CN117396728A

CN117396728A - Method and apparatus for product inventory control and performance optimization

Info

Publication number: CN117396728A
Application number: CN202280037266.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: W·冯德拉塞克
Original assignee: Buckman Laboratories International Inc
Current assignee: Buckman Laboratories International Inc
Priority date: 2021-04-07
Filing date: 2022-04-07
Publication date: 2024-01-12

Abstract

A chemical consumption monitoring device that uses a force sensor integrated into a sealed sensor housing for retrofitting onto a liquid or solid chemical feed system used in water treatment. Such a sensor is flexible in design and can be used with different forms of articles such as trays, bottles, balls or drums. The sensor is used to monitor product consumption rates as a function of weight or percentage for inventory management by predicting replenishment plans and to implement an automated ordering process. By combining the product consumption measurements with other sensor data from the dispenser, chemical delivery system or process, allows tracking of dispenser performance and alerting when a malfunction occurs. Furthermore, the use of data from different sources provides remote visibility for planning maintenance and troubleshooting.

Description

Method and apparatus for product inventory control and performance optimization

Citation of related application

This non-provisional application claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 63/171,678, filed on 7 at 4 at 2021, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 63/278,809, filed on 12 at 11 at 2021, in accordance with the provisions of 35USC 119, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to devices, systems and methods for monitoring the consumption and performance of solid or liquid additives entering a fluid treatment stream. More specifically, the present invention is a novel adaptive geometry, such as a loop or bar sensor, for measuring and monitoring the material consumption and performance of solid chemical dispensers in industrial process water treatment systems, such as cooling towers, boilers and wastewater systems.

Background

Many industrial applications use systems or equipment such as cooling towers, boilers, etc. as their key components. Each of these systems includes one or more fluid process streams that may require intermittent or continuous treatment with chemicals in addition to wastewater and other fluid lines to optimize the efficiency of the industrial process, meet environmental regulations, and the like. In this field both solid and liquid chemicals are used for these purposes. Accordingly, various types of solid and liquid chemical dispensing devices have been developed to dispense solid or liquid chemicals into the fluid process streams in question, as the case may be.

Conventional chemical dispensing equipment (e.g., AP TECH Ultra-m solids feeders) and prior art liquid chemical dispensing equipment are not instrumented and rely entirely on mechanical means for operation. Therefore, these prior art devices require periodic checks to determine the product level in the dispenser, whether replenishment is required, and whether maintenance is required. Of course, each such dispensing device has multiple sections that may individually or collectively fail in a variety of ways or experience one of a variety of operational anomalies. Delay problem detection may even exacerbate minor maintenance problems, resulting in additional costs or downtime that could otherwise be avoided if the problem were detected earlier.

The prior art attempts to seek a solution for consumption monitoring by developing new dispensing devices with integrated sensors. For example, U.S. patent application publication 2004/02390339 to Maser et al discloses a method for measuring an article being used based on load cell measurements to ensure billing accuracy. However, integrating load cells into existing dispensing apparatus typically requires a comprehensive redesign of the apparatus to achieve the proper fit and provide the necessary resistance to water and chemicals. Furthermore, depending on the location of the integrated load cell, it is also possible to measure loads related to parts of the equipment hardware and/or water, which requires extraction of data related to chemicals only, which introduces additional mathematical complexity and the possibility of errors in interpreting the data. Thus, the approach of Maser et al is not viable for existing processes where cost or connectivity considerations may not allow replacement of existing dispensing equipment.

U.S. patent No. 5,417,233 to Thomas et al discloses a method of transmitting a light beam through a solid distributor using an infrared emitter and receiver. The line of sight transmitter and receiver are arranged in the dispenser such that if a signal is detected, an alarm/alert is triggered regarding the need for refilling. In this case the measurement is discrete and does not provide sufficient resolution to monitor the change in consumption rate, i.e. it can only provide an average value of the product that has been used from time 0 to when the product shortage alarm is triggered. Alternatively, multiple transmitters and receivers may be installed, but the resolution is still limited by the physical size of the device and the complexity of measuring multiple points. Furthermore, the implementation of this approach with bottled articles (such as are commonly used in solid chemical dispensing systems) adds more complexity because the light must pass through an additional opaque surface.

Other types of sensors known in the art are also unsuitable for use with solid or liquid chemical dispensers utilizing solid product trays or bottles, both of which are in the form of commonly used product containers for the purposes described above. For example, ultrasonic sensors are limited to measuring liquid or solid surfaces, where the consumption is determined from the change in height between the surface and the sensor. This method does not accurately indicate the consumption of bottled products.

Furthermore, none of the prior art devices include appropriate means to integrate inputs from multiple sources to provide data regarding the number of fills, reservoir levels, overflow conditions, product weight and flow monitoring in a consistent manner, so that such data can be integrated to provide useful feedback to the operator regarding product level in the feeder and whether replenishment is required, and to detect performance anomalies to provide an alert if maintenance is required.

Disclosure of Invention

Thus, there is a need for a solution that can be adapted to automatically measure a disc or bottled product or other form of product that is used as a chemical additive to an industrial process line. It would also be advantageous if such a device could be simply retrofitted to existing dispensing devices that utilize any of the above-described forms of articles.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a novel retrofit solution to automatically monitor the consumption of solid or liquid chemicals used in water treatment programs (e.g., cooling water and boiler applications). In some embodiments, the disclosed chemical consumption monitoring apparatus uses a force sensor integrated into a seal ring to retrofit onto a solid chemical dosing system used in water treatment. In other embodiments, the disclosed chemical consumption monitoring devices use force sensors integrated into "sensor bars" of various shapes and sizes that are readily adapted to take on different external shapes and sizes to accommodate retrofitting onto various types of dispensing devices, whether now known or later developed. Such a sensor is flexible in design and can be used with different forms of articles such as trays, bottles or balls. The sensor is used to monitor product consumption rate as a function of weight or percentage for inventory management by predicting replenishment plans and, in a preferred embodiment, an automated ordering process is implemented.

By combining the product consumption measurements with other sensor data from the dispenser, chemical delivery system or process, the system of the present invention allows tracking of dispenser performance and alerting when a malfunction occurs. Furthermore, the apparatus and system of the present invention can also incorporate data from additional sources to provide remote visibility for scheduling maintenance and troubleshooting.

In certain embodiments, the systems and methods of the present invention continuously monitor product consumption and develop and utilize predictive models to determine the time until replenishment is needed. Thus, the system of the present invention is also capable of integrating an automatic order inventory management model.

The foregoing objects, features and attendant advantages of the present invention will be more partially apparent and will become more readily appreciated from a reading of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and certain modifications thereof, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

In the drawings:

fig. 1 shows an external view and a cross-sectional view of a solid chemical dispenser, wherein the sensor ring 200 of the present invention is shown in an exploded view.

Fig. 2 is a composite view ((a) and (B)) showing top and bottom perspective views of the exterior of a sensor ring 200 of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a composite view ((a) and (B)) showing top and bottom views of the inside of the sensor ring 200 shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a composite view ((a) and (B)) showing a top perspective view and a cross-sectional view of the sensor ring 200 shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a schematic circuit diagram of a sensor ring 200 comprising three sensors according to one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 6 shows the calibration results of the sensor ring 200 of the present invention in one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates a sensor ring trend graph of initial product tray loading in a dispenser with spraying enabled and tracking of cumulative filling times in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates product weight trend and number of fills for a sensor ring of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Wherein the filling starts from two discs and then loads a single new disc.

Fig. 9 shows a consumption rate analysis chart at different time periods for the data shown in fig. 8 starting from two discs.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a sensor ring in an alternative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 11 illustrates the use of a fitting model to correct for any inherent drift in a given sensor in one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 12 illustrates the results of measurements made at an exemplary dispenser after a drift correction model is applied in one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 13 shows the result of applying the fitting line in one experimental example.

Fig. 14 is a composite view (a) and (B) showing inner and outer top views of a ring sensor 200 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 15 is a combination diagram ((a) and (B)) showing a top perspective view and a cross-sectional view of the second embodiment of the sensor ring shown in fig. 14.

Fig. 16 shows a sensor strip having a semicircular outer shape according to another embodiment of the present invention, which can be externally mounted to a chemical holding part of a dispenser.

Fig. 17 shows one possible mounting location of a bar sensor according to one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 18 is a detailed view of an external force concentrator 408 of one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 19 shows one possible mounting position of a bar sensor according to another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 20 shows a bar sensor 500 according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 21 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a sensor bar 400 of one embodiment of the present invention as taken along line A-A.

FIG. 22 illustrates the application of the sensor strip of the present invention to a liquid bucket container in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 illustrates the application of the sensor strip of the present invention to a commercial dispenser that includes a flow-through cell using a solid chemical cartridge in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is an article weight trend graph for a sensor strip of one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 25 is an exploded view of a sensor strip 800 of the present invention in another embodiment of the disclosed invention.

Fig. 26 is an assembled cross-sectional view of the sensor strip 800 of the present invention of fig. 25.

Fig. 27 is a combination diagram ((a) and (B)) showing top and bottom views, respectively, of a sensor ring 900 of the present invention in another embodiment of the disclosed invention.

FIG. 28 is a side view of a dispensing device incorporating the embodiment of the sensor ring of the present invention shown in FIG. 27.

Fig. 29 is a bottom view of a dispensing device incorporating the embodiment of the sensor ring of the present invention shown in fig. 27.

Detailed Description

The present invention includes an apparatus and corresponding system and associated method for monitoring the material consumption and performance of solid and/or liquid chemical material dispensers used in industrial process water treatment systems, such as cooling towers, boilers and wastewater systems. Article monitoring is based on measuring the weight or change in weight of the article using a film (0.008 inch thick in some preferred embodiments) force sensor sealed in a liquid impermeable housing. This innovative design provides flexibility in retrofitting the sensor of the present invention to existing dispensing equipment of various types. The application of the present invention is not limited to the industrial processes listed above, but can be applied to any feeding system where measuring product consumption is a concern. Furthermore, the present application may be applied to solid chemicals as well as other packaging articles, such as liquid or gel containers. For example, the invention may be applied to article monitoring on a variety of dispensers, such as hand sanitizers, laundry detergents or washing products. Alternatively, the apparatus and method of the present invention may be integrated into new dispenser designs.

In some embodiments, the present invention incorporates a sensor loop in combination with hardware and software for receiving, processing and outputting sensor loop-based data, which together comprise the system of the present disclosure.

Figure 1 shows an external view and a cross-sectional view of one form of an existing solid chemical dispenser into which an embodiment of the device of the present invention can be inserted without the need to retrofit the dispenser. The dispenser in fig. 1 represents, for example, an Ultra-m solid chemical dispenser manufactured by AP Tech Group. The dispenser shown in fig. 1 consists of a bottom section 203 and a top section 204. The bottom section 203 contains water and dissolved chemicals from the periodically sprayed solids. The injection is mechanically controlled by a float 205, which float 205 triggers the valve to open when the reservoir level is low. The top section 204 accommodates a solid article. This type of dispenser is capable of containing two forms of product: a tray-mounted product and a bottled product (the tray indicated herein by reference numeral 206 is shown as an example in fig. 1). Other dispensers are known in the art and may be used in connection with the present invention, including dispensers containing other forms of articles (e.g., pellets).

The prior art dispenser of the type shown in fig. 1 is devoid of any instrumentation and therefore requires an operator to visually inspect the device to determine whether filling is required and/or to perform filling on a pre-specified basis based on the operator's historical knowledge of the frequency of filling required in the past (e.g., once every 5-6 weeks).

Fig. 1 shows a preferred location for one embodiment of the invention, in which case the sensor ring 200 may fall into a dispenser of the type shown in fig. 1 in the same way, in which case the solid chemical tray falls into the opening of the top section of the dispenser. In this example, the sensor ring 200 of the present invention has been placed under a removable support grid 201, which support grid 201 is used in the exemplary dispenser to support the solid disk while allowing water and liquefied chemicals to pass through the bottom of the dispenser when being sprayed. In other embodiments, the order of the items in the top section of the dispenser may be rearranged as long as at least one of the sensors 200 of the present invention described herein is located below the chemical. Thus, in some embodiments, the sensor ring 200 of the present invention may fall into and rest directly on top of the support grid 201, and/or multiple sensor rings 200 may be stacked between adjacent solid chemical trays. In other preferred embodiments, the bottled product may be used in conjunction with a dispenser having the same construction as that of fig. 1, with or without the support grid 201. Thus, in some cases, the vials of the article and/or the tray of solid chemicals may be directly supported by the sensor ring 200 of the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows two views of the inventive sensor ring 200 of one embodiment of the invention separately. In some embodiments, the sensor ring 200 is an annular device having a flat bottom 101, vertical side walls, and a concave upper surface 100, the upper surface 100 tapering downward to a central opening. In this embodiment, the preferred outer diameter of ring 200 is 6 inches and the preferred inner diameter of ring 200 is 4.325 inches. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the size and shape of the ring 20 may be adjusted to suit a particular dispenser design or based on design preferences. The top side 100 of the sensor ring 200 corresponds to the side facing the chemical and is opposite the bottom side 101. In fig. 2-4, top 100 and bottom 101 are shown, with holes sized to fit mounting screws 103 to join top 100 and bottom 101 sections with sensor components therebetween (described below). However, other means of attachment between the top 100 and bottom 101 of the ring 200 may include means known in the art including, but not limited to, gluing or ultrasonic welding, in which case the mounting screws 103 and their respective mounting holes may be removed or replaced with other mechanisms to facilitate the connection, as is understood in the art.

The materials of construction for segments 100 and 101 may be any plastic polymer material that provides water resistance and chemical compatibility with the solid article and dissolved solid article, including but not limited to HDPE (high density polyethylene), PVC, CPVC, PTFE, kynar, PEEK, and nylon.

Fig. 3 shows the internal components of the ring 200 of the present invention in one embodiment of the present invention. As shown, in this embodiment, the ring 200 incorporates three sensors 105. Fig. 3 shows three sensors 105 equally spaced around the circumference of the ring 200, each 120 degrees apart. However, other numbers of sensors 105 and different radial distributions of sensors 105 may be selected based on the application and overall size and shape of the ring device 200. The wiring 107 of each sensor 105 (if used) extends along the interior region of the ring, with all connections exiting the interior of the ring 200 through openings 106. In the illustrated embodiment, standard 6 conductor cable 24AWG wire is used in conjunction with each pair of connected sensors 105. The opening 106 is connected to a channel 113, which channel 113 sends out the wiring 107 for further connection, which will be described below.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a circuit that may be used in an embodiment utilizing three sensors. Fig. 5 also shows a component specification that converts the sensor signals to voltages and outputs average voltages from the three sensors 105 using a non-inverting op-amp circuit modified to monitor the three sensors 105 simultaneously.

In some embodiments, sensor 105 is a thin film sensor, such as model # ESS301 manufactured by Tekscan inc (south boston West First Street, 02127, ma). Other types of sensors known in the art or later developed may also be used. For example, one or more miniature load cells, such as TE Connectivity FX29, may be used. It is understood that the top section 100 and bottom section 101 of the ring sensor 200 may be modified in size and/or shape to accommodate one or more types of sensors suitable for the purpose, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. An exemplary alternative embodiment is shown in fig. 14 and 15, wherein the top section 100 and bottom section 101 of the ring sensor 200 have been modified in size and shape to accommodate the sensor sold under the name TE Connectivity FX. In this alternative embodiment, the sensor 300 may be mounted in the bottom section 101 of the sensor ring 200. To accommodate the sensor 300, the top and bottom sections 100, 101 may be slightly modified with protrusions 301 to encapsulate the sensor 300 between the bottom and top sections 101, 100 of the ring, as shown in fig. 14. A cross-sectional view of the modified region 301 is shown in fig. 15. The elements required to mount the sensor 300 follow the same principles as a thin film force sensor, and the remaining elements of the sensor may be as described herein.

