Wireless-Enabled Tension Meter

• US 20150068318A1
• Filed: 09/10/2014
• Published: 03/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Southwire Company
• Original Assignee: Southwire Company
• Inventors: Bardin, Tim R., Garrish, Chad, Daniel, Allan Wayne, Temblador, Richard, Tuggle, James Phil
• Granted Patent: US 9,576,475 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 73/828
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 5/047 Specific indicating or recording arrangements, e.g. for remote indication, for indicating overload or underload
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 5/107 for measuring a reaction force applied on an element disposed between two supports, e.g. on a plurality of rollers or gliders
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/02 using a radio link
• CPC Class Codes: H02G 1/08 through tubing or conduit, e.g. rod or draw wire for pushing or pulling inserting electrical cables into tubes using wallbores E21B17/206; for optical cables G02B6/4401
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/40 using a wireless architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

A wireless-enabled tension meter is disclosed. The wireless-enabled tension meter can include a pulley arrangement through which a portion of a guiding member is routed for use during a pull of conductor through a conduit network. A tension force is exerted on the guiding member during the pull as the guiding member is pulled through the pulley arrangement. The wireless-enabled tension meter can also include a sensor for measuring the tension force, a wireless network interface, and a control module for performing operations. The operations performed by the control module can include capturing data corresponding to the tension force and causing the wireless network interface to send the data to a wireless communication device.

Claims

1. A wireless-enabled tension meter comprising:

a pulley arrangement through which a portion of a linear element is routed, wherein a tension force is exerted on the linear element as the linear element traverses the pulley arrangement;

a sensor for measuring the tension force;

a wireless network interface; and

a control module that performs operations comprising

capturing data corresponding to the tension force, and

causing the wireless network interface to send the data to a device.

2. The wireless-enabled tension meter of claim 1, wherein the linear element comprises a guiding member for use during a pull of conductor through a conduit network, and wherein the tension force is exerted on the guiding member during the pull as the guiding member traverses the pulley arrangement.

3. The wireless-enabled tension meter of claim 1, wherein the device comprises a wireless communication device.

4. The wireless-enabled tension meter of claim 1, wherein the device comprises a tension meter remote device.

5. The wireless-enabled tension meter of claim 1, wherein:

the sensor for measuring the tension force comprises a load pin that functions as an axis for a pulley of the pulley arrangement;

the load pin facilitates measurement of a radial force exerted on the pulley by the linear element as the linear element traverses the pulley arrangement; and

the radial force is utilized to calculate the tension force.

6. The wireless-enabled tension meter of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise causing the wireless network interface to broadcast a wireless signal that is detectable by the device.

7. The wireless-enabled tension meter of claim 6, wherein the wireless signal is a WI-FI signal utilized to create a peer-to-peer connection between the wireless network interface and the device.

8. The wireless-enabled tension meter of claim 6, wherein the wireless signal comprises a service set identification (“

SSID”

) unique to the wireless-enabled tension meter.

9. The wireless-enabled tension meter of claim 6, wherein the wireless signal comprises a short-range wireless signal.

10. The wireless-enabled tension meter of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise causing the wireless network interface to connect to a wireless network;

and wherein causing the wireless network interface to send the data to the device comprises causing the wireless network interface to send the data to the device via the wireless network.

11. The wireless-enabled tension meter of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

hosting a web application comprising a user interface through which commands can be provided to the wireless-enabled tension meter;

providing the web application to the device via the wireless network interface; and

receiving a command from the device via the wireless network interface, wherein the command is selected from the user interface presented on the device.

12. The wireless-enabled tension meter of claim 11, wherein the command comprises a request to measure the tension force.

13. The wireless-enabled tension meter of claim 12, wherein the command comprises a request to measure a metric comprising at least one of the tension force, a length of a pull, a position of the conductor in a conduit network, or a speed of the pull.

