Patent Application
20180072384
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The field of the present invention generally relates to sensors for detecting the presence of fluids for activating a pump, and more specifically, to fluid sensors mounted in boat bilge tanks for activating a bilge pump when bilge fluid reaches a preset level above the bottom of the bilge tank, logging operational data and sending informational data along with alerts and statistical data to remote devices.
All boats or ships accumulate liquids, including mostly water, in there bilge area. Bilge pumps must be activated before the accumulating liquids reach an excessive level, causing damage to or sinking the vessel. Early bilge pumps were activated manually or by mechanical switches such as those that have floats with contacts to complete electrical circuits and activate the bilge pumps. These mechanical switches typically performed as desired when initially installed on the boats. However, bilge debris and other contamination built up over time and/or caused corrosion to prevent the mechanical components from moving as intended. In addition, some contaminants including oil are prohibited from being discharged into public waterways. Additionally, these mechanical switches had relatively short lives compared to the boats in which they were installed and required replacement. When a sump switch fails there is no direct warning that the vessel is taking on water. Boats docked in their slip rely on shore power to maintain the battery which powers the bilge pump. If shore power is lost or the sump switch malfunctions and the problem is not detected, the damage caused to the vessel can be extreme. If water reaches the floor board of the saloon in a yacht, from the exterior the problem can go unnoticed while the damage to the engines can be tens of thousands of dollars.
In an attempt to solve these problems with mechanical switches, electronic switches with and without moving parts were developed. Typically, these electronic switches utilize the conductivity of the water, the dielectric constant or the index of refraction of water, to be sensed with probes to activate the bilge pumps. These electronic switches must be calibrated during the manufacturing process and are susceptible to operational errors, including loss of calibration and false negative and false positive detection of liquid level, which can cause the pump to stay on continuously damaging the pump or, not starting the pump when the desired water activation level is reached.
Many attempts have been made to solve these problems with electrical capacitive switches. Coated water repellant probes have been used. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,276,454, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. Ultrasonic field detection has been utilized. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,873, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. Acoustic transducers have been utilized. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,822, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. Time delays have been utilized. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,048, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. Optical fibers have been utilized. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,624, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. Field effect “touch sensors” have been utilized. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 7,373,817, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. While these attempts may have been somewhat successful in reducing false alarms and missed detections, they are either not completely successful or relatively expensive devices, or requiring additional wiring to be added to supply voltage to operate the electronic switch. Accordingly, there is a need for improved bilge pump switches that are less costly and reduce false alarms and missed detections and require no modification to the existing bilge pump wiring.
Disclosed herein are bilge pump switches which overcome at least one of the deficiencies of the prior art. Disclosed is a switch for a bilge pump comprising, in combination, a self-calibrating non-contact projected field capacitance liquid sensing, pump current voltage and temperature monitoring, a controller with non-volatile memory for storing operational parameters and logging data, and a wireless communication module.
Also disclosed is a switch for a bilge pump comprising, a self-calibrating capacitance liquid sensor capable of distinguishing between various liquids commonly found in bilge water. If oil is present in the bilge water the pump will be prevented from dispersing the oil into the water way. In addition, the wireless communication module and the sump switch alert indicator are used to notify the vessel operator of the oil condition, allowing the bilge to be emptied in a non-environmentally damaging manner.
Also disclosed is a switch for a bilge pump comprising, in combination, multiple capacitive sensing probes, the probes located at varying distances from the switch base, for providing a signal indicating the presence of fluid level in the bilge, and a controller programmed to energize the pump when the threshold level of the probe signal indicates the presence of fluid at a specific level. The controller is programmed to activate the pump when the liquid level reaches a predetermined specific level.
Also disclosed is a self-monitoring switch for a bilge pump with a controller programmed, to periodically monitor and log the operation of the pump, including the pump current, supply voltage, bilge temperature, pump vibration, number and duration of pump activations. If any of the monitored parameters exceed a predetermined level an alert is sent via the wireless communication module and visual indicators on the switch are enabled.
Also disclosed is a self-monitoring switch for a bilge pump including a secondary power source, capable of providing power to the communication module, for communicating with devices external to the bilge switch, using the wireless communication module to send an alert, if the bilge pump power is lost.
Also disclosed is a bilge pump switch employing redundant level sensing devices, including a combination, multiple capacitance liquid sensors, optical index of refraction liquid level sensors, and multiple liquid level float sensors, monitored in parallel to provide a redundant level sensing solution.
