Bulk materials management apparatus and method
First Claim
1. An automated instrumentation package (AIP) for bulk materials monitoring, the AIP comprising:
- a bulk material surface profile scanner;
an avalanche warning sub-system connected to the bulk material surface profile scanner; and
wherein the surface profile scanner further comprises a volume computation sub-system.
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Abstract
Bulk material measurement packages are described including the preferred embodiment of an automated instrument package (AIP) suited to mount on the inside ceiling of a large silo. The gimbaled AIP vertical mounting bracket rotates in an approximate 360° azimuth. An instrument housing is mounted to the vertical mounting bracket, and it rotates approximately 190° in a vertical plane. The instrument housing has at least one range finding sensor such as a scanning laser to measure the top surface contours of the bulk material. The instrument housing can also contains other sensors such as air and quality instruments including temperature, humidity, spectral recognition sensor to detect grain/material type and/or flow rate, gas detectors for sniffing off-odors/spoilage/or safety problems, and live video. Optionally grain penetrating radar (GPR), time domain reflectometry (TDR), ultrasonics, and portable sensors are taught as well as alternate packaging.
115 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An automated instrumentation package (AIP) for bulk materials monitoring, the AIP comprising:
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a bulk material surface profile scanner;
an avalanche warning sub-system connected to the bulk material surface profile scanner; and
wherein the surface profile scanner further comprises a volume computation sub-system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An automated instrumentation package (AIP) for bulk materials monitoring, the AIP comprising:
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a bulk material surface profile scanner;
an avalanche warning sub-system connected to the bulk material surface profile scanner; and
a video camera.
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6. An automated instrumentation package (AIP) for bulk materials monitoring, the AIP comprising:
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a bulk material surface profile scanner;
an avalanche warning sub-system connected to the bulk material surface profile scanner; and
a spectral recognition sensor to enable identification of bulk material type. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An automated instrumentation package (AIP) for bulk materials monitoring, the AIP comprising:
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a bulk material surface profile scanner;
an avalanche warning sub-system connected to the bulk material surface profile scanner; and
an environmental gas monitoring system to monitor dust, temperature, humidity, dew point and out-gassing. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. An automated instrumentation package (AIP) for bulk materials monitoring, the AIP comprising:
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a bulk material surface profile scanner;
an avalanche warning sub-system connected to the bulk material surface profile scanner; and
a bulk material penetrating scanner having a density calculating sub-system to determine at least one of the following variables;
voids, insects, mold growth, moisture content and volume. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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18. An automated instrumentation package (AIP) for bulk materials monitoring, the AIP comprising:
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a bulk material surface profile scanner;
an avalanche warning sub-system connected to the bulk material surface profile scanner; and
an acoustical single point ranger to prevent overfilling.
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19. An automated instrumentation package (AIP) for bulk materials monitoring, the AIP comprising:
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a bulk material surface profile scanner;
an avalanche warning sub-system connected to the bulk material surface profile scanner; and
a dust ignition proof enclosure comprising a two axis gimbal mount for motion control of the automated instrument package. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification