Abstract:
The present invention discloses a pressure vessel apparatus with sensing identification function, comprising a pressure vessel body and an an identification tag. The pressure vessel body has a concave container located on its surface. The identification tag is located in the concave container, comprising a record IC and a communication unit. The record IC is used for recording the status information of the pressure vessel body. When the reading device reads the identification tag, and thus provides an identification signal such that the communication unit transmits the status information to the reading device to verify whether the lifetime of the pressure vessel apparatus was expired. Moreover, a sensing unit is applied for detecting the varying status of the content in the pressure vessel body, and such information is provided to the reading device as a judging reference for content filling and the pressure reading of the pressure vessel apparatus, in order to improve the safety of the pressure vessel apparatus.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a pressure vessel apparatus with sensing identification function, and more particularly to a pressure vessel apparatus using radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The pressure vessel used nowadays, such as bottled gas, oxygen bottle or nitrogen bottle, are normally with a sticker on the surface of the pressure vessel to indicate its origin, expiration date, contents, and etc. Take bottle gas as an example, it is one of the necessary goods in most families, street vendors and restaurants. As is well known in the prior arts, the bottled gas has a name plate on the surface of the holder by anchors. The name plate records the information, such as the production date, the expiration date, the net weight, the gross weight, the manufacturer name, the examination date and so on. The information thereof seems clearly at a first glance, however, the question is that the name plate is replaceable, that some of dishonored vendors may cheat their customer by replacing the name plate directly or with valid expiration date in the consideration of cost saving. In this case, it causes serious troubles as well as hidden risks towards consumers. 
         [0003]    In view of the shortcomings of the prior art, the inventor of the present invention based on years of experience to conduct extensive researches and experiments, and finally developed a pressure vessel apparatus with sensing identification function to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a pressure vessel apparatus with sensing identification function to provide a solution for the replaceable or removable tags so as to prevent the issues of hiding the fact of invalid or expired condition. 
         [0005]    To achieve the foregoing object, the present invention provides a pressure vessel apparatus with sensing identification function, comprising a pressure vessel body and an identification tag. The pressure vessel body has a concave container, located on its surface, and the identification tag, located in the concave container, and it comprises a record IC and a communication unit. The record IC is used for recording the status information of the pressure vessel body. When the reading device reads the identification tag and thus provides an identification signal, the communication unit will transmit the status information to the reading device for verification. (When the communication unit and the reading device distanced appropriately, the radio frequency signal from the communication unit and the radio frequency signal from the reading device will interact with each other to have a wireless mechanism, therefore, the status information in the record IC will be transmitted back to the reading device via the wireless mechanism.) 
         [0006]    The pressure vessel body is a pressure steel bottle, and more particularly the pressure steel bottle is a steel bottle which can withstand high pressure. The identification tag is glued to the concave container by a viscose and it can be a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag. The identification tag is made by material which can withstand high temperature, low temperature, or material of sand blasting, water and fire proof, or other material which is capable of resisting environmentally harsh conditions. The pressure vessel body is used for containing the content, in which the content is liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), oxygen, nitrogen or other gases. The status information comprises the production date, the initial content volume, and the examiner name. The communication unit can be an antenna. Moreover, the reading device is attached to an attachment device, in which the attachment device is a gas filler. 
         [0007]    Within the advantage of the identification can be fixed to the pressure vessel apparatus and thus is not replaced easily, it can be used as the purpose of identification (ID) marking, therefore, it gives a solution for replaceable name plate and prevents the issues of hiding the fact of invalid or expiration date. 
         [0008]    Moreover, the second object of this present invention is to provide a pressure vessel apparatus with sensing identification function, by particularly using a sensing unit to detect the changing status of the content in the pressure vessel apparatus. 
         [0009]    To achieve the foregoing object, the present invention provides a pressure vessel apparatus with sensing identification function comprising a pressure vessel body, a sensing unit, an identification tag and a reading device. The pressure vessel body has a concave container located on its surface. The sensing unit is located on the surface of the pressure vessel apparatus for detecting the status information of the content in the pressure vessel body and generating a detecting result. The identification tag is located in the concave container and electrically connected to the sensing unit. The identification tag comprises a record IC and a communication unit. The record IC is used for recording the preset status information of the pressure vessel body and the detecting result from the sensing unit. When the reading device reads the identification tag and thus provides an identification signal, the communication unit will transmit the preset status information and the detecting result to the reading device for verification. The reading device can then update the preset status information and transmit it back to the record IC via the communication unit for next validation. 
         [0010]    The detecting result relates to the residual content volume. The preset status information comprises the production date, the initial content volume, the examiner name and the expiration date. The sensing unit can be a mechanical sensor or an electronic sensor. The status information of the content in the pressure vessel apparatus comprises the information of gravity, pressure, temperature and other related physical attributes. Moreover, the present invention includes a power supply unit, which can be installed in the pressure vessel body, for providing the desired power to the sensing unit and the identification tag for operation. The power supply unit can be a battery or a wireless battery, in which the wireless charging unit is used for receiving an electromagnetic wave which is then converted to current for storage. The identification signal can be a radio frequency identification (RFID) signal. 
         [0011]    To make our examiner to understand the technical characteristics and effects of the present invention, we use preferred embodiments with related drawings for the detail description of the present invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a schematic block diagram of a pressure vessel apparatus with sensing identification function of the present invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a detail schematic block diagram of a pressure vessel apparatus with sensing identification function of the present invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a schematic view of a pressure vessel apparatus with sensing identification function of the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a schematic view of a pressure vessel apparatus with sensing identification function of the present invention with a reading device attaching to a gas filler; 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a schematic block diagram of a pressure vessel apparatus with sensing identification function in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  is a detail schematic block diagram of a pressure vessel apparatus with sensing identification function in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 7  is a schematic block diagram of a pressure vessel apparatus with sensing identification function in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0019]      FIG. 8  is a schematic view of a pressure vessel apparatus with sensing identification function of the present invention with a PDA attaching to a gas filler. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0020]    The forgoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawing, and the same referring numerals are used for the same components in accordance with the present invention. 
         [0021]    Referring to  FIG. 1  for a schematic block diagram of a pressure vessel apparatus with sensing identification function of the present invention. The present invention provides a pressure vessel apparatus  10  with sensing identification function comprising a pressure vessel body  11  and an identification tag  12 . The pressure vessel body  11  has a concave container  110  located on its surface. The identification tag  12  is located in the concave container  110 , comprising a record IC  120  and a communication unit  121 . The record IC  120  is used for recording the status information  122  of the pressure vessel body  11 . When the reading device  13  reads the identification tag  12  and thus provides an identification signal  14 , the communication unit  121  transmits the status information  122  to the reading device  13  for verification. When the communication unit  121  and the reading device  13  distanced appropriately, the radio frequency signal from the communication unit  121  and the radio frequency signal from the reading device  13  will interact with each other to have a wireless mechanism, therefore, the status information  122  in the record IC  120  will be transmitted back to the reading device  13  via the wireless mechanism by communication unit  121 . 
         [0022]    The pressure vessel body  11  is a pressure steel bottle, and more particularly the pressure steel bottle is a steel bottle capable of withstanding high pressure. The identification tag  12  is glued to the concave container  110  by a viscose and is a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag. The identification tag  12  is made by material which can withstand high temperature, low temperature, material of sand blasting, water and fire proof, or other material which is capable of resisting environmentally harsh conditions. The pressure vessel body  11  is used for containing the content, in which the content can be the liquefied petroleum gas, oxygen, nitrogen or other gases. The status information  122  comprises the production date, the initial content volume, and the examiner name. The communication unit  121  can be an antenna. Moreover, the reading device  13  is attached to an attachment device (not shown in  FIG. 1 ), in which the attachment device can be a gas filler. The identification signal  14  is a radio frequency identification signal. 
