1108 results about "Mass sensor" patented technology

A method for the detection of analytes using resonant mass sensors or sensor arrays comprises frequency encoding each sensor element, acquiring a time-domain resonance signal from the sensor or sensor array as it is exposed to analyte, detecting change in the frequency or resonant properties of each sensor element using a Fourier transform or other spectral analysis method, and classifying, identifying, and / or quantifying analyte using an appropriate data analysis procedure. Frequency encoded sensors or sensor arrays comprise sensor elements with frequency domain resonance signals that can be uniquely identified under a defined range of operating conditions. Frequency encoding can be realized either by fabricating individual sensor elements with unique resonant frequencies or by tuning or modifying identical resonant devices to unique frequencies by adding or removing mass from individual sensor elements. The array of sensor elements comprises multiple resonant structures that may have identical or unique sensing layers. The sensing layers influence the sensor elements' response to analyte. Time-domain signal is acquired, typically in a single data acquisition channel, and typically using either (1) a pulsed excitation followed by acquisition of the free oscillatory decay of the entire array or (2) a rapid scan acquisition of signal from the entire array in a direct or heterodyne configuration. Spectrum analysis of the time domain data is typically accomplished with Fourier transform analysis. The methods and sensor arrays of the invention enable rapid and sensitive analyte detection, classification and / or identification of complex mixtures and unknown compounds, and quantification of known analytes, using sensor element design and signal detection hardware that are robust, simple and low cost.

A telemetry method and apparatus using pressure sensing elements remotely located from associated pick-up, and processing units for the sensing and monitoring of pressure within an environment. This includes remote pressure sensing apparatus incorporating a magnetically-driven resonator being hermetically-sealed within an encapsulating shell or diaphragm and associated new method of sensing pressure. The resonant structure of the magnetically-driven resonator is suitable for measuring quantities convertible to changes in mechanical stress or mass. The resonant structure can be integrated into pressure sensors, adsorbed mass sensors, strain sensors, and the like. The apparatus and method provide information by utilizing, or listening for, the residence frequency of the oscillating resonator. The resonant structure listening frequencies of greatest interest are those at the mechanical structure's fundamental or harmonic resonant frequency. The apparatus is operable within a wide range of environments for remote one-time, random, periodic, or continuous / on-going monitoring of a particular fluid environment. Applications include biomedical applications such as measuring intraocular pressure, blood pressure, and intracranial pressure sensing.

A sleep assist system to monitor and assist the user's sleep, comprising a bedside device positioned near the user's bed, the bedside device comprising a loudspeaker and a light source and optionally a microphone, a light sensor, a temperature sensor, a control unit, an air quality sensor, a display unit, a user interface. The sleep assist system further comprises a first sensing unit positioned in the user's bed and comprising one or more sensors adapted to sense at least pressure and / or changes in pressure exerted by the user lying in the bed. The system monitors the user's sleep, assesses the user's sleep cycles and the phase of sleep cycle, and provides the user with at least one light and sound program, the light and sound program being based on the assessment of the user's sleep cycles and the phase of sleep cycle.

A computer implemented method, apparatus, system, and computer usable program code for monitoring a real-time depletion of an item in a storage unit. A controller identifies an item placed in the storage unit to form an identified item. The controller detects a change in mass sensor data from a mass sensor shelf in a set of mass sensor shelves associated with the storage unit. The controller associates the change in mass sensor data with the identified item to form a current mass for the identified item. The controller determines a depletion of the identified item based a difference between the current mass and a previous mass for the identified item.

The invention provides an auto air-conditioner control system and a control method thereof, and aims to satisfy the requirements of security and comfort. The system comprises an air-conditioner control unit. The air-conditioner control unit receives signals from an internal temperature sensor, a sunlight sensor, an external temperature sensor, an air quality sensor and an evaporator temperature sensor and sends control commands to control the work of an electric velocity modulation module, a blower, an internal and external throttle actuator, a mixture throttle actuator, a pattern throttle actuator and a defrosting throttle actuator, especially the air-conditioner control unit is connected with a front body electronic control system and an engine electronic injection control system through a CAN bus; and the air-conditioner control unit adjusts the work of the air condition system through the state information of the front body electronic control system and the engine electronic injection control system. The system optimizes circuit design, simplifies the operation procedure, satisfies the comfort requirement of a driver, and improves maintenance convenience and the reliability and safety of the system.

