EP2546823A1 - Sensoranzeige - Google Patents

Sensoranzeige Download PDF

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Publication number
EP2546823A1
EP2546823A1 EP11174263A EP11174263A EP2546823A1 EP 2546823 A1 EP2546823 A1 EP 2546823A1 EP 11174263 A EP11174263 A EP 11174263A EP 11174263 A EP11174263 A EP 11174263A EP 2546823 A1 EP2546823 A1 EP 2546823A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
sensor
display device
processing device
display
backlight
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP11174263A
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Inventor
Bo Wellejus Simmons
Thomas Hansen
Kurt Möller Jensen
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Baumer AS
Original Assignee
Baumer AS
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Family has litigation
First worldwide family litigation filed litigation Critical https://patents.darts-ip.com/?family=44543055&utm_source=google_patent&utm_medium=platform_link&utm_campaign=public_patent_search&patent=EP2546823(A1) "Global patent litigation dataset” by Darts-ip is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Application filed by Baumer AS filed Critical Baumer AS
Priority to EP11174263A priority Critical patent/EP2546823A1/de
Priority to DE102012013917.9A priority patent/DE102012013917B4/de
Publication of EP2546823A1 publication Critical patent/EP2546823A1/de
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
    • G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
    • G09G3/00—Control arrangements or circuits, of interest only in connection with visual indicators other than cathode-ray tubes

Definitions

  • the invention generally relates to the field of sensor systems. More specifically, the invention relates to sensor devices with displays for displaying sensor measurement values.
  • Sensors are widely used for automatic process control and supervision of process parameters in industrial fabrication processes. For example, the pressure or temperature within a vessel or conduit is measured by a sensor and the measurement values are used by a process control device to maintain the operation parameters within a predefined range.
  • the predefined parameter range may eventually be exceeded for a couple of reasons. For example, ambient values may influence the process so that the parameter range cannot be maintained. As well, malfunction of components of the system may result in instabilities of the process. A supervisor of an industrial fabrication process often needs to monitor measurement values of different sensors. As the characteristics of the sensors and the threshold values for normal operation may be different, it is often not evident at first glance that a threshold value has been exceeded or underrun.
  • a display device for displaying measurement values of sensors, the display device comprising a housing with a display, whereby the display is adapted to display measurement values.
  • the measurement values are preferably displayed as digits.
  • the display device further comprises at least one electrical connector for connecting to a sensor output.
  • the housing accommodates a display, a multicolour backlight and a processing device.
  • the display is being luminated by said multicolour backlight and adapted to display at least measurement values.
  • the processing device is suitable to read said measurement values from the electrical connector, to calculate the values to be displayed and being set up to compare said measurement values to at least one prescribed limit value limiting a normal operation range and to change the illumination of said multicolour backlight if said comparison yields that the measurement value is not within said normal operation range.
  • the display is not accommodated in the sensor itself but rather in a separate housing which can be attached to a sensor housing so as to read out the sensor data and obtain a response via the multicolour backlight, whether the component to be supervised by the sensor is in normal operation.
  • the invention also provides a method for displaying measurement values of sensors at a display device, the method comprising the steps of:
  • a sensor assembly comprising a sensor housing which accommodates sensor circuitry. At least one electrical connector is arranged at the sensor housing for output of measurement values by the sensor circuitry.
  • the sensor assembly further comprises a display device as described above. The housing of the display device is detachably attached to the sensor housing, so that the electrical connector arranged at the sensor housing is electrically connected to the electrical connector of the display device so that the sensor measurement data can be transmitted to the display device.
  • the display device As the display device is accommodated into a separate housing and collects the measurement variables via an electrical connector, it can be easily attached to various sensors.
  • the display device can be fixed on a sensor or a sensor circuitry by simply plugging the display device thereon so that the electrical connector of the display device connects to the sensor output.
  • the stored prescribed limit value or normal operation range, respectively, and the change of the multicolour backlight and with that the colour of the display due to a deviation of normal operation parameters alerts a user to an alarm situation without having detailed or any knowledge about the normal range of the respective measurement variable which is actually monitored.
  • a pixel display is used.
  • a pixel display can be flexibly configured so that it does not only display the measurement value as a digit but, e.g., also gives information which kind of measurement is actually monitored. This facilitates adapting the display device to different sensor types such as pressure, level, conductivity and temperature sensors.
  • the senor is configurable so that, e.g., the type of sensor, such as a pressure sensor, temperature sensor or conductivity sensor can be selected by the user. Further parameters which may be configured are the limit values, or normal operation ranges, respectively.
  • user input for configuration of the display device may be set via a display which is set up as a touch-screen, which accordingly forms a user interface.
  • the processing device is set up to read configuration data from user input via the touch-screen.
  • the processing device is adapted to read current or voltage values from the electrical connector and to assign sensor measurement values to measured currents, or voltages, respectively. Accordingly, the display device is set up to process analogue input values.
  • the processing device can easily detect whether a measurement value lies within the prescribed range of operation without the need to ascertain which type of sensor is actually attached to the display device.
  • the processing device is adapted to assign a current of between 4 mA and 20 mA to a normal operation range.
  • the processing device further changes the colour of the multicolour backlight and with that the illumination of the display if the current is less than 4 mA and/or if a current of 20 mA is exceeded.
  • the display device is set up to process digital input data.
  • the processing device comprises a digital communication interface connected to the electrical connector and is set up to process digital sensor measurement values transmitted from a sensor via the electrical connector.
  • the display device may be set up to process both analogue and digital measurement variables.
  • the electrical connector for the digital communication interface may be the same as the electrical connector for the analogue input.
  • two separate electrical connectors for digital and analogue input may be provided.
  • the display device may also be configurable via the digital communication input. More specifically, the digital communication input may be used to transmit configuration parameters to the processing device which then configures the display accordingly. At least one of following configuration parameter may be read from the digital communication input:
  • these parameters may be entered via a user interface such as a touch-screen.
  • a linearization table is particularly useful if the displayed measurement variable differs from the variable measured by the sensor. For example, this is the case if a volumetric measurement is displayed but the sensor measures the hydrostatic pressure in an asymmetric container.
  • the display device may advantageously be configurable to calculate a second measurement variable from a first measurement variable measured by the sensor.
  • the multicolour backlight may advantageously controlled by the processing device as follows: If the comparison of the actual measurement value to the prescribed limit yields that the measurement value is not within normal operation range, a flashing illumination may be established. Additional or alternatively, the colour of the multicolour backlight may be changed and with that the colour of the display. For example, the colour of the multicolour backlight for normal operation measurement values may be white. If the normal operation range of the measurement value is exceeded or underrun, the colour of the multicolour backlight may change to another colour such as red or green.
  • Fig. 1 shows the wiring of a sensor assembly 20 comprising a display device 1 according to the invention.
  • the main components of the sensor assembly 20 are the sensor 2 and the display device 1.
  • the sensor 2 comprises a sensor element 28 such as a resistance temperature detector (RTD) connected to or accommodated in the sensor housing 22.
  • the sensor housing 22 further accommodates sensor circuitry 26 for processing, e.g. amplifying the measurement values.
  • RTD resistance temperature detector
  • the display device 1 comprises a housing 3 which accommodates the circuitry forming a processing device 7.
  • Housing 3 may be fabricated from plastics.
  • polycarbonate housing is suitable to ensure high resistance to moisture even under hard environmental conditions.
  • both the processing device 7 and the sensor circuitry 26 are accommodated within housings 3 and 22, respectively and thus are not visible from outside. These components 7, 26 are drawn in dashed lines.
