Patent Application
20090309741
The present invention relates to a thermal detection system and the thermal detection method thereof.
There are plenty of electrical apparatus and elements disposed inside the electrical control cabinets or equipments in the factories or buildings currently. The malfunctions of these electrical apparatus cause the problems of energy wasting, fire accidents, interruptions of the productions, etc. due to the long-term operation, poor maintenance, over loading, etc. of the electrical apparatus. The power failure in the high tech factory can result in the loss of hundred thousands or even millions dollars. The potential loss for the damage to the company goodwill can be even higher. Moreover, the malfunction of these electrical apparatus may danger the human lives. It is better to two-dimensionally detect and monitor the temperatures of the electrical elements inside the electrical control cabinets or equipments. However, the space inside the electrical control cabinets or equipments is small, and there is no available technique or product able to meet the demand of the two-dimensionally real-time monitoring for the electrical elements inside small space currently. Alternatively, the thermal imaging cameras with the price higher than ten thousand US dollars are used for semiannual or annual inspections instead. These inspections take much time and effort. Furthermore, the problems of the fire accidents, interruptions of the productions, etc. may still occur in the duration between two inspections. The risk still can not be effectively lowered.
As the technologies are continuously being improved, the production equipment becomes more and more precise, complex, huge and expensive. The losses due to the above-mentioned risk become larger than ever especially for the high tech industries, e.g. semiconductor and optoelectronics industries. Therefore, a solution method with effectiveness and reasonable cost for the above-mentioned problems is highly required, and can contribute the great benefits to the risk and security managements for the enterprises or industries.
In order to eliminate the problems and drawbacks of the conventional techniques, the new concepts and the solutions are proposed in the present invention so as to effectively and economically solve the above-mentioned problems. The present invention is described below.
The present invention provides a method and a system for detecting and monitoring the temperatures of the objectives without contact.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a thermal detection method is provided. The thermal detection method comprises steps of providing a rotation device, disposing a thermal sensor on the rotation device, rotating the rotation device, and using the thermal sensor to detect a temperature of an object without contacting the object.
Preferably, the thermal detection method further comprises steps of providing a signal processing circuit electrically coupled to the thermal sensor, and using the signal processing circuit to transform an electronic signal to a digital signal, wherein the electronic signal corresponds to the temperature detected by the thermal sensor.
Preferably, the thermal detection method further comprises steps of providing a control unit electrically coupled to the signal processing circuit and the rotation device, and using the control unit to receive the digital signal from the signal processing circuit and to control the rotation device.
Preferably, the thermal detection method further comprises steps of providing a processor electrically coupled to the control unit, setting a temperature threshold, and using the processor to compare the temperature threshold with the temperature detected by the thermal sensor.
Preferably, the thermal detection method further comprises steps of providing an alarm electrically coupled to the processor, and using the processor to decide whether to enable the alarm or not based on a comparison result of the temperature threshold and the temperature detected by the thermal sensor.
Preferably, the thermal detection method further comprises a step of storing a value of the temperature in a storage device.
Preferably, the thermal detection method further comprises steps of analyzing the value of the temperature stored in the storage device by an analysis method, and deciding whether to adjust the temperature threshold or not based on the analyzing result.
Preferably, the thermal sensor is one of a thermopile and an infrared sensor.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, here another thermal detection method is provided. The thermal detection method comprises steps of providing a rotation device, disposing a thermal sensor on the rotation device, rotating the rotation device, and using the thermal sensor to detect a temperature of an object without contacting the object.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, a thermal detection system is provided. The thermal detection system comprises a rotation device and a thermal sensor disposed on the rotation device for detecting a temperature of an object without contacting the object.
Preferably, the thermal detection system further comprises a signal processing circuit electrically coupled to the thermal sensor, and transforming an electronic signal to a digital signal, wherein the electronic signal corresponds to the temperature detected by the thermal sensor.
Preferably, the thermal detection system further comprises a control unit electrically coupled to the signal processing circuit and the rotation device, wherein the control unit receives the digital signal from the signal processing circuit and controls the rotation device.
Preferably, the thermal detection system further comprises a processor electrically coupled to the control unit for processing the digital signal.
Preferably, the control unit is electrically coupled to the processor by one of a wireless and a wire electrically coupling methods.
Preferably, the processor is one selected from a group consisting of a microprocessor, a computer, a digital signal processor and a general processor.
Preferably, the thermal detection system further comprises an alarm electrically coupled to the processor
Preferably, the processor compares a temperature threshold with the temperature detected by the thermal sensor, and decides whether to enable the alarm or not based on a comparison result of the temperature threshold and the temperature detected by the thermal sensor.
Preferably, the thermal detection system further comprises a storage device for storing a value of the temperature detected by the thermal sensor, wherein the thermal sensor is one of a thermopile and an infrared sensor.
Preferably, the thermal detection system further comprises at least two other thermal sensors disposed on the rotation device, wherein the rotation device has a rotation center, and a distribution of the thermal sensors is denser at a first region far away from the rotation center than at a second region near the rotation center.
Preferably, the rotation device has a rotation center, and a detection direction of the thermal sensor is one selected from a group consisting of a parallel, an outward and an inward directions to an axis of the rotation center.
The above objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed descriptions and accompanying drawings, in which:
The present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments. It is to be noted that the following descriptions of preferred embodiments of this invention are presented herein for the purposes of illustration and description only; it is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed.
