Automated cone penetrometer
AssigneeThe United States Army Corps of Engineers as represented by the Secretary of the Army
InventorsBilly G. Palmertree, Lewis Bonny Naron, James H. Robinson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A compact, portable cone penetrometer for determining the shear resistance of soil measures the compressive force on the penetrometer in penetrating the ground by a load cell and the depth of penetration of the ground by an ultrasonic proximity sensor. The outputs of the load cell and the proximity sensor are stored in the memory of a data logger/processor, from which the field data may later be transferred to a digital computer for averaging and tabulating of the data.
Claims9
A cone penetrometer for determining the shear resistance of soil at different depths below the ground comprising:
- (a) a penetrometer rod having a cone attached to its lower end;
- (b) a load cell attached to the upper end of the penetrometer rod and providing an electrical signal output commensurate with the compressive force exerted upon the load cell;
- (c) an ultrasonic emitter/receiver directing a high-frequency sound signal downwardly at the ground being penetrated and receiving a reflected sound signal therefrom, and providing an electrical signal output commensurate with the distance between the ultrasonic emitter/receiver and the ground;
- (d) a data logger/processor having program and memory storage capacity in electrical communication with the load cell and the ultrasonic emitter/receiver and receiving from the load cell the electrical output commensurate with the distance between the ultrasonic emitter/receiver and the ground;
- storing these signals and retrieving the stored signals from the data logger/processor to a digital computer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.