US 7,551,058 B1Granted

Sensor for monitoring environmental parameters in concrete

AssigneeAdvanced Design Consulting USA, Inc.

InventorsEric Arthur Johnson, Joseph Duane Kulesza

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Abstract

The invention provides a sensor for monitoring an environmental parameter in concrete comprising an enclosure for embedding in concrete; a detecting means connected to the enclosure for detecting at least one environmental parameter in concrete, the detecting means comprising at least one capacitive element for measuring capacitive change; an active material connected to the enclosure, the active material being liable to respond to the environmental parameter and the active material being operably connected to the capacitive element; a RFID chip mounted within the enclosure, the RFID chip being operably connected to the detecting means; and an antenna operably connected to the RFID chip, the antenna being operably connected to the detecting means, and the antenna being part of an L-R-C circuit whose resonance frequency shifts within an assigned frequency band. The invention also provides a MEMS-based capacitor that responds to an environmental parameter in concrete.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A sensor for monitoring an environmental parameter in concrete comprising:

(a) an enclosure for embedding in concrete;
(b) a detecting means connected to the enclosure for detecting at least one environmental parameter in concrete, the detecting means comprising at least one capacitive element for measuring capacitive change;
(c) an active material connected to the enclosure,
(i) the active material being liable to respond to the environmental parameter, and
(ii) the active material being operably connected to the capacitive element;
(d) a RFID chip mounted within the enclosure, the RFID chip being operably connected to the detecting means;
(e) an antenna operably connected to the RFID chip,
(i) the antenna being operably connected to the detecting means, and
(ii) the antenna being part of an L-C circuit whose resonance frequency shifts within an assigned frequency band, and
(f) a transceiver electromagnetically coupled with the antenna,
wherein the transceiver is operably connected to a means for measuring the change in resonance frequency of the sensor's L-C circuit.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.