration characteristic from said at least one vibration sensor; and said control system operative to compare said information representative of said at least one vibration characteristic to information about said one of said plurality of fuel handling components stored in memory. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification