Angle sensor for a steerable boring tool
AssigneeThe Charles Machine Works, Inc.
InventorAlan J. Rider
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A roll sensor is provided for determining the roll angle of a rotatable member. The roll sensor includes a plurality of elements arranged in a predetermined manner, each element having a first state and a second state. A controller controls the respective state of the plurality of elements. A detector detects an output of the elements which are in the first state. A liquid responsive to the rotation of the rotatable member causes the output of at least one of the elements in the first state detected by the detector to be different than the output of the remaining elements in the first state detected by the detector to determine the roll angle of the rotatable member.
Claims42
A sensor for determining an orientation of a member, said sensor comprising:
- a housing;
- a plurality of capacitors formed by electrodes arranged on opposed first and second walls of said housing to have a predetermined relationship to the orientation of said member;
- a fluid contained in said housing, said fluid present between electrodes of at least one capacitor and absent between electrodes of at least one other capacitor at orientations of said member;
- addressing means for individually addressing said capacitors in sequence;
- detecting means for detecting a presence or absence of fluid between the electrodes of each addressed capacitor and setting respective flags in accordance with the detected presence or absence of fluid;
- and
- determining means for determining the roll angle of said rotatable member in accordance with a sequence of said respective flags and the predetermined relationship of the capacitors to the orientation of said member.
An underground boring tool comprising:
- a drill bit including a blade portion;
- a sensor for determining an orientation of said drill bit, said sensor comprising:
- a housing;
- a plurality of capacitors formed by electrodes arranged on opposed first and second walls of said housing to have a predetermined relationship to the orientation of said drill bit;
- a fluid contained in said housing and disposed between electrodes of at least one capacitor;
- addressing means for individually addressing each of said capacitors in sequence;
- detecting means for detecting a presence or absence of fluid between the electrodes of each addressed capacitor and setting respective flags in accordance with the detected presence or absence of fluid;
- and
- determining means for determining the orientation of said drill bit in accordance with a sequence of said respective flags and the predetermined relationship of the capacitors to the orientation of said drill bit;
- and
- a transmitter for transmitting a signal including the orientation of said drill bit.
A method of determining an orientation of a member, the method comprising the steps of:
- arranging an array of electrodes on opposed first and second walls of a housing to form a plurality of capacitors having a predetermined relationship to the orientation of said member;
- partially filling said housing with fluid which is disposed between at least one capacitor having one electrode on said first wall and one electrode on said second wall;
- individually addressing each of said capacitors in sequence;
- detecting the presence or absence of fluid between each addressed capacitor;
- setting respective flags in accordance with the detected presence or absence of fluid;
- and
- determining the orientation of said member in accordance with a sequence of said respective flags and the predetermined relationship of the electrodes to the orientation of said member.
A sensing device for determining an orientation of a member, said sensing device comprising at least two sensors, each sensor including a housing, a plurality of capacitors formed by electrodes arranged on opposed first and second walls of said housing to have a predetermined relationship to the orientation of said member, a fluid contained in said housing and disposed at least between electrodes of at least one capacitor, addressing means for individually addressing each of said capacitors in sequence, detecting means for detecting a presence or absence of fluid between the electrodes of each addressed capacitor and setting respective flags in accordance with the detected presence or absence of fluid, and determining means for determining the orientation of said member in accordance with a sequence of said respective flags and the predetermined relationship of said electrodes to the orientation of said member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.