Smart fastener
First Claim
1. A smart corrosion sensing fastener comprising:
- a fastening means for attaching one item to another item, each item being of a structure;
corrosion sensing means, situated in said fastening means, for simultaneously sensing in-situ a plurality of corrosive effects of ambient environment upon at least one item of structure external of said fastening means, and outputting signals indicative of the corrosive effects; and
electronics means, situated in said fastening means and connected to said corrosion sensing means, for processing the signals from said corrosion sensing means, storing the signals for retrieval, and monitoring the signals.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A smart fastener having corrosion detection features. Within the fastener is a corrosion detecting array that receives an electrolyte that corrodes sacrificial materials formed on electrodes of the corrosion detecting array. The materials are the same as those materials which are secured, fastened, or attached by the fastener. There is parallel corrosion of the sacrificial materials and the attached materials since the electrolyte which is channeled via capillary tubes into the corrosion detecting array is the same electrolyte that is in the environment of the fastened materials. Other electrodes sense various properties of the electrolyte. Information sensed by the corrosion sensing electrodes of the array is in the form of very small electrical signals which are amplified and stored in an analog storage memory. A clock and addressing device time stamps and address the signals. An interface circuit enables a user to electronically access corrosion and related signals without removing or in any way dismantling the fastener.
61 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A smart corrosion sensing fastener comprising:
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a fastening means for attaching one item to another item, each item being of a structure; corrosion sensing means, situated in said fastening means, for simultaneously sensing in-situ a plurality of corrosive effects of ambient environment upon at least one item of structure external of said fastening means, and outputting signals indicative of the corrosive effects; and electronics means, situated in said fastening means and connected to said corrosion sensing means, for processing the signals from said corrosion sensing means, storing the signals for retrieval, and monitoring the signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A smart fastener comprising:
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a bolt having first and second ends and having an opening at the first end; an internal cavity situated in said bolt proximate to the opening; at least one corrosion sensor situated in said internal cavity; at least one conveyance means, connected to said at least one corrosion sensor, for conveying matter to be sensed from an environment external of said bolt; and an electronics module situated in said internal cavity and connected to said corrosion sensing element. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A corrosion detecting fastener comprising:
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a fastener for fastening two or more items of structure; a corrosion sensing module situated within said fastener for sensing corrosion of the two or more items of structure; and an electronics module situated within said fastener and connected to said corrosion sensing module, for processing, monitoring and storing signals from said corrosion sensing module. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A combined fastener and corrosion sensor comprising:
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a fastener body having a head at a first end and a removable nut at a second end; an environmental chamber, situated within said fastener body, said chamber having at least one capillary tube through said fastener body, for channeling electrolyte from about and external to said fastener body to said chamber; a corrosion sensing array situated in said environmental chamber, wherein said corrosion sensing array comprises; a reference electrode; at least one sensing electrode proximate to said reference electrode, having a small amount of a first material formed thereon, the first material exposed to electrolyte from the capillary tube and subject to corrosion due to the electrolyte, and if any corrosion occurs, a corrosion signal indicative of corrosion is generated; an electronic circuit situated within said fastener body and connected to said corrosion sensing array, wherein said electronic circuit comprises; an analog storage array, connected to said corrosion sensing array for storing corrosion signals from said corrosion sensing array, the corrosion signals indicative of the corrosion of the first material which in turn is indicative of parallel corrosion in a second material attached by said fastener; a clock, connected to said analog storage array, for indicating times of the corrosion signals; and an interface, connected to said analog storage array, for accessing stored corrosion signals and respective times from said analog storage array, the accessing to be performed externally of said fastener.
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Specification