Wireless electric heat trace and vibration control and monitoring system

Abstract

A monitoring system for monitoring the temperature and vibration of equipment, comprising a central digital computer, a MESH communication network, wherein the network feeds signals to the central digital computer, a plurality of heating elements for heating the equipment, temperature/vibration sensors adapted to measure the temperature of the equipment, wherein each sensor is adapted to provide a signal representing the temperature/vibration of the piece of equipment to which the sensor is associated, to the network, wherein each temperature/vibration sensor can also be used to control the electric heaters, a temperature sensor that monitors the ambient temperature of the facility, and current transducers associated with the heaters, to monitor the energy use and current loss of the heaters, wherein the central computer uses the data it receives from the other elements of the monitoring system to determine when the equipment is not at the correct temperature/vibration and diagnoses the reason why.

What I claim as my invention is: 
     
         1 . A system for monitoring and controlling the temperature of various pieces of equipment in a facility, comprising:
 a.) a central digital computer that monitors and interprets data provided to it,   b.) a MESH communication network comprised of a plurality of wireless communicators (radios) designed to form a node in the MESH communication network, wherein the MESH communicating network is a communication network in which each of the nodes is capable of receiving signals from the nodes around it and then retransmitting that signal to a node around it that moves the signal to a desired direction, in this case, toward the central digital computer, and feeds the signal to the central digital computer,   c.) A plurality of heating elements, each of which is associated with a piece of equipment in the facility, and adapted to heat that piece of equipment,   d.) a plurality of temperature sensors, one of which is associated with and adapted to measure the temperature of one of the pieces of equipment in the facility, wherein each sensor is adapted to provide a signal representing the temperature of the piece of equipment to which the sensor is associated, to a wireless communicator (radio) in the MESH communication network, wherein each temperature sensor can also be used to control the electric heater that heats the piece of equipment to which the sensor is associated,   e.) a temperature sensor that monitors the ambient temperature of the facility and which is adapted to feed a signal representing the ambient temperature of the facility to the central digital computer, and   f.) a plurality of current transducers, one of which is associated with each of the heaters, and which sends a signal representing the amount of energy being used by the heater to the central computer,   wherein the central computer uses the data it receives from the other elements of the monitoring system to determine and announce when each piece of factory equipment is not at the correct temperature and, by comparing the data from the other elements of the monitoring systems, diagnoses the reason why the equipment is not at the correct temperature, and displays that reason.   
     
     
         2 . A system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the system monitors current loss associated with each heater and provides that information to the central digital computer. 
     
     
         3 . A system for monitoring and controlling the temperature and vibration of various pieces of equipment in a facility, comprising:
 a.) a central digital computer that monitors and interprets data provided to it,   b.) a MESH communication network comprised of a plurality of wireless communicators (radios) designed to form a node in the MESH communication network, wherein the MESH communicating network is a communication network in which each of the nodes is capable of receiving signals from the nodes around it and then retransmitting that signal to a node around it that moves the signal to a desired direction, in this case, toward the central digital computer, and feeds the signal to the central digital computer,   c.) A plurality of heating elements, each of which is associated with a piece of equipment in the facility, and adapted to heat that piece of equipment,   d.) a plurality of temperature/vibration sensors, one of which is associated with and adapted to measure the temperature of one of the pieces of equipment in the facility, wherein each sensor is adapted to provide a signal representing the temperature/vibration of the piece of equipment to which the sensor is associated, to a wireless communicator (radio) in the MESH communication network, wherein each temperature/vibration sensor can also be used to control the electric heater that heats the piece of equipment and provide the vibratory state of the piece of equipment to which the sensor is associated,   e.) a temperature sensor that monitors the ambient temperature of the facility and which is adapted to feed a signal representing the ambient temperature of the facility to the central digital computer, and   f.) a plurality of current transducers, one of which is associated with each of the heaters, and which sends a signal representing the amount of energy being used by the heater to the central computer,   wherein the central computer uses the data it receives from the other elements of the monitoring system to determine and announce when each piece of factory equipment is not at the correct temperature/vibration.   
     
     
         4 . A system as recited in  claim 3 , wherein the system uses the combined temperature/vibration information to diagnose that the equipment is not at the correct temperature/vibration, and displays that fact. 
     
     
         5 . A system as recited in  claim 3 , wherein the system uses the combined temperature/vibration information to diagnose the reason why the equipment is not at the correct temperature/vibration, and displays that reason. 
     
     
         6 . A system as recited in  claim 3 , wherein the system monitors current loss associated with each heater and provides that information to the central digital computer. 
     
     
         7 . A system for monitoring the vibration of various pieces of equipment in a facility, comprising:
 a.) a central digital computer that monitors and interprets data provided to it,   b.) a MESH communication network comprised of a plurality of wireless communicators (radios) designed to form a node in the MESH communication network, wherein the MESH communicating network is a communication network in which each of the nodes is capable of receiving signals from the nodes around it and then retransmitting that signal to a node around it that moves the signal to a desired direction, in this case, toward the central digital computer, and feeds the signal to the central digital computer,   c.) a plurality of vibration sensors, one of which is associated with and adapted to measure the vibration of one of the pieces of equipment in the facility, wherein each sensor is adapted to provide a signal representing the vibration of the piece of equipment to which the sensor is associated, to a wireless communicator (radio) in the MESH communication network,   wherein the central computer uses the data it receives from the other elements of the monitoring system to determine and announce when each piece of factory equipment is not operating correctly, and displays that fact.   
     
     
         8 . A system as recited in  claim 7 , wherein the system monitors the vibration of the equipment, and, by comparing the data from the other elements of the monitoring systems, diagnoses that the equipment is not at the correct vibration, and displays that fact. 
     
     
         9 . A system as recited in  claim 7 , wherein the system monitors the vibration of the equipment, and, by comparing the data from the other elements of the monitoring systems, diagnoses the reason why the equipment is not at the correct vibration, and displays that reason. 
     
     
         10 . A system as recited in  claim 7 , wherein the system monitors the vibration of the equipment and stores historical information about the vibration of a piece of equipment in a storage device, and, by comparing the present data from the historical data, data from the other elements of the monitoring systems, diagnoses that the equipment is not at the correct vibration, and displays that fact. 
     
     
         11 . A system as recited in  claim 7 , wherein the system monitors the vibration of the equipment and stores historical information about the vibration of a piece of equipment in a storage device, and, by comparing the present data from the historical data, data from the other elements of the monitoring systems, diagnoses the reason why the equipment is not at the correct vibration, and displays that reason.