System and method for detecting a structure failure
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system for detecting a structural failure comprising:
- a cable;
a set of two or more spindles operable to anchor said cable to said spindle set;
two or more said spindle sets anchored to a structure at an interval to ensure break due to over-elongation of said cable upon failure of the structure;
a single signal source coupled to one end of said cable; and
a single signal detector coupled to the opposite end said cable.
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Abstract
A system for quickly and reliably detecting a failed structure includes a signal source, a cable attached to the structure, an anti-slip cable anchor, a signal detector, and user indicator. When the structure fails, the cable attached to the structure is also broken. The user indicator is operable to display the status of the cable. The cable breaks due to exceeding the elastic modulus of the cable, caused by elongation of the distance between two fixed points caused by the failing structure. Electric power must be provided to each signal source, signal detector and user indicator.
28 Citations
38 Claims
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1. A system for detecting a structural failure comprising:
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a cable; a set of two or more spindles operable to anchor said cable to said spindle set; two or more said spindle sets anchored to a structure at an interval to ensure break due to over-elongation of said cable upon failure of the structure; a single signal source coupled to one end of said cable; and a single signal detector coupled to the opposite end said cable. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A system for detecting structural failure comprising;
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a fiber optic cable coupled to a structure; a multitude of alarm indicator controllers where said controller monitors for a break in said fiber optic cable; a multitude of user indicators; and at least one of said controllers is located within the housing of at least one said user indicator. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A system for detecting structural failure comprising:
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a means for attaching a fiber optic cable to a structure such that failure of said cable indicates a failure of said structure; a means for anchoring said cable to said structure such that said cable will not slip or creep past an attachment point; and a means for monitoring for a break of said cable. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A means for detecting structural failure comprising:
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two or more fiber optic cable segments, each segment coupled to a signal source and signal detector; a means for anchoring said fiber optic cable to a structure such that the failure of said fiber optic cable correlates with failure of said structure; where said means for anchoring said fiber optic cable includes a spindle means operable to prevent said cable from slipping past an anchor point and prevents said cable from being broken by said anchor means under tensile forces slightly less than the tensile strength limit of said fiber optic cable; a means to operate user indicators and controllers along the structure; and a means to provide electric power to each signal source and signal detector. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31)
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32. A method for detecting a structural failure comprising:
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providing a fiber optic cable attached to said structure such that said cable cannot slip past fixed points; and said fiber optic cable will be parted by said structural failure; and providing indication of said structural failure to a user of a multiple points along said structure. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification