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AssigneePreciflex SA
InventorsGavrilo Bozovic, Johann Rohner, Alain Jaccard, Nicolas Bartholomé Nussbaumer, Manuel Romero, Yves Ruffieux, Gregory Dourde, Noelia L. Bocchio, Lucien Vouillamoz
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An indication device is provided. The indication device includes an elongated fluid chamber containing at least one electrically conductive liquid driven by a pump for conductive liquids and an immiscible, relatively non-conductive fluid. At least one segment of at least one fluid is used as an indicator. This segment is driven by the pump along adjacent indices of an indicator visible to an observer using a meniscus location sensor and a feedback controller so as to e.g indicate a quantity to the observer.
An indication device comprising an elongated fluid chamber containing at least two immiscible fluids, at least one of which has a characteristic physical property different from the other fluid and at least one fluid is a liquid driven by an at least one electrically activated pump, wherein at least one feature of the liquid contained in the chamber is used as an indicator, which feature the at least one pump drives along the chamber either directly or indirectly, via another fluid in the chamber, along adjacent indices of an indicator visible to an observer, the indication device further including a fixed feature location sensor which directly senses the different characteristic physical property of the fluids so as to localize the feature and a feedback controller which cooperate so as to activate the pump to move the feature to a desired location in the chamber in order to indicate to the observer.
An indication device comprising an elongated fluid chamber containing at least two immiscible fluids, at least one of which has a characteristic physical property different from the other fluid and at least one fluid is a liquid driven by an at least one electrically activated pump, wherein at least one feature of the liquid contained in the chamber is used as an indicator, which feature the at least one pump drives along the chamber either directly or indirectly, via another fluid in the chamber, along adjacent indices of an indicator visible to an observer, the indication device further including a feature location sensor which senses the different characteristic physical property of the fluids so as to localize the feature and a feedback controller which cooperate so as to activate the pump to move the feature to a desired location in the chamber in order to indicate to the observer wherein relative transparency is the physical characteristic used to detect the position of segment of the at least one liquid, so as to enable control thereof.
An indication device comprising an elongated fluid chamber containing at least two immiscible fluids, at least one of which has a characteristic physical property different from the other fluid and at least one fluid is a liquid driven by an at least one electrically activated pump, wherein at least one feature of the liquid contained in the chamber is used as an indicator, which feature the at least one pump drives along the chamber either directly or indirectly, via another fluid in the chamber, along adjacent indices of an indicator visible to an observer, the indication device further including a feature location sensor which senses the different characteristic physical property of the fluids so as to localize the feature and a feedback controller which cooperate so as to activate the pump to move the feature to a desired location in the chamber in order to indicate to the observer, wherein a conductivity sensitive film is the feature location sensor.
An indication device comprising an elongated fluid chamber containing at least two immiscible fluids, at least one of which has a characteristic physical property different from the other fluid and at least one fluid is a liquid driven by an at least one electrically activated pump, wherein at least one feature of the liquid contained in the chamber is used as an indicator, which feature the at least one pump drives along the chamber either directly or indirectly, via another fluid in the chamber, along adjacent indices of an indicator visible to an observer, the indication device further including a feature location sensor which senses the different characteristic physical property of the fluids so as to localize the feature and a feedback controller which cooperate so as to activate the pump to move the feature to a desired location in the chamber in order to indicate to the observer, wherein the elongated fluid chamber is essentially an endless closed loop.
