Patent ID: 6326894
Filing Date: 2001-12-04
Classification: G01M

Abstract:
A notification system for monitoring an expansion joint and delivering an indication of failure of the expansion joint to a remote location, the expansion joint having a bellows seal incorporating at least two plies forming a region therebetween, the notification system comprising:a sensor, operably connected to the region between two adjacent ones of the at least two plies of the bellows seal, and configured to sense and respond to environmental conditions existing between the two adjacent ones of the at least two plies of the bellows seal,the sensor being further operably configured to generate a first signal corresponding to a particular value of at least one quantifiable characteristic of the environment existing between two adjacent ones of the at least two plies of the bellows seal;a control apparatus, operably connected to the sensor and configured to receive the first signal corresponding to a particular value of at least one quantifiable characteristic of the environment existing between two adjacent ones of the at least two plies of the bellows seal generated by the sensor,the control apparatus being further operably configured to compare the first signal received from the sensor with numerical values stored in memory corresponding to acceptable and unacceptable environmental conditions between the two adjacent ones of the at least two plies of the bellows seal, and determine whether the received first signal corresponds to an acceptable environmental condition or an unacceptable environmental condition,the control apparatus further being operably configured, upon determination that the received first signal corresponds to an unacceptable environmental condition, to generate a second signal;a message transmittal apparatus operably configured to receive said second signal generated by the control apparatus, and in response thereto transmit a message to at least one designated recipient, at a location remote from the expansion joint, advising the recipient of the sensed unacceptable environmental condition at said monitored expansion joint.