Vehicles include consumable components, including oil and air filters, which require replacement before the end of their useful lives. An owner of such a vehicle typically is an individual that drives the vehicle every day and thus is able to monitor these filters, often with the help of onboard vehicle sensors and indicators, to determine if the filters need to be replaced due to the amount of impurities they have removed from the oil or air.
Autonomous vehicles may not be operated by the same individual every day, and thus consumable components therein may not be detected by an owner of the autonomous vehicle as needing replacement.
According to one aspect, a filter is provided for use with an associated system that is configured to monitor a level of impurities in the filter. The system includes a power source and a sensor. The filter includes filter medium that screens out the impurities from a fluid, and a conductive thread contacting the filter medium and electrically connected to the power source. The power source is configured to provide electric current flowing through the conductive thread. The sensor is configured to detect electrical phenomena resulting from the electric current flowing through the conductive thread. The impurities in the filter cause a change in the electrical phenomena, which change indicates the level of impurities in the filter.
According to another aspect, a system for monitoring a level of impurities in a filter, includes a power source, the filter, and a sensor. The filter includes filter medium for screening out impurities from a fluid, and a conductive thread electrically connected to the power source. The power source provides electric current flowing through the conductive thread. The sensor detects electrical phenomena resulting from the electric current flowing through the conductive thread. The impurities in the filter cause a change in electrical phenomena, which change indicates the level of impurities in the filter.
According to another aspect, a method of changing a first filter in a system with a second filter, includes receiving a signal from the system that the first filter should be replaced, and replacing the first filter with a second filter. The system includes a power source and a sensor. The first filter includes filter medium that screens out impurities from a fluid, and a conductive thread contacting the filter medium and electrically connected to the power source. The power source provides electric current flowing through the conductive thread. The sensor detects electrical phenomena produced by the electric current flowing through the conductive thread. The impurities in the filter cause a change in the electrical phenomena, which change indicates the level of impurities in the filter. The signal is generated in response to the change exceeding a predetermined threshold.
Referring to the figures, a system 2 includes a filter 4 for screening out impurities 6 from a fluid. The system 2 monitors a level of the impurities 6 in the filter 4 and may generate a signal 10 (e.g. an alert) indicating that the level of impurities 6 in the filter 4 is beyond a predetermined threshold. The system 2 includes a power source 8, the filter 4, a sensor 12, and an indicator 14 for generating the signal 10.
The system 2 may be arranged in a vehicle, e.g. an autonomous vehicle 16 (shown schematically in
The power source 8, sensor 12, and indicator 14 may be external to the filter 4, which means that they are separate and distinct from the filter 4; or they may be integral with the filter 4. In a non-limiting embodiment, the power source 8, sensor 12, and indicator 14 are external to the filter 4, and may be components of the autonomous vehicle 16 as shown in the figures.
The power source 8 provides electric current to the filter 4. The power source 8 may be a battery or alternator of the autonomous vehicle 16, or may be a battery included in the vehicle 16 so as to provide electric current exclusively to the filter 4.
The filter 4 includes a filter medium 18 for screening out the impurities 6 from the fluid, and an electrically conductive thread 20 arranged on the filter medium 18. The electric current provided by the power source 8 to the filter 4 flows through the conductive thread 20.
The filter medium 18 is not particularly limited, and may include any material that screens out impurities from a fluid, including but not limited to fibrous or porous material including paper, cotton, and spun fiberglass; woven and nonwoven textiles; polymers such as foamed polymers; screens or mesh such as stainless steel mesh; etc.
In a non-limiting embodiment (
The zig-zag shaped structure 26, which includes the conductive thread 20 and filter medium 18, may be arranged in a self-contained housing 36 to provide a cartridge construction to the filter 4. However, this is not required and the filter medium 18 and conductive thread 20 may be used without a housing 36. As seen in
The conductive thread 20 is an elongated conductive material arranged on the filter medium 18. The conductive thread 20 is not particularly limited, and may include any one or more known conductive threads, including but not limited to a printed and cured conductive ink, a conductive polymer impregnated in or coated on a thread, a thin flexible conductive metal wire or braided cable, etc., or combinations thereof.
The conductive thread 20 may be arranged on a surface of the filter medium 18, for example by printing, adhesive application, or other techniques, and/or may be arranged within or inside the filter medium 18 (e.g. under an outer surface), for example by weaving, sewing, knitting, injection, mechanical mixing or other techniques.
