SYSTEM FOR MONITORING SERVICEABILITY STATUS PARAMETERS

Abstract

The invention relates to technical means of protecting respiratory organs, said means supporting human vital functions in an unbreathable atmosphere, and concerns a self-contained breathing apparatus having a closed breathing system using chemically bound oxygen. The essence of the invention consists in increasing the reliability of self-contained self-rescuers by using means of monitoring parameters that define the serviceability thereof.

Claims

1. The method for monitoring the generation of dust from particles of a loose granular product with a regular and or irregular structure placed in a tightly sealed object, under the influence of shock and/or vibration mechanical effects on the object, which involves performance of granulometric analysis of loose granular product, distinctively includes the following stages: a) preliminary empirical compilation of databases of dependencies of the absolute or relative content of dust generated in various loose granular products placed in various self-contained objects, on the duration, amplitude and frequency of mechanical impacts on objects, represented by the total amplitude values of the modules of acceleration vectors obtained using a three-axis accelerometer, b) registration of mechanical effects on the object containing loose granular product in its actual operating conditions in the form of total amplitude value of the modules of acceleration vectors within a certain frequency band, obtained using a three-axis accelerometer, c) determination of the absolute or relative content of dust in loose granular product by comparing the total amplitude value of mechanical impacts on the object with the corresponding empirical dependence, d) generating a signal of inoperability of the object with loose granular product when the obtained value of dust content exceeds the preset maximum allowable value.

2. Method according to item 1, characterized in that the object is a self-contained breathing apparatus.

3. Method according to item 1, characterized in that the loose granulated product is chemically bound oxygen carrier in the form of granules or pallets.

4. Method according to item 1, characterized in that the stage a) is implemented by way of mechanical effect on the object using a vibration bench with further granulometric analysis of the loose granulated product.

5. Method according to item 1, characterized in that the stage a) and stage b) are implemented using a three-axis accelerometer installed on or in the object.

6. The device for monitoring the generation of dust from panicles of a loose granular product placed in a tightly sealed object, containing a three-axis accelerometer, a microcontroller connected to it, a non-volatile memory device connected to the microcontroller, a wireless communication device, an alarm indicator, a self-contained power supply, characterized in that the non-volatile memory device and the wireless communication device are made in the form of a semi-active RFID tag, and also by the fact that the microcontroller is configured to convert the values of the modules of acceleration vectors from the three-axis accelerometer into the total amplitude signal of acceleration vector, record this total signal into the memory device, compare the value of this total signal with the maximum permissible value recorded in the memory device, and generate the signal of inoperability of the object when the permissible value of the parameter is exceeded, record the data on the inoperability in the memory device and activate the alarm indicator.

7. The device according to item 6, characterized in that the three-axis accelerometer is made using MEMS technology and contains an internal microcontroller capable of generating acceleration values and interrupt signals for impact stress events exceeding predetermined threshold values of the acceleration amplitude, exposure time, frequency band.

8. The device according to item 6, characterized in that it is made in the form of a structurally complete module suitable for installation on or in a self-rescuer.

9. The method for integrated monitoring of the parameters of operability state of a tightly sealed object containing a loose granular product, providing for measurement of temperature, humidity and pressure inside the object, mechanical vibration and impact effects on the object, for storage of the measured values in a memory device in real time, and their comparison against the respective preset maximum permissible values .and generation of an alarm signal on a malfunction of the object in the event of one of the measured values being out of the preset limits of permissible values, storage of the inoperability data as well as the measured values in the memory device, and transmission of the alarm via a wireless communication channel to the data collection device, which is characterized in that a. measurements are carried out at a given frequency and/or at interruptions from the three-axis accelerometer corresponding to impact stress events, b. additionally, based on the measurements of mechanical impacts by method under item 1, the content is determined for dust generated from particles of loose granulated product under the effect of mechanical loads c. the value of the thermodynamic constant—isochore—is calculated by dividing the current pressure value by the current temperature value, d. the gradients of the measured values of humidity, temperature, absolute pressure are calculated, e. the isochore gradient is calculated, f. the alarm signal of inoperability of the object is generated at exceeding the specified maximum permissible temperature value during a specified time interval or at exceeding the specified maximum permissible absolute humidity value during a specified time interval or at exceeding the dust content over the predetermined value limit or at loss of tightness of the object, at that, the loss of tightness signal is generated when at least one of the values of the gradients of the parameters of humidity, temperature, absolute pressure or isochore exceeds the respective predetermined limit value, at that, the data in the non-volatile memory corresponding to the inoperability sign contains bit fields with specific criteria that caused the inoperability.

