Monitoring systems and methods for sewer and other conduit systems
First Claim
1. A monitoring system for a conduit network comprising one or more conduit sections joined at one or more conduit nodes, comprising:
- one or more sensor devices disposed at selected ones of the one or more conduit nodes, wherein each of the one or more sensor devices is operable for sensing a blockage or breakage in an associated conduit section by one or more of transmitting a signal that is affected by the blockage or breakage to another sensor device that measures a transmitted signal after it has passed through or by the blockage or breakage and transmitting a signal that is reflected by the blockage or breakage back to itself with both the transmitted signal after it has passed through or by the blockage or breakage and a reflected signal after it has been reflected by the blockage or breakage being measured, wherein the signal is transmitted in a direction that is substantially parallel to an intended fluid flow direction in the associated conduit section, and wherein each of the one or more sensor devices is operable for communicating blockage or breakage information to a central location.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides a monitoring system for a conduit network including one or more conduit sections joined at one or more conduit nodes, including: one or more sensor devices disposed at selected ones of the one or more conduit nodes, wherein each of the one or more sensor devices is operable for sensing a blockage or breakage in an associated conduit section, and wherein each of the one or more sensor devices is operable for communicating blockage or breakage information to a central location. Optionally, each of the sensor devices includes one of an audio sensor device and a radio frequency sensor device. Each of the sensor devices is operable for sensing the blockage or breakage in the associated conduit section by measuring an attribute of a transmitted/received signal, alone or in combination with another sensor device. Each of the sensor devices is operable for communicating the blockage or breakage information to the central location via a wireless link.
31 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A monitoring system for a conduit network comprising one or more conduit sections joined at one or more conduit nodes, comprising:
one or more sensor devices disposed at selected ones of the one or more conduit nodes, wherein each of the one or more sensor devices is operable for sensing a blockage or breakage in an associated conduit section by one or more of transmitting a signal that is affected by the blockage or breakage to another sensor device that measures a transmitted signal after it has passed through or by the blockage or breakage and transmitting a signal that is reflected by the blockage or breakage back to itself with both the transmitted signal after it has passed through or by the blockage or breakage and a reflected signal after it has been reflected by the blockage or breakage being measured, wherein the signal is transmitted in a direction that is substantially parallel to an intended fluid flow direction in the associated conduit section, and wherein each of the one or more sensor devices is operable for communicating blockage or breakage information to a central location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
9. A monitoring method for a conduit network comprising one or more conduit sections joined at one or more conduit nodes, comprising:
disposing one or more sensor devices at selected ones of the one or more conduit nodes, wherein each of the one or more sensor devices is operable for sensing a blockage or breakage in an associated conduit section by one or more of transmitting a signal that is affected by the blockage or breakage to another sensor device that measures a transmitted signal after it has passed through or by the blockage or breakage and transmitting a signal that is reflected by the blockage or breakage back to itself with both the transmitted signal after it has passed through or by the blockage or breakage and a reflected signal after it has been reflected by the blockage or breakage being measured, wherein the signal is transmitted in a direction that is substantially parallel to an intended fluid flow direction in the associated conduit section, and wherein each of the one or more sensor devices is operable for communicating blockage or breakage information to a central location. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
17. A monitoring and maintenance method for a conduit network comprising one or more conduit sections joined at one or more conduit nodes, comprising:
-
assessing a blockage or breakage state of each of the one or more conduit sections by measuring an attribute of a transmitted audio or radio frequency signal after it has passed through or by a blockage or breakage at each of the one or more conduit nodes, wherein the transmitted audio or radio frequency signal is transmitted in a direction that is substantially parallel to an intended fluid flow direction in each of the one or more conduit sections; and maintaining each of the one or more conduit sections responsive to the assessed blockage or breakage state. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
-
Specification