The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 11, 2001
Filed:
Jun. 25, 1999
Frank C. Beall, El Sobrante, CA (US);
Other;
Abstract
Disclosed are an apparatus and a monitoring system and various methods for use in the drying of lumber that use disclosed apparatus. During drying lumber is arranged in multiple courses stacked one on top of the other with multiple wooden stickers substantially evenly spaced from each other between courses and extending across the full width of said stack. The present invention includes a special sticker for inclusion in place of one of the wooden stickers to monitor the AE from the stack and to ultrasonically excite the stack for other measurements. The special sticker in the simplest form, includes a body portion and an acoustic sensor with the body portion constructed of an acoustically conductive material that is sized similarly to a wooden sticker. Also disclosed is a monitoring system which includes a special sticker and signal processing and control electronics coupled to receive an AE signal from the special sticker for monitoring and controlling the drying cycle of the lumber. Additionally, an ultrasonic signal can be applied to the special sticker to excite the stack and then monitor the stack response from the special sticker. By inclusion of an acoustic sensor at both ends of a special sticker the point across the load at which the AE occurs can be determined by linear interplation of the signals received from both sensors. By applying an ultrasonic signal to a special sticker and comparing a response signal received from the special sticker, various characteristics and control features can be obtained to predict the end-point of the drying cycle, the contact integrity of the special sticker with the lumber, and the moisture content of the lumber.