  • Sensor 2 and display device 1 are electrically interconnected via electrical connectors 9, 24. Electrical connector 24 of sensor 2 forms the sensor output.
  • the sensor 2 of this embodiment is adapted to control a current which represents the measurement variable.
  • the measurement variable is a current which represents the temperature.
  • the display device 1 and the sensor 2 are connected in series so that the current controlled by the sensor flows through a current measuring element 70 of the data processing device 7.
  • the current sensed by current measuring element 70 is then assigned to a corresponding temperature by the processing device 7.
  • a power supply 16 is wired to the sensor assembly 20 to provide a supply voltage.
  • the supply voltage is 24 Volts.
  • the supply voltage is applied on the electrical lines through which the measurement current flows. This way, advantageously, the number of required electrical connections is reduced.
  • the display device 1 may also have a separate power supply.
  • the display device 1 may be battery powered.
  • the measurement values are shown as digits 10 on a display 5.
  • the digits are shown in contrasting colour or illumination with respect to the multicolour backlight 12 of the display 5.
  • the normal operation range of the sensor 2 is assigned to currents between 4 to 20 mA.
  • the current values of 4 and 20 mA are prescribed limit values limiting the normal operation range.
  • a first illumination of the background of the display is selected by the processing device.
  • a white background colour may be illuminated by the multicolour backlight 12.
  • the background illumination of the display from the multicolour backlight is changed so as to obtain a visual signal for paying attention to the measurement.
  • the colour of the display appears white for normal operation and is changed to red or blue colour if the current value lies below the lower limit, e.g., between 3.0 mA to 3,5 mA. Thereby, the minimum current of 3.0 mA is consumed for operation of the sensor circuitry 26.
  • the background may be illuminated continuously if the current is within the prescribed limit values of 4 mA to 20 mA, but may be changed to a flashing background illumination if the measured current falls below, or exceeds the prescribed limit values.
  • the prescribed limit values may be fixed, e.g., may be 4 mA and 20 mA so that the processing device 7 changes the multicolour backlight 12 and thus the colour of the display 5 independent from the sensor type attached.
  • the display 5 may be configured by the user via a user interface.
  • This configuration may in particular include:
  • the choice between pre-loaded parameters of various sensor types and/or of the measurement unit of the measurement values via the user interface may advantageously include a choice between various layouts of the display 5. These layouts are designed to indicate the measurement values in terms of the corresponding measurement unit such as pressure, temperature, weight and conductivity.
  • a user selects a display layout for temperature measurement.
  • the sensor output values i.e. the current values
  • the processing device 7 is displayed as a temperature.
  • the actual current value has been assigned to a temperature value of 379.3°C which is displayed as digits 10 on the display 5.
  • the input and/or the choice of configuration parameters as described above is particularly convenient, if the display 5 is a touch-screen.
  • the choice of the parameters may advantageously be provided by a set of menus through which the user navigates to select the appropriate configuration.
  • the processing device 7 then reads configuration data from user input via the touch-screen and stores the configuration parameter.
  • the display 5 is a pixel display which allows for a flexible arrangement of the elements to be displayed on the screen, depending on the selected configuration.
  • the display device 1 provides a user-interface which allows the user to set up a user-specified display design and display parameters such as the assignment of displayed values to measured variables and the corresponding measurement unit.
  • this user-interface may be provided by the touch-screen.
  • it may also be advantageous to exchange the parameters via a digital communications interface 14.
  • the sensor 2 may also be connected to a computer and configured by software running on the computer.
  • the display device 1 may advantageously comprise the digital communication interface 14.
  • the digital communication interface 14 is connected to the electrical connector 9.
  • both analogue and digital data are entered via connector 9.
  • the digital communication interface 14 reads digital sensor measurement values from appropriate sensors with digital output from electrical connector 9.
  • the measurement values are then processed by the processing device 7 to be displayed on the display 5.
  • the processing device 7 automatically detects the type of sensor and uploads actual menus relevant for the attached sensor if a connection of display device 1 and sensor 2 is established.
  • the sensor 2 and the display device 1 are shown separately in Fig. 1 .
  • the display device 1 is preferably designed to be attached directly to the sensor 2.
  • the housing 3 of display device 1 may be detachably attached to the sensor housing 22, with the electrical connector 24 arranged at the sensor housing 22 being electrically connected to the electrical connector 9 of the display device 1.
  • Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a sensor assembly 20 with housings 3, 22 of sensor 2 and display device 1 directly attached and mutually fixed.
  • sensor 2 is a pressure sensor measuring the pressure of a fluid within access opening 29.
  • the display device 1 may be mounted to the sensor housing 22 by means of a snap lock.
  • the display device 1 may also be mounted separate to the sensor 2.
  • an intermediate cable may be used to electrically interconnect connectors 9, 24
  • the connectors 9, 24 are positioned on the housings 3, 22 so that an electrical connection between the connectors 9, 24 is established upon attachment and fixation of the display device 1 on the sensor housing 22.
  • Fig. 3 shows an exemplary embodiment of a linearization table 30 and limit values which delimit the normal operation range.
  • the linearization table 30 is represented as a graph. As described above, the linearization table 30 may be entered via a touch-screen or via the digital communication interface 14 of the display device 1.
  • the linearization table 30 assigns the current values representing a pressure value to a volumetric charging level.
  • the hydrostatic pressure measured by the sensor 2 depends linearly to the charging level. This does not hold for the volumetric charging level in terms of percentage of the volumetric capacity of a container. This parameter depends on the shape of the container.
  • the graph of linearization table 30 shown in Fig. 3 links the hydrostatic pressure measured by a pressure sensor and translated into the output current to a volumetric charging level of a horizontally mounted cylindrical container.
  • the user interface of the display device 1 enables the user to set critical values as limit values 18, 19 which are adapted to the particular nonlinear dependency of the measurement variable to be monitored.
  • critical values of the measurement variable which indicate that the container is almost empty (5% of the overall capacity) or almost filled (95% of the overall capacity) are closer together as it would be the case with a linear dependency.
  • the normal operation range of the current values is narrower for the illustrated example, ranging from 6 to 11 mA. It is therefore advantageous if the user can configure the limit values and/or the normal operation range.
  • the upper limit value may be more critical as exceeding this value may easily result in an overflow of the container.
  • different background illuminations for different limit values can be configured and assigned by the user. For example, a colour change may of the multicolour backlight 12 be assigned for an underrun of lower limit value 18. If the upper limit value 19 is exceeded, additionally a flashing background illumination may be assigned to alert a supervisor.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Control Of Indicators Other Than Cathode Ray Tubes (AREA)
  • Measuring Fluid Pressure (AREA)
EP11174263A 2011-07-15 2011-07-15 Sensoranzeige Withdrawn EP2546823A1 (de)

