A sensor assembly (20) for a fastener assembly comprising a nut (4) and a bolt (3) comprises a sensor unit mounted in a cavity (21) in the nut of the fastener assembly having an internal opening (22) in the internal thread (9) of the nut. The sensor unit (30) comprises an optical flow sensor (33) arranged to capture an image of the external thread of the bolt through the internal opening and to sense relative movement of the external thread of the bolt.
F16B 31/02 - Screwed connections specially modified in view of tensile load; Break-bolts for indicating or limiting tensile load
G01L 5/24 - Apparatus for, or methods of, measuring force, work, mechanical power, or torque, specially adapted for specific purposes for determining value of torque or twisting moment for tightening a nut or other member which is similarly stressed
There is provided a sensor unit for a fastener assembly, the sensor unit comprising a mounting arranged to rigidly attach the sensor unit to, or adjacent to, a fastener assembly; and a sensor, that is an optical flow sensor or an inductive sensor, configured to sense movement of the fastener assembly. The sensor unit may comprise a processor arranged to process the output of the sensor to detect loosening of the fastener assembly and to output a signal representing the status of the fastener assembly. The sensor unit may comprise a wireless communication unit arranged to communicate the signal.
A safety sensing system implements a method for a person in an industrial environment comprises providing a personnel locator device (10) for location on a person and a reference system comprising a plurality of nodes (20) located at predetermined locations in the industrial environment (100). Radio ranging signals are transmitted between the nodes (20) and the personnel locator device (10) and measurements of times of flight of the radio ranging signals are derived. The location of the personnel locator device (10) is calculated based on the measurements of the times of flight of the radio ranging signals and reference information representing the predetermined locations of the nodes (10). It is determined if the calculated location of the personnel locator device (10) is within one or more danger zones in the industrial environment (100) and a warning signal is output in response thereto.
G01S 17/48 - Active triangulation systems, i.e. using the transmission and reflection of electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
G01S 17/88 - Lidar systems, specially adapted for specific applications
G01S 5/02 - Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more direction or position-line determinations; Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more distance determinations using radio waves
A sensor probe for analysis of a fluid includes a base, and a pair of electrodes and a pair of shield members protruding from the base for insertion into the fluid. The electrodes have electrical oscillations generated therein for measurement of electromagnetic properties of the fluid, such as permittivity. The shield members are disposed outside the electrodes and have a dual purpose of electromagnetically shielding the electrodes and having vibrations generated therein for measurement of physical parameters of the fluid, such as density or viscosity. Thus, the single sensor probe can provide measurements of both electromagnetic properties and physical properties of the fluid.
G01N 27/22 - Investigating or analysing materials by the use of electric, electrochemical, or magnetic means by investigating impedance by investigating capacitance
G01N 29/032 - Analysing fluids by measuring attenuation of acoustic waves
G01N 29/036 - Analysing fluids by measuring frequency or resonance of acoustic waves
G01N 29/22 - Investigating or analysing materials by the use of ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves; Visualisation of the interior of objects by transmitting ultrasonic or sonic waves through the object - Details
A location system for locating workers comprises a plurality of light detectors mounted at known locations and configured to detect light from one or more workers, and a processing system configured to determine locations of the workers using the light detected by the light detectors. There is also disclosed a wearable device for locating a worker comprising a wireless transceiver, and a wearable device light source and/or one or more reflective elements. There is also disclosed a method for locating workers comprising detecting light from one or more workers using a plurality of light detectors mounted at known locations, and determining locations of the workers using the light detected by the light detectors.
G01S 17/48 - Active triangulation systems, i.e. using the transmission and reflection of electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
G01S 17/88 - Lidar systems, specially adapted for specific applications
G01S 5/02 - Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more direction or position-line determinations; Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more distance determinations using radio waves
A sensor unit for a fingerboard latch assembly that comprises a latch bracket and a latch rotatably supported on the latch bracket is mountable on the latch. The sensor unit comprises a sensor configured to sense an adjacent tubular, and a processor that processes the output of the sensor to provide a tubular monitor signal representing the presence or absence of an adjacent tubular A wireless communication unit wirelessly communicates the tubular monitor signal. This allows a wireless sensor unit to be provided that is suitable for operation in remote locations and can verify the presence or absence of tubular to ensure it is securely stored in a fingerboard.
