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:
May. 08, 2012
Filed:
May. 29, 2009
Leif R. Lindbergh, Seattle, WA (US);
Aaron J. Shanahan, Seattle, WA (US);
Ian R. Cahoon, Kent, WA (US);
Richard J. Robbins, Seattle, WA (US);
James C. Moore, Columbus, OH (US);
Brent R. Brown, Maple Grove, MN (US);
Timothy J. Reilly, Kelowna, CA (US);
Leif R. Lindbergh, Seattle, WA (US);
Aaron J. Shanahan, Seattle, WA (US);
Ian R. Cahoon, Kent, WA (US);
Richard J. Robbins, Seattle, WA (US);
James C. Moore, Columbus, OH (US);
Brent R. Brown, Maple Grove, MN (US);
Timothy J. Reilly, Kelowna, CA (US);
The Robbins Company, Solon, OH (US);
Abstract
A tunnel boring machine () having a rotating cutter head () that rotatably supports a plurality of cutter assemblies (). A plurality of instrument packages () are attached to the rotating cutter head, each instrument package having a distal end in contact with an associated cutter assembly. The instrument packages include a plurality of sensors including an accelerometer (), magnetometer () and temperature sensor (), for monitoring the associated cutter assembly. The sensors are mounted in a distal end of the instrument packages that is biased to remain in contact with the cutter assembly. The instrument packages include a wireless transmitter, and they are interconnected in a mesh or peer to peer network. A power supply () such as a battery pack is provided for each instrument package. The data from the sensors may be used to control operation of the tunnel boring machine and/or to monitor the condition of the cutter assemblies.