         [0023]    Referring to  FIG. 2  for a detail schematic block diagram of a pressure vessel apparatus with sensing identification function of the present invention and taking bottled gas as an example. The LPG steel bottle apparatus  20  comprises a LPG steel bottle pressure vessel body  21  and a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag  22 . The pressure vessel body  21  has a concave container  210  located on its surface. The RFID tag  22  is located in the concave container  210  by a viscose or other sticky materials. The RFID tag  22  is not easy to remove since it had been glued. The RFID tag  22  comprises a record IC  23  and an antenna  24 . The record IC  23  is used for recording the status information  230  of the liquefied petroleum gas  212  which existed in the LPG steel bottle pressure vessel body  21 . The status information  230  comprises the production date  231 , the initial LPG content volume  232 , and the examiner name  233 . Here, the status information  230  can comprise more information and is not limited by those already mentioned above. When a reading device  25  reads the RFID tag  22 , and provides a radio frequency signal  26 , the antenna  24  will transmit the status information  230  to the reading device  25  for verification. Here, the reading device  25  can be a personal digital assistant (PDA) or other related portable electronic apparatus. The information about expiration date or other related information of the LPG steel bottle pressure vessel body  21  will be record in the reading device for verification and showing on the display unit of reading device  25 . 
         [0024]    Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4  for a schematic view of a LPG steel bottle apparatus with sensing identification function of the present invention. The radio frequency identification (RFID) tag  31  is located in the concave container  302  on the surface  301  of the LPG steel bottle main body  30 . The personal digital assistant (PDA)  32  with the RFID tag  31  can read the statues information as shown in  FIG. 2  from the antenna to show the production date, the initial content volume, and the examiner name in the display  320  of the PDA  32  for operator to verify. Or, as shown in  FIG. 4 , the PDA  32  can attach to a gas filler  33  for gas filler assistant to verify when injecting the gas into the LPG steel bottle main body  30 . 
         [0025]    Referring to  FIG. 5  for a schematic block diagram of a pressure vessel apparatus with sensing identification function in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The pressure vessel comprises  40  a pressure vessel body  41 , a sensing unit  42 , an identification tag  43  and a reading device  45 . The pressure vessel body has a concave container  410 . The sensing unit  42  located on the surface  412  of the pressure vessel body  41 , used for detecting the status information of a content  411  in the pressure vessel body  41  and generating a detecting result  441 . The identification tag  43  is located in the concave container  410  and electrically connected to the sensing unit  42 . The identification tag  43  comprises a record IC  430  and a communication unit  431 . The record IC  430  is used for recording preset status information  440  of the pressure vessel body  41  and the detecting result  441  from the sensing unit  42 . When the reading device  45  reads the identification tag  43  and thus provides an identification signal  46 , the communication unit  431  transmits the preset status information  440  and the detecting result  441  to the reading device  43  for verification, thus the reading device  43  can update the preset status information  440  and transmit it back to the record IC  430  via the communication unit  431  for next validation. 
         [0026]    The pressure vessel body  41  is a pressure steel bottle, and more particularly the pressure steel bottle is a steel bottle capable of withstanding high pressure. The identification tag  43  is glued to the concave container  410  by a viscose. The identification tag  43  can be a RFID tag. The identification tag  43  is made by material which can withstand high temperature, low temperature, material of sand blasting, water and fire proof, or other material which is capable of resisting environmentally harsh conditions. The content  411  can be the liquefied petroleum gas, oxygen, nitrogen or other gases. The preset status information  440  comprises the production date, the initial content volume, and the examiner name. The detecting result  441  relates to the residual content volume. The communication unit  431  can be an antenna. Moreover, the reading device  45  is attached to an attachment device (un-shown in the FIG.), and the attachment device can be a gas filler. The sensing unit  42  is a mechanical sensor or an electronic sensor. The status information of the content comprises the information of gravity, pressure, temperature and other related physical attributes. Moreover, the power supply unit (not shown in the  FIG. 5 ) can be applied inside the pressure vessel body  41  for providing the power to the sensing unit  42  and the identification tag  43 . The power supply unit can be a battery or a wireless battery, in which wireless charging unit is used for receiving an electromagnetic wave which is then converted to current for storage. The reading device  45  is attached to an attachment device (not shown in  FIG. 5 ), and said attachment device can be a gas filler. Preferably, the identification signal  46  can be a RFID signal. 
