FORCE-SENSING CONVEYOR BELT
First Claim
1. A conveyor belt comprising:
- a belt body having an upper surface;
a plurality of passive resonant circuits disposed at individual positions within the belt body, each of the passive resonant circuits having a resonant frequency and including;
a force-sensitive element that changes the resonant frequency of the passive resonant circuit as a function of the force applied to the force-sensitive element;
wherein the passive resonant circuits are energized only when near activation circuits external to the conveyor belt; and
wherein the passive resonant circuits are electrically connected to no other circuit elements in the belt body.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A conveyor belt and a weighing system for weighing articles conveyed on a conveyor belt. The conveyor belt includes an array of force-sensing elements embedded in the belt to measure forces normal to the belt'"'"'s conveying surface. The force-sensing elements form parts of passive resonant circuits that each include a capacitor and an inductive coil.
Either the capacitor or the inductive coil can be a force-sensitive element. Measuring circuits external to the belt include an oscillator having a coil that inductively couples to the resonant circuit in the belt as it passes closely by. A force applied to the belt at a force-sensitive element changes the resonant frequency of its resonant circuit, which also causes a change in the oscillator frequency. Frequency detectors in the measuring circuits measure that frequency change and convert it into a proportional force value used to compute the weights of conveyed articles on the fly.
2 Citations
14 Claims
-
1. A conveyor belt comprising:
-
a belt body having an upper surface; a plurality of passive resonant circuits disposed at individual positions within the belt body, each of the passive resonant circuits having a resonant frequency and including; a force-sensitive element that changes the resonant frequency of the passive resonant circuit as a function of the force applied to the force-sensitive element; wherein the passive resonant circuits are energized only when near activation circuits external to the conveyor belt; and wherein the passive resonant circuits are electrically connected to no other circuit elements in the belt body. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14-25. -25. (canceled)
Specification