BULK MATERIALS MANAGEMENT APPARATUS AND METHOD

摘要

Bulk material measurement packages are described including the preferred embodiment of an automated instrument package (AIP) suited to mount on the inside ceiling of a large silo. The gimbaled AIP vertical mounting bracket rotates in an approximate 360 DEG azimuth. An instrument housing is mounted to the vertical mounting bracket, and it rotates approximately 190 DEG in a vertical plane. The instrument housing has at least one range finding sensor such as a scanning laser to measure the top surface contours of the bulk material. The instrument housing can also contain other sensors wuch as air and quality instruments including temperature, humidity, spectral recognition sensor to detect gran/material type and/or flow rate, gas detectors for sniffing off-odors/spoilage/or safety problems, and live video. Optionally grain penetrating radar (GPR), time domain reflectometry (TDR), ultrasonics, and portable sensors are taught as well as alternate packaging.