Position detector for a power rodding apparatus
First Claim
1. A circuit for detecting the amount of rod which has been extended into a conduit from a storage reel of a rodding device comprising:
- (a) means for detecting the amount and direction of movement of said rod and producing pulse signals representative of said movement,(b) means for encoding said pulse signals and transmitting them via radio frequency transmission to a remote location,(c) means for receiving said radio frequency transmission and decoding it to recover said pulse signal information at said remote location,(d) pulse counting means,(e) display means for displaying the contents of said pulse counting means,(f) scaling means receiving the decoded pulse signals and producing said scaled pulse signals to said pulse counting means which correspond to lineal measurement units whereby the displayed contents of said pulse counting means is a direct and instantaneous measure of the length of said rod extended from said reel.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A power rodding apparatus is often used in conjunction with laying telephone cable through underground conduits. For such applications the exact location of the end of the rod is important and is determined by a position detecting circuit. The circuit includes a magnetic sensor coupled to a shaft which rotates as a function of the amount of rod which has been extended or retracted from the rodding machine. The sensor also detects the direction of rotation and provides the information to digital logic which encodes the information and transmits it to a remote location. The received information is decoded and utilized to drive a digital display providing instantaneous information regarding the position of the end of the rod. A memory circuit is also provided which stores the total number of operating cycles as a general measure of rod wear.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A circuit for detecting the amount of rod which has been extended into a conduit from a storage reel of a rodding device comprising:
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(a) means for detecting the amount and direction of movement of said rod and producing pulse signals representative of said movement, (b) means for encoding said pulse signals and transmitting them via radio frequency transmission to a remote location, (c) means for receiving said radio frequency transmission and decoding it to recover said pulse signal information at said remote location, (d) pulse counting means, (e) display means for displaying the contents of said pulse counting means, (f) scaling means receiving the decoded pulse signals and producing said scaled pulse signals to said pulse counting means which correspond to lineal measurement units whereby the displayed contents of said pulse counting means is a direct and instantaneous measure of the length of said rod extended from said reel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A circuit for detecting the amount of rod which has been extended from a storage reel of a rodding device comprising:
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(a) means for detecting the amount and direction of movement of said rod and producing pulse signals representative of said movement, (b) means for encoding and transmitting said pulse signals to a remote location including means for generating distinctive modulating signals representative of said pulse signals and a transmitting circuit for transmitting a carrier frequency modulated by said modulating signals, (c) means for receiving and decoding said pulse signals at said remote location, (d) pulse counting means, (e) display means for displaying the contents of said pulse counting means, (f) scaling means receiving the decoded pulse signals and producing scaled pulse signals to said pulse counting means which correspond to lineal measurement units whereby the displayed contents of said pulse counting means is a direct and instantaneous measure of the length of said rod extended from said reel.
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Specification