E21B 19/16 - Connecting or disconnecting pipe couplings or joints
E21B 19/14 - Racks, ramps, troughs or bins, for holding the lengths of rod singly or connected; Handling between storage place and borehole
E21B 47/01 - Devices for supporting measuring instruments on drill bits, pipes, rods or wirelines; Protecting measuring instruments in boreholes against heat, shock, pressure or the like
E21B 47/09 - Locating or determining the position of objects in boreholes or wells; Identifying the free or blocked portions of pipes
E21B 47/12 - Means for transmitting measuring-signals or control signals from the well to the surface, or from the surface to the well, e.g. for logging while drilling
A wireless network comprises nodes, including routers having a tree-shaped communication topology and end devices, communicate in accordance a network protocol, wherein the routers transmit beacons in respective timeslots within a periodic beaconing interval, passively scan for messages, and, in response to receiving a message, transmit an acknowledgement thereof the received message. An end device that has a message that is pending transmission, passively scans for beacons transmitted from any router; and in response thereto, transmits the message, and passively scans for an acknowledgement, repeating those steps if no acknowledgement is received. This provides responsivity in an environment having rapidly changing propagation paths. To reduce power consumption, the end devices do not passively scan for beacons except when they have a message that is pending transmission, and also at predetermined times for reception of a downstream message. When radio silence is required, the routers do not transmit beacons.
A sensor system (1) for sensing the contents of a bore comprises plural coils (11) disposed behind a non-metallic lining (10). An oscillator circuit (41) drives electrical oscillations in the coils to generate oscillating electromagnetic fields, and a detection circuit (42) outputs signals from each coil representing a parameter of the electrical oscillations that depends on the contents of the bore. The coils include a primary coil (5) and a secondary coil (6), wherein the oscillating electromagnetic field generated by the secondary coil has a lesser degree of interaction with the contents of bore than the oscillating electromagnetic field generated by the primary coil. The sensor system compensates the output signal from the primary coil for environmental effects using the output signal from secondary coil.
E21B 47/09 - Locating or determining the position of objects in boreholes or wells; Identifying the free or blocked portions of pipes
G01V 3/10 - Electric or magnetic prospecting or detecting; Measuring magnetic field characteristics of the earth, e.g. declination or deviation operating with magnetic or electric fields produced or modified by objects or geological structures or by detecting devices using induction coils
A sensor insert (1) for insertion in a bore (2) comprises a tubular wall (10) of non-conductive material for lining the bore and a plurality of sensing coils (11) supported by the tubular wall behind the inner surface of the tubular wall at different angular positions and facing the inner surface of the tubular wall for generating an electromagnetic field extending therethrough. A tubular shield (12) of conductive material is arranged outside the coils providing a reference plane for the sensing coils. An annular cavity (14) is disposed between the tubular wall and the tubular shield. The annular cavity contains a liquid and the sensor insert further comprises a pressure balancing unit (20) in fluid communication with the annular cavity and the bore to balance the pressures therewithin, thereby preventing distortion of the tubular wall and tubular shield.
E21B 47/09 - Locating or determining the position of objects in boreholes or wells; Identifying the free or blocked portions of pipes
G01V 3/10 - Electric or magnetic prospecting or detecting; Measuring magnetic field characteristics of the earth, e.g. declination or deviation operating with magnetic or electric fields produced or modified by objects or geological structures or by detecting devices using induction coils
A sensor unit (10) is mountable on a rotatable element (5) on a platform (3) that is itself movable, and comprises an orientation sensor arranged to take measurements that are dependent on the orientation of the sensor unit, a processor arranged to derive a rotational position signal representing the orientation of the rotatable element from the measurements, and a buffer arranged to buffer a series of recent measurements taken by the orientation sensor over a predetermined period of time. The processor derives the rotational position signal making a correction to compensate for the effect of the motion of the platform on the measurements on the basis of the overall series of measurements buffered in the buffer.
A sensor unit (30) for a fingerboard latch assembly (2) comprising a latch bracket (3) and a latch (5) rotatably mounted on the latch bracket comprises a sensor (30) arranged to sense the orientation of the latch and a wireless, optical or other communication unit (47, 16) arranged to communicate the orientation of the latch sensed by the sensor. The sensor unit may be mountable on the latch and comprise an orientation sensor arranged to take measurements that are dependent on the orientation of the sensor unit, and a processor arranged to derive an orientation signal representing the orientation of the latch from the measurements, the communication unit being arranged to communicate the orientation signal. A monitoring system receives the sensed orientations from plural sensor units.
