Guard sensor device for use with a cable, pipe or wire transit, and a method of guarding a cable, pipe or wire transit

1 . A guard sensor device for use with a cable, pipe or wire transit of a type that has one or more compressible transit elements for allowing a sealed installation of one or more cables, pipes or wires, said sealed installation requiring appropriate mounting and tightening of one or more tightening members, the guard sensor device comprising:

a base part, the base part being configured to extend adjacent a first side of a stem of one of said one or more tightening members once said one of said one or more tightening members has been actuated to an extent appropriate for obtaining said sealed installation;

a cover part, the cover part being configured to extend adjacent a second side of the stem of said one of said one or more tightening members, wherein the first side of the stem is opposite the second side of the stem, and the cover part being mountable onto the base part by means of a mechanical connection, thereby forming between said base part and said cover part an internal cavity for housing the stem of said one of said one or more tightening members after having been appropriately actuated; and

a sensor disposed in either of said base part and said cover part, and being adapted to detect removal of the cover part with respect to the base part and in response generate an alert signal to indicate that the sealed condition of said installation has possibly been compromised.

2 . The guard sensor device as defined in claim 1 , wherein the mechanical connection is a snap lock connection for engaging the cover part with the base part.

3 . The guard sensor device as defined in claim 2 , wherein the snap lock connection is formed by a pair of resilient locking tongues on one of the cover part and the base part and by a pair of corresponding engagement structures in the other of the base part and the cover part, the corresponding engagement structures being adapted for engaging with the resilient locking tongues when the cover part is mounted onto the base part with the stem of said one of said one or more tightening members being received in the internal cavity formed between the base part and the cover part.

4 . The guard sensor device as defined in claim 1 , further comprising:

means for communicating the alert signal to a guard host device.

5 . The guard sensor device as defined in claim 4 , wherein the means for communicating the alert signal to the guard host device comprises:

a signal cable being mechanically coupled to at one end to the base part and being operatively connected to said sensor; and

a cable connector at another end of the signal cable for connecting the signal cable to the guard host device.

6 . The guard sensor device as defined in claim 4 , wherein the means for communicating the alert signal to the guard host device comprises a wireless communication interface.

7 . The guard sensor device as defined in claim 1 , further comprising an elongated stiff support member coupled at one end to the base part and at another end adapted to be coupled to a housing of the guard host device.

8 . The guard sensor device as defined in claim 1 , the sensor being susceptive of a magnetic field and being provided in one of said base and cover parts, the guard sensor device further comprising a magnetic element which is a source of said magnetic field and is provided in the other of said base and cover parts.

9 . The guard sensor device as defined in claim 1 , wherein the sensor is selected from the group consisting of:

a pressure sensor;

a piezoelectric sensor;

an electric switch; and

a photo sensor.

10 . The guard sensor device as defined in claim 1 , wherein said tightening members are selected from the group consisting of:

screws;

bolts;

pin bolts; and

nuts.

11 . The guard sensor device as defined in claim 1 , wherein the internal cavity is formed by one or more recesses in the base part and one or more recesses in the cover part.

12 . The guard sensor device as defined in claim 11 , wherein each of the base part and the cover part comprises a first recess and a second recess for forming the internal cavity, the first recesses being shaped and dimensioned for receiving the stem of said one tightening member, and the second recesses being shaped and dimensioned for receiving a head extending from the stem of said one of said more or more tightening members.

13 . The guard sensor device as defined in claim 12 , wherein said one of said one or more tightening members is a screw or a bolt with a nut, wherein the first recesses are shaped and dimensioned for receiving a freely exposed part of the stem of the screw or bolt and the second recesses are shaped and dimensioned for receiving a head of the screw or the nut.

14 . The guard sensor device as defined in claim 11 , wherein each of the base part and the cover part comprises a recess for forming the internal cavity, the recesses being shaped and dimensioned for receiving the stem of said one of said one or more tightening members, and wherein each of the base part and the cover part further comprises a respective lateral edge portion, the lateral edge portions together defining an opening that matches a groove in a spacer element disposed on the stem of said one of said one or more tightening members.

15 . The guard sensor device as defined in claim 1 , wherein the base part and the cover part are shaped and designed to be mounted onto a pair of said tightening members of a compression unit in a transit that further has a rectangular frame for containing a plurality of compressible modules.

16 . The guard sensor device as defined in of claim 1 , wherein the base part and the cover part are shaped and designed to be mounted onto said one of said one or more tightening members of a compression unit in the transit that further has a cylindrical compressible body being axially compressible by actuating a plurality of said one or more tightening members, said plurality of said one or more tightening members including said one of said one or more tightening members.

17 . A method of guarding a cable, pipe or wire transit of a type that has one or more compressible transit elements for allowing a sealed installation of one or more cables, pipes or wires, the method comprising:

actuating one or more tightening members to an extent appropriate for obtaining said sealed installation;

after said actuating of said one or more tightening members to said extent appropriate for obtaining said sealed installation:

applying a base part of a guard sensor device onto a stem of said one of said one or more tightening members, the base part extending adjacent a first side of the stem of said one of said one or more tightening members, and

mounting a cover part onto the base part by means of a mechanical connection, thereby forming between them an internal cavity for housing the protruding part of said one tightening members after having been appropriately actuated, wherein the cover part extends adjacent a second side of said one of said one or more tightening members, and wherein the first side of the stem is opposite the second side of the stem;

detecting, by a sensor disposed in either of said base and cover parts, removal of the cover part with respect to the base part; and

in response generating an alert signal to indicate that the sealed condition of said installation has possibly been compromised.

18 . The method as defined in claim 17 , further comprising:

engaging the cover part with the base part by means of the mechanical connection in the form of a snap lock connection.

19 . The method as defined in claim 17 , further comprising:

communicating the alert signal to a guard host device.