Particle counter with advanced features

Abstract

An airborne or liquid particle sensor with a number of advanced features is disclosed. The sensor includes an output channel generating an electrical signal for a particle passing through the sensor, where the electrical signal includes information related to the pulse. The information is processed by the sensor to determine a value that indicates a more accurate particle mass for a sample period than the average mass.

1 .- 16 . (canceled) 
     
     
         17 . A particle counter to annotate particle count data comprising:
 a light detecting particle sensor device in communication with a memory, the light detecting particle sensor device being configured to detect airborne particles passing through light passing through a flow channel from a light source, the light detecting particle sensor device further including at least one output channel, a light detecting particle sensor device generating an electrical signal for each particle counted of a plurality of particles passing through the light detecting particle sensor device;   a signal processing circuit connected to the light detecting particle sensor device and the memory, the signal processing circuit generating digitized pulse height data wherein the pulse height data that are more than a threshold value for the at least one output channel are counted, and wherein the memory receives counts for the at least one output channel for data storage; and   a processor that processes the digitized pulse height data of particles wherein the processor generates a data record including particle count data and an annotation field.   
     
     
         18 . The system in claim  1 , wherein the annotation field comprises a text field for entry of text by a user at least one time before, during or after a sampling period in which particles are counted. 
     
     
         19 . The system in claim  1 , wherein the annotation field comprises a tag such that a plurality of tags are included in logged data for a period of time. 
     
     
         20 . The system in claim  3 , wherein the system further comprises a data storage device that receives logged data from the memory, the logged data including one or more annotations. 
     
     
         21 . The system in claim  1 , further comprising an instrument controller connected to a user interface wherein a user can enter an annotation into an annotation field. 
     
     
         22 . The system in claim  5 , wherein the user interface further comprises a touchscreen display. 
     
     
         23 . The system in claim  5 , wherein the user interface comprises a tablet computer having a display, the tablet computer further comprising an automated report generator that automatically aggregates annotated data. 
     
     
         24 . The system of claim  1  wherein the signal processing circuit further comprises an analog to digital converter and a processor that is configured to generate the digitized pulse height data. 
     
     
         25 . The system of claim  1  wherein the signal processing circuit comprises a front end pulse processor. 
     
     
         26 . The system of claim  1  further comprising a controller connected to the signal processing circuit and the memory, the controller configured to set the threshold wherein the controller is connected to a plurality of external particle counters. 
     
     
         27 . The system of claim  1  further comprising a battery providing power to the display wherein the display graphically depicts particle count data for each output channel. 
     
     
         28 . The system of claim  1  further comprising a power controller that controls power distribution to the system from a battery. 
     
     
         29 . The system of claim  1  wherein the system comprises a link to a network including a plurality of light detecting particle sensor devices that are connected to a data storage device with the network. 
     
     
         30 . The system of claim  1  wherein the light detecting particle sensor device comprises a photodetector that detects particles passing through a light beam. 
     
     
         31 . The system of claim  14  wherein the light beam is generated by a laser, the light beam passing through an airflow through an enclosure of the system. 
     
     
         32 . The system of claim  1  further comprising a pulse log buffer that stores a pulse height, a pulse width, an arrival time and increments a counter. 
     
     
         33 . The system of claim  1  further comprising a pump or fan providing an airflow through the light detecting particle sensor device. 
     
     
         34 . The system of claim  1  further comprising a plurality of at least three output channels, each channel processing particle data for a different particle size range. 
     
     
         35 . The system of claim  1  wherein the light detecting particle sensor device comprises a light detector that is connected to an amplifier, an analog to digital converter and a field programmable gate array (FPGA) to provide front end parallel processing of detected signals. 
     
     
         36 . The system of claim  1  wherein each particle counted is recorded with a time stamped data field. 
     
     
         37 . The system of claim  1  wherein the signal processing circuit is connected to a controller to control a plurality of at least three particle counting channels, each channel having a threshold configured by the controller and being latched at time intervals simultaneously. 
     
     
         38 . The system of claim  1  wherein the signal processing circuit comprises a processor is configured to operate a graphical interface on the display, wherein graphical data can be displayed as a function of time. 
     
     
         39 . The system of claim  1  wherein the system comprises a movable unit that further comprises a power source and power controller having a power save mode. 
     
     
         40 . A particle counter to annotate particle count data comprising:
 a moveable unit for a light detecting particle sensor, the light detecting particle sensor being configured to detect airborne particles passing through a flow channel between a flow input and a flow output of the moveable unit, and further including an output channel, a light detecting particle sensor detecting light from a light source in the moveable unit and generating an electrical signal for each particle counted of a plurality of particles passing through the flow channel;   a signal processing circuit and a power source in the portable unit wherein the signal processing circuit is connected to the light detecting particle sensor and a memory, the signal processing circuit generating digitized pulse height data wherein the pulse height data exceeds a threshold for the output channel; and   a processor in the moveable unit that processes the digitized pulse height data wherein the processor periodically generates a data record that includes particle count data and an annotation field.   
     
     
         41 . The device of  claim 24 , wherein annotation field comprises a text field for entry of text by a user at least one of before, during or after particle count data is recorded. 
     
     
         42 . The device of  claim 24 , further comprising a display that displays particle counts detected over time for a plurality of output channels. 
     
     
         43 . The device of  claim 24  further comprising a controller connected to the signal processing circuit and the memory, the controller configured to set a threshold. 
     
     
         44 . The device of  claim 24  further comprising a battery and a display, the battery providing power to the display wherein the display graphically depicts particle count data for each output channel. 
     
     
         45 . The device of  claim 24  further comprising a power controller that controls power distribution to the system from a battery. 
     
     
         46 . The device of  claim 24  wherein the system comprises a link to a network including a plurality of light detecting particle sensor devices that are connected to a data storage device with the network. 
     
     
         47 . The device of  claim 24  wherein the light detecting particle sensor device comprises a photodetector that detects particles passing through a light beam. 
     
     
         48 . The device of  claim 24  wherein the light beam is generated by a laser. 
     
     
         49 . The device of  claim 24  further comprising a pulse log buffer that stores a pulse height, a pulse width, an arrival time and increments a counter. 
     
     
         50 . The device of  claim 24  further comprising a pump providing an airflow through the light detecting particle sensor device. 
     
     
         51 . A method of annotating particle count data comprising:
 detecting airborne particles with a light detecting particle sensor device in communication with a memory, the airborne particles passing through light passing through a flow channel from a light source, the light detecting particle sensor device further including at least one output channel, a light detecting particle sensor device generating an electrical signal for each particle counted of a plurality of particles passing through the light detecting particle sensor device;   processing the generated electrical signals with a signal processing circuit connected to the light detecting particle sensor device and the memory, the signal processing circuit generating digitized pulse height data wherein the pulse height data that are more than a threshold value for the at least one output channel are counted, and wherein the memory receives counts for the at least one output channel; and   processing particle count data to generate a data record including the particle count data and an annotation field.   
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the annotation field comprises a text field and further comprising entering text into the text field to annotate the particle count data. 
     
     
         53 . The method of  claim 35 , further comprising controlling the light detecting particle sensor device comprises a movable unit having a battery and a power controller, the moveable unit being optionally mounted on a cart. 
     
     
         54 . The method of  claim 35 , further comprising displaying graphical information on a tablet computer touchscreen display of the moveable unit. 
     
     
         55 . The method of  claim 35 , further comprising annotating particle count data for each of a plurality of channels wherein each channel detects different particle sizes. 
     
     
         56 . The method of  claim 35 , further comprising adjusting a flow rate of particles through a flow channel wherein the data record further comprises a time stamp field.