At the bottom 101 of the ring 200, the force concentrator 104 may be arranged directly below the position where the sensor 105 is inside the ring 200.

At the top 100 of the ring 200, the ribs 102 may be arranged above the position where the sensor 105 is inside the ring 200. In fig. 2, three sets of ribs 102 are shown, each set consisting of three ribs 102, but it should be understood that various other configurations may be used depending on the particular application. The rib support 102 is advantageously used to support bottled articles for use in a dispenser. Sensor mounting guides 109 and 108 may also be provided on the top 100 of the ring 200 to assist in positioning the sensor during assembly, as described below.

In some embodiments of the disclosed invention, the sensor 105 is a thin film sensor (e.g., model # ESS301 manufactured by Tekscan inc. (south boston West First Street, 02127, ma). This type of sensor is very thin (e.g., 0.008 inches thick) and only requires an external force to be applied to the sensing surface indicated by the circular area on 105. The thickness of the sensor allows the sensor to be integrated into the sensor support structures 100 and 101, which sensor support structures 100 and 101 are designed to meet all dimensional requirements with minimal interference or design variations for the type of dispenser shown in fig. 1. This represents an improvement over prior art dispensers that utilize load cells (even miniature load cells), which are typically 20-75 times thicker, thus requiring significant design changes to integrate these sensors into existing dispenser geometries. Another advantage of the presently described embodiment of the invention is that the sensor 105 (in the preferred embodiment) is fully contained in a structure that can be sealed (preferably watertight) to prevent penetration of liquids, corrosive elements and other potentially damaging contaminants.

Fig. 4 (B) shows a cross-sectional view of an assembled ring 200 of some embodiments of the invention, wherein the cross-section is taken at the location shown in fig. 4 (a). Reference numeral 114 represents the bottom surface of the dispenser. In this cross-section, a sensor 105 is shown, the sensor 105 being sandwiched between the top 100 and bottom 101 of the ring 200. Directly below the sensor 105 a force concentrator 104 is provided, which force concentrator 104 is made of a solid material and is in contact with the dispenser bottom surface 114 and the sensor 105. In the illustrated embodiment, the material surrounding the force concentrator 104 is thinner than the body of 101. This thinned section 112 enables the sensor 105 to flex sufficiently to achieve compression. The bending of the loop material around the sensor 105 transfers the force acting down on the top of the loop 200 to the sensor 105. The higher the load, the greater the bending and compression of the sensor 105.

In other embodiments, alternative methods may be used to provide a means of transferring the load to the sensor 105. The requirements for this approach include a method of forming a seal around the sensor that provides the sensor with sufficient flexure to respond. For example, referring to FIG. 10, a gasket 115 may be used between the top and bottom to form a seal, the gasket 115 having an open area in contact with the sensor. The force concentrator 116 in this area will transmit force to the force sensor through the pad 115. Another possible approach is to encapsulate the sensor in a molding material, such as polyurethane. The requirement for this approach is that the molding material be resilient to transmit the load to the sensor, chemically compatible, and manufactured under conditions (e.g., temperature) that do not damage the sensor 105.

To assemble the sensor ring 200 in a dispenser of the type shown in fig. 1, a water and chemical resistant glue or a high viscosity gasket forming material may be applied as a bead to the outer diameter edge 110 and the inner diameter edge 111 of the sensor ring 200, respectively. The assembly is then performed by mating the two segments 100 and 101 of the sensor ring 200 and clamping them together using screws 103 or one or more of the alternative connection means described above.

As described below, the sensor electronics 202 may be located outside of the dispenser and connected to the sensor ring by a cable that enters the interior of the sensor ring via the channel 113. In this embodiment, the installation of the sensor ring 200 also requires two small holes to be drilled for the cable; one for the cable to pass through the dispenser rail supporting the solid article and the other for the connection of the electronic device.

Another embodiment of the sensor device of the present invention is shown with reference to fig. 16-18 and 21. The sensor embodiments shown in fig. 16-18 and 21 are advantageously adapted to accommodate solid chemical trays, bottled liquid chemicals, barreled liquid products, and stand-alone pre-filled chemical cartridges that are often used in water disinfection operations. In this embodiment, the sensor device of the present invention takes the form of a sensor strip 400 having a variety of possible configurations. Fig. 16 shows a sensor bar having a semicircular outer shape, which can be externally mounted to a chemical holding part of a dispenser. Fig. 17 shows one possible mounting position of the sensor shown in this embodiment. As previously described, standard solid/liquid chemical dispenser 600 includes a top section 601 that includes a control valve 602, an article support 603 (for supporting bottled liquid or solid tray-shown in fig. 17), an article 604 (tray or bottle), a float 605 and a nozzle 606, and a water supply inlet 607. The top section 601 assembly is removable and clamps onto the bottom section 608, with water and dissolved solids 609 in the bottom section 608 before being released into the system. As shown in FIG. 17, in one embodiment, the sensor bar 400 is mounted in front of the bottom section 608, the bottom section 608 having a curved outer surface and an inner surface. It should be appreciated that the shape and curvature of the curved side of the sensor bar 400 may be manufactured to match the shape and curvature of the inner surface of the bottom section 608 of the dispenser 600 to achieve a custom fit.

In the illustrated embodiment, the external force concentrator 408 is located in the center of the cover plate 401 (described below), the cover plate 401 being in contact with the product support structure 603 of the top section. The force concentrator 408 better transmits the load of the top 601 of the dispenser to the sensor 403 through the cover plate 401 and the internal force concentrator 402 (described below). A detailed view of the external force concentrator 408 is shown in fig. 18. It can be seen that in some embodiments, the force concentrator 408 can be a cylindrical post extending upward from the top of the sensor bar 400 at the location of the cover plate 401. In a preferred embodiment, the top of the force concentrator 408 includes rivets 409 (e.g., mcMaster part number 90218a310, etc.). As shown in fig. 17 and 18, mounting the sensor bar 400 of the present invention in the front of the dispenser enables the top section 601 to be raised slightly on one side about the pivot point P of the rear of the dispenser, at which point the top section 601 remains supported on the bottom section 608. Thus, the rivet 409 moves the support structure load toward the center of the force concentrator 408, thereby improving the linearity of the measurements made by the inventive device described herein.

Fig. 19 shows the different positions of the sensor strip of the present invention (identified in this embodiment by reference numeral 500) of another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 19, the sensor bars of the present invention may also be mounted in the center of the dispenser 600. The external force concentrator 408 may be used in a position to abut any portion of the bottom of the article support structure 603. As will be described with reference to fig. 20, the external shape of sensor strip 500 may be varied to accommodate existing or anticipated structures within dispenser 600 to enable placement of the sensor of the present invention in a plurality of positions under liquid or solid chemical support 603. For example, the embodiment shown in FIG. 20 includes a cutout 505 to provide clearance for a float or other internal component.

Referring now to fig. 16 and 21, which illustrate a cross-sectional view of a sensor strip 400 of one embodiment of the present invention taken along line A-A, it can be seen that one embodiment of the present invention is a solid strip 400 machined to hold a sensor 105 (e.g., the sensor identified by the name and part number TE Connectivity FX) that is sealed within the sensor strip 400 using a thin cover plate 401. In some embodiments, an internal force concentrator 402 is also mounted within sensor bar 400 below cover plate 401 and centered about sensor 105. The force concentrator 402 is preferably arranged in contact with the center of the sensor 105 and the cover plate 401. The preferred material for the force concentrator 402 is metal to avoid long-term deformation due to continuous loading; however, other materials known in the art that are capable of not deforming under continuous loading may also be used. In some embodiments, the cover 401 is a thin material (1/16-1/32 inch thick) to allow for the sensor 105 to flex and transmit the force of the load applied to the cover 401 through the force concentrator. The cover plate 401 may be sealed to the sensor strip 400 using any known method of joining plastic materials, such as solvent welding, epoxy bonding, ultrasonic welding, and/or plastic welding.