Priority Applications (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP11174263A EP2546823A1 (de) 2011-07-15 2011-07-15 Sensoranzeige
DE102012013917.9A DE102012013917B4 (de) 2011-07-15 2012-07-16 Anzeigevorrichtung zur Anzeige von Messwerten von Sensoren

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP11174263A EP2546823A1 (de) 2011-07-15 2011-07-15 Sensoranzeige

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP2546823A1 true EP2546823A1 (de) 2013-01-16

Family

ID=44543055

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP11174263A Withdrawn EP2546823A1 (de) 2011-07-15 2011-07-15 Sensoranzeige

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EP (1) EP2546823A1 (de)
DE (1) DE102012013917B4 (de)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE102013017563A1 (de) 2013-10-24 2015-05-13 Krohne Messtechnik Gmbh Feldgerät mit Anzeigevorrichtung

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20060055630A1 (en) * 2004-09-15 2006-03-16 Cheang Tak M Chromatically enhanced display
EP1909337A1 (de) * 2005-07-25 2008-04-09 Sunx Limited Display-einrichtung und sensor damit
US20090240396A1 (en) * 2008-03-19 2009-09-24 John T. Sullivan Pit road display

Family Cites Families (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5696704A (en) * 1995-06-07 1997-12-09 Vdo North America, Inc. Non-linear scale instrument
US7079452B2 (en) * 2002-04-16 2006-07-18 Harrison Shelton E Time display system, method and device
US7251992B2 (en) * 2003-10-17 2007-08-07 Measurement Limited Hand-held tire pressure gauge and method for assisting a user to determine whether a tire pressure is within a target range using a hand-held tire pressure gauge
US20060266273A1 (en) 2005-03-14 2006-11-30 Todd Westberg System and method of modular vehicle gauge system and illumination
US20070026107A1 (en) * 2005-04-19 2007-02-01 Iaq Laboratories International, Llc System and Method for Predicting Mold Growth in an Environment

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20060055630A1 (en) * 2004-09-15 2006-03-16 Cheang Tak M Chromatically enhanced display
EP1909337A1 (de) * 2005-07-25 2008-04-09 Sunx Limited Display-einrichtung und sensor damit
US20090240396A1 (en) * 2008-03-19 2009-09-24 John T. Sullivan Pit road display

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE102013017563A1 (de) 2013-10-24 2015-05-13 Krohne Messtechnik Gmbh Feldgerät mit Anzeigevorrichtung
EP2871501A1 (de) 2013-10-24 2015-05-13 Krohne Messtechnik GmbH Feldgerät mit Anzeigevorrichtung

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Publication number Publication date
DE102012013917B4 (de) 2018-10-11
DE102012013917A1 (de) 2013-01-17

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