A mass sensor including: a connecting plate having one or more slit(s) and / or opening portion(s) formed therein and / or having a thin-walled portion and a thick-walled portion formed therein; a diaphragm joined with the connecting plate at respective side surfaces; a piezoelectric element; a sensing plate with the piezoelectric element being provided at least at one part on at least one surface of the sensing plate, which has its side surface joined with a side surface of the connecting plate in the direction perpendicular to the joining direction of the diaphragm and the connecting plate; and a sensor substrate with which at least a part of side surfaces of the connecting plate as well as the sensing plate are joined, and the diaphragm, the connecting plate, the sensing plate, and the piezoelectric element form a resonating portion. The mass sensor can conveniently be used for determining the mass of a substance to be sensed by measuring changes in resonant frequencies caused by changes in the mass of the diaphragm on which a catching substance for catching a substance to be sensed by reacting only with the object of sensing is applied.

The invention discloses an intelligent shopping cart. The intelligent shopping cart comprises a cart body, the cart body comprises an article containing basket and a handle, wherein the handle is provided with an operation panel, the operation panel is provided with a touch screen type computer with a displaying function and / or an operation function, the cart body is provided with an RFID label used for storing the intelligent shopping cart serial number information, and the cart body is further provided with a weight sensor and / or cameras connected with the touch screen type computer in a communication mode. The invention further discloses an intelligent shopping system and using method thereof and solves the inconvenience generated when a consumer pays an account for goods in supermarket shopping and the problem that the fault rate generated by the production selection through an RFIS technology is high.

A floating mass transducer for assisting hearing in a person is provided. Inertial vibration in the floating mass transducer (100) produces vibrations in the inner ear. In an exemplary embodiment, the floating mass transducer comprises a magnet assembly (12) and a coil (14) secured inside a housing (10) which is attached to bone within the middle ear. The coil is more rigidly secured to the housing than the magnet. The magnet assembly and coil are configured such that conducting alternating electrical current through the coil results in vibration of the magnet assembly and coil relative to one another. The vibration is caused by the interaction of the magnetic fields of the magnet assembly and coil. Because the coil is more rigidly secured to the housing than the magnet assembly, the vibrations of the coil cause the housing to vibrate. The floating mass transducer may generate vibrations in the inner ear by being attached to the skull or through a mouthpiece.

A method, apparatus, system, and computer usable program product for identifying a usage of an item in a storage unit. The process identifies an item in the storage unit to form an identified item. The process determines a location of the identified item based on location data received from a set of location sensors. The process associates the identified item with a current mass, wherein the current mass of the identified item is calculated based on mass data received from a set of mass sensors associated with the location of the identified item; and the process determines a depletion of the identified item based on the current mass and a non-depleted mass for the identified item.

A device for detecting at least one substance of a fluid includes at least one piezo-acoustic resonator with at least one piezo layer, an electrode arranged on the piezo-electric layer, at least one other electrode arranged on the piezo-electric layer and a surface section used for sorption of the substance of the fluid. The piezo-electric layer, the electrodes and the surface section are disposed in such a way that electric control of the electrodes leads to an oscillation of the resonator at a resonance frequency which depends upon the amount of the substance which is sorbed on the surface section. The thickness of the pioelectric layer is in the region of 0.5 to 20 μm and the resonance frequency of the oscillation ranges from 500 MHz to 2 GHz. The device is a mass sensor with a piezo-acoustic high-frequency thin film resonator.

The present invention relates to a round window driving transducer for easy implantation and an implantable hearing device having the same. The round window driving transducer is implantable in the round window of the cochlea in the middle ear cavity, and has excellent high frequency characteristics, which can assist patients with sensorineural hearing loss to hear sound better. The round window driving transducer can be placed inside the middle ear cavity, radiate sound with high efficiency, and be implanted by surgery using a fixing part formed with shape memory alloy, shape memory resin, or a bendable spring structure. Further, the round window driving transducer can overcome problems of the prior art, such as a difficult surgery and low vibration efficiency, which would inevitably occur when floating mass transducers are implanted in a drilled groove in the bone or when various types of piezoelectric transducers are implanted in the round window.

The mass flow rate sensor includes a waveguide disposed in a flow passage having a bluff body facing in an upstream direction. Waves are pulsed along the waveguide for interaction with the fluid. A receiver is coupled to the waveguide to detect a propagated wave and provides a first output signal proportional to the transit time of the propagated wave for determining fluid density. The receiver also provides a second output signal proportional to the shedding frequency of vortices from the waveguide to determine velocity. An electronics module calculates mass flow rate from the velocity times density times area of the flow passage and a constant. In other forms, the velocity is ascertained by transmitting an ultrasonic beam through the shedding vortices to determine vortex frequency which is proportional to velocity.

