Moisture meter, state diagnosis method for moisture meter, and storage medium
Inventors
Kanno, Masahiro • Nagane, Yoshikazu
Assignees
Interested in licensing this patent?
MTEC can help explore whether this patent might be available for licensing for your application.
Publication Number
US-12366511-B2
Publication Date
2025-07-22
Expiration Date
Abstract
Provided is a moisture meter includes a mass scale for measuring a mass of a specimen, a heater for heat the specimen, a processor causes the moisture meter to control the heater to heat the specimen until a change in mass of the specimen becomes not more than a predetermined threshold and calculate a moisture content of the specimen, and a storage unit. The processor causes the moisture meter to execute a measurement of a moisture content a plurality of times by using, as the specimen, a standard substance for inspection having a predetermined theoretical moisture content with an arbitrary mass when being heated at a predetermined temperature, to calculate a standard deviation of a measured moisture content in the measurement executed the plurality of times, and a to evaluate an influence of an installation environment by determining whether the standard deviation is not more than a predetermined value.
Core Innovation
The problem is to diagnose whether abnormalities in measurements of a moisture meter are caused by a mass measurement unit or by an installation environment, while performing measurements without needing a built-in weight. The disclosed moisture meter includes a mass scale for measuring a mass of a specimen on a weighing dish and a heater that heats the specimen. A processor controls the heater to heat the specimen until a change in mass of the specimen becomes not more than a predetermined threshold and calculates a moisture content from the change in the mass before and after heating.
For state diagnosis, the processor executes measurement of moisture content a plurality of times by using a different specimen for each time of an arbitrary mass of a standard substance for inspection having a predetermined theoretical moisture content when being heated at a predetermined temperature. The processor calculates a standard deviation of the measured moisture contents for the plurality of times and evaluates the presence or absence of an abnormality in a mass measurement unit by comparing an average of the measured moisture contents with the theoretical moisture content stored in the storage unit.
The processor determines whether the standard deviation is not more than a predetermined value, without a need for a built-in weight, to evaluate whether the installation environment is causing abnormalities. The standard substance is a salt having bonded water of crystallization that splits off at a threshold temperature.
The document further provides that diagnosis results indicate whether the cause of an abnormality is the mass measurement unit or the installation environment, and includes a message notifying a countermeasure corresponding to the cause. Embodiments include an inspection mode in which the processor repeatedly measures moisture of a standard substance such as sodium tartrate dihydrate using predetermined theoretical moisture content at a predetermined temperature, computes standard deviation, compares the average moisture with the theoretical moisture content, and uses predetermined diagnostic ranges and thresholds.
Claims Coverage
The partial content includes two independent claims: an independent moisture meter claim and an independent state diagnosis method claim. Across these claims, the coverage focuses on heat-drying moisture measurement using a predetermined mass-change threshold and moisture calculation from mass before and after heating, and on state diagnosis using repeated measurements of a standard substance, standard deviation evaluation, and comparisons against theoretical moisture content to distinguish abnormalities in the mass measurement unit from installation-environment influence without a built-in weight.
Moisture measurement by heater until mass-change threshold
A moisture meter with a mass scale and a heater, where a processor controls heating until a change in mass of the specimen becomes not more than a predetermined threshold and calculates moisture content of the specimen from the change in mass before and after heating.
Repeated standard-substance moisture measurement with standard deviation
The processor causes measurement of moisture content a plurality of times using a different specimen for each time of an arbitrary mass of a standard substance for inspection having a predetermined theoretical moisture content when being heated at a predetermined temperature, and calculates a standard deviation of the measured moisture content.
Abnormality evaluation in the mass measurement unit from average vs theoretical
The processor evaluates presence or absence of an abnormality in a mass measurement unit by comparing an average of the measured moisture contents with the theoretical moisture content of the standard substance stored in the storage unit.
Installation-environment influence evaluation without built-in weight from standard deviation
The processor evaluates whether an installation environment is causing abnormalities in the measurements taken without a need for a built-in weight by determining whether the standard deviation is not more than a predetermined value.
Standard substance defined as salt with crystallization-bonded water splitting off at threshold temperature
The standard substance is a salt having bonded water of crystallization that splits off at a threshold temperature.
Together, the independent claims cover a heat-drying moisture meter and a corresponding state diagnosis method that use repeated measurements of a standard substance with predetermined theoretical moisture content, standard deviation evaluation, and comparisons against theoretical moisture to diagnose abnormalities in the mass measurement unit and to assess installation-environment influence without requiring a built-in weight.
Stated Advantages
Enables evaluation of whether abnormalities in measurements are caused by the mass measurement unit or the installation environment.
Supports performing the installation-environment evaluation without a need for a built-in weight.
Documented Applications
Inspection mode and state diagnosis for a moisture meter, including measuring moisture content of a standard substance for inspection by repeated measurements with different specimens and displaying diagnosis results indicating whether the abnormality cause is the mass measurement unit or the installation environment, together with message notifying a countermeasure.
Interested in licensing this patent?