The filter 4 may include one or more conductive threads 20 on the filter medium 18, and the conductive thread 20 may be arranged in a regular pattern or randomly on the filter medium 18. The conductive thread 20 may be arranged in a grid-like pattern, or may be arranged in other regular patterns.
In a non-limiting embodiment as depicted in
The zig-zag structure 26 may be arranged inside a housing 36 of the filter 4. In a non-limiting embodiment, the filter 4 is an oil filter (
The system 2 may include an electrical connection 38 (see
The electrical connection 38 may be formed by mating the electrical contacts 40 of the filter 4 with the electrical contacts 42 of the vehicle 16 through their mutual alignment during mounting of the filter 4 on the vehicle 16. The alignment of the electrical contacts 40, 42 may be aided by an alignment mechanism. With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
The power source 8 is thereby in electrical communication with the conductive thread 20 through the mating of these electrical contacts 40, 42 and the formation of the electrical connection 38, and thus electric current from the power source 8 can be supplied to, and thus flow through, the conductive thread 20 through this electrical connection 38.
The invention is not limited to these alignment mechanisms or configurations for the electrical contacts 40, 42, and other alignment mechanisms and configurations for the electrical contacts can be used to form the electrical connection 38.
The sensor 12 is included to monitor various electrical phenomena resulting from the electric current flowing through the conductive thread 20. These electrical phenomena may be altered (e.g. in magnitude) by the buildup of impurities 6 in the filter medium 18 as explained in more detail herein. The amount of electric current provided by the power source 8 may be constant, so that a detected change in the electrical phenomena is a result of the impurities 6 collected in the filter medium 18. Thus a detected change in the electrical phenomena during use of the filter 4 may indicate a level of impurities 6 in the filter medium 18, i.e. a level of cleanliness of the filter 4. The change in the electrical phenomena is not particularly limited, as long as it can be detected by the sensor 12, and may include for example, an increase or decrease in a magnitude of the electrical phenomena, a change in the type of electrical phenomena induced by the electric current flowing through the conductive thread 20, or other change that can be detected by the sensor 12.
An electronic control unit (ECU) 54 of the vehicle 16 may be in communication with the sensor 12 and the indicator 14, and determine if the measured electrical phenomena exceed a predetermined threshold. If the predetermined threshold is exceeded, then the ECU 54 may cause the indicator 14 to produce the alert signal 10. The predetermined threshold may be determined based on an acceptable upper threshold amount of impurities 6 in the filter 4, above which the filter 4 should be replaced in the system 2 with a new filter 4. In an embodiment, the conductive thread 20 does not apply a charge to the impurities 6 for screening the impurities 6 from the fluid by electrostatic or other attraction to the filter material 18. That is, the filter 4 may operate to remove the impurities 6 from the fluid only by physical separation of the impurities 6 from the fluid, where the filter 4 separates the impurities 6 (which may be solid) from the fluid (liquids or gases) by including the filter medium 18 through which only the fluid can pass.
The sensor 12 may be external to the filter 4. As depicted in
The sensor 12 may be configured to detect a) a voltage of the electric current flowing through the conductive thread 20, b) an electromagnetic field produced by the electric current flowing through the conductive thread 20, c) an inductance of the conductive thread 20 produced by the electric current flowing through the conductive thread 20, d) a capacitance of the conductive thread 20 produced by the electric current flowing through the conductive thread 20; or e) combinations of a)-d) along with other electrical phenomena resulting from the electric current flowing through the conductive thread 20. The sensor 12 may detect a)-e) wirelessly or through an electrical connection with the conductive thread 20, optionally via the electrical connection 38.
In a non-limiting embodiment, the sensor 12 detects a) the voltage of the electric current flowing through the conductive thread 20. The voltage may be affected by impurities 6 in the filter 4. This may occur where the impurities 6 abrade the conductive thread 20, and thus decrease a cross-sectional area of the conductive thread 20 or abrading away a conductive material of the conductive thread 20, and thereby reduce its conductivity. A reduction in conductivity may reduce the detected voltage, thus indicating a level of impurities 6 in the filter 4. A change in voltage may also occur by the impurities 6 dissipating the electric current flowing through the conductive thread 20. This may occur if the impurities 6 are themselves conductive, and thus are able to draw electric current out of the conductive thread. A dissipation of the electric current may cause a reduction in the detected voltage.