An indication device comprising an elongated fluid chamber containing at least two immiscible fluids, at least one of which has a characteristic physical property different from the other fluid and at least one fluid is a liquid driven by an at least one electrically activated pump, wherein at least one feature of the liquid contained in the chamber is used as an indicator, which feature the at least one pump drives along the chamber either directly or indirectly, via another fluid in the chamber, along adjacent indices of an indicator visible to an observer, the indication device further including a feature location sensor which senses the different characteristic physical property of the fluids so as to localize the feature and a feedback controller which cooperate so as to activate the pump to move the feature to a desired location in the chamber in order to indicate to the observer, wherein the at least one liquid is enclosed in the elongated chamber of a closed loop that has at least one exposed, at least partially transparent surface allowing the observer to observe the position of the at least one feature of the liquid, the indication device further comprising a mechanism accommodating thermal expansion and/or contraction of the fluids, the mechanism disposed so as to be substantially invisible to the observer, wherein the mechanism accommodating thermal expansion or contraction is selected from one of a group of mechanisms consisting of a thin and flexible wafer enclosing the chamber in an airtight and watertight manner and disposed out of the field of view of the observer, a separate gas-filled chamber disposed out of the field of view of the observer, and a soft flexible material disposed in a portion of the chamber which is out of the field of view of the observer.
An indication device comprising an elongated fluid chamber containing at least two immiscible fluids, at least one of which has a characteristic physical property different from the other fluid and at least one fluid is a liquid driven by an at least one pump, wherein at least one feature of the liquid contained in the chamber is used as an indicator, which feature the at least one pump drives along the chamber either directly or indirectly, via another fluid in the chamber, along adjacent indices of an indicator visible to an observer, the indication device further including a fixed feature location sensor which directly senses the different characteristic physical property of the fluids so as to localize the feature and a feedback controller which cooperate so as to activate the pump to move the feature to a desired location in the chamber in order to indicate to the observer, and wherein the chamber is formed by two or more material wafers of differing forms connected to each other.
An indication device comprising an elongated fluid chamber containing at least two immiscible fluids, at least one of which has a characteristic physical property different from the other fluid and at least one fluid is a liquid driven by an at least one electrically activated pump, wherein at least one feature of the liquid contained in the chamber is used as an indicator, which feature the at least one pump drives along the chamber either directly or indirectly, via another fluid in the chamber, along adjacent indices of an indicator visible to an observer, the indication device further including a fixed feature location sensor which directly senses the different characteristic physical property of the fluids so as to localize the feature and a feedback controller which cooperate so as to activate the pump to move the feature to a desired location in the chamber in order to indicate to the observer, and wherein the at least one pump is disposed along the elongated chamber so as to ensure that at any operational position of the liquid, the liquid can be pumped.
An indication device comprising an elongated fluid chamber containing at least two immiscible fluids, at least one of which has a characteristic physical property different from the other fluid and at least one fluid is a liquid driven by an at least one electrically activated pump, wherein at least one feature of the liquid contained in the chamber is used as an indicator, which feature the at least one pump drives along the chamber either directly or indirectly, via another fluid in the chamber, along adjacent indices of an indicator visible to an observer, the indication device further including a feature location sensor which senses the different characteristic physical property of the fluids so as to localize the feature and a feedback controller which cooperate so as to activate the pump to move the feature to a desired location in the chamber in order to indicate to the observer, wherein at least one of the at least two immiscible fluids is an electrically conducting liquid driven by the pump and the other is an immiscible, relatively non-conductive fluid, the indication device further including a feature location sensor and a feedback controller which cooperate so as to move the feature to a desired location in the chamber in order to indicate a quantity to the observer.
An indication device comprising an elongated fluid chamber containing at least two immiscible fluids, at least one of which has a characteristic physical property different from the other fluid and at least one fluid is a liquid driven by an at least one electrically activated pump, wherein at least one feature of the liquid contained in the chamber is used as an indicator, which feature the at least one pump drives along the chamber either directly or indirectly, via another fluid in the chamber, along adjacent indices of an indicator visible to an observer, the indication device further including a feature location sensor which senses the different characteristic physical property of the fluids so as to localize the feature and a feedback controller which cooperate so as to activate the pump to move the feature to a desired location in the chamber in order to indicate to the observer, wherein the at least one pump is an MHD pump.
