DYNAMIC TRANSDUCER WITH DIGITAL OUTPUT AND METHOD FOR USE

摘要

A digital transducer provides a digital output indicative of dynamic characteristics of machines and processes. The transducer sensors may be single-axis or multiple-axis accelerometers and other measurement sensors. The transducer may be hands-free and wireless in machinery monitoring applications. An integral magnetic mount assists with hands-free data collection. Digital data accumulated in transducer memory may be selectively decimated before or after transfer from the transducer to a remote analyzer. Wireless communications are used to upload measurement setups to the transducer and download data from the transducer to a handheld analyzer or remote computer. Analysis and interpretation of dynamic digital data streams are performed after data is downloaded.

主权项

1. A portable digital transducer for collecting dynamic measurement data associated with one or more machines or processes, the portable digital transducer comprising:
a dynamic analog sensor for generating an analog sensor signal based on measurements of dynamic characteristics of the one or more machines or processes; an analog signal processing circuit for preprocessing the analog sensor signal before conversion into a digital signal; an analog-to-digital conversion circuit for oversampling the analog sensor signal at a sampling rate to generate oversampled dynamic digital measurement data; a decimation processor programmed to derive at least two synchronized datasets from the oversampled dynamic digital measurement data, the at least two synchronized datasets comprising a first dataset resulting from filtering and nonselective decimation of the oversampled dynamic digital measurement data, and a second dataset resulting from filtering and selective decimation of the oversampled dynamic digital measurement data; a memory device for storing the at least two synchronized datasets until the at least two synchronized datasets are transferred to an external device; a digital signal processing circuit controlling the portable digital transducer in collecting the oversampled dynamic digital measurement data and storing the at least two synchronized datasets in the memory device in multiple data groups with information associating each data group; a communications interface for transferring configuration settings from an external device to the memory device and for transferring the at least two synchronized datasets from the memory device to an external device; a power source for powering the portable digital transducer to collect and store the dynamic digital measurement data, and maintain the at least two synchronized datasets in the memory device until the at least two synchronized datasets are transferred to the external device; and a portable housing in which the dynamic analog sensor, analog signal processing circuit, analog-to-digital conversion circuit, decimation processor, digital signal processing circuit, memory device, communications interface, and power source are disposed, the portable housing configured for hands-free and cable-free data collection.