Load indicating member with identifying element
AssigneeInnovation Plus, LLC
InventorIan Kibblewhite
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A load indicating member is provided with an identifying element which can be accessed and used to determine ultrasonic measurement parameters specific to the load indicating member to provide more precise and more reliable load measurements by compensating for differences resulting from manufacturing variations in individual load indicating members. The parameters specific to the load indicating member can be stored in coding applied to the load indicating member or in a database that can be accessed remotely, for example, using the Internet.
Claims96
An apparatus comprising:
- an ultrasonic transducer attached to a fastener, for making ultrasonic measurements in the fastener;
- and
- a non-volatile memory device applied to the ultrasonic transducer, wherein the non-volatile memory device stores information corresponding to data associated with the fastener.
An apparatus comprising:
- a permanent mark applied to a fastener, wherein the mark stores information corresponding to data associated with the fastener;
- and
- an ultrasonic transducer applied to the permanent mark, for making ultrasonic measurements in the fastener;
- wherein the permanent mark can be detected through the ultrasonic transducer.
A load indicating member adapted for ultrasonic load measurement responsive to an identifying element on the load indicating member, wherein the identifying element contains encoded data relating to the load indicating member which comprises data for indicating a zero-load acoustic length of the load indicating member and data for indicating an acoustic signature of the load indicating member.
A load indicating member adapted for ultrasonic load measurement responsive to an identifying element on the load indicating member, wherein the identifying element contains encoded data which identifies the load indicating member, and a database which contains data relating to the load indicating member, wherein the encoded data of the identifying element indexes the data in the database which relates to the load indicating member, and wherein the data in the database which relates to the load indicating member comprises data for indicating a zero-load acoustic length of the load indicating member and data for indicating an acoustic signature of the load indicating member.
The load indicating member of claim 51 wherein the ultrasonic transducer and the radio frequency identification device each operate at a defined frequency, and wherein the frequency for the ultrasonic transducer is the same as the frequency for the radio frequency identification device.
A load indicating device comprising:
- a load indicating member having an identifying element on the load indicating member;
- an ultrasonic transducer for communicating with the load indicating member;
- means for making ultrasonic pulse-echo time-of-flight measurements for communicating with the ultrasonic transducer;
- a reader for accessing the identifying element on the load indicating member;
- and
- an Internet connection coupling the means for making ultrasonic pulse-echo time-of-flight measurements and the reader with a database containing data relating to the load indicating member having the identifying element.
A load indicating device comprising:
- a load indicating member having an ultrasonic transducer permanently attached to the load indicating member;
- an identifying element on the load indicating member;
- means for making ultrasonic pulse-echo time-of-flight measurements for communicating with the ultrasonic transducer;
- and
- a reader for accessing the identifying element on the load indicating member.
A method of measuring change in acoustic length of a load indicating member, comprising the steps of:
- identifying the load indicating member by accessing an identifying element on the load indicating member with a reader;
- retrieving from a database data relating to the identified load indicating member, wherein the retrieved data includes data for deriving a zero-load acoustic length of the identified load indicating member and data for deriving an ultrasonic echo waveform measurement cycle used for acoustic length measurement of the identified load indicating member;
- measuring the acoustic length of the identified load indicating member using an ultrasonic transducer and the derived measurement cycle;
- and
- calculating a difference between the measured acoustic length and the zero-load acoustic length and calculating the change in acoustic length of the identified load indicating member from the calculated difference between the measured acoustic length and the zero-load acoustic length.
A method of measuring change in acoustic length of a load indicating member, comprising the steps of:
- accessing an identifying element on the load indicating member with a reader, wherein the identifying element contains data for deriving a zero-load acoustic length of the load indicating member and data for deriving an ultrasonic echo waveform measurement cycle used for acoustic length measurement of the load indicating member;
- measuring the acoustic length of the load indicating member using an ultrasonic transducer and the derived measurement cycle;
- and
- calculating a difference between the measured acoustic length and the zero-load acoustic length and calculating the change in acoustic length of the load indicating member from the calculated difference between the measured acoustic length and the zero-load acoustic length.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.