Also disclosed is an electronic bilge pump switch which directly replaces a passive mechanical switch, without the requirement of any additional wiring or concern for connection polarity, including a bidirectional DC and AC electronic switch circuit used to replace a conventional mechanical switch, providing electronic control of voltage and current passing from one terminal of the switch connection to the other switch connection. The circuit may also be placed in parallel with an existing mechanical bilge pump switch to control bilge pump in tandem with the mechanical switch and further monitor the mechanical bilge pump switches operation providing redundant operation of the bilge switch to prevent false negative and false positive pump operation.
Also disclosed is a smart phone application compatible with said bilge switch wherein the software application provides a user interface to display the operational parameters and the current operational status of the bilge switch. In addition, the smart phone application enables audible and visual alarms if the operation status of the bilge switch is outside of the operation parameter limits. In addition, the smart phone application sets or changes the operation parameters of the bilge switch based on user input through the software application user interface.
Also disclosed is a bilge switch data concentrator, which is within the vessel, and contains a RF wireless transceiver compatible with said bilge switch and a controller programmed to scan for compatible electronic bilge switch controllers aboard the vessel, and display the alarm, operational and informational data at a convenient location to the vessels captain or crew.
Also disclosed is a bilge switch data concentrator, which is within the vessel, and contains a RF wireless transceiver compatible with said bilge switch and a second RF wireless transceiver capable on sending and receiving data over RF networks, including GSM and CDMA cellular networks, WiFi 802.11 internet connected networks and satellite networks, and a controller programmed to relay bilge switch informational and operational data to a remote device with compatible software application.
Also disclosed is a bilge switch data concentrator application, which scans for said electronic bilge switches installed within a vessel and relays the operational parameters and status parameters to a remote device using satellite, cell phone, or WiFi wireless RF networks.
Also disclosed, is a remote data collection and processing device compatible with the bilge switch data concentrator, that is programmed to process it the informational and status data sent by compatible bilge switch data concentrators, and send notification of the status of compatible electronic bilge switch controllers to predetermined electronic devices, including smartphones and internet connected devices with compatible applications, to display vessel informational and status information.
Also disclosed, is remote vessel informational and status information smartphone application to provide vessel alarm information to dock masters, allowing faulty bilge pump operation to be detected and corrected prior to vessel damage.
From the foregoing disclosure and the following more detailed description of various preferred embodiments it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention provides a significant advance in the technology and art of bilge pump switches. Particularly significant in this regard is the potential the invention affords for providing a reliable switch with self-monitoring and control capabilities. Additional features and advantages of various preferred embodiments will be better understood in view of the detailed description provided below.
These and further features of the present invention will be apparent with reference to the following description and drawings, wherein:
It should be understood that the appended drawings are not necessarily to scale, presenting a somewhat simplified representation of various preferred features illustrative of the basic principles of the invention. The specific design features of the bilge pump switch as disclosed herein, including, for example, specific dimensions, orientations, locations, and shapes of the various components, will be determined in part by the particular intended application and use environment. Certain features of the illustrated embodiments have been enlarged or distorted relative to others to facilitate visualization and clear understanding. In particular, thin features may be thickened, for example, for clarity or illustration. All references to direction and position, unless otherwise indicated, refer to the orientation of the bilge pump switches illustrated in the drawings.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art, that is, to those who have knowledge or experience in this area of technology, that many uses and design variations are possible for the improved bilge pump switches disclosed herein. The following detailed discussion of various alternative and preferred embodiments will illustrate the general principles of the invention. Other embodiments suitable for other applications will be apparent to those skilled in the art given the benefit of this disclosure.
Referring now to the drawings,
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It is noted that each of the features and variations of the above disclosed embodiments can be used in any combination which each of the other embodiments.
From the foregoing disclosure it is apparent that by monitoring the current draw of the bilge pump motor 104, the bilge pump 103 operates only as long as it takes to completely evacuate the bilge 102 of water and other bilge fluids 110 to an idle level 111. Prior art bilge pumps operate for a predetermined time period regardless of the capacity of the bilge. Operating for predetermined time periods can result in the pump running dry for long periods and thus reducing the life of the pump.
It is also apparent that by keeping a running average of the probe signal strength, and comparing the running averages of the probe in contact with the bilge liquid and to the self-calibration sensors, the bilge pump switch 100 has the ability to intelligently determine the state of the water level and water quality in the bilge 102. It is also apparent that if the bilge level sensors approximate the value of the self-calibrating sensor for oil, the bilge pump 103 should not be activated if the vessel 101 is located within protected waters. In this case an error status is set to notify the application 809, that hazardous material in the bilge fluid 110.
From the foregoing disclosure and detailed description of certain preferred embodiments, it is also apparent that various modifications, additions and other alternative embodiments are possible without departing from the true scope and spirit of the present invention. The embodiments discussed were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the present invention and its practical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the present invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the benefit to which they are fairly, legally, and equitably entitled.
