Electric leakage detector for underground storage tank systems
First Claim
1. A fluid detection system for identifying the presence or absence and the identity of fluids within confined areas within an underground storage tank system, said confined areas including accumulation areas on which fluids unintentionally or accidentally entering the confined area can generally accumulate, said fluid detection system comprising:
- a probe assembly sized and shaped for deployment within said confined areas and adjacent to one of said accumulation areas, said probe assembly including a sensor for detecting the presence or absence and identity of said fluids collecting on said one of said accumulation areas;
said sensor including capacitor means that develops a capacitance characteristic of air or said fluids that contact said capacitor means;
said probe assembly including a converter responsive to the capacitance of said capacitor means for generating a variable frequency output signal;
an analyzer unit including circuitry by which said variable frequency signal is edited to provide selected frequencies as an edited output signal; and
a transmitter for digitalizing and transmitting said edited output signal to a display, said display for indicating the presence or absence and the identity of said fluids within said one of said confined areas or a multiple of said confined areas, whereby said fluids unintentionally or accidentally entering said tank system are identified and displayed.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A fluid detection system by which the presence or absence and identity of fluids may be detected within confined areas, such as those existing within underground storage tank systems and in which fluids may accumulate. The fluid detection system includes a probe assembly having circuitry which determines the presence of fluids by the capacitance developed across a variable capacitor. The output signal provided by the capacitor is converted to frequency values, is filtered by a receiver included with the system, and transmitted to a remote location for display. The system is suitable for deployment within and monitoring of one or a multiple of tank systems.
49 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A fluid detection system for identifying the presence or absence and the identity of fluids within confined areas within an underground storage tank system, said confined areas including accumulation areas on which fluids unintentionally or accidentally entering the confined area can generally accumulate, said fluid detection system comprising:
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a probe assembly sized and shaped for deployment within said confined areas and adjacent to one of said accumulation areas, said probe assembly including a sensor for detecting the presence or absence and identity of said fluids collecting on said one of said accumulation areas; said sensor including capacitor means that develops a capacitance characteristic of air or said fluids that contact said capacitor means; said probe assembly including a converter responsive to the capacitance of said capacitor means for generating a variable frequency output signal; an analyzer unit including circuitry by which said variable frequency signal is edited to provide selected frequencies as an edited output signal; and a transmitter for digitalizing and transmitting said edited output signal to a display, said display for indicating the presence or absence and the identity of said fluids within said one of said confined areas or a multiple of said confined areas, whereby said fluids unintentionally or accidentally entering said tank system are identified and displayed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. System for detecting the presence of fluids or gases unintentionally or accidentally entering confined areas within a plurality of underground storage tank systems, each of said confined areas including accumulation areas on which said fluids and adjacent to which gases can collect, said apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of probe assemblies sized and shaped for positioning within said confined areas, each of said plurality of probe assemblies including a sensor that responds to contact with said fluids or said gases by developing a capacitance generally characteristic of said fluids or said gases; said each of said plurality of probe assemblies including conversion means by which said voltages are received and are converted to frequencies, said frequencies provided as a converted output signal; said each of said plurality of probe assemblies further including means by which said converted output signal is filtered to remove noise and frequencies of non-selected fluids, said filtering means providing a filtered output signal; a transmitter by which said filtered output signal from said converting means is digitalized and transmitted to a display; and said display for indicating the presence or absence of said fluids or said gases unintentionally or accidentally entering or developing in or around one or more of said accumulation areas, whereby leakage in said plurality of said underground storage tank system is detachable. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. Method of monitoring an underground storage tank system for presence of fluids o gases unintentionally or accidentally entering confined areas within the system, said system including a storage tank buried at least partially below the surface of surrounding ground, said confined areas including accumulation areas on which the fluids or adjacent to which the gases can accumulate or develop, said method comprising the steps of:
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positioning one or more probe assemblies into each of one or more of the confined areas such that a sensor of each of said probe assemblies is approximate to, but separate from the accumulation areas; each of said probes defining a flat variable capacitor, the capacitance of said capacitor directly varying according to the presence or absence and type of the fluids or the gases that contact said capacitor; developing a signal having a frequency dependent on the capacity of said capacitor; transmitting said frequency signal as an output signal; processing said signal to remove non-selected frequencies caused by noise or by ambient conditions, said processing step producing an edited signal; digitizing said edited signal; transmitting said digitized edited signal to a display; and indicating on said display the presence or absence of the fluids or the gases that have accidentally or unintentionally contacted said capacitor. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. A system for reliably monitoring for fluids or gases accidentally or unintentionally collecting on or adjacent to accumulation areas within an underground storage tank system, said system comprising:
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a plurality of probe assemblies, each of said probe assemblies sized and shaped to be deployed within said tank system and on said accumulation areas; said each of said probe assemblies including a sensor that develops a capacitance characteristic of said fluids or said gases that contact said sensor, said sensor sized and shaped to be positioned adjacent to but separate from said one of said accumulation areas whereby at a minimum a thin layer of said fluids or said gases that collects on or adjacent to said accumulation areas can contact said sensor; said each of said probe assemblies including a converter for producing an output signal having a capacitance characteristic frequency dependent on said capacitance characteristic; said each of said probe assemblies including a frequency counter by which frequencies caused by noise or ambient conditions can be edited from said output signal to form an edited signal; said each of said probe assemblies including means to form a digitized signal; and means by which said digitized signal is transmitted to a remote display on which the presence of said fluids or said gases detected by one or more of said plurality of probe assemblies an be reliably indicated. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification