Thermocouple with integrity monitoring
AssigneeExtron Company
InventorsRandall G. Honeck, Dustin Duane Paloranta
Life of this patent
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Abstract
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure a thermocouple is provided that includes an electrical component, such as a resistor, at or in close proximity to a junction where the temperature is expected to be measured. By monitoring analog voltage measurements, the system determines, for example, whether the measured temperature actually represents a temperature reading at the junction or whether the thermocouple has been compromised due to one or more of a variety of health issues, such as, a short circuit in the thermocouple, thereby causing a false junction.
Claims14
A system for monitoring temperatures with fault detection comprising:
- a plurality of thermocouples each including:
- a first wire formed from a first conductor;
- a second wire formed from a second conductor, the second conductor including a dissimilar metal from the first conductor;
- and
- a hot junction formed at a contact point of the first wire and the second wire;
- and
- a resistor coupled to the second wire and positioned adjacent to the hot junction;
- a plurality of data collection and conversion cards arranged and configured to:
- periodically collect a plurality of analog measurement signals from the plurality of thermocouples, the analog measurements being voltage measurements used to determine health of each of the plurality of thermocouples;
- convert the plurality of analog measurement signals to a plurality of digital measurement signals;
- and
- compress the plurality of digital measurement signals into a single digital stream of data;
- wherein the plurality of data collection and conversion cards each respectively coupled to each of the plurality of thermocouples;
- and
- a data processing system arranged and configured to receive the single digital stream of data, access stored algorithms, and utilize data within the single digital stream to determine whether integrity issues exist with any thermocouple in the plurality of thermocouples.
A method of manufacturing a thermocouple comprising:
- selecting a predetermined resistance value, wherein the predetermined resistance value is at least twice as high as the resistance in the thermocouple, but substantially small enough to create a negligible effect on the functionality of the thermocouple;
- and
- installing a resistor with the predetermined resistance value into the thermocouple, wherein the resistor is coupled to a wire of the thermocouple and located within 1.0 inch from a hot junction of the thermocouple.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.