System and method for acoustic integrity monitoring
AssigneeABB Technology AG
InventorsArthur L. Lanni, Mietek T. Glinkowski
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Abstract
A method and system are disclosed for monitoring vacuum integrity in a vacuum interrupter. The method includes injecting sonic signals into a body and detecting sonic signals reflected from the body. A composite value is calculated from the reflected sonic signals and a determination made based on the composite value as to whether the vacuum is acceptable. The system includes the following components: a transducer for sending sonic signals into a body; a receiver for receiving sonic signals reflected from the body; a signal processor for calculating a composite value from the sonic signals reflected from the body; and a processing unit for determining from the composite value whether the body has an acceptable vacuum therein.
Claims23
A system for vacuum integrity monitoring in a body comprising:
- a transducer for sending sonic signals into the body;
- a receiver for receiving sonic signals reflected from the body;
- a signal processor for calculating a composite value from the sonic signals reflected from the body, said composite value being derived from the sonic signals reflected from the body over a prescribed period of time;
- and
- a processing unit for determining from said composite value whether the body has an acceptable vacuum therein.
A method for vacuum integrity sensing in a body, comprising the following acts:
- injecting sonic signals into the body;
- detecting sonic signals reflected from the body;
- calculating a composite value from the sonic signals reflected from the body, said composite value being derived from the sonic signals reflected from the body over a prescribed period of time;
- and
- determining using said composite value if the body has an acceptable vacuum therein.
In a vacuum system comprising a transducer having a send mode and a receive mode, and a signal processing unit, a method for sensing vacuum integrity in a body, comprising the following acts:
- setting the transducer to the send mode;
- injecting a sonic signal into the body with the transducer;
- setting the transducer to a receive mode;
- receiving a sonic signal at the transducer;
- calculating a composite value from the sonic signals reflected from the body, said composite value being derived from the sonic signals reflected from the body over a prescribed period of time;
- and
- determining using said composite value if the body has an acceptable vacuum therein.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.