Communications: electrical – Condition responsive indicating system – Specific condition
Patent
1999-04-22
2000-06-13
Hofsass, Jeffery A.
Communications: electrical
Condition responsive indicating system
Specific condition
73 422, G08B 2100
Patent
active
06075446&
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a tank which comprises means for detecting its condition by sending signals to an alarm device, and notably means for detecting the presence of water over part of the outer surface of the container, or the satisfactory operation of the tank and especially of the detecting means. The present invention also relates to a process for monitoring the condition of a tank of this kind.
A detailed description of a tank of this kind is given in French patent application no. 94 15474 corresponding to the American application U.S. Ser. No. 08/574,446, included herein by reference.
When an attendant arrives to inspect the tank, light signals will indicate the condition of the tank. For example, where two pieces of information are provided by the alarm device and these two pieces of information are the appearance, or non-appearance, of water on the surface of the container and the proper operation or otherwise of the alarm device, a first light source, e.g. a lamp or photodiode, lights up if water has appeared and does not light up if it has not (or may show red in one case and green in the other) and a second light source lights up if the alarm device is defective and does not light up if it is not (or shows red in one case and green in the other, or any other way of presenting information by means of light signals).
These tanks of the prior art have the drawback that the recording of the data relating to their status depends on the reliability of the attendant who may, accidentally or otherwise, make mistakes. In fact, in the field of tanks and particularly buried tanks containing hydrocarbon gases, it is essential that the people in positions of superiority over the attendant can reliably monitor his work, as these other people will be held responsible in the event of a fatal error (gas leak leading to an explosion and human casualties).
The invention thus relates to a tank which allows reliable recording of the data relating to its condition, regardless of the reliability of the attendant, which is easier to carry out than the recordings made with tanks according to the prior art.
According to the invention, the tank, which comprises means for detecting its condition by sending signals to an alarm device emitting signals, is characterised by a recording medium which is incapable of recording the signals emitted by the alarm device, especially light signals, and by means for converting the signals emitted into transformed signals capable of being recorded by the recording medium, the latter being arranged so as to record the converted signals issuing from the conversion means.
By thus providing that the light signals will be converted into signals capable of being recorded, there is no longer any need for the operation of translation which had to be carried out by the attendant with the tanks according to the prior art, and the data can thus be recorded directly on the recording medium without the possibility of error committed by the attendant.
According to a preferred embodiment, the recordable signals are sound signals and the recording medium is a tape recorder. The attendant can thus add, to the data obtained from the tank itself, other data such as the owner's name and the date of the inspection, while the information obtained from the tank proves that the attendant has indeed made his inspection.
According to another advantageous embodiment, the alarm device comprises two sources, notably light sources, one providing a first type of data, e.g. information as to the appearance of condensation water on the outer surface of the container, and a second type of data, e.g. regarding the satisfactory operation of the alarm device itself. The conversion means may be frequency generating oscillators, each controlled by one of the light sources. Preferably, one frequency is assigned to the appearance of water and another frequency to the satisfactory operation of the electric circuit.
According to an improved feature of the invention, the recording medium and the conversion means form a
REFERENCES:
patent: 4850223 (1989-07-01), Carlin et al.
patent: 4964296 (1990-10-01), Jensen
patent: 5202667 (1993-04-01), Alvin
patent: 5229750 (1993-07-01), Welch, Jr. et al.
patent: 5988945 (1999-11-01), Bouvier
Compagnie Des Gaz De Petrole Primagaz
Hofsass Jeffery A.
Previl Daniel
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