Filter element analysis system and associated methods

Abstract

A filter element analysis system for analyzing a filter element within a vehicle, the system including various filter sensors so as to provide information regarding various filter element parameters, a locator which configured provide vehicle position information such that conditions regarding the vehicle environment can be tracked and correlated to the location, as well as a means for transmitting information to a remote server for analysis and tracking of the filter element information with regard to environmental conditions such that a filter element status, remaining filter life, or particle load and replacement timeline can be calculated and updated so as to provide more accurate predictive models of the filter element conditions. As well as provide alerts regarding the need and scheduling of replacement or cleaning of a particular filter element.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A filter element analysis system, the system comprising:
 a filter element, the filter element being provided within a filter housing being provided on a vehicle, the housing having at least an inlet and an outlet, the inlet receiving a contaminated stream medium and the outlet providing a filtered stream medium;   one or more filter sensors provided within the filter housing, each sensor being configured to generate a signal correlating to various filter element parameters;   a location determination mechanism being provided about the vehicle, the location determination mechanism being configured to provide location information regarding the vehicle;   one or more control units, at least one primary control unit further comprising:
 a processing unit being configured to receive the filter element parameters from the one or more filter sensors; 
 a wireless communication mechanism configured to transmit the filter element parameters over a wireless network; 
   a remote server, the remote server further comprising:
 a remote processing unit; 
 a non-transitory computer-readable medium; 
 wherein the remote server receives one or more environmental parameters correlating to an environment surrounding the vehicle; 
 wherein the remote server receives the filter element parameters from the control unit over the wireless network and determines a state or particle load of the filter element based on the filter element parameters and the one or more environmental parameters; and 
 wherein the filter element status, remaining filter life, or particle load is transmitted back to the one or more control units. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a secondary control unit, the secondary control unit further including a display configured to display information regarding the filter element status, remaining filter life, or particle load.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the primary control unit is operatively connected to the secondary control unit utilizing wireless communication, and the secondary control unit is configured to transmit the filter element parameters to the remote server. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the primary control unit is operatively connected to the remote server utilizing wireless communication, and the secondary control unit is operatively connected to the remote server utilizing wireless communication, wherein the secondary control unit is configured to receive and display the information regarding the filter element status, remaining filter life, or particle load of the filter element. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the secondary control unit is provided as a mobile smart device. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the location determination mechanism is a global positioning system or based on cell tower location information 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the remote server can utilize the global position of the filter element to access desired environmental parameters from an online database. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more control units include a user input interface, wherein the user input interface is configured to receive one or more environmental parameters from a user. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the one or more environmental parameters received through the user input interface are selected from the group consisting of: vehicle activity, crop type, soil type, soil water content, soil PH-levels, visual filter element state or particle load, sound, vehicle responsiveness. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the primary control unit further comprises a local non-transitory computer-readable medium configured to store historical data regarding service life information of a plurality of alternative filter elements with associated filter element parameters correlated to each of the alternative filter elements. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 one or more environmental sensors provided about the vehicle, the one or more environmental sensors being configured to provide a signal correlating to at least one environmental parameter to the remote server.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 one or more environmental sensors provided about the vehicle, the one or more environmental sensors being configured to provide a signal correlating to at least one environmental parameter to the remote server.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors are selected from the group consisting of: pressure sensors, accelerometers, flow sensors, strain sensors, humidity sensors, air-mass flow, temperature, particle counter, turbulence sensor, spectrometry, sound, vehicle operation parameters, and optical sensors. 
     
     
         14 . A method for analyzing a filter element within a vehicle, the method comprising:
 providing a vehicle having one or more filter elements;   providing one or more filter sensors about the one or more filter element;   providing a location determination mechanism;   receiving a signal from each of the one or more filter sensors, the signal correlating to one or more filter element parameters;   receiving location information regarding a specific vehicle location;   receiving information regarding one or more environmental parameters correlating to an environment about the specific vehicle location; and   determining a filter element status, remaining filter life, or particle load of the filter element based on the one or more filter element parameters and the one or more environmental parameters.   
     
     
         15 . A filter element analysis system for a vehicle, comprising:
 a filter element;   a filter housing;   a scanable tag affixed to either the filter element or filter housing;   a scanning and input device, configured to obtain data from scanning the scanable tag;   a remote server, configured to receive scanned and input information from the scanning and input device via a wireless network, wherein the remote server further comprises a remote processor and non-transitory computer-readable medium, the remote processor configured to determine a filter element analysis based on the data retrieved from the scanned tag and an environmental parameter database that is in communication with the remote server.   
     
     
         16 . The filter element analysis system of  claim 15  wherein the filter element analysis is also based on user input information into the scanning and input device. 
     
     
         17 . The filter element analysis system of  claim 16 , wherein the user input information is environmental attribute information from the list comprising: humidity, temperature, wind speed, wind gusts, jet stream location, pollen levels, crop type, soil type, location, altitude, and soil moisture level. 
     
     
         18 . The filter element analysis system of  claim 16 , wherein the user input information is selected from a list consisting of: a vehicle type, an engine type, a filter system type, a filter element type, and one or more operating conditions. 
     
     
         19 . The filter element analysis system of  claim 16 , wherein the user input information is filter element observation information from the list comprising: filter element status, remaining filter life, or particle load, sound, vehicle responsiveness. 
     
     
         20 . The filter element analysis system of  claim 15 , wherein the scanable tag is comprised of: a barcode, a QR code, a passive RFID tag, an active RFID tag, or a NFC tag. 
     
     
         21 . The filter element analysis system of  claim 15 , wherein the scanning and input device automatically receives location information, and wherein the remote server receives the location information, and queries a third-party weather database to obtain weather conditions parameters that are used in part by the remote processor to determine the filter element analysis. 
     
     
         22 . The filter element analysis system of  claim 15 , wherein the remote server sends filter element analysis and data from the scanned tag to be added to the environmental parameter database. 
     
     
         23 . The filter element analysis system of  claim 15 , wherein the remote server sends filter element analysis data to be displayed on a local computing device via the wireless network.