HAND HELD MOISTURE METER INTELLIGENT RECORDING

• US 20200132615A1
• Filed: 10/15/2019
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wagner Electronic Products, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Wagner Electronic Products, Inc.
• Inventors: Wagner, Eric, Gerber, Shawn
• Granted Patent: US 11,215,575 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 18/004 Continuous recalibration
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 18/008 with calibration coefficients stored in memory
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/223 for determining moisture content, e.g. humidity rain detectors on vehicle windows B60S1/0825
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/226 Construction of measuring vessels; Electrodes therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/383 Concrete, cement
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/46 Wood

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are disclosed for automated acquisition of moisture readings using a handheld moisture meter. In automated mode, a succession of moisture content readings at successive positions can be acquired without any user interface input, by moving the moisture meter to successive positions on a sample, and holding steady at each position. Moisture readings stable for a time period (e.g. one second) are indicative of moisture content of a sample at a stationary position and are collected. Moisture readings varying in time are indicative of motion of the moisture meter and are not collected. Statistics can be performed on the collected readings. Notifications of stable readings and alerts for out-of-range readings can be provided. Hardware and software architectures are disclosed. The innovative technology is suitable for wood, concrete, and other materials at any stage of manufacturing or product lifecycle.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

at a moisture meter;

entering an automatic recording mode responsive to a received input and, in the automatic recording mode, performing actions a) through e) without further input at a user interface;

a) detecting a first stable moisture reading for a predetermined period of time;

b) storing the first stable moisture reading;

c) detecting one or more varying moisture readings different from the first stable moisture reading;

d) detecting a second stable moisture reading for the predetermined period of time; and

e) storing the second stable moisture reading;

wherein action a) precedes c) and action c) precedes d).

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting and storing additional stable moisture readings while in the automatic recording mode; and

computing one or more statistics on the first, second, and additional stable moisture readings.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the statistics comprise one or more of:

minimum, maximum, arithmetic mean, or standard deviation.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the received input is a first received input, and further comprising:

resetting the statistics in response to a second received input, while remaining in the automatic recording mode.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein only moisture readings above a threshold are incorporated into the computed statistics.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the automatic recording mode comprises:

making repetitive periodic raw measurements indicative of moisture proximate to the moisture meter; and

processing the raw measurements to obtain a succession of moisture readings including the first, second, and varying moisture readings.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the processing comprises one or more of:

averaging, filtering, or rounding.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the making and the processing are performed continually during the automatic recording mode, without any user input.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein each of the varying moisture readings differs from a respective immediately preceding moisture reading by at least a threshold amount.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the received input is a first received input, and further comprising:

exiting the automatic recording mode in response to a second received input.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

comparing the first stable moisture reading with a first threshold or a second threshold; and

generating an alert signal if the first stable moisture reading is below the first threshold or above the second threshold.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating respective notification signals responsive to the detecting of the first and second stable moisture readings.

13. A computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the computer-implemented method of claim 1.

14. A moisture meter comprising:

an electronic moisture sensor;

one or more processors, with memory coupled thereto, configured to operate the electronic moisture sensor, to communicate with a user interface, and to execute instructions comprising;

first instructions to acquire a succession of stable moisture readings in a repetitive loop without input from the user interface;

wherein each of the stable moisture readings is unchanging for at least a predetermined time duration; and

wherein successive pairs of the stable moisture readings are separated by at least one varying moisture reading different from an immediately preceding one of the stable moisture readings, the varying moisture reading indicative of movement of the moisture meter; and

second instructions to compute one or more statistics on the succession of stable moisture readings; and

third instructions to provide the computed statistics to the user interface.

15. The moisture meter of claim 14, wherein the user interface comprises a keypad and a display on the moisture meter.

16. The moisture meter of claim 14, wherein the user interface is part of a computing device coupled to the moisture meter over a network connection.

17. A method comprising:

providing an input at a user interface of a moisture meter to place the moisture meter into an automatic recording mode; and

placing the moisture meter at successive positions on a sample to acquire a succession of stable moisture readings without further input at the user interface.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the moisture readings are considered stable if they vary by less than a threshold amount over a predetermined time duration.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the sample comprises wood or concrete.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

making a pass-fail determination for the sample based on the acquired moisture readings.