Patent ID: 7574918

Claim:
An apparatus that detects vibrations from a mechanical component, comprising: an excitation rod coupled to the mechanical component, wherein the mechanical component includes at least one hard disk drive, chassis fan, power supply fan, processor fan, or component within a computer system that produces mechanical vibrations; a membrane which is coupled to the excitation rod, so that vibrations from the mechanical component are mechanically coupled through the excitation rod to the membrane, wherein the membrane converts the mechanical vibrations into acoustic waves that are transmitted through a medium; a microphone which detects the acoustic waves in the medium and which converts the acoustic waves into signals; and a data acquisition system which is coupled to the microphone, wherein the signals generated by the microphone are received by the data acquisition system, wherein the data acquisition system generates a vibration signature from the signals, and wherein the data acquisition system detects an incipient failure of the mechanical component by identifying a deviation of the vibration signature with respect to a reference signature.