Monitoring of concrete curing
AssigneeIntellitronx Robotics and Data Analytics Corp.
InventorDan Glen Zollinger
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Apparatuses, systems, and methods for monitoring the curing of concrete employ a vacuum to draw a moisture sample from concrete (e.g., curing concrete, etc.) into the presence of a single dew point temperature (DPT) sensor. Moisture samples may be selectively drawn into the presence of the DPT sensor from sampling chambers within the concrete at a variety of locations across the concrete and/or from a variety of depths within the concrete. The dew point temperature data may be used to determine the quality of a concrete curing process.
Claims20
A humidity monitor for use with concrete while curing of the concrete, comprising:
- a housing defining an exterior and an interior of the humidity monitor;
- a conduit that receives a moisture sample from outside the humidity monitor;
- a sampling tank within the interior of the housing and in communication with the conduit;
- a vacuum pump within the interior of the housing that applies a vacuum to at least one of the conduit and the sampling tank;
- a dew point temperature sensor within the housing and in communication with the sampling tank;
- and
- at least one sampling chamber positionable remotely from the housing and including:
- an outer wall defining a bottom, sides, and a top of the at least one sampling chamber, the outer wall defining an exterior surface positionable against curing concrete and an interior surface defining an interior of the at least one sampling chamber, the bottom having a rounded or tapered shape that facilitates insertion of the at least one sampling chamber into wet or curing concrete;
- at least one aperture extending through a side of the outer wall to enable humidity from the curing concrete to enter into the interior of the at least one sampling chamber;
- and
- a sample conduit that establishes communication between the at least one sampling chamber and the conduit.
A humidity monitoring system, comprising:
- a humidity monitor including:
- a conduit that receives a moisture sample from outside the humidity monitor;
- a sampling tank in communication with the conduit;
- a vacuum pump that applies a vacuum to at least one of the conduit and the sampling tank;
- a dew point temperature sensor in communication with the sampling tank;
- and
- a processing element in communication with the vacuum pump and the dew point temperature sensor;
- and
- a sampling system including:
- at least one sampling chamber placeable within concrete, the at least one sampling chamber including an interior defined by a sidewall of the at least one sampling chamber and at least one aperture extending through the sidewall that enables moisture to be communicated from the concrete into the interior, a bottom end of the at least one sampling chamber having a rounded or tapered shape that facilitates insertion of the at least one sampling chamber into wet or curing concrete;
- and
- a sample conduit that establishes communication between the at least one sampling chamber and the conduit of the humidity monitor.
A method for monitoring humidity of concrete, comprising:
- placing a rounded or tapered end of at least one sampling chamber in wet or curing concrete and pushing the at least one sampling chamber into the wet or curing concrete such that moisture from the wet or curing concrete can be communicated into an interior of the at least one sampling chamber through at least one aperture in a side of the at least one sampling chamber;
- establishing communication between the at least one sampling chamber and a remotely located humidity monitor by way of a conduit extending between the at least one sampling chamber and the remotely located humidity monitor;
- drawing a moisture sample from the interior of the at least one sampling chamber into a sampling tank of the remotely humidity monitor;
- and
- measuring a dew point temperature of the moisture sample.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.