14. The wireless-enabled tension meter of claim 1, wherein the data is utilized to calculate a sidewall pressure of the linear element.

15. A wireless communication device comprising:

a display;

a network connectivity component;

a processor; and

a memory component that stores instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising

causing the network connectivity component to connect to a wireless-enabled tension meter via a wireless network,

receiving data from the wireless-enabled tension meter via the wireless network, and

presenting the data on the display.

16. The wireless communication device of claim 15, wherein the data comprises tension data associated with a tension force measured by the wireless-enabled tension meter during a pull of conductor through a conduit network.

17. The wireless communication device of claim 15, wherein receiving the data from the wireless-enabled tension meter via the wireless network comprises receiving the data from the wireless-enabled tension meter in real-time during the pull.

18. The wireless communication device of claim 15, wherein receiving the data from the wireless-enabled tension meter via the wireless network comprises receiving the data from the wireless-enabled tension meter after the pull.

19. The wireless communication device of claim 15, wherein the data further comprises at least one of a length of the pull, a position of the conductor in the conduit network, or a speed of the pull.

20. The wireless communication device of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

presenting a user interface on the display;

receiving a selection of a command via the display; and

sending the command to the wireless-enabled tension meter;

and wherein receiving the data from the wireless-enabled tension meter via the wireless network comprises receiving the data from the wireless-enabled tension meter via the wireless network in response to sending the command to the wireless-enabled tension meter.

21. The wireless communication device of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

creating a visual representation of the data; and

presenting the visual representation of the data on the display.

22. The wireless communication device of claim 21, wherein the visual representation comprises a chart, a graph, or a representation of a conduit network through which a conductor is being pulled.

23. The wireless communication device of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

creating a report of the data; and

exporting the report.

24. The wireless communication device of claim 15, wherein presenting the user interface on the display comprises presenting the user interface on the display via a native application being executed by the processor.

25. The wireless communication device of claim 15, wherein presenting the user interface on the display comprises presenting the user interface on the display via a web application hosted by the wireless-enabled tension meter.

26. The wireless communication device of claim 15, wherein presenting the data on the display comprises presenting the data on the display in a first format when the wireless communication device is positioned in a first orientation and presenting the data on the display in a second format when the wireless communication device is positioned in a second orientation.

27. The wireless communication device of claim 26, wherein the first format comprises a text-based representation and the second format comprises a visual representation.

28. The wireless communication device of claim 26, wherein the first orientation comprises a landscape orientation and the second orientation comprises a portrait orientation.

29. The wireless communication device of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

calculating a sidewall pressure of a linear element using at least a portion of the data; and

presenting the sidewall pressure on the display.

30. A computer storage medium storing computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a processor of a wireless-enabled tension meter, cause the wireless-enabled tension meter to perform operations comprising:

capturing data from a sensor, the data corresponding to a tension force exerted by a puller system on a guiding member during a pull of conductor through a conduit network; and

sending the data to a wireless communication device via a wireless network.

31. The computer storage medium of claim 30, wherein the operations further comprise hosting a web application that is accessible by the wireless communication device via the wireless network, the web application providing a user interface through which a user can control functions of the wireless-enabled tension meter.

32. The computer storage medium of claim 31, wherein the functions comprise requesting the wireless-enabled tension meter to capture the data.

33. The computer storage medium of claim 30, wherein the data further comprises at least one of a length of the pull, a position of the conductor in the conduit network, or a speed of the pull.

34. The computer storage medium of claim 31, wherein the functions further comprise manipulating the data.

35. The computer storage medium of claim 34, wherein the data further comprises at least one of a length of the pull, a position of the conductor in the conduit network, or a speed of the pull.

36. The computer storage medium of claim 30, wherein sending the data to the wireless communication device via the wireless network comprises sending the data to an application executing on the wireless communication device.

37. The computer storage medium of claim 30, wherein the data is utilized to calculate a sidewall pressure of the conductor.