An elongate component such as a drill string of drill pipes connected by joint sections inside a bore is sensed using at least one set of electromagnetic coils, the coils within the set being arranged at different angular positions around the bore facing the bore. There may be at least two sets of coils separated along the axial direction of the bore. Electrical oscillations are generated in the coils to produce oscillating electromagnetic fields that interact with the contents of the bore. A parameter of the electrical oscillations generated in each coil is detected. The detected parameters may be used to derive both (1) a measure of the axial position along the bore, and (2) a measure of the lateral position. The detected parameters may be used to derive a measure of electromagnetic properties of the contents of the pipe in a region adjacent each coil, thereby imaging the contents of the pipe.
A sensor system comprises a marginal oscillator. A tank circuit comprises inductive and capacitive elements including a probe arranged to generate an electromagnetic field in a sensing region. A non-linear drive circuit drives oscillation of the tank circuit by supplying a differential signal pair of complementary signals across the tank circuit, sustaining the oscillation on the basis of at least one of the complementary signals. A detection circuit detects a characteristic of the oscillation of the tank circuit that is dependent on the electromagnetic properties of the contents of the sensing region and to derive a signal representing the at least one characteristic. The differential signalling provides numerous advantages, including improved accuracy and signal-to-noise.
G01D 5/24 - Mechanical means for transferring the output of a sensing member; Means for converting the output of a sensing member to another variable where the form or nature of the sensing member does not constrain the means for converting; Transducers not specially adapted for a specific variable using electric or magnetic means influencing the magnitude of a current or voltage by varying capacitance
14.
CHARACTERIZATION OF AN OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY SAMPLE
A sample acquired during hydrocarbon exploration or production, and comprising at least one of water, hydrocarbons or solids, is sensed by performing continuous wave nuclear magnetic resonance measurements of the amount of a relevant type of nucleus from which a measure of the composition of the sample is derived. During a scan through resonance of the one or more types of nuclei, there is detected an absorption measurement of the absorbed energy of the electromagnetic field, that may be an integrated measure of instantaneous absorption. Hydrogen nuclei may be measured to derive a measure of the amount of water in the sample. Chlorine nuclei and/or sodium nuclei may be measured to derive a measure of the salinity of the sample.
G01N 24/08 - Investigating or analysing materials by the use of nuclear magnetic resonance, electron paramagnetic resonance or other spin effects by using nuclear magnetic resonance
G01V 3/32 - Electric or magnetic prospecting or detecting; Measuring magnetic field characteristics of the earth, e.g. declination or deviation specially adapted for well-logging operating with electron or nuclear magnetic resonance
A cavity resonator system for measuring EM properties of the contents of a pipe portion (15p, 15s) comprises a primary resonator (1) and a secondary resonator (2) each with the same configuration comprising a conductive casing (10p, 10s) that defines a cavity (11p, 11s) and has openings (14p, 14s) for receiving a pipe portion, insulator material (18p, 18s) disposed inside the cavity, and antennae (20p, 20s) for generating and detecting a resonant EM field inside the cavity. In addition, the secondary resonator (2) comprises at least one conductive screening ring (25) that extends around the location occupied by a pipe portion (15s) for screening the interior of the ring from the field generated inside the cavity of the secondary resonator. By combining measures of parameters of the field from both resonators, the system may be used to generate a measure representative of EM properties of the contents of the pipe portion that is compensated for variation in the EM properties of the insulator material due to e.g. temperature and pressure.
A fluid conduit (2) comprises a wall (4) defining a fluid flow path (6) and a confinement feature (24) within the wall (4) and being configured to confine energy within a cavity (26), wherein at least a portion of the fluid flow path (6) extends through the cavity (26). The confinement feature (24) may be configured to confine electromagnetic energy. The fluid conduit (2) may comprise an oscillator defined by the cavity (26) and a positive feedback arrangement (34). The fluid conduit (2) may be configured for sensing a property of a fluid present in or flowing through the fluid conduit (2) or for use in sensing a property of a fluid present in or flowing through the fluid conduit (2). More specifically, the present invention deals with a microwave cavity sensor wherein the cavity member (24) is embedded in the wall (4) of the fluid conduit (2), the wall (4) including a composite region (20).
G01N 22/00 - Investigating or analysing materials by the use of microwaves or radio waves, i.e. electromagnetic waves with a wavelength of one millimetre or more
G01N 29/22 - Investigating or analysing materials by the use of ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves; Visualisation of the interior of objects by transmitting ultrasonic or sonic waves through the object - Details
F16L 11/08 - Hoses, i.e. flexible pipes made of rubber or flexible plastics with reinforcements embedded in the wall