Fuel dispenser with a fuel analyzer
AssigneeGillbarco Inc.
InventorsGiovanni Carapelli, Wayne McNinch, Changzhong Jiang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fuel analyzer for a fuel dispensing environment is provided including an ultrasonic transmitter configured to transmit an ultrasonic signal through a volume of fuel, an ultrasonic receiver configured to receive the ultrasonic signal, and processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to receive an indication of transmission of the ultrasonic signal from the ultrasonic transmitter, receive an indication of receipt of the ultrasonic signal from the ultrasonic receiver, determine a time of flight of the ultrasonic signal, and determine a fuel purity based on the time of flight of the ultrasonic signal.
Claims15
A fuel analyzer for a fuel dispensing environment comprising:
- an ultrasonic transmitter configured to transmit an ultrasonic signal through a volume of fuel;
- an ultrasonic receiver configured to receive the ultrasonic signal;
- and
- processing circuitry configured to:
- receive an indication of transmission of the ultrasonic signal from the ultrasonic transmitter;
- receive an indication of receipt of the ultrasonic signal from the ultrasonic receiver;
- determine a time of flight of the ultrasonic signal;
- and
- determine a fuel purity based on the time of flight of the ultrasonic signal,
- wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
- determine a difference between the fuel purity and an expected fuel purity;
- compare the difference between the fuel purity and the expected fuel purity to a purity threshold;
- and
- cause an alert based on the difference between the fuel purity and the expected fuel purity exceeding the purity threshold.
A fuel dispenser comprising:
- a fuel nozzle configured to be connected to a vehicle fuel system,
- fuel piping configured to transfer fuel from at least one fuel storage tank associated with the fuel dispenser through the fuel nozzle into the vehicle fuel system;
- and
- a fuel analyzer comprising:
- an ultrasonic transmitter configured to transmit an ultrasonic signal through a volume of fuel;
- an ultrasonic receiver configured to receive the ultrasonic signal;
- and
- processing circuitry configured to:
- receive an indication of transmission of the ultrasonic signal from the ultrasonic transmitter;
- receive an indication of receipt of the ultrasonic signal from the ultrasonic receiver;
- determine a time of flight of the ultrasonic signal;
- and
- determine a fuel purity based on the time of flight of the ultrasonic signal,
- wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
- determine a difference between the fuel purity and an expected fuel purity;
- compare the difference between the fuel purity and the expected fuel purity to a purity threshold;
- and
- cause an alert based on the difference between the fuel purity and the expected fuel purity exceeding the purity threshold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.