Measurex Corporation

Honeywell-measurex Corporation

Honeywell International Inc.

Fmc Corporation

Voith Patent Gmbh

Lee M Chase

John D Goss

Leonard M Anderson

Hung-Tzaw Hu

John G Preston

Claud Hagart-Alexander

Philip M Hegland

Graham V Walford

Michael K Norton

David Watson

Steve Axelrod

Paul J Houghton

Harriss T King

Kent M Norton

Thierry M Cresson

E Michael Heaven

Raymond Yu

Martin G Clarke

Mathew G Boissevain

Pekka M Typpo

Mark J Alguard

David A Bossen

Jorma J Orkosalo

Julius J Muray

Robert L Beaman

John David Watson

Leon Tao

Len Anderson

Peter Herzlinger

David Sudikoff

Mark Alguard

Device and process for determining a distance to an object. The device includes a low coherence light source, at least one lens arranged to focus light from the low coherence light source onto the object and to collect light reflected and scattered from the object, and a window arranged between the lens and the object. An apertured element includes a circular aperture structured and arranged to form a circular light beam from the reflected and scattered light, and a detector system is structured and arranged to receive the circular light beam. The detector system is sensitive to light beam diameter. Further, a determining device is structured and arranged to determine a distance to the object based upon signals from the detector system.

Device and process for optical distance measurement

An apparatus is taught for draining static electrical charges build-up on a traveling web of dielectric material. The apparatus includes discharge means comprised of a metal member having one end formed into at least one needle point projection. The discharge means is connected to ground potential and mounted in close proximity to the traveling web. Responsive to concentrated static electrical charges the discharge means causes ionization of the gasses surrounding the discharge means, thereby draining the static electrical charges to the ground potential through the discharge means. The apparatus further includes means for sensing and reading the magnitude of static electrical charges drawn from the web of dielectric material and for applying the sensed information as digital signals to a manufacturing controller. The manufacturing controller uses the information to control manufacturing parameters that minimize the generation of static electrical charges during the manufacture of the dielectric material.

Apparatus for eliminating static electrical charges from a web of dielectric sheet material

A sensor apparatus and electrode configuration within the sensor apparatus for measuring electrical characteristics of an aqueous fibrous composition. The electrode configuration includes an elongated ground electrode and at least one segmented electrode to form an array of measurement electrode cells. The electrode configuration further includes an array of reference electrode cells formed by a plurality of reference electrodes built into the array of measurement electrode cells. The measurement electrode cells and reference electrode cells have a different sensitivity to water weight of the aqueous fibrous composition and the same sensitivity to conductivity of the aqueous fibrous composition. The measurement apparatus obtains simultaneous resistive measurements from both measurement and reference cells and determines the ratio of the measurements such that the affects from conductivity is canceled out of the measurement ratio. The determined measurement ratio is used to obtain a measurement of the water weight of the aqueous fibrous composition by using previously determined characterization data of the water weight vs. a range of measurement ratios.

Means of correcting a measurement of a property of a material with a sensor that is affected by a second property of the material

A system of providing fast machine direction (MD) and cross direction (CD) basis weight adjustments using a simultaneous multi-point water weight sensor which provides independent MD and CD measurements is described. The water weight sensor is placed under the wire of the sheetmaking machine and provides fast wet end water weight measurements which are converted into predicted dry end basis weight information and used to control operating variables of machine elements in the sheetmaking machine to compensate for high frequency process variations. MD wet end measurements are used to control operating variables of machine elements that influence the MD dry end basis weight and CD wet end measurements are used to control operating variables of machine elements that influence CD dry end basis weight.

Fast CD and MD control in a sheetmaking machine

A sensor imbedded roller for detecting changes in properties of a material and a measurement apparatus including a fixed impedance element coupled in series with a variable impedance sensor imbedded roller between an input signal and a reference potential (e.g. ground) is described. The sensor, which includes an electrode configuration, is imbedded into a roller such that when it rotates it comes in contact with the material being measured and its impedance varies. The variable impedance of the sensor relates to changes in property of the material being sensed which can then be related to changes in other physical characteristics of the material such as weight, chemical composition, and temperature. Sensor imbedded rollers can be placed in a sheetmaking machine to measure the pre-formed and post-formed paper product.

Water weight sensor array imbedded in a sheetmaking machine roll

A measurement apparatus for sensing three properties of materials including a fixed impedance element coupled in series with the sensor array between an input signal and a reference potential (e.g. ground). The sensor array exhibits a variable impedance resulting from changes in physical characteristics of the material. The variable impedance of the sensor array relates to changes in property of the material being sensed which can then be related to changes in other physical characteristics of the material such as weight, chemical composition, and temperature. The reduced size and increased resolution of the sensor array is particularly adaptive to a twin mesh sheetmaking system.