In the illustrated embodiment, the outer surface of sensor bar 400 is curved to fit into a dispenser manufactured by AP TECH corporation. In a preferred embodiment, the curvature of the sensor bar 400 matches the front of the bottom section of the dispenser. The sensor bar 400 also includes one or more tap holes 405 for mounting the sensor bar 400 into a dispenser. In some embodiments, the through-holes 407 allow sensor cables 406 operatively connected to the sensor 105 to be routed out of the sensor bar 400 to send data to sensor electronics remote from the sensor bar 400. In other embodiments described herein, sensor electronics may be housed within sensor bar 400 and/or connected to sensor 105 wirelessly, such that through holes 407 and/or sensor cables 406 may be altered or eliminated, as is understood in the art. Where sensor cable 406 is used, it may be sealed into sensor bar 400 using potting epoxy or other means known in the art.

Referring now to FIG. 20, therein is shown another embodiment of a sensor 500 of the present invention. As previously mentioned, the strip sensor of the present invention disclosed herein is not limited to being mounted in front of the dispenser, but can be implemented anywhere below the top section 601, so long as it does not interfere with the dispenser components and is capable of supporting the weight of the top 601. Fig. 20 shows a sensor strip 500 designed to be mounted centrally within a dispenser. In this embodiment, sensor strip 500 has cover plate 501, force concentrator 502, and sensor 105, each of which is the same or similar to those described above in connection with other embodiments of the invention. In this embodiment a cut-out 505 is provided to provide clearance for the float. If a through hole 506 is used, the through hole 506 provides an outlet for the sensor cable. One or more tap holes 504 may be used to mount sensor bar 500 to the bottom of the dispenser.

The material of construction of the housing of the sensor bars 400, 500 can be any plastic polymer material that provides water resistance and chemical compatibility with the solid article and dissolved solid article, including but not limited to HDPE (high density polyethylene), PTFE, kynar, PEEK, PVC, CPVC, and nylon.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the sensor bars 400, 500 of the present invention may be adapted for other chemical forms, such as barrels or other liquid packaging products having volumes of about 5-15 gallons or more. Referring to fig. 22, the liquid product container 700 rests on a container fixture 701, which container fixture 701 in turn is mounted above a support plate 702, said support plate 702 comprising one or more stabilizing contact points 703 to stabilize the liquid product container 700 resting thereon. As shown, the sensor bar 400 may be mounted adjacent to the support plate 702. Although a sensor strip 400 having a semicircular housing shape is shown in fig. 22, it should be appreciated that any shape of housing that places the force concentrator 408 under the chemical container to be measured and fits within the closed container may be utilized. The present invention may be used in conjunction with liquid product containers having a circular (as shown in fig. 22), square, rectangular external geometry, or some other shape.

With the liquid container supported by the fixture 701, the weight of the liquid container is transferred to the force concentrator 408 and then to the sensor 105. The output signal from the sensor 105 may then be converted to weight or volume using the known product density as a factor. The sensor 400 of the present invention may be housed in a closed container for capturing liquid leaking from the container 700 or associated tubing. In some embodiments, a leak sensor 704 may be used to detect whether a leak has occurred. For example, one form of leak sensor may be a capacitive sensor that operates by detecting the presence of a liquid in the vicinity of a sensing element that detects a change in field due to a change in dielectric constant. Other forms of leak sensors are known in the art and may be used in connection with the present invention. For leak detection, the leak sensor may be placed on the side or bottom of the closed container. For example, a differential capacitive sensor may be attached to the bottom of the dispenser to monitor the liquid level. Since the sensor is in this embodiment a strip, the level measurement can be made over the entire range of the dispenser. It will be appreciated that one or more of the different types of leak sensors known in the art or later developed may be used at another location depending on the particular requirements of a given sensor. In this embodiment, force concentrator 408 and stabilizing contact point 703 together provide a stable foundation upon which liquid product container 700 can rest securely. Also shown in fig. 22 is a wired connection between sensor bar 400 and an electronics module that may also be operatively connected to the leak sensor.

The sensor bars 400, 500 of the present invention of the various embodiments of the present invention can be extended to dissolved articles for sealing, such as bromide chemical articles for use as water treatment disinfectants, in addition to small liquid packaging articles. Referring to FIG. 23, in one exemplary embodiment, the sensor 400, 500 of the present invention is adapted for use with a commercially available dispenser produced by the OXITING 705 that includes a flow-through chamber that uses a solid chemistry cartridge. The oxidation dispenser uses pre-filled bromine cartridges to reduce the risk of handling such materials. The solid material dissolves under the influence of water flowing through the holding means. The consumption is determined based on the gallons of treated water or by visual inspection of the liquid level in the cartridge by the opening device. Continuous monitoring of the oxidation may be accomplished using the sensor bars 400, 500 of the present invention with a container fixture as shown in fig. 23. In this embodiment, it can be seen that the dispenser shown uses flexible lines on the inlet and outlet of the dispenser. The flexible line can be used to float the device to measure weight changes as the solid chemicals are consumed. As the solid dissolves in the water flowing through the holding means, it is replaced by a liquid. In this case, the sensors 400, 500 of the present invention would measure undissolved solids and liquids in an oxidation-type dispenser. Assuming that the undissolved solids have a density greater than the density of the liquid (e.g., liquid water having a density of 1.0 g/cc), the reduction in total weight will allow the system or user of the present invention to calculate the proportion of undissolved solids remaining in the dispenser. Similar to the keg application, a closed container may be used as a means of capturing and detecting leaks. In this embodiment, leak detection is critical because process water flows through the system, which makes it important to detect leaks in advance.

Another embodiment of a sensor strip 800 of the present invention is shown in fig. 25 and 26. As shown, this embodiment employs a straight bar load type sensor of a type known in the art. Referring to fig. 25, this embodiment is a sensor 800 mounted to the bottom of a liquid dispenser, as described with reference to other embodiments of the invention. The installation is performed by fixing the strip to the dispenser using a self-tapping plastic screw with a guide hole 802. The force concentrator 801 as described herein may be placed in contact with the top of the dispenser in which the sensor 800 is mounted. In an embodiment, the bottom side of the sensor 800 may include an enlarged cavity 803 having a thinned region 804, the thinned region 804 including an auxiliary internal force concentrator 805. The wall thickness in the region denoted by reference a is thinned to allow bending to transfer the load to the internal force concentrator 805 in contact with the element 807 on the strip sensor 808. One example of a strip sensor 808 that may be used in this embodiment is model TAL220B of HT SENSOR TECHNOLOGY co. These devices have various capacities (1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 20, 50 kg) available to provide flexibility according to the application requirements. As shown, the strip load cell 808 may be supported by a bottom housing 806 mounted to the bottom of the top housing that includes the force concentrator 801.

An assembled cross-sectional view of the sensor 800 and bottom housing 806 of this embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 26. As shown, the load cell 808 may be mounted in the bottom housing 806 and securely fastened by screws 809. The load cell is supported on a step in the housing 806, forming a cantilever. The downward force applied to the external concentrator 801 contacts the element 807, thereby imparting a strain on the load cell 808, which outputs a voltage signal proportional to the load. To obtain power and signals from the load cell 808, a 4-core cable 812 is passed through the waterproof cable gland 810. Screws 811 couple bottom housing 806 to top housing 800.

Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig. 27-29. This embodiment is essentially a hybrid version of the disclosed ring and bar sensor for mounting under the top section of the dispenser. Referring to fig. 27, a ring sensor 900 may use multiple sensors mounted in a ring similar to bar 800, and in a preferred embodiment, each sensor is located below a thinned area of the housing to effect bending and allow the force concentrator 901 to contact the top section of the dispenser. The force applied to the force concentrator 901 is transferred to a sensor embedded in this embodiment of the ring sensor 900, wherein the sensor itself is housed in a housing 902, which housing 902 is shown on the bottom section of 900 (see fig. 27 (B)). In this embodiment, multiple TE CONNECTIVITY type sensors may be used to obtain the average load, or 1 to 4 strain gauges may be used to create a Wheatstone bridge configuration. Fig. 27 shows a 4 strain gauge configuration, thus a full bridge in which strain gauge elements may be used. This arrangement is similar to a typical balance. In a preferred embodiment, the sensor 900 may be mounted to the bottom section of the dispenser, supporting the top section, as shown in fig. 28 and 29.

As described above, in some embodiments, the sensor electronics may be connected to the sensor 105 within one or more embodiments of the sensor housing 200, 400, 500 by wires passing through holes in the sensor housing. In other embodiments, the connection between the sensor housings 200, 400, 500 and the sensor electronics may be accomplished wirelessly, such as by bluetooth, WIFI, loRa, or other wireless protocols known in the art, whereby installation simply requires placement of one or more sensor rings 200 on top of the dispenser or into other containers that will receive the articles, or installation of the sensor bars 400, 500 through the tap holes 405, 504 and local installation of the sensor electronics onto the dispenser or remote installation. In another embodiment, the sensor electronics may be eliminated entirely to facilitate existing internet/intranet/bluetooth enabled devices (e.g., laptops, industrial PCs, PLCs, wireless receivers, or mobile phones) that can receive wireless signals directly from the sensor 105 and forward them to an operator output device after processing, as described herein. In another embodiment, the sensor electronics may be integrated directly into the sensor housing 200, 400, 500, as described herein. It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that eliminating the wired connection between the sensor 105 and the sensor electronics also changes the internal configuration of the sensor housing 200, 400, 500 and may result in eliminating the holes and channels for the outlets of the leads described with reference to other embodiments.

The sensor 105 operates by outputting a resistance value that decreases as the load increases. One or more circuit designs that work in conjunction with sensor 105 are known in the art, such as those provided by the sensor manufacturer Tekscan. An exemplary circuit is shown in fig. 5.

The output from the sensor 105 is transmitted to (preferably externally mounted) sensor electronics which receive the sensor output, calculate in a manner described hereinafter, preferably store the received and calculated data, and provide an output that can be seen by the operator, either on the device itself, through a GUI located directly external to the electronics mounting box, or on a remote terminal. In a preferred embodiment, the system allows for viewing of the output data on a remote device (e.g., a computer, laptop, iPad, or cell phone) through a cloud application (e.g., by sending data directly from the ring sensor/sensor electronics to the cloud using cellular or satellite transmission) and/or through a wireless connection (e.g., bluetooth, wiFi, LORAWAN, or any other now known or later developed wireless protocol). For example, the ring sensor electronics of one or more sensors 105 may communicate with a gateway device that may aggregate data from multiple distribution apparatuses and push the aggregated data directly to the cloud.

In the above-described embodiments, the configuration of the sensor ring 200 and/or sensor bars 400, 500 of the present invention allows for the automatic collection of a variety of useful measurements that may be advantageously used in the following operations: (1) automatic continuous or periodic monitoring of chemical level (tracking filling), (2) automation of chemical re-ordering (automatic inventory management), (3) detection of operational faults and anomalies in dispenser operation, and (4) resolving the chemical dosage concentration (where one spray cycle represents a measurable liquid volume) based on the solid product consumption per spray cycle (i.e., X pounds of dissolved product per N spray cycles) to obtain an average solid product dissolved concentration, etc.

Tracking packing is one way that the system of the present invention can detect anomalies and infer dissolved solids concentration information. By using the apparatus and system of the present invention, the fill level of a solid (or liquid) chemical can be determined and tracked by direct calculation that takes into account the mass/density of the chemical and the desired level before reaching the refill level, in which case the system can be automatically programmed to output a "refill" or "empty" signal, as well as a chart or other visual report of the amount of chemical used over time. Furthermore, the fill status of the reservoir (i.e., the area of the dispenser containing chemicals that have been dissolved in the water and are ready to be dispensed into the process line) may be tracked by one or more methods known in the art, including directly measuring the liquid level of the reservoir using ultrasound, capacitance, LIDAR, eTAPE, float switch, pressure sensor, optical switch, or weighing measurements from a weighing sensor mounted on the reservoir or the entire device, or the like (or other methods known in the art). Alternatively, a flow switch, pressure sensor or flow meter may be used to monitor the water supplied to the eductor to track the fill cycle of the reservoir. The system may also be connected to an automated ordering system that sends a message to an operator and/or directly to a product provider when additional products need to be refilled, as described in further detail below.

In the case where the sensor 105 of the present invention is mounted under a volume of water, a support ring (in the case of an annular sensor 200), the top section 601 of the dispenser (in the case of sensor bars 400, 500), or where the chemical is contained in a bottle or other housing having a weight, the system may be programmed to subtract these weights to provide an accurate reading of the amount of isolated chemical present above the sensor. This can be done in combination with a water output reading from the eductor which is also input into the system of the invention. Alternatively or additionally, in embodiments of the present invention utilizing ring sensor 200, a system that considers the weight of a bottle or other container containing a solid or liquid chemical may operate with additional sensors (e.g., optical sensors) on the top surface of ring 200 or elsewhere in the dispenser that detect the type of chemical loaded into the dispenser by bar code, QR code, color code, RFID or NFC tag or physical surface feature, and provide that information to the system. In some embodiments, the system of the present invention may include means for generating and/or printing a label that may be read by the system of the present invention and that may be adhered to a chemical bottle or tray prior to insertion into a dispenser. In other embodiments, the system may be programmed to read a code or tag placed on a bottle or disk by the manufacturer.

Another new capability of the system of the present invention is to use the artifact consumption sensor in conjunction with different data streams to enhance detection of operational faults and anomalies. Additional data sources collected by the system of the present invention (either manually by operator input or automatically by one of the transmission means determined hereinabove with respect to sensor 105 or known in the art) may include data of sensors mounted on the dispenser, as well as any data collected by any monitoring or control system installed in the facility in which the sensors of the present invention are deployed (including leak or overflow and/or capacitive sensors in embodiments). Other possible or auxiliary measuring devices to which the sensor of the present invention can be operatively connected include, but are not limited to: pH sensor (at any location along the process line, or in the dispenser itself); one or more pumps in the system or process pipeline; one or more fluorometers; one or more thermometers or other devices that collect temperature measurements; one or more chlorine probes, one or more capacitive sensors, one or more injection valve on/off indicators, and the like. Measurements related to conditions in the system and/or dispenser may be collected directly or indirectly from one or more of the auxiliary measurement devices described above or other sensors known in the art. For example, the on/off status of an injection valve injecting liquid into/onto a dispenser may be detected by a smart valve, or by the liquid level and/or a change in the liquid level in the dispenser, which may be detected by a capacitive sensor or other means. Examples of anomaly detection include chemical feed failure, feed overflow, or solids dissolution rates greater or less than acceptable values. For example, identification of chemical feed failure is determined from pump status data in combination with solid product consumption data generated by the apparatus and system of the present invention. The pump state is defined as an on/off state of the pump in which the pump may be operated in a predetermined time pattern (i.e., predetermined on for a set time) or activated based on measured process variables (e.g., measured using the product and set points according to). Examples of actions that can be triggered by the system of the present invention include adding an oxidizing agent to maintain a set point level measured by the ORP probe and/or the free chlorine probe, adding a treatment chemical (e.g., corrosion inhibitor) to the make-up water, or adjusting the pH in one or more supply lines by adding an acid or base based on the amount of water added. Combining the state of the pump with the consumption of chemicals can provide insight into whether chemicals are being metered and whether the dosing rate is acceptable. One example of a dosing failure is to compare historical pump run time data with solid product consumption trends. If the solid product consumption is flat (i.e., slope=0, indicating that no solid product consumption is observed) but the dosing pump state is active, this may indicate that the doser or dosing pump is problematic. This condition may trigger root cause analysis using additional available data (e.g., solid feedstock reservoir status or process sensors such as pH, ORP, and/or conductivity) to identify potential problems. The root cause analysis may be done automatically by the system of the present invention upon sensing a trigger condition and outputting the result for inspection by an operator, or the root cause analysis may be done manually by an operator after receiving an alert from the system that the trigger condition has been met. For example, if the data indicates that the jet reservoir is being filled but the consumption of solid product is unchanged, this may indicate that the water delivery system of the nozzle or solids feeder is problematic. This situation may also indicate a solid article sensor failure. By combining different connected data sources and analyzing using the data, the system of the present invention allows for tracking the performance of the chemical delivery system, detecting abnormal conditions, and performing root cause analysis, thereby simplifying maintenance and overhaul operations. The key to this process is to collect relevant data from liquid/solid feeders, chemical dosing systems and process measurements.

