Moisture and density detector (MDD)
AssigneeMississippi State University
InventorsPhilip H. Steele, Jerome E. Cooper
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A Moisture and Density Detector (MDD) provides a method and apparatus to determine the moisture content and/or density, as well as presence and location of anomalies, and/or wood type of any dielectric material for various purposes. This device is very useful in detecting the moisture content of wood and wood-based materials, such as that of lumber in a dry kiln prior to, during and/or following drying. The MDD passes a radio frequency signal and/or any other signal between opposed or adjacent capacitance electrodes and measures the signal strength and phase shift of the signal. The addition of phase shift and multiple frequencies improves the accuracy of the results.
Claims50
An apparatus for estimating moisture content and density of a dielectric material, comprising:
- a generator for generating a signal;
- at least one pair of electrodes for transmitting and receiving said signal through said dielectric material;
- a circuit for measuring signal strength and/or phase shift of said signal caused by interaction of said signal with said dielectric material;
- and
- a micro-processor for utilizing said measured signal strength and/or phase shift of said signal to estimate moisture content and density.
A method for estimating moisture content and density of a dielectric material, comprising;
- generating a signal;
- applying said signal to at least one pair of electrodes for transmitting and receiving said signal through said dielectric material;
- measuring signal strength and/or phase shift of said signal caused by interaction of said signal with said dielectric material;
- and
- utilizing said measured signal strength and/or phase shift of said signal to estimate moisture content and density.
An apparatus for estimating at least one unknown dielectric material characteristic in addition to moisture content, comprising:
- a generator for generating a signal;
- at least one pair of electrodes for transmitting and receiving said signal through a dielectric material;
- a circuit for measuring signal strength and/or phase shift of said signal based on interaction of said signal with said dielectric material;
- and
- a micro-processor for estimating at least one unknown dielectric material characteristic in addition to moisture content utilizing the measured signal strength and/or phase shift.
A method for estimating at least one unknown dielectric material characteristic in addition to moisture content, comprising:
- generating a signal;
- transmitting and receiving said signal through a dielectric material;
- measuring signal strength and/or phase shift of said signal based on interaction of said signal with said dielectric material;
- and
- utilizing said measured signal strength and/or phase shift to estimate at least one unknown dielectric material characteristic in addition to moisture content.
An apparatus for estimating at least one of moisture content and density of a dielectric material, comprising:
- a generator for generating a signal;
- at least one pair of electrodes for transmitting and receiving said signal through said dielectric material;
- a circuit for measuring signal strength and/or phase shift of said signal caused by interaction of said signal with said dielectric material;
- and
- a micro-processor for estimating moisture content and density of said dielectric material, using said measured signal strength and/or phase shift of said signal, wherein the predetermined threshold values include signal strength and phase shift for a range of densities and a range of moisture contents for each density in the range of densities.
A method for estimating at least one of moisture content and density of a dielectric material, comprising;
- generating a signal;
- applying said signal to at least one pair of electrodes for transmitting and receiving said signal through said dielectric material;
- measuring signal strength and/or phase shift of said signal caused by interaction of said signal with said dielectric material;
- and
- utilizing said measured signal strength and/or phase shift of said signal to estimate at least one of moisture content and density using predetermined threshold values which include signal strength and phase shift for a range of densities and a range of moisture contents for each density in the range of densities.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.