System for producing paper product including a compact high-resolution under wire water weight sensor array

Significant improvements in papermaking control can be achieved by employing an array of sensors that are positioned underneath the wire of the machine to measure the conductivity of the aqueous wet stock. The conductivity of the wet stock is directly proportional to the total water weight within the wet stock; consequently, the sensor provides information which can be used to monitor and control the quality of the paper sheet produced. Because CD water weight profile is obtained practically instantaneously, the MD and CD variations are essentially decoupled. Quality improvements to the sheet fabricated will be achieved by providing fast control of the actuators on the machine and by tuning components on the machine to eliminate the sources of variations. Further, the dry stock weight of a sheet of wet stock that is resting on a water permeable moving wire of the papermaking machine can be made employing a water weight sensor element that is positioned adjacent to the wire and that generates signals indicative of the water weight of the sheet of wet stock on the wire. Moreover, the moisture level cross-direction (CD) profile of a sheet of material that is produced can also be measured.

System and method for sheet measurement and control in papermaking machine

A system and method of providing on-line turbulence measurements in a sheetmaking machine and using these measurements to perform on-line adjustments to turbulence-inducing and adjusting elements in the sheetmaking machine to optimize final sheet product quality. Turbulence measurements are obtained using water weight sensors in the wet-end of the sheetmaking machine and specifically under wire water weight measurements. Water weight readings are correlated to turbulence intensity levels by correlating ranges of water weights to intensity level intervals. A turbulence processing sensor sorts accumulated water weight measurement readings into intensity level intervals to obtain turbulence measurements or a turbulence profile. The turbulence measurements or profile is provided to a machine element controller which uses the measured turbulence information and target turbulence information to generate control signals. The water weight sensors can obtain independent machine direction (MD) and cross direction (CD) water weight measurements and consequently independent turbulence measurements can be determined so that turbulence can be controlled in both directions. Machine elements are controlled so that turbulence remains uniform across the CD and so that the MD turbulence profile is optimized to resemble a target profile.

Underwire water weight turbulence sensor

System and method for sheet measurement and control in papermaking

A measurement apparatus for sensing three properties of materials including a fixed impedance element coupled in series with the sensor array between an input signal and a reference potential (e.g. ground). The sensor array of the apparatus is an electrode configuration which includes a first elongated electrode coupled to the reference potential and second and third segmented elongated electrodes being parallel to and essentially in the same plane as the first elongated electrode. The segments within the second and third electrodes are configured such that the segments in the second electrode are staggered with respect to segments in the third electrode thereby minimizing or eliminating spacing between detection cells within the sensor array, reducing overall size of the sensor array and increasing measurement resolution. The sensor array exhibits a variable impedance resulting from changes in physical characteristics of the material. The variable impedance of the sensor array relates to changes in property of the material being sensed which can then be related to changes in other physical characteristics of the material such as weight, chemical composition, and temperature. The reduced size and increased resolution of the sensor array is particularly adaptive to a twin mesh sheetmaking system.

Compact high resolution under wire water weight sensor array

A system and method of providing fast machine direction (MD) and cross direction (CD) basis weight adjustments using a simultaneous multi-point water weight sensor which provides independent MD and CD measurements is described. The water weight sensor is placed under the wire of the sheetmaking machine and provides fast wet end water weight measurements which are converted into predicted dry end basis weight information and used to control operating variables of machine elements in the sheetmaking machine to compensate for high frequency process variations. MD wet end measurements are used to control operating variables of machine elements that influence the MD dry end basis weight and CD wet end measurements are used to control operating variables of machine elements that influence CD dry end basis weight. The fast control information provided by the non-scanned water weight sensor can be used in a fast control loop which provides feedback information to wetstock source, headbox and forming elements and which can be used with a slower response control loop including a dry end sensor which provides a slower basis weight measurement and which controls system variables to compensate for larger basis weight fluctuations.

System and method for producing paper that employ an apparatus for measuring electrical characteristics of a fibrous composition. The apparatus comprises a plurality of conductivity (or resistance) detectors each comprising a sensor that is sensitive to the conductivity (or resistance) and the proximity of the material (e.g., fibrous composition) to the sensor. Measurements from the apparatus relate to the zeta potential of the fibrous materials in the composition. The zeta potential profiles corresponding optimized configurations of the sheetmaking process can be employed to monitor and control the process.

Paper stock zeta potential measurement and control

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Los Gatos, CA, United States of America

Lee M Chase