As another example, a combination of dosing pump on/off status and product consumption data may be used to detect a dosing abnormal condition. In this case, if there is no change in the chemical consumption and the dosing pump is running, a maintenance check alarm may be triggered. Based on the information collected from the data, a decision tree can be used to determine what is to be checked—again, the system can be programmed to implement the decision tree and output an alert to the operator to check for a particular aspect of one or more devices. Here, the service request may suggest checking whether the dosing pump is primed or checking the watering system on the dispenser (e.g. watering failure and/or watering overflow). Thus, the system of the present invention provides a means to detect problems in advance and to improve service procedures by identifying and recommending checkpoints. Furthermore, visual sensors (e.g., still or video cameras) installed in various areas of the processing pipeline in which the system of the present invention is installed (or mobile still or video cameras now known or possibly developed) may be integrated into the system of the present invention to provide immediate feedback in the event that manual visual inspection of a particular device is otherwise required.

In one embodiment of the present invention, with the ring sensor 200, the average of three force sensors 105 is used to address the situation where the signal IO capacity is limited. Alternatively, a preferred method is to monitor each sensor signal while measuring or calculating an average value. This approach has the advantage of detecting an imbalance in the load that may be indicative of one or more abnormal conditions of the dispenser system. For example, solid dispensers of the type shown in fig. 1 use a water jet that brings water into contact with the solid material, the water dissolving the solid material and collecting with the dissolved material in a bottom reservoir. If the spray is asymmetric, it will not be in uniform contact with the solids; only a small portion of the solids will come into contact with the water spray. This may indicate that one or more of the nozzles is clogged or blocked. In this case, only the area of the block in contact with the water jet will dissolve and the asymmetry of the dissolution area will be manifested as an asymmetry of the measured load. Due to the nature of the dissolution process, some imbalance between sensors is expected and may be random. However, if there is a consistent imbalance (i.e., a pattern is formed), identifying such an abnormal condition can trigger an alarm for maintenance checks and overhauls. The system of the present invention may be preprogrammed to provide this type of alert or data to the operator.

Another new capability of the system of the present invention is that it can be used as a means of automatic inventory management. In this case, tracking the consumption of solid or liquid products can predict when the feeder should be reloaded. As described above, the prediction is made by taking the slope of the change in weight or percentage of the solid or liquid over a period of time or fill cycle. Fig. 8 and 9 illustrate the principle of using the system of the present invention comprising a ring sensor 200 and a solid chemical disc. The slope may be calculated dynamically as the product is consumed. The trend in fig. 8 starts with loading two discs. The loading of two discs in the dispenser is automatically identified by a change in the sensor ring response. This information may be electronically transmitted to an inventory management and ordering system (e.g., SAP) to indicate that two discs have been removed from inventory and placed into service. If only four trays are available in the field inventory, then removing two trays to fill the dispenser would reduce the field inventory by two. If the level is below the safety margin, an automatic order may be triggered to replenish the product. Further automation of the system of the present invention is contemplated even, for example, using robotic means for placing another bottle or another tray of chemicals into the dispenser from the existing inventory when the "needs to be refilled" indicator is triggered. In addition, the system of the present invention can be integrated with a third party system to receive weather service data that, in combination with historical consumption rate data of solid or liquid chemicals in the dispenser, can improve the prediction of product usage to meet supply chain requirements.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, the system of the present invention may incorporate predictive analysis capabilities that can be used to create insight into sensor calibration, predictive maintenance, and determining the number of days remaining (DTE) of the chemical in the dispenser. In one exemplary embodiment, predicting DTE may be performed by a process that collates data received from sensors (if needed) and calculates the slope over a defined period of time (e.g., 24 hours) to obtain a daily consumption rate. The daily consumption rate can be extended to an average consumption of 7, 15 days. Thus, DTE can be calculated as follows:

DTE = latest remaining weight/7 balance average consumption

In another example, a method of tracking product consumption includes tracking the number and duration of fill cycles. In embodiments utilizing a level sensor, the level sensor may track the number of fill cycles, where a fill cycle is defined as a water spray event that dissolves solid product collected in the reservoir. The fill cycle is the time during which the weight of the solids changes as the product dissolves under the impact of the water jet. The dynamic monitoring of the fill cycle to capture the start and end times of each cycle can provide additional data to the system and understand the fill rate of the reservoir. For example, the stability of the fill time may be a reflection of the water flow rate, which may be affected by the water pipe, e.g., leakage or a substantial drop in pressure may result in a decrease in fill time, or the nozzle spray may become partially blocked or clogged. The system of the present invention is capable of providing an alarm in any of the above situations to notify an operator to inspect the system for faulty components. Alternatively, too fast a reservoir fill may indicate a change in water supply line pressure or a failure of the internal water supply line, such as a line leak or nozzle problem. For stable water delivery conditions (flow and pressure), the number of spray cycles for a given solid product is related to the amount of solid product used over a range or + -N cycles. This information is complementary to the direct consumption rate monitoring and can be used by the system of the present invention to estimate when refilling and DTE is needed.

Another new capability of the system of the present invention is to calculate the dosing concentration of the chemical (where the spray cycles represent a measurable liquid volume) based on the consumption of the solid product per spray cycle (i.e., X pounds of dissolved material per N spray cycles) to obtain an average concentration of dissolved solid product. The measurement of the average concentration allows additional control automation to be implemented on the feeder to adjust the average concentration to suit the process requirements. For example, the spray momentum, pressure, pH or water temperature may be adjusted to increase or decrease the dissolution rate of the solid product, thereby changing the concentration level in the feed reservoir. A control valve may be used to vary the flow rate of water to the nozzle or to adjust the water pressure to control the spray momentum. Higher temperature water increases the dissolution rate of the solid product and therefore monitoring water temperature and means with temperature regulation can also be used to change the concentration. Since the system of the present invention tracks and stores the concentration of chemicals in the dispense reservoir over time, it can provide another means of anomaly detection. For example, deviations in dissolved solids concentration may indicate changes in the quality of the incoming water, such as increased or decreased temperatures, different sources of water, or nozzle failure.

The sensor circuit is housed in a housing and mounted on or near the dispenser, with each sensor connected to the circuit using a 6-core cable. The signal collection of the electronics may include a 4-20mA or 0-5V hard wired connection to a recording device (e.g., PLC) or may incorporate wireless communication protocols such as Bluetooth, wifi, loRa, cellular, satellite, etc. The advantage of implementing a wireless protocol is that cables are eliminated and are not constrained by the limited IO capacity of the recording device, thereby reducing the complexity of installation. The force sensor and circuit are also low power (< 0.5 mW) devices, which makes them well suited for battery operation or other energy harvesting methods, such as solar, thermal power generation (TEG), vibration, etc. Furthermore, the measurement sampling rate may be low due to the long time scale consumed by the article. While continuous or periodic measurements and their rates may be selected based on design choice, measurements less than once per hour are acceptable to further help increase battery life. In some embodiments, the system may include means for recharging the battery in the sensor or sensor electronics, for example by switching in the pump power source when activated. For example, in an exemplary process line, the pump controlling the fill of a given dispenser is controlled by a relay (120V) of the master controller. In this example, the pump is located on or near the dispenser. When dosing is enabled, the main controller powers the pump. Depending on the particular application of the device of the present invention, the power to the pump or other power source nearby may provide a means to recharge the battery used by the sensor electronics.