The invention discloses an air conditioner for automatically adjusting the air quality and an adjusting method thereof. The air conditioner comprises an indoor air quality sensor, an outdoor air quality sensor, an indoor humidity sensor, an outdoor humidity sensor, an indoor dust sensor, an outdoor dust sensor, an indoor temperature sensor, an outdoor temperature sensor and a ventilating device, wherein the ventilating device is at least provided with a PG motor. In addition, the air conditioner also comprises an air quality control module, a humidity control module, a temperature control module and a ventilating control module, wherein the air quality control module is used for comparing indoor air quality data with outdoor air quality data and for generating and outputting a ventilating signal or a non-ventilating signal; the humidity control module is used for comparing indoor humidity data with outdoor humidity data and for generating and outputting a ventilating signal or a non-ventilating signal; the temperature control module is used for comparing indoor temperature data with outdoor temperature data and for generating and outputting a ventilating signal or a non-ventilating signal; and the ventilating control module is used for starting the PG motor to ventilate under the conditions of simultaneously meeting all the ventilating signals and for turning the PG motor off under the condition of meeting part of the ventilating signals. The invention automatically dehumidifies, humidifies and controls the ventilating amount and has a scientific air quality improving method.

A doubly clamped beam has an asymmetric piezoelectric layer within the beam with a gate proximate to the beam within a submicron distance with a gate and beam dipole. A suspended beam is formed using a Cl2 / He plasma etch supplied at a flow rate ratio of 1:9 respectively into a plasma chamber. A parametric amplifier comprises a NEMS signal beam driven at resonance and a pair of pump beams driven at twice resonance to generate a modulated Lorentz force on the pump beams to perturb the spring constant of the signal beam. A bridge circuit provides two out-of-phase components of an excitation signal to a first and second NEMS beam in a first and second arm. A DC current is supplied to an AC driven NEMS device to tune the resonant frequency. An analyzer comprises a plurality of piezoresistive NEMS cantilevers with different resonant frequencies and a plurality of drive / sense elements, or an interacting plurality of beams to form an optical diffraction grating, or a plurality of strain-sensing NEMS cantilevers, each responsive to a different analyte, or a plurality of piezoresistive NEMS cantilevers with different IR absorbers.

A fluid characterization sensor comprising a plurality of sensor segments is disclosed. Each segment comprises two electrodes, spaced apart so the fluid in the corresponding interval of depth for that segment is positioned between them. Complex current or impedance is measured by exciting one electrode with an AC signal, and measuring the amplitude and phase of the current in the other electrode. After automatically measuring and accounting for pre-determined gain, offset, temperature, and other parasitic influences on the raw sensor signal, the complex electrical impedance of the fluid between the electrodes is calculated from the measured phase / amplitude and / or real / imaginary components of the received electrical current signal and / or the variation of the measured response with variation in excitation frequency. Comparison of measured results with results taken using known fluids identifies fluid properties. Alternatively, measured results are compared to predicted results using forward models describing expected results for different fluids or contaminants.

A computer implemented method, apparatus, system, and computer usable program code for monitoring a real-time depletion of an item in a storage unit. A controller identifies an item placed in the storage unit to form an identified item. The controller detects a change in mass sensor data from a mass sensor shelf in a set of mass sensor shelves associated with the storage unit. The controller associates the change in mass sensor data with the identified item to form a current mass for the identified item. The controller determines a depletion of the identified item based a difference between the current mass and a previous mass for the identified item.

A change in mass of a microbridge in a mass sensor can be sensed by applying a time-varying amplitude modulated electrostatic force to excite the microbridge into resonance at the frequency of amplitude modulation. An optical energy is then transmitted at a wavelength close to a resonant wavelength of a Fabry-Perot microcavity, which is formed by etching a movable reflective mirror into a region of the microbridge and by etching a fixed reflective minor in a region spaced apart from the microbridge. The two mirrors are interconnected by an optical waveguide. The movable mirror and fixed mirror reflect the optical energy to a receiver, and a change in the Fabry-Perot microcavity's reflectivity is interferometrically determined. The change in reflectivity indicates a change in the microbridge's resonant frequency due to increased mass of the microbridge resulting from sorption of a target chemical by a layer of chemoselective material deposited on the microbridge.

The invention relates to a device for controlling a ventilation device for a motor vehicle interior (36), comprising at least one air quality sensor (46) for generating an air quality signal of the air supplied to the air quality sensor (46), an actuator for adjusting an air damper (20a, 20b) of the ventilation device as a function of the air quality signal, and a ventilator (14) for transporting the air through the ventilation device into the motor vehicle interior (36). The air quality sensor (46) and the ventilator (14) form a structural unit (44).

A system is described using a fuel quality sensor for controlling various aspects of engine operation. In particular, an acoustic wave sensor is utilized to measure viscosity and density of gasoline fuels. This measurement is utilized to predict engine combustion quality during an engine start. Based on the prediction, the method adjusts engine operating parameters (such as fuel injection amount and ignition timing) to achieve improved vehicle driveability and engine combustion.