In another non-limiting embodiment, the sensor 12 detects b) an electromagnetic field produced by the electric current flowing through the conductive thread 20. For this purpose, the sensor 12 may include a detector coil and the conductive thread 20 may include coils 30 to thereby form a transmitter coil. Electric current flowing through the coils 30 may induce an electromagnetic field, which may produce a corresponding electric current flowing through the detector coil of the sensor 12 by induction. Impurities in the filter 4 may affect the electromagnetic field by damping it or amplifying it. By measuring the amount of induced electric current flowing through the detector coil of the sensor 12, the sensor 12 is able to detect a level of impurities 6 in the filter 4.
In another non-limiting embodiment, the sensor 12 detects c) an inductance of the conductive thread 20 produced by the electric current flowing through the conductive thread 20. In this embodiment, the conductive thread 20 may include coils 30. When electric current is passed through the coils 30, this produces oscillation, which is a high frequency alternating electric current in the coils 30 that has a constantly changing electromagnetic field able to induce eddy currents in the impurities 6. The closer the impurities 6 are to the coils 30, and the greater their conductivity, the greater the induced eddy currents are in the impurities 6, and the more effect the impurities' 6 resulting opposing electromagnetic fields have on the magnitude and frequency of the oscillation in the coils 30. The magnitude of the oscillations is reduced as the load is increased in a non-magnetic impurities 6, e.g. dirt, because the induced field in the impurities 6 opposes the source induction field from the coils 30, lowering net inductive impedance and therefore simultaneously tuning the oscillation frequency of the coils 30 to be higher. But that magnitude of the oscillation is less affected if the impurities 6 are highly magnetically permeable material, like iron, as that high permeability increases the coil inductance, lowering the frequency of oscillation. The sensor 12 may measure the change in magnitude of the oscillation with an amplitude modulation detector. The sensor 12 may detect a change in the frequency of the oscillation, which can be accomplished with a frequency discriminator circuits, like a phase lock loop detector, to see in what direction and how much the frequency shifts. As such, the type (conductive or non-conductive) and amount of impurities 6 in the filter 4 can be determined. This type of detection distinction between impurities 6 that are conductive (e.g. metal particles) and non-conductive (e.g. dirt), can also be used as a diagnostic to determine if metal particles are being screened from oil in the vehicle 16, which may indicate a problem with the engine of the vehicle 16.
In another non-limiting embodiment, the sensor 12 detects d) the capacitance of the conductive thread 20 produced by the electric current flowing through the conductive thread 20. The capacitance may be affected by impurities 6 in the filter 4. This may occur where the impurities 6 increases the parasitic capacitance of the conductive thread 20 to ground, thereby reducing its capacitance and thus indicating a level of impurities 6 in the filter 4.
The ECU 54 may communicate with the sensor 12 and the indicator 14, and provide control instructions for operating the indicator 14. The ECU 54 may operate to determine the level of impurities 6 in the filter 4 based on the electrical phenomena resulting from the electric current flowing through the conductive thread 20 as measured by the sensor 12. The ECU 54 may compare these detected electrical phenomena or determined level of impurities 6 against a predetermined threshold value. If the predetermined threshold is exceeded, then the ECU 54 may control the indicator 14 to provide an indication (i.e. the alert signal 10) that the level of impurities in the filter 4 is above the predetermined threshold.
The system 2 may include an indicator 14, which may be controlled by the ECU 54 to provide an indication (i.e. the alert signal 10) that the level of impurities in the filter 4 is above a predetermined threshold. The indicator 14 may include a light source that emits light as the signal 10 to an occupant of the vehicle 16; a wireless transmitter that emits a wireless electronic communication as the signal 10 to a receiver 56 that is remote and external to the system 2 and/or to the vehicle 16; other components that provide the signal 10 that the level of impurities in the filter 4 is above a predetermined threshold; or combinations thereof.
