VEHICLE SENSOR ASSEMBLY

• US 20170176290A1
• Filed: 12/06/2016
• Published: 06/22/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Transportation IP Holdings, LLC (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Worden, Bret, Zhang, Jingjun, Petersen, David
• Granted Patent: US 10,527,523 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 11/30 Supports specially adapted for an instrument; Supports specially adapted for a set of instruments
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 1/08 Protective devices, e.g. casings
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 1/14 Supports; Fastening devices; Arrangements for mounting thermometers in particular locations
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 13/00 Thermometers specially adapted for specific purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 2205/00 Application of thermometers in motors, e.g. of a vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 15/12 by monitoring vibrations
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 15/0802 Details
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/40 using a wireless architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom

Abstract

A sensor assembly includes a housing extending from an insertion end to an opposite coupling end, from a sensor end to an opposite back end, and from a top end to an opposite bottom end. The assembly also includes a sensor dish outwardly projecting from the sensor end of the housing and configured to hold one or more sensors. The assembly also includes a radio frequency (RF) transparent sensor cap configured to be secured to the sensor dish to secure the one or more sensors within the sensor dish. The housing also can be secured to a vehicle for the sensors to measure operational conditions of the vehicle. The housing of the sensor assembly may be connected to a drive train of the vehicle by inserting a fastener through a channel in the housing and into a jacking hole of the vehicle.

Claims

1. A sensor assembly comprising:

a housing extending from an insertion end to an opposite coupling end, extending from a sensor end to an opposite back end, and from a top end to an opposite bottom end, wherein each of the sensor end, the back end, the top end, and the bottom end intersects both the insertion end and the coupling end, the housing also including a channel extending through the housing from the insertion end to the coupling end, the channel configured to receive a connector that extends through the channel and connects with a vehicle to secure the housing to the vehicle;

a sensor dish outwardly projecting from the sensor end of the housing, the sensor dish having one or more sensors disposed therein configured to measure one or more operational conditions of the vehicle;

a radio frequency (RF) transparent sensor cap configured to be secured to the sensor dish to secure the one or more sensors within the sensor dish; and

communication circuitry disposed in the sensor dish and configured to wirelessly communicate data output by the one or more sensors outside of the housing.

2. A vehicle comprising:

a motor assembly having a jacking hole; and

the sensor assembly of claim 1, wherein the housing is affixed to the motor assembly with the connector extending through the channel and into the jacking hole.

3. The vehicle of claim 2, wherein the housing and sensor dish are integrally formed from a common material, the material comprising steel, and wherein the channel has a diameter of at least 1.25 inches and a shank of the connector corresponds in size to the diameter of the channel.

4. A sensor assembly comprising:

one or more sensors configured to measure one or more operational conditions of a vehicle; and

a housing extending from an insertion end to an opposite coupling end and having an internal chamber configured to hold the one or more sensors, the housing also including a channel extending through the housing from the insertion end to the coupling end, the channel configured to receive a connector that extends through the channel and connects with the vehicle to secure the housing to the vehicle.

5. The sensor assembly of claim 4, further comprising communication circuitry configured to be disposed in the internal chamber of the housing and configured to wirelessly communicate data output by the one or more sensors outside of the housing.

6. The sensor assembly of claim 4, wherein the housing is configured to receive the connector through the channel for securing the connector to a jacking hole of a motor assembly of the vehicle.

7. The sensor assembly of claim 4, wherein the channel of the housing is threadless.

8. The sensor assembly of claim 4, wherein the housing also extends from a sensor end to an opposite back end, with each of the sensor end and the back end intersecting both the insertion end and the coupling end of the housing, and wherein the housing includes a sensor dish having the internal chamber, the sensor dish outwardly projecting from the sensor end of the housing, wherein the housing includes a radio frequency (RF) transparent sensor cap configured to be secured to the sensor dish to enclose the one or more sensors within the internal chamber.

9. A sensor assembly comprising:

a housing extending from an insertion end to an opposite coupling end, extending from a sensor end to an opposite back end, and from a top end to an opposite bottom end, wherein each of the sensor end, the back end, the top end, and the bottom end intersects both the insertion end and the coupling end;

a sensor dish outwardly projecting from the sensor end of the housing, the sensor dish configured to hold one or more sensors; and

a radio frequency (RF) transparent sensor cap configured to be secured to the sensor dish to secure the one or more sensors within the sensor dish, wherein the housing also is configured to be secured to a vehicle for the one or more sensors to measure one or more operational conditions of the vehicle.

10. The sensor assembly of claim 9, wherein the housing also includes a channel extending through the housing from the insertion end to the coupling end, the channel configured to receive a connector that extends through the channel and connects with the vehicle to secure the housing to the vehicle.

11. The sensor assembly of claim 10, wherein the housing is configured to receive the connector through the channel for securing the connector to a jacking hole of a motor assembly of the vehicle.

12. The sensor assembly of claim 9, further comprising the one or more sensors, wherein the one or more sensors include one or more of an accelerometer or a temperature sensor.

13. The sensor assembly of claim 12, further comprising communication circuitry configured to be disposed in the sensor dish and configured to wirelessly communicate data output by the one or more sensors outside of the housing.

14. A sensor assembly comprising:

a housing that is elongated from an insertion end to an opposite coupling end, the insertion end configured to receive a connector into a channel extending through the housing from the insertion end to the coupling end, the coupling end configured to engage a motor assembly of a vehicle to which the connector secures the housing, wherein the channel of the housing is configured to receive the connector without being secured to one or more threads of the connector; and

one or more sensors configured to measure one or more operational conditions of the vehicle.

15. The sensor assembly of claim 14, wherein the one or more sensors include an accelerometer.

16. The sensor assembly of claim 14, wherein the one or more sensors include a temperature sensor.

17. The sensor assembly of claim 14, further comprising communication circuitry configured to be disposed in the internal chamber of the housing and configured to wirelessly communicate data output by the one or more sensors outside of the housing.

18. The sensor assembly of claim 14, wherein the housing is configured to receive the connector through the channel for securing the connector to a jacking hole of the motor assembly of the vehicle.

19. A sensor assembly kit comprising:

a connector;

one or more sensors configured to measure one or more operational conditions of a vehicle; and

a housing extending from an insertion end to an opposite coupling end and having an internal chamber configured to hold the one or more sensors, the housing also including a channel extending through the housing from the insertion end to the coupling end, the channel configured to receive the connector;

wherein the connector is configured to extend through the channel and connect with an existing aperture in the vehicle to detachably secure the housing to the vehicle.

20. The sensor assembly kit of claim 19, wherein the channel in the housing is threadless and the connector is a threaded connector.