A mass sensor includes a diaphragm, a sensing plate having a piezoelectric element arranged on at least a part of at least one surface joining respective sides, a connecting plate sandwiched by the diaphragm and the sensing plate, wherein the diaphragm, the sensing plate, the piezoelectric element, and the connecting plate form a resonating portion. The connecting plate is bridged across the side surfaces of a concave portion formed in a sensor substrate, and the sensing plate is joined to at least the bottom portion of the concave portion. Change in the mass of the diaphragm is measured by measuring change in the resonant frequencies of the resonating portion accompanying the change in the mass of the diaphragm. The mass sensor enables the easy and accurate measurement of a minute mass of a nanogram order including microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses, or chemical substances, or the thickness of vapor-deposited films.

An improved ventilating range hood includes a sheet metal collecting hood, vented to the outdoors; a variable speed, electronically controllable fan, mounted in such a way as to draw air from a cooking area and out through said vent of said collecting hood; a plurality of air quality sensors capable of detecting both comfort factors and the presence of hazardous substances in the air; an embedded control algorithm which examines the composite output of said discrete air quality sensors, as well as, the trend information and determines from said information an instantaneous ventilation requirement, and a control signal, derived from said algorithm to regulate the fan speed level such that every combination of discrete air quality sensor conditions will have a unique associated fan speed level based on said ventilation requirement. The air quality sensors may include sensors for temperature, humidity, carbon monoxide, smoke, etc.

A monitoring device comprises a housing, a thermally isolated chamber defined by the housing, and a temperature sensor supported by the housing within the thermally isolated chamber to detect a temperature of a location where the device is located. An air quality sensor may also be supported by the housing within the thermally isolated chamber, to sense a quality of air in the location. The housing may define a first vent through the housing to allow external air to flow into the thermally isolated chamber. A first open end of the chamber may be proximate the first vent to allow air flow through the vent, into the chamber. A second open end of the chamber may open into an interior of the housing, and the housing may define a second vent to allow air flow out of the housing. The thermally isolated chamber may comprises thermally reflective material.

Provided is an air purification structure (1). The air purification structure comprises a cylindrical piece with a cavity. An air inlet (111) is arranged in the upper end of the cylindrical piece and an air outlet (152) is arranged in the lower end. An air filter (12), an air quality sensor (18), an air suction assembly (117) and a control circuit board (19) are arranged in the cavity. The air inlet (111), the air filter (12), the air outlet (152) and the air quality sensor (18) are up-down successively arranged in / on the cylindrical piece. Via the air suction assembly (17), external air can be sucked into the cavity through the air inlet (111), thereby achieving air purification. The air quality sensor (18) is used for detecting air quality index. The control circuit board (19) transfers the air quality index outwards, thereby achieving on and off of the air purification structure (1) according to the air quality index. The air purification structure (1) is capable of providing guiding strategies for the air and performing real-time purification for the air according to the air quality index. Meanwhile, the invention also provides an air purification system including the air purification structure (1).

An air circulation system for use with or without ductwork having an outside air stream and a return air stream includes a controller and a return damper apparatus operatively connecting the return air stream to the controlled environment. The air circulation system further includes a heating unit and an air mass sensor disposed adjacent to the return damper apparatus. The air mass sensor selectively and directly detecting a ventilation rate of air moving through the return damper apparatus and communicates the ventilation rate to the controller which selectively modulates operation of the heating unit in dependence upon the ventilation rate.

An automatic urine collection apparatus includes a collection container for accumulating urine transferred from a urine receiver through a tube and a main body for supporting the collection container, wherein the main body includes a suction pump for sucking the urine received by the urine receiver and carrying the urine to the collection container, a mass sensor for measuring the urine accumulated in the collection container, a control board for calculating a volume of the urine based on the measured mass of the urine, and an indicator for indicating the calculated volume of the urine.

The invention relates to an inspection system for an unattended substation, which comprises a substation on-site video camera, a video processing server, an infrared imaging instrument, an oil chromatography on-line monitor, a switch cabinet temperature sensor, an arrester on-line monitor, a SF6 gas micro-water density on-line monitor, an air quality sensor, a direct current on-line monitor, a protection information remote transmitter, an auxiliary device remote opener, a database server and a WEB server, wherein all the parts of the system are connected together through an electric MIS (management information system) network. By utilizing the intelligent inspection software, an integrated substation equipment monitoring system is formed by the video, the various sensors and the related circuit. The system provided by the invention has the advantages that the on-line monitoring data of equipment, the protection information and the images under the normal running state of the equipment are simultaneously automatically tracked and displayed when a person on duty monitors the appearance of equipment.

The present invention uses a Semidefinite Programming (SDP) relaxation based method for the position estimation problem in sensor networks wherein the original problem is converted into a convex optimization problem. Estimation errors can be calculated, such that the quality of the solution to the initial problem is known. The sensor network may be divided into clusters such that the position estimation problem and the computation work can be distributed. The distributed scheme is highly scalable. A network with thousands of sensors may be solved within several minutes.