It can be seen that the system of the present invention includes one or more sensors and, in embodiments, software and/or auxiliary measurement or control devices operatively connected thereto, thus providing the following and other benefits over the prior art: (1) 24/7 visibility of product level and consumption rate history in the dispenser is provided to enable prediction of purge time to efficiently plan refilling and maintenance of field inventory; (2) Providing the ability to identify abnormal usage of the article by tracking the rate of consumption of the chemical; (3) supporting pump failure alarms; (4) support reservoir overflow detection and alerting; (5) Tracking the number of reservoir refills, which may be closely related to the consumption rate; (6) Identifying when to add product to the dispenser, which can also provide a calibration or self-calibration check; (7) Tracking inventory of the product on site and issuing an alarm when critical levels are reached; (8) Suitable for small packages of liquid treatment products, and solid and liquid chemicals; (9) A modular system allowing flexible configuration of multiple dispensers to a single controller; and (10) provides an off-the-shelf solution that can be retrofitted to multiple types of existing dispensers.

In use, the system of the present invention is capable of providing to a user, at least in real time or near real time, the following outputs associated with the dispenser itself: (1) reservoir level; (2) accumulating a fill count; (3) refill rate; (4) daily concentration trend; and (5) dosing amounts (daily, weekly, etc.). In addition, the system is capable of providing data and/or reports relating to the overall performance and health of the dispenser and the associated inventory, the data being of at least the following data types: (1) in-situ solid (or liquid) product inventory; (2) Reporting the usage amount of the product (number of trays, number of bottles, number of pounds) in the period; (3) pounds of product per day, week or month; (4) days remaining (DTE); (5) number and duration of overflow alarms; (6) number of low-low and under-product alarms; (7) a number of refill cycles; (8) A running average of refill cycles per pound of product used; (9) a summary of all alarms and insights; (10) the consumption rate does not match the pump operating time; and (11) consumption rates that are too high or too low compared to past historical data. The system may provide or output data, alarms and/or reports related to the following conditions: (1) low-low article weight; (2) insufficient weight of the article; (3) reservoir overflow; (4) Dosing failures (e.g., no change in reservoir storage during integrated pump operation); (5) insufficient storage capacity of the reservoir; (6) insufficient inventory of articles; (7) the product consumption rate is too high; (8) the product consumption rate is too low; (9) the weight sensor is disconnected; (10) the level sensor is disconnected; and/or (11) the weight sensor reading is too high.

Example 1

To illustrate the function of one embodiment of the present invention utilizing the sensor ring 200 of the present invention and a corresponding system, tests performed on an Ultra-m dispenser (manufactured by AP Tech Group) using standard tray-mounted solid chemical inhibitor formulations and equipped with the sensor ring 200 of one embodiment of the present invention are presented with reference to fig. 6-9. A dispenser is provided for an automatic test consisting of the steps of: (1) start spraying water against the disk, (2) set a static delay time (i.e., idle and do nothing for a set amount of time), (3) drain water and dissolved chemicals from the reservoir, and (4) repeat the cycle. In this example, the filling of the spray reservoir is controlled by the dispenser, which uses a float to turn the spray on or off. The ring sensor is calibrated in situ using a series of weights placed on a grid above the sensor ring prior to operation with the disk. As shown in fig. 6, the calibration results are linear over a weight range of 0 to 10 pounds. With no load on the sensor ring, a voltage of about 1.2V is observed. This voltage is due to the nature of the non-inverting op amp circuit and the preloaded sensor (i.e., the sensor is in contact with the force concentrator). Preloading the sensor provides better linearity at lower load levels (e.g., <3 lbs.), because in this example the sensor response depends on the bending of the ring, and slight preloading ensures that the sensor is in contact with the force concentrator.

The results obtained using the sensor ring 200 of the present invention in the exemplary automatic dispenser system described above are shown in fig. 7 and 8. The loading of the disks is performed in two steps to identify the sensor ring response of each loaded disk, as shown in fig. 7. The weight of the product loaded in the dispenser (whether tray or bottle) is known. In this case, the weight of the trays is 4.8 pounds per tray. However, the actual weight of the first pan observed was about 3.8 pounds, with the second added weight approaching 5 pounds. This absolute weight difference is due to the close fit and tapered walls in the dispenser for loading the disc and the soft adhesive disc ingredients. As a result, the first disc inserted may come into contact with the wall, resulting in the observed difference between the actual disc weight and the loading weight. However, since the weight of the disc is known, adding the disc to the dispenser may be considered as a calibration, since the zero value does not change, and the sensor loop response is linear over the entire range (i.e., the maximum signal detected for the N loaded discs). Thus, the operation of the ring sensor in this embodiment may be considered self-calibrating when the added load weight is known. In addition to using weight, a fill percentage may be used. For example, the fill level would increase by 25% for each added tray, as the dispenser maximum tray capacity of the dispenser used in this example is four. Finally, the system may be manually calibrated by an operator scanning a QR code associated with the dispenser and one or more solid or liquid products to produce a data association and time stamp as to when and how to add the disc (or individual bottle).

After loading the discs, the first four hours of operation are extended in fig. 7 to highlight the loading of the discs and the water spray starting at 1.3 hours. The start condition of the water spray uses a 1 minute delay, i.e. the reservoir is filled with water and then left idle for 1 minute before draining and repeating the cycle. Each cycle is counted as one fill and the accumulated fill count is tracked as shown in fig. 7 and 8. Tracking the weight or percentage of solid articles may be based on time (x-axis), as shown in fig. 7 and 8, or based on the number of fills (cumulative fill count instead of x-axis scale).

The complete trend in fig. 8 shows that the solid article approaches 0 lbs. after about 45 hours and a new tray is loaded at 47 hours as indicated by the sharp transition from 0 to 3.8 lbs. After loading a new disc, the injection cycle is restarted. The product consumption calculated as a slope may be calculated dynamically. The consumption rate helps predict when the feeder needs to be reloaded. Due to artifacts in the data (i.e., incomplete or uneven contact), the accuracy of the consumption rate calculation may increase as the data collection increases. Fig. 8 shows the case of the initial dual disk loading condition, in which it is shown that the consumption rate is high initially and then the plateau steady state is reached at 7 hours to 11 hours. In this case, the platfonn is suspected to be caused by the disc being pressed against one side of the feeder and thus not exerting a normal force on the ring sensor. As the data collected increases, the predicted consumption rate increases, as shown in fig. 9. Here, the consumption rate was calculated at different times of operation, and the FIT TREND solid line was calculated by linear fitting of all data collected from the beginning to the end of 2 discs. Similar analysis of the disc loaded at 47 hours indicated that the calculated consumption rate after the first 5 hours of data collection was within 1 hour of actual empty conditions.

Some sensors that may be used in connection with the present invention have a characteristic drift, i.e., the output resistance increases slowly over time when a load is applied and is static. Most solid and liquid chemical dispensers dispense chemicals at very slow rates, so the weight of the product changes little over time and drift problems become more pronounced. Fig. 11 shows the effect of sensor drift in one experimental example by comparing the weight change of the solid article between the load cell measurement and the thin film force sensor measurement. In this case, the load cell measurement is performed using a load cell mounted externally to the dispenser, thereby tracking the weight of the entire dispenser, including the solid product, water, dispenser housing, and hardware. To track the weight of the solid product consumed, a correction can be made to remove the weight of the water. Additional measurements (manual measurements are indicated by the dots on fig. 11) may be made by removing the bottled product from the dispenser to weigh the bottle on the scale, and then placing the bottle back into the dispenser to continue the online measurement. In this experimental example, the load cell measurements and the off-line weight measurements are very consistent, as shown in fig. 11. The film sensor in this experimental example detects weight changes, but the rate of change is less sensitive than the load cell measurement due to inherent drift that may be present in some types of film sensors that may be used in the present invention. Thus, the system of the present invention may also incorporate a drift correction model that may be developed, for example, by using the sensor 200 under static load for a long period of time. In a preferred embodiment, the system of the present invention uses the percentage change in signal that corresponds to a double exponential function to develop a correction model based on the unit time of sensor 200 exposure to a load. Fig. 13 shows an exemplary fitting result of one experimental example. This exemplary data was collected over 70 hours using sensor 200 under a static load (9.6 lbs).

