Configurable vibration sensor
First Claim
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1. A configurable vibration sensor comprising:
- one or more sensor circuits;
one or more analog-to-digital converters coupled to the one or more sensor circuits, for converting output from the one or more sensor circuits to one or more digital signals;
a processor coupled to the one or more analog-to-digital converters, for processing the one or more digital signals;
a digital communications interface coupled to the processor, for facilitating the communication of at least data between the processor and a computer adapted to receive digital input; and
a power regulator, wherein the digital communications interface and the power regulator are coupled to the computer through a shared communications medium adapted to transmit power and data, and wherein in operation, the power regulator receives power through the shared communications medium for supply to one or more components of the configurable vibration sensor;
wherein each of the one or more sensor circuits comprises a vibration sensing element and a variable bandwidth filter coupled thereto; and
wherein each variable bandwidth filter of the one or more sensor circuits is controllable by the processor such that the operation of each variable bandwidth filter is variable by the processor.
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Abstract
A configurable vibration sensor having a sensor circuit, an analog-to-digital converter and a processor is provided. The sensor circuit employs a vibration sensing element and a variable bandwidth filter controllable by the processor. In addition to the variable bandwidth filter, other configurable elements may also be employed in the sensor circuit, including a variable gain amplifier. These configurable elements allow the configurable vibration sensor to be configured for different vibration measurement applications when measuring vibrations from vibrating structures such as machinery and the like.
645 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A configurable vibration sensor comprising:
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one or more sensor circuits; one or more analog-to-digital converters coupled to the one or more sensor circuits, for converting output from the one or more sensor circuits to one or more digital signals; a processor coupled to the one or more analog-to-digital converters, for processing the one or more digital signals; a digital communications interface coupled to the processor, for facilitating the communication of at least data between the processor and a computer adapted to receive digital input; and a power regulator, wherein the digital communications interface and the power regulator are coupled to the computer through a shared communications medium adapted to transmit power and data, and wherein in operation, the power regulator receives power through the shared communications medium for supply to one or more components of the configurable vibration sensor; wherein each of the one or more sensor circuits comprises a vibration sensing element and a variable bandwidth filter coupled thereto; and wherein each variable bandwidth filter of the one or more sensor circuits is controllable by the processor such that the operation of each variable bandwidth filter is variable by the processor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A configurable vibration sensor comprising:
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one or more sensor circuits; one or more analog-to-digital converters coupled to the one or more sensor circuits, for converting output from the one or more sensor circuits to one or more digital signals; a processor coupled to the one or more analog-to-digital converters, for processing the one or more digital signals; an enclosure, wherein the one or more sensor circuits, the one or more analog-to-digital converters, and the processor are provided within the enclosure; an external communications interface coupled to the processor; and a power regulator coupled to the processor; wherein the enclosure permits the configurable vibration sensor to be coupled to an external device only through at least one of the external communications interface and the power regulator; wherein each of the one or more sensor circuits comprises a vibration sensing element and a variable bandwidth filter coupled thereto; and wherein each variable bandwidth filter of the one or more sensor circuits is controllable by the processor such that the operation of each variable bandwidth filter is variable by the processor. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A system comprising a plurality of configurable vibration sensors, wherein at least one of the plurality of configurable vibration sensors comprises one or more sensor circuits, one or more analog-to-digital converters coupled to the one or more sensor circuits for converting output from the one or more sensor circuits to one or more digital signals, and a processor coupled to the one or more analog-to-digital converters for processing the one or more digital signals, wherein each of the one or more sensor circuits comprises a vibration sensing element and a variable bandwidth filter coupled thereto, and wherein each variable bandwidth filter of the one or more sensor circuits is controllable by the processor such that the operation of each variable bandwidth filter is variable by the processor;
- and wherein the plurality of configurable vibration sensors are coupled to a computer through a bus connection.
Specification