         [0027]    Referring to  FIG. 6  for a detail schematic block diagram of a pressure vessel apparatus with sensing identification function in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention and it takes bottled gas as an example. The LPG steel bottle  50  comprises a LPG steel bottle pressure vessel body  51 , a sensing unit  52 , a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag  53  and a personal digital assistant (PDA)  55 . The pressure vessel body  51  has a concave container  510  on the surface  512  of the pressure vessel body  51 . The identification tag  53  is glued to the concave container  510  by a viscose or other sticky materials and it is not easy to remove since it had been glued. The RFID tag  53  comprises a record IC  530  and a communication unit  531 . The record IC  530  is used for recording the preset status information  532  of the LPG steel bottle pressure vessel body  51 . The preset status information  532  comprises the production date  533 , the initial LPG content volume  534 , and the examiner name  535 . The mechanical sensor is set on the surface  512  of the LPG steel bottle pressure vessel body  51  for detecting the changing status information, such as the information of pressure, temperature, gravity or other related physical attributes. In this embodiment, when the LPG is consumed to reach its limit in its gravity of the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), the signal will then be produced. Besides, the replaceable pressure value which happened from the damage of the pressure vassal can also be detected to give a warning at risk situation. In this embodiment of using the LPG  511 , if the sensor installed in the pressure vessel was electronic sensor, there are some risk may happen, such as explosion, by sparkle from the current. However, if this kind of limitation can be approved, this embodiment will not be limited by using only the mechanical sensor, therefore, the electronic sensor can be also applied. When the LPG was consumed at its limit, the mechanical sensor  25  can then produce a detecting result. The detecting result can be converter into an electronic signal to be recorded in the record IC  530  via a converter (not shown in  FIG. 6 ). The electronic signal relates to a residual content volume  536 . In this embodiment, the personal digital assistant (PDA)  55  has the function of RFID tag  53 , whereas the RFID tag  53  was not only limit existed in the personal digital assistant  55 . When the PDA  55  approach to the RFID tag  53 , it will then output a radio frequency signal  56 , the antenna will then transmit the preset status information  532  and the information of residual content volume  536  to the PDA  55 . Therefore, the PDA  55  can determine whether the bottle has expired, needs LPG or to be maintained. Here, the PDA  55  with the RFID tag  53  or other related reading device can be attached to a gas filler (not shown in  FIG. 6 ). When completing the activity of injecting the LPG via the gas filler, the PDA  55  can then record the information of injected LPG volume, the name of examination and other related information, and then transmit this information back to the record IC to update the status information via the antenna for next operation. Moreover, the wireless charging device (not shown in  FIG. 6 ) can be set in the pressure vessel body  51 . When the PDA  55  read the RFID tag  53 , the electromagnetic wave can be received and then converted to current for storage by the wireless charging device, for providing the power to the radio frequency identification tag, switcher, mechanical sensor or electronic sensor. 
         [0028]    Referring to  FIGS. 7 and 8  for a schematic block diagram for a LPG steel bottle apparatus with sensing identification function in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The radio frequency identification (RFID) tag  61  is located in the concave container  602  on the surface  601  of the pressure vessel body  60 . The personal digital assistant (PDA)  62  with the radio frequency identification tag (RFID)  61  can read the preset statues information, as shown in  FIG. 6  comprising the production date, the initial LPG content volume, and the examiner name, and the residual content volume which records in the RFID tag  61  via the mechanical sensor  64  (as shown by dot line) on the surface  601  of the pressure vessel body  60 . The display  620  will show the information on its display  620  for operator to verify. Or, as shown in  FIG. 8 , the PDA  62  can attach to a gas filler  63  for operator to verify when injecting gas to the pressure vessel body  60 , and rewrite the information such as the injected LPG volume, the examination date and time in the RFID tag  61  for next validation. 
         [0029]    While the invention has been described in terms of specific embodiments of the present invention, it is not limited to such detail since numerous modifications and variations could be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the features and advantages of the present invention will be set forth in the claims.