A PRESSURISED GAS CYLINDER

Abstract

 A pressurised gas cylinder having a valve to control the flow of pressurised gas from the cylinder. A sensor module is located within the cylinder comprising a pressure sensor and a transmitter for transmitting a signal, including pressure information, out of the cylinder. The sensor module is small enough to be inserted through the opening in the neck of the cylinder.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a pressurised gas cylinder.

[0002] Such cylinders are known for a wide range of applications where a piped gas supply is not available.

[0003] In order to measure information on the content of the cylinder, for example, pressure, impurities, polymerisation, composition, temperature etc, this has to be done via sensors which are provided in a port through the cylinder wall or via the housing of the valve assembly which is present on the top of the cylinder. This means that dedicated hardware either in the form of a modified valve or modified cylinder is needed. It is not therefore possible to monitor pressure of a gas cylinder which is already in service without changing the cylinder or the valve.

[0004] According to the present invention there is provided a pressurised gas cylinder according to claim 1.

[0005] This allows a pressure sensor to be employed in an existing cylinder without the need to change the cylinder or the existing valve assembly. It also provides a low cost solution to measuring internal cylinder parameters in new cylinders.

[0006] The module may be provided with a temperature sensor. It may also be provided with additional sensors such as moisture sensors, Oxygen impurity sensors, CO2 sensors, acceleration sensors.

[0007] The module could be inductively charged from outside the cylinder in the case of a non-metallic cylinder. However, the module preferably includes a battery.

[0008] The module can be allowed to be loose within the cylinder or may be provided with a tacky surface to adhere to the wall. However, preferably the module is provided with a permanent magnet by which it attaches to the internal cylinder wall of iron cylinders.

[0009] If the cylinders are to be used in a well-defined location, such as part of a bundle, the receiver which communicates with the transmitter may be separate from the cylinder. However, preferably, a receiver is provided by an external portion of the cylinder.

[0010] There is preferably also a second transmitter on an external portion of the cylinder in order to transmit the information received from the transmitter within the cylinder to a remote location. This second transmitter can be combined with the receiver in one unit.

[0011] An example of a cylinder in accordance with the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing which is a schematic cross-section of the cylinder.

[0012] The cylinder 1 is a standalone gas cylinder typically used in various fields including medical and industrial fields to supply bottled gas to a user when a piped gas supply is not available. The cylinder will typically have a maximum pressure of up to 400 bar. The cylinder comprises a cylinder body 2 and a valve assembly 3 both of which are conventional. The improvement provided by the present invention is the addition of a sensor module 4 and its associated receiver 5. The sensor module comprises a magnet 6 which will adhere to the bottom wall of the cylinder body 2 provided that this is a ferrous material. The sensor also comprises a battery 7, pressure and temperature sensors 8 and a transmitter 9. The module 4 preferably has the ability to fit through a circular opening with a diameter of 20mm and more preferably has the ability to fit through a circular gap with a diameter of 12mm. The sensor module can therefore be dropped in through the neck 10 of the cylinder body 2 before the valve assembly 3 is screwed into place in the neck 10.

[0013] The signal transmission from the sensor module 4 to the receiver 5 can be done using an electromagnetic transmission means if the cylinder is made of a non-metallic material such as a composite.

[0014] If the cylinder is metallic, an acoustic transmission is used. In this case, the sensor module 4 includes a sound encoder and transmitter to send an acoustic signal via the wall of the cylinder body 2. The information is modulated on a carrier signal using, for example, AM, FM, QAM or other technologies. The receiver 5 then extracts the information from a carrier signal using a decoder and converter.

[0015] The transmitter 9 of the module 4 transmits data concerning the pressure and temperature to the receiver 5. This is provided with a decoder, processor, display and/or second transmitter to transmit information to a remote location (e.g. via Bluetooth, NFC or GMS).

Claims

1. A pressurised gas cylinder comprising a neck with an opening to receive a valve to selectively control the flow of pressurised gas from the cylinder; and a sensor module within the cylinder, the module comprising a pressure sensor and a transmitter to transmit a signal including pressure information out of the cylinder; wherein the sensor module is small enough to be insertable through the opening in a neck of the cylinder.

2. A cylinder according to claim 1, wherein the module is also provided with a temperature sensor.

3. A cylinder according to claim 1 and claim 2, wherein the module is provided with additional sensors for detecting moisture , Oxygen, CO2, acceleration.

4. A cylinder according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the module comprises a battery.

5. A cylinder according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the module is provided with a permanent magnet by which it attaches to the internal cylinder wall.

6. A cylinder according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a receiver is provided by an external portion of the cylinder.

7. A cylinder according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a second transmitter on an external portion of the cylinder in order to transmit the information received from the transmitter within the cylinder to a remote location.

Drawing