Smart accelerometer
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
InventorRichard J. Bozeman, Jr.
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention discloses methods and apparatus for detecting vibrations from machines which indicate an impending malfunction for the purpose of preventing additional damage and allowing for an orderly shutdown or a change in mode of operation. The method and apparatus are especially suited for reliable operation in providing thruster control data concerning unstable vibration in an electrical environment which is typically noisy and in which unrecognized ground loops may exist.
Claims12
A machinery vibration monitoring apparatus, comprising:
- a housing defining an interior;
- a transducer physically disposed with said interior of said housing and responsive to vibration in machinery operative to produce an electrical transducer signal functionally related to the magnitude and frequency of said vibration;
- a decoding circuit physically disposed within said housing and responsive to said electrical transducer signal greater than a predetermined magnitude within a selected frequency band to produce a first fault signal;
- a single power source supplying power to both said transducer and said decoding circuit, said power source further providing a common ground connected to both said transducer and said decoding circuit;
- and
- isolating circuitry responsive to said first fault signal operative to produce a second fault signal for nullifying ground shift effects with respect to said common ground.
A machinery vibration monitoring apparatus, comprising:
- a housing defining an interior;
- a transducer physically disposed within said interior of said housing and responsive to vibration in machinery operative to produce an electrical transducer signal functionally related to the magnitude and frequency of said vibration;
- a decoding circuitry physically disposed within said housing and responsive to said electrical transducer signal greater than a predetermined magnitude within a selected frequency band to produce a first fault signal;
- a single power source supplying power to both said transducer and said decoding circuit said power source further providing a common ground connected to both said transducer and said decoding circuit;
- a capacitor directly connected to said transducer;
- and
- a potentiometer circuit within said housing and directly connected through said capacitor to said transducer for adjusting said predetermined magnitude of said electrical transducer signal.
A machinery monitoring apparatus, comprising:
- a transducer adapted to be mounted on machinery and operatively responsive to vibration in said machinery to produce an electrical transducer signal functionally related to the magnitude and frequency of said vibration;
- a decoding circuit in close physical proximity to said transducer and responsive to said electrical transducer signal greater than a predetermined magnitude within a selected frequency band to produce a first fault signal, said decoding circuit including:
- a decoding circuit in close physical proximity to said transducer and responsive to said electrical transducer signal greater than a predetermined magnitude within a selected frequency band to produce a first fault signal, said decoding circuit including:
- a single power source supplying power to both said transducer and said decoding circuit, said power source further providing a common ground connected to both said transducer and said decoding circuit;
- and
- a potentiometer circuit coupled to said transducer for adjusting said predetermined magnitude of said electrical transducer signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.