Patent Application
20210311007
Fire is one of the largest risks to life and property at boating marinas. With numerous boats in close proximity to each other, as well as refueling facilities, a fire starting on one boat has a large likelihood of spreading to others. Awareness and prevention greatly mitigate the risk and occurrence of fire incidents.
The major cause of boat explosions are gasoline fumes. Fuel leaks, aging fuel and vent lines, brittle hoses, and aging fittings can all contribute to the buildup of gasoline or gasoline fumes in the bilge of a boat. Once gasoline fumes are present in the bilge, a mere spark may cause an explosion or a fire. Marine bilge blowers that are inoperable, or that are not allowed to exchange bilge air for the full four minutes as recommended, are another common cause for marine vessel fires. The use of non-marine-rated equipment in boats further increases the risk of catastrophe.
The likelihood of fire due to spark and gasoline vapor is even greater at the fuel dock of a marina. Typically, dockhands receive boats and secure them prior to fueling. The boater is requested to turn off all engines, generators, and close all hatches, windows and doors. The dockhand boards the boat, fuels it, and steps off. These employees are at the greatest risk as they fuel inboard boats and depend on the boat operator to properly execute standard engine starting practices which is to run bilge blowers for a minimum of four minutes prior to starting engines.
A solution that can easily detect the presence of gasoline fumes and lower risk to marina employees is therefore desired.
According to at least one exemplary embodiment, a portable fume sensing device is disclosed. The portable fume sensing device can include a user-proximal end adapted to be held by a user of the portable fume sensing device, a sensing end connected to the user-proximal end by a stem and disposed distally from the user, and a hydrocarbon fume sensor located at the sensing end. A fan can be disposed at the sensing end in a user-distal direction from the fume sensor, the fan impelling air towards the fume sensor from a location located in a user-distal direction from the fan. The longitudinal axis of the stem may be oriented substantially diagonally with respect to the plane of the fan. The portable fume sensing device can further include components such as a controller, a power source, and an information panel including one or more of a plurality of visual indicators, an audio indicator, and user-operable controls. Such components may be disposed within an enclosure at the user-proximal end, while the enclosure may be coupled to a grip portion that is adapted to be held by a user.
Advantages of embodiments of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments. The following detailed description should be considered in conjunction with the accompanying figures in which:
Aspects of the invention are disclosed in the following description and related drawings directed to specific embodiments of the invention. Those skilled in the art will recognize that alternate embodiments may be devised without departing from the spirit or the scope of the claims. Additionally, well-known elements of exemplary embodiments of the invention will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the invention. Further, to facilitate an understanding of the description discussion of several terms used herein follows.
As used herein, the word “exemplary” means “serving as an example, instance or illustration.” The embodiments described herein are not limiting, but rather are exemplary only. It should be understood that the described embodiment are not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Moreover, the terms “embodiments of the invention”, “embodiments” or “invention” do not require that all embodiments of the invention include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.
Further, many of the embodiments described herein may be described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It should be recognized by those skilled in the art that the various sequence of actions described herein can be performed by specific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)) and/or by program instructions executed by at least one processor. Additionally, the sequence of actions described herein can be embodied entirely within any form of computer-readable storage medium such that execution of the sequence of actions enables the processor to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects of the present invention may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the embodiments described herein, the corresponding form of any such embodiments may be described herein as, for example, “a computer configured to” perform the described action.
According to at least one exemplary embodiment, a portable gasoline fume sensing device is disclosed. The portable gasoline fume sensing device can lower the risk to marina personnel by providing a simple and easily portable apparatus for gasoline fume sensing prior to executing fueling operations or starting boat engines or accessory equipment on board a boat. The portable gasoline fume sensing device can allow the user to detect the presence of gasoline fumes within the bilge of a boat, or another desired location, without necessitating that the user board the boat.
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So as to provide airflow through housing 224, an intake grille 232 and an exhaust grille 234 may be defined in housing 224. In one exemplary embodiment, intake grille 232 may be defined in cover portion 228 such that it is disposed forwardly of fan 222, and an exhaust grille 234 may be defined in mounting portion 226 such that it is disposed rearwardly of fan 222. The terms “forwardly” and “rearwardly”, as used herein, should be understood with respect to the airflow through fan 222, as well as with respect to the distance from the user, with “forwardly” being more distal and “rearwardly” being more proximal. A mounting bracket 236 may be provided as part of mounting portion 226, with fan 222 and duct 230 being mounted on bracket 236. Angled supports 238 for bracket 236 may be provided for additional reinforcement.
In some exemplary embodiments, housing 224 may be configured such that fan 222 is oriented at an angle with respect to stem 206. That is, as shown in
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The various visual indicators of information panel 300 may be provided by any known illuminating device, for example light emitting diodes. Similarly, the audible indicator may be any known sound-emitting device, such as a sound transducer. The user-operable controls of information panel 300 may be any type of control that enables device 200 to function as described herein, for example membrane switches.
In operation, the fume sensing device may function as follows. A user may turn on the fume sensing device 200 by way of power button 210. As fume sensing device 200 initializes, the visual indicators 302, 304, 306 may cycle illumination for a certain period of time, for example 30 seconds. Following the initialization sequence, fume sensing device 200 may be in an operational status with sensor 220 active and monitoring status indicator 302 illuminated. At this point, the audible indicator 116 may be muted and fan 220 may be off. If desired, the operation of the audible indicator and the fan may be toggled by corresponding buttons 314 and 316, respectively. So as to conserve power source 110, the fan may operate for a certain time period, for example 10 minutes after a button was last pressed, and the fan indicator 308 may flash for a time period, for example 30 seconds, prior to turning off. The user may reset this timer by a short press of fan button 316.
When fume sensor 220 is active, any detection of gasoline fumes by sensor 220 beyond a certain threshold may cause the illumination of fume detection warning 306 and the audible indicator (if operational). If, at any point, the fume sensor 220 fails a self-check procedure by the controller 102, the sensor trouble indicator 304 may illuminate.
Once the user completes the fume detection procedure, fume sensing device 220 may be placed into a sleep mode by a long press of power button 312. Alternatively, the unit may self-place into the sleep mode after a certain time period, for example 15 minutes after the last button press, and the monitoring indicator 302 may flash for a time period, for example 30 seconds, prior to entering the sleep mode. The user may reset this timer by a short press of power button 312.
The foregoing description and accompanying figures illustrate the principles, preferred embodiments and modes of operation of the invention. However, the invention should not be construed as being limited to the particular embodiments discussed above. Additional variations of the embodiments discussed above will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.
Therefore, the above-described embodiments should be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. Accordingly, it should be appreciated that variations to those embodiments can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.