Please refer to
The thermopiles, infrared sensors, or other non-contact type thermal sensors can be chosen as the thermal sensors 20 in this embodiment. As shown in
The thermal sensors 20 can be disposed along the radial direction on the rotation device 10. Regarding the quantity of disposed thermal sensors 20, it can be appropriately adjusted depending on the practical requirements of the correlation between the temperatures and the positions of all elements of the object 100. Since the sweeping area of the radial unit segment in the inner circle is smaller than that in the outer circle, the distribution of thermal sensors 20 can be designed to be denser at the region far away from the rotation center than that near the rotation center in order to compromise the precision required in the larger sweeping area.
The object 100 in the present embodiment can be an electrical control cabinet, production lines, equipment, or apparatus with the necessity of the serious temperature control.
In this embodiment, since the rotation device 10 is rotating, the detection area of the thermal sensors 20 is greatly expanded. That is, using a small amount of thermal sensors 20 is able to achieve the real-time detection and monitoring of the temperatures everywhere in a very large area. Therefore, it is unnecessary to densely dispose a tremendous amount of thermal sensors 20 covering the whole area for the temperature detection and monitoring. Accordingly, the cost of the whole temperature detection system can be largely reduced. From the above description, the present embodiment can effectively and economically prevent the serious problems of the fire accidents, interruption of the production, etc. caused by the abnormal temperature.
Please refer to
The control unit 40 is electrically connected to the signal processing signal 30 and the rotation device 10. The control unit 40 can receive the digital signal from the signal processing circuit 30, and can control the rotation of the rotation device 10, e.g. rotation speed, rotation direction. The control unit 40 is electrically coupled to the processor 50 through a wire connection or a wireless connection by means of a wireless communication device, e.g. radio frequency (RF), Bluetooth®, or other wireless communication protocols in various frequency bands. Therefore, the remote control and monitoring of the temperatures can be successfully implemented to facilitate more complicated treatments and controls. The processor 50 in the present embodiment can be a microprocessor, a personal computer, an industrial computer, a work station, a digital signal processor, a general processor, etc. The processor 50 can handle a further treatment on the digital signal received by control unit 40, e.g. storage, operation, statistic calculation, analysis and judgment.
In addition, processor 50 can be electrically connected to the alarm 60. When thermal sensor 20 detects an abnormal temperature, processor 50 can enable alarm 60 to send out the alarm siren, alarm signals, warning broadcast, etc. so as to prevent the disaster before happening or to reduce the damage or loss to the possible lowest extent.
The
The focus effect of this type of design can also be available by adopting the design of the thermal detection system 3B shown in
The
The function of enlarging the detection area for this type of design can also be available by adopting the design of the thermal detection system 4B shown in
A thermal detection method provided in this embodiment can be applied to the thermal detection systems described in the above first to fourth embodiments or other thermal detection systems. Please refer to
Since the rotation device 10 is rotating, the detection area of the thermal sensors 20 is tremendously expanded. That is, the real-time temperature detection and monitoring for large area can be achieved by using a small quantity of thermal sensors 20. The mammoth quantity of thermal sensors for covering the whole detected area are no longer necessary. Therefore, the cost of the whole thermal detection system can be greatly reduced by using the present invention.
The method of the present embodiment can further include the following optional steps: electrically connecting the signal processing circuit 30 to thermal sensor 20, using signal processing circuit 30 to transform the electronic signal, which corresponds to the temperature detected by thermal sensor 20, to the digital signal for facilitating the further control.
In addition, in this embodiment, the control unit 40 can be used and electrically connected to the signal processing circuit 30 and/or the rotation device 10 optionally. The control unit 40 can receive the digital signal from the signal processing circuit 30, and can control the rotation device 10, e.g. adjusting the rotation speed or rotation direction, or even performing the programmable control.
Furthermore, in this embodiment, the processor 50 can be used and electrically connected to the control unit 40 optionally. A temperature threshold can be set in processor 50, and this temperature threshold can be compared with the temperature detected by thermal sensor 20. For instance, when the detected temperature exceeds this temperature threshold, then the sign, “Extraordinary temperature”, is displayed.
Besides, processor 50 can save the digital signal, which corresponds to the temperature detected by the thermal sensor 20, into the storage device 70, e.g. hard disk, portable disk, CD, DVD, tape, etc.
The processor 50 is also capable of executing the calculation and analysis for the detected temperatures during the short, middle, or long term, e.g. moving average values, moving average curves and standard deviations for the short, middle, or long term. These analyzed results can be used to judge whether the detected object or the detection system itself needs to be calibrated or rectified, or whether some components of the detected object are aged. In addition, these analyzed data can also be utilized to fine-tune the temperature threshold so as to reach the effective and intellectual control and monitoring. Moreover, two or more temperature thresholds can be used and set as well. For example, the upper and lower temperature thresholds are set, and the detected temperature beyond this temperature range is treated as an abnormal temperature.
In addition, the processor 50 can be electrically connected to the alarm 60. When the detected temperature is abnormal, processor 50 can enable alarm 60 to send out the alarm siren, alarm signals, warning broadcast, etc. in order to prevent the disaster before happening or to reduce the damage or loss to the possible lowest extent.
In conclusion, the present invention provides a thermal detection system and a method thereof, and is able to effectively and economically perform the real-time temperature detection or even the intellectual control and monitoring for the large detected area so as to prevent the problems of the fire accident, production interruption, economic loss and danger to public security due to the extraordinary temperature. Therefore, the present invention can benefit the industries, enterprises, or even general public.
While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 097122467 | Jun 2008 | TW | national |