As depicted in
With reference to
It will be appreciated that various of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives or varieties thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Also that various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
4806204 | Manfré et al. | Feb 1989 | A |
5433772 | Sikora | Jul 1995 | A |
5624132 | Blackburn et al. | Apr 1997 | A |
5678854 | Meister et al. | Oct 1997 | A |
5971432 | Gagnon et al. | Oct 1999 | A |
5996807 | Rumpf et al. | Dec 1999 | A |
6478858 | Angermann et al. | Nov 2002 | B2 |
6543299 | Taylor | Apr 2003 | B2 |
6613227 | Rickie | Sep 2003 | B2 |
6697723 | Olsen et al. | Feb 2004 | B2 |
6964370 | Hagale et al. | Nov 2005 | B1 |
7880613 | Maeng | Feb 2011 | B1 |
8060282 | Breed | Nov 2011 | B2 |
8729505 | Seibt | May 2014 | B2 |
9631589 | Harp | Apr 2017 | B2 |
9772422 | Hull et al. | Sep 2017 | B2 |
10000097 | Kim et al. | Jun 2018 | B2 |
10274647 | Seder et al. | Apr 2019 | B2 |
20010015131 | Angermann | Aug 2001 | A1 |
20030122669 | Filippov | Jul 2003 | A1 |
20030132156 | Rickie | Jul 2003 | A1 |
20100160882 | Lowe | Jun 2010 | A1 |
20110116967 | Roy | May 2011 | A1 |
20110221459 | Uno et al. | Sep 2011 | A1 |
20110240751 | Rauh et al. | Oct 2011 | A1 |
20140102984 | Harp | Apr 2014 | A1 |
20140134387 | Yamada et al. | May 2014 | A1 |
20140210603 | Walser | Jul 2014 | A1 |
20150329041 | Salter et al. | Nov 2015 | A1 |
20160010273 | Ashayer-Soltani et al. | Jan 2016 | A1 |
20160278444 | Jordan et al. | Sep 2016 | A1 |
20160379466 | Payant et al. | Dec 2016 | A1 |
20180005766 | Fairbanks et al. | Jan 2018 | A1 |
20180225988 | Morgado | Aug 2018 | A1 |
20180307315 | Gong et al. | Oct 2018 | A1 |
20180333756 | Seder et al. | Nov 2018 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
201515714 | Jun 2010 | CN |
101817291 | Sep 2010 | CN |
201624172 | Nov 2010 | CN |
104389076 | Mar 2015 | CN |
205417544 | Aug 2016 | CN |
205462733 | Aug 2016 | CN |
106149134 | Nov 2016 | CN |
108032711 | May 2018 | CN |
207523509 | Jun 2018 | CN |
207568736 | Jul 2018 | CN |
207583526 | Jul 2018 | CN |
208730904 | Apr 2019 | CN |
1 02008064006 | Oct 2009 | DE |
102010023892 | Aug 2011 | DE |
102014005403 | Oct 2014 | DE |
2163459 | Mar 2010 | EP |
3287304 | Feb 2018 | EP |
3475724 | May 2019 | EP |
2013154667 | Aug 2013 | JP |
20030026458 | Apr 2003 | KR |
1 01557245 | Oct 2015 | KR |
101590557 | Feb 2016 | KR |
20170111499 | Oct 2017 | KR |
201 80019459 | Feb 2018 | KR |
WO2007004000 | Jan 2007 | WO |
WO2018031476 | Feb 2018 | WO |
Entry |
---|
Office Action of U.S. Appl. No. 16/672,012 dated Oct. 6, 2020, 20 pages. |
T. Dias, and R. Monaragal. “Development and analysis of novel electroluminescent yarns and fabrics for localized automotive interior illumination”, SAGE Journals, vol. 82 issue: 11, pp. 1164-1176, Jan. 19, 2012. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0040517511420763?journalCode=trjc. |
Notice of Allowance of U.S. Appl. No. 16/672,012 dated Jan. 27, 2021, 5 pages. |
D. Bial, D. Kern, F. Alt, and A. Schmidt. “Enhancing outdoor navigation systems through vibrotactile feedback”, CHI '11 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Vancouver, BC, Canada, May 7-12, 2011 pp. 1273-1278. https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=1979742.1979760. |
F. Kiss, R. Boldt, B. Pfleging, and S. Schneegass. “Navigation Systems for Motorcyclists: Exploring WearableTactile Feedback for Route Guidance in the Real World”, CHI 2018, Apr. 21-26, 2018, Montreal, QC, Canada. http://www.medien.ifi.lmu.de/pubdb/publications/pub/kiss2018motorcyclenavi/kiss2018motorcyclenavi.pdf. |
F.A. Olsen. “Killing bacteria with electromagnetic fields”. DTU Chemical Engineering. Jun. 23, 2017. https://www.kt.dtu.dk/english/about-us/news/2017/06/killing-bacteria-with-electromagnetic-fields1 ?id=a6007cba-7469-4a20-a339-f17c96a82424, Printed Feb. 11, 2020. |
Nippon Tungsten Co., Ltd., “Ionized Wire for Air Cleaner”, https://www.nittan.co.jp/en/tech/techinfo/ionized.html. |
Office Action of U.S. Appl. No. 16/671,987 dated Aug. 3, 2021, 34 pages. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20210129054 A1 | May 2021 | US |