In this exemplary embodiment, the fit result of the static test may be calculated as follows:

where x is the number of hours the sensor 200 is subjected to weight, A, B, C, E, D and F are parameters of the fitting shown in table 1, and x is the number of hours the sensor is subjected to load. The first term in the double exponential function represents the initial change in the signal, while the second term represents a longer duration change.

TABLE 1 calculated drift model parameters

Fitting constant 3.45314 5.66857-1.2994 10.2802 105.975-4.5643 0.40495

Fig. 12 shows the result of the system of the present invention applying drift correction to sensor 200 data corresponding to the experimental data shown in fig. 11. In this exemplary embodiment, correction (ring drift correction) is applied to the entire set of data, i.e., correction is applied even after the bottle is removed for offline weight measurement. In the second case, the drift correction applied to the data is reset, i.e. restarted, each time the bottle is removed. Drift correction is applied in real time by applying the following formula:

corrected signal = original signal-original signal ((percent drift)/100)

Where the raw signal is the measured signal from sensor 200 and the percent drift is calculated from the model under x hours of exposure to the load.

Example 2

FIG. 24 shows test results completed using a centrally mounted sensor bar 500 of one embodiment of the present invention. The weight measurement is compared to a measurement of a time of flight (TOF) sensor (e.g., adafuruit VL53L 0X) mounted at the top of the dispenser. The TOF sensor measures the change in distance between the sensor position and the height of the disc product stacked in the dispenser. In this example, two trays are initially loaded. The tray was 3.5 inches in height and weighed 5.2 pounds. Thus, the measured height of stacked palletized products was converted to weight using a conversion factor of 1.48 lbs/inch. As the disk dissolves, the height decreases. Time of flight (TOF) sensors are most useful for solid disk-packaged articles, but encounter abnormal conditions caused by preferential/non-uniform dissolution at the center of the disk. In this case, a deviation occurs in the correlation between the height variation and the weight.

This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Moreover, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains.

Statement of industrial applicability

Chemical additives, whether in trays or bottles (or other packaged forms), are used in numerous types of industrial process lines. The present invention is broadly applicable to known types of dispensers for chemical additives in various forms, which enables the present invention to be applied to most industrial process lines that use various types of chemical additives. The apparatus and system of the present invention includes means for optimizing monitoring and improving the refilling/re-ordering of chemical additives used in various applications to increase efficiency. In addition, the system and method of the present invention can be integrated with other technical systems, including inventory software and false detection alarms.

Claims

1. An article consumption measurement system, comprising:

at least one sensor; and

sensor electronics operatively connected to the at least one sensor, the sensor electronics including means for receiving data received from the at least one sensor, processing the data and providing an output;

wherein the at least one sensor is sized and shaped to be adapted for retrofit application to solid and liquid chemical dispensers.

2. The article consumption measurement system of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor comprises at least one force sensor.

3. The article consumption measurement system of claim 2, wherein the at least one sensor further comprises a sealed housing surrounding the at least one force sensor.

4. The article consumption measurement system of claim 3, wherein the sealed housing is watertight.

5. The article consumption measurement system of claim 3, wherein the sealed housing further comprises at least one force concentrator, each of the at least one force concentrator being operatively connected to one of the at least one force sensor.

6. The article consumption measurement system of claim 5, wherein the at least one force concentrator comprises raised areas on a surface of the housing, each raised area corresponding to an internal location of one of the at least one force sensor.

7. The article consumption measurement system of claim 1, wherein the sensor electronics are operably connected to an inventory management system, and wherein the sensor electronics further comprise means for outputting inventory data to the inventory management system.

8. The article consumption measurement system of claim 7, wherein the means for receiving, processing, and outputting data comprises a processor running software programmed to:

receiving data from the at least one sensor;

converting the data received from the at least one sensor into an amount of remaining product in the dispenser; and

the amount is output to an operator.

9. The article of manufacture consumption measurement system of claim 8, wherein the software is further programmed to perform the additional steps of:

the quantity is output to the inventory management system, whereby the inventory management system can use the quantity to send a request to a supplier to request to reorder the desired quantity of the product.

10. The article of manufacture consumption measurement system of claim 8, wherein the software is further programmed to perform the additional steps of:

an inventory prediction model is employed to determine a time frame in which the article needs to be reordered based at least on the data received from the at least one sensor.

11. The article consumption measurement system of claim 1, wherein the sensor electronics are operably connected to at least one auxiliary water measurement device capable of monitoring a condition selected from the list comprising: the volume of water in the reservoir of the dispenser, the fill state of the reservoir, the fill on/off state, the number of spray cycles, and/or the volume or rate of water supplied to the dispenser.

12. The article consumption measurement system of claim 11, wherein the at least one auxiliary water measurement device comprises a device for directly or indirectly measuring the on/off state of the injection valve.

13. The article consumption measurement system of claim 11, wherein the means for receiving, processing, and outputting data comprises a processor running software programmed to:

receiving data from the at least one sensor;

receiving data from the at least one auxiliary water measurement device;

checking one or more potential abnormal conditions in the system using the data from the at least one sensor and the data from the at least one auxiliary water measurement device; and

if one or more abnormal conditions are found, an output is provided to the operator indicating the presence of the one or more abnormal conditions.

14. The article consumption measurement system of claim 13, wherein the one or more potential abnormal conditions are selected from the group consisting of: feed water failure, feed water overflow, solids dissolution rate greater than an acceptable value, solids dissolution rate less than an acceptable value, sensor failure, dosing pump failure, or complete or partial blockage of one or more nozzles.

15. The article consumption measurement system of claim 11, wherein the means for receiving, processing, and outputting data comprises a processor running software programmed to:

receiving data from the at least one sensor;

receiving data from the at least one auxiliary water measurement device; and

determining a concentration of the product dissolved in a reservoir of the dispenser based on the data received from the at least one sensor and the data received from the at least one auxiliary water measurement device.

16. The article consumption measurement system of claim 15, wherein:

the sensor electronics are operably connected to one or more control valves operable to control one or more of the following: the momentum of one or more jets supplied into the dispenser, the temperature of the water entering the dispenser, the pH level of the water being adjusted by the addition of an acid or base; and wherein

The software is further programmed to output a control signal to the one or more control valves to change the temperature, momentum, or pH of water entering the dispenser in response to the concentration of the product dissolved in the reservoir.

17. The article consumption measurement system of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor is automatically calibrated.

18. The article consumption measurement system of claim 3, wherein the sealed enclosure is annular.

19. The product consumption measurement system of claim 3, wherein the sealed housing is rod-shaped, the rod having an outer dimension corresponding to an inner dimension of the solid and liquid chemical dispenser.

20. An article consumption measurement device comprising:

at least one annular sensor housing having a top surface and a bottom surface and incorporating at least two thin film load sensors therebetween, wherein the bottom surface further comprises at least one load concentrator arranged in operative connection with each of the at least two thin film load sensors; and

sensor electronics operatively connected to the at least two sensors, the sensor electronics including software programmed to calculate an imbalance of a load placed on top of the at least one annular sensor housing.

21. An article consumption measurement device comprising:

At least one bar sensor housing having a recess sized and shaped to receive at least one load sensor and a force concentrator operatively connected to the at least one film load sensor, wherein the recess is sealed using a cover plate; and is also provided with

Sensor electronics operatively connected to the at least one sensor, the sensor electronics including software programmed to calculate an imbalance of a load placed on top of the at least one bar sensor housing.