10. The device for integrated monitoring of the parameters of the status of a tightly sealed object containing loose granular product, containing a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a pressure sensor and a three-axis accelerometer, a microcontroller connected to them, a non-volatile memory device, a wireless communication device, an alarm indicator, a self-contained power supply, is characterized in that the microcontroller is configured to be capable of performing measurements at a given frequency and/or by interruptions from a three-axis accelerometer corresponding to impact events, determining the content of dust generated from particles of loose granular product under the effect of mechanical loads by way of calculating the total amplitude value of the acceleration vectors according to item 6, calculating the value of the thermodynamic constant—isochore—by dividing the current pressure value by the current temperature value, calculating the gradients of the measured values of humidity, temperature, absolute pressure, calculating the isochore gradient, generating the alarm signal of inoperability of the object at exceeding the specified maximum permissible temperature value during a specified time interval or at exceeding the specified maximum permissible absolute humidity value during a specified time interval or at exceeding the dust content over the predetermined value limit or at exceeding at least one of the values of the gradients of the parameters of humidity, temperature, absolute pressure or isochore over the respective predetermined limit value, as well as generating the data in the non-volatile memory corresponding to the inoperability sign containing bit fields with specific criteria that caused the inoperability.

11. The device according to item 10, characterized in that the relative humidity sensor, the absolute pressure sensor and the temperature sensor are made as a single environment sensor.

12. The device according to item 10, characterized in that the nonvolatile memory and the wireless communication device are made in the form of a semi-active RFID tag.

13. The device according to item 10, characterized in that it is made in the form of a structurally complete module suitable for installation on or in an object.

14. The device according to item 10, characterized in that the object is a self-contained breathing apparatus containing granular earner of chemically bound oxygen.

15. The system for monitoring the performance status parameters of a plurality of tightly sealed objects with loose granular product, including at least one device installed on the object or in the object for monitoring the parameters of the performance capacity status of the object, at least one mobile or fixed wireless reader connected to monitoring devices via a wireless channel, which is connected by means of a local area network to at least one monitoring data collection device in the form of a local server, characterized in that it further comprises a main server connected to remote local servers via a local area network or a global computer network, as well as in that It contains a main database with data on all objects generated on the main server on the basis of manufacturer's data and monitoring data obtained from local servers in the course of operation of objects, as well as in that the devices for monitoring of objects are made in accordance with items 10-13.

16. The system according to item 15, characterized in that the object is a self-contained breathing apparatus containing granular earner of chemically bound oxygen.

Description

[0061] The presented in the figure device 10 for integrated monitoring of the self-rescuer performance contains a board 1, on which environmental parameters sensor 2 is installed for measuring relative humidity, absolute pressure and temperature, a three-axis accelerometer 3 with the function of a impact stress sensor, an emergency indicator 4, a microcontroller 5 und a self-contained power supply source 6 as well as an antenna 7 with an RFID tag installed on it, containing a non-volatile storage device 8 and a transceiving RFID module 9. The microcontroller 5 and RFID tag are connected via digital 10 interface.

[0062] Via the RFID interface, microcontroller 5 receives the setting data from reader 11, via digital input-output interfaces it sets up the sensors and, based on the measured values, implements the integrated monitoring algorithms set forth in the method. In doing so, it uses the interrupts (INT) generated in the three-axis accelerometer 3.

[0063] Microcontroller 5 writes the current values of measured parameters into the non-volatile memory 8, from which they can be read by reader 11 via the RFID interface.

[0064] In the event of generation of inoperability signal, microcontroller 5 writes data on the inoperability into the non-volatile memory 8, and controls the alarm indicator 4 via the CONTR line.

[0065] The device 10 for integrated monitoring can be used both for autonomous monitoring of the self-rescuer's performance using only the built-in emergency indicator 4, and as part of a monitoring system for multiple self-rescuers.

[0066] A third aspect of the present invention relates to a system for monitoring efficiency parameters of multiple self-rescuers.

[0067] The include in the state of the art monitoring system is limited to a single local server for collecting data from multiple reader devices, each of which receives data from a plurality of self-rescuers operating at the same location, for example, a mine, a factory, etc.

[0068] The monitoring system according to the present invention involves monitoring all the manufacturer's self-rescuers used at different plants and even in different countries, and covers an international network of local servers.

[0069] The figure shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a monitoring system covering a plurality of spaced-apart points of use 13, each having at least one local server 12 is installed, connected via a local computer network to at least one reader 11, which is connected via a wireless channel with at least one device 10 for integrated monitoring of the parameters of self-rescuer operability status, installed on a self-rescuer or in a self-rescuer.

[0070] The local servers 12 are connected to the main server 14 via a local area network or, for example, the Internet.

[0071] Local servers 12 generate requests to receive data from all reading devices 11 connected to the local area network. Local servers 12 periodically transfer the accumulated data to the main server.

[0072] Main server 14 contains the main database of all manufactured self-rescuers, which is formed on the basis of the manufacturer's data as well as monitoring data obtained from local servers 12 during the operation of the self-rescuers.

[0073] The database on the main server 14 contains information about types, serial numbers, distribution of self-rescuers among local servers 12 and specific points of operation 13, monitoring parameters linked to real time, statistics on the use of self-rescuers, their operating lifetime, a list of repair and maintenance works.

[0074] Remote computer 15 has the ability to analyze the database on the main server 14 and control the individual readers 11 at the points of use 13. To implement different capabilities of remote computers, different access rights of remote computers to the database on the main server are used.