US 2016/0097408 A1 · CYLINDER POSITION DETERMINATION USING FIBER OPTIC SHAPE SENSING

Abstract

A system for determining the stroke of a hydraulic cylinder is provided. The hydraulic cylinder includes a barrel with a rod that slidably extends therefrom. A fiber optic shape sensing system is positioned to determine the stroke of the rod relative to the barrel. An interrogation module is fixed to a reference frame. A fiber bundle is joined to the interrogation module at a proximal end and a fiber termination at a distal end, which is joined to the connecting end of the rod. A signal conditioning module connected to the interrogation module is configured to compute the location of at least one position of the fiber bundle relative to the reference frame; and provide an output indicative of the stroke of the connecting end relative to the barrel.

Claims4

Dependent claims

A system for determining the stroke of a hydraulic cylinder comprising:

a hydraulic cylinder comprising:
a rod having a piston end and a connecting end;
said rod slidably extending from a barrel, said barrel fixed to a reference frame;
a fiber optic shape sensing system associated with the hydraulic cylinder comprising:
an interrogation module fixed to said reference frame;
a fiber bundle having a proximal end and a distal end;
said proximal end joined to said interrogation module;
said distal end having a fiber termination that is joined to said connecting end of said rod;
a signal conditioning module connected to said interrogation module and configured to:
compute the location of at least one position of the fiber bundle relative to the reference frame;
and
provide an output signal indicative of the stroke of said connecting end relative to said barrel.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Cylinder position determination using fiber optic shape sensing

Life of this patent

Cylinder position determination using fiber optic shape sensing

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims4