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:
Jul. 24, 2012
Filed:
Nov. 27, 2007
Jonathan Fievez, Melville, AU;
Jonathan Fievez, Melville, AU;
Structural Monitoring Systems Ltd., Osborne Park, AU;
Abstract
An apparatus () monitors the condition of a component () by measuring the conductivity to air flow of a sealed cavity () formed on the surface of the component (). The apparatus () comprises an unregulated pressure source () that is coupled to the cavity () via a fluid flow restriction (). A measurement system () provides a measurement of, or related to, the volumetric air flow through the restriction (), and calculates a conductivity index CI to air flow of the cavity in accordance with the equation CI=flow/pressure difference. In this equation 'flow' is the volumetric flow of air through the flow restriction and 'pressure difference' is the difference in pressure across the cavity with reference to atmospheric or ambient pressure. In the event that a crack traverses the cavity and provides a flow path to the atmosphere, the conductivity index CI will be a non-zero value. The higher the conductivity index the larger the crack.