An indication device comprising an elongated fluid chamber containing at least two immiscible fluids, at least one of which has a characteristic physical property different from the other fluid and at least one fluid is a liquid driven by an at least one electrically activated pump, wherein at least one feature of the liquid contained in the chamber is used as an indicator, which feature the at least one pump drives along the chamber either directly or indirectly, via another fluid in the chamber, along adjacent indices of an indicator visible to an observer, the indication device further including a feature location sensor and a feedback controller which cooperate so as to activate the pump to move the feature to a desired location in the chamber in order to indicate to the observer, wherein the feature location sensor uses measured differences in physical characteristics or properties across the chamber as an input which the feedback controller uses to activate the at least one pump which moves the location of the feature to the desired location, and wherein further relative transparency is the physical characteristic used to detect the position of segment of the at least one liquid, so as to enable control thereof.
An indication device comprising an elongated fluid chamber containing at least two immiscible fluids, at least one of which has a characteristic physical property different from the other fluid and at least one fluid is a liquid driven by an at least one electrically activated pump, wherein at least one feature of the liquid contained in the chamber is used as an indicator, which feature the at least one pump drives along the chamber either directly or indirectly, via another fluid in the chamber, along adjacent indices of an indicator visible to an observer, the indication device further including a feature location sensor and a feedback controller which cooperate so as to activate the pump to move the feature to a desired location in the chamber in order to indicate to the observer, wherein the feature location sensor uses measured differences in physical characteristics or properties across the chamber as an input which the feedback controller uses to activate the at least one pump which moves the location of the feature to the desired location, and wherein further relative viscosity is the physical characteristic used to detect the position of segment of the at least one liquid, so as to enable control thereof.
An indication device comprising an elongated fluid chamber containing at least two immiscible fluids, at least one of which has a characteristic physical property different from the other fluid and at least one fluid is a liquid driven by an at least one electrically activated pump, wherein at least one feature of the liquid contained in the chamber is used as an indicator, which feature the at least one pump drives along the chamber either directly or indirectly, via another fluid in the chamber, along adjacent indices of an indicator visible to an observer, the indication device further including a fixed feature location sensor which directly senses the different characteristic physical property of the fluids and a feedback controller which cooperate so as to activate the pump to move the feature to a desired location in the chamber in order to indicate to the observer, wherein a conductivity sensitive film is the feature location sensor.
An indication device comprising an elongated fluid chamber containing at least two immiscible fluids, at least one of which has a characteristic physical property different from the other fluid and at least one fluid is a liquid driven by an at least one electrically activated pump, wherein at least one feature of the liquid contained in the chamber is used as an indicator, which feature the at least one pump drives along the chamber either directly or indirectly, via another fluid in the chamber, along adjacent indices of an indicator visible to an observer, the indication device further including a feature location sensor and a feedback controller which cooperate so as to activate the pump to move the feature to a desired location in the chamber in order to indicate to the observer, wherein the elongated fluid chamber is an endless closed loop.
An indication device comprising an elongated fluid chamber containing at least two immiscible fluids, at least one of which has a characteristic physical property different from the other fluid and at least one fluid is a liquid driven by an at least one electrically activated pump, wherein at least one feature of the liquid contained in the chamber is used as an indicator, which feature the at least one pump drives along the chamber either directly or indirectly, via another fluid in the chamber, along adjacent indices of an indicator visible to an observer, the indication device further including a feature location sensor and a feedback controller which cooperate so as to activate the pump to move the feature to a desired location in the chamber in order to indicate to the observer, and wherein the at least one liquid is enclosed in the elongated chamber of a closed loop that has at least one exposed, at least partially transparent surface allowing the observer to observe the position of the at least one feature of the liquid, the indication device further comprising a mechanism accommodating thermal expansion and/or contraction of the fluids, the mechanism disposed so as to be substantially invisible to the observer, wherein the mechanism accommodating thermal expansion or contraction is selected from one of a group of mechanisms consisting of a thin and flexible wafer enclosing the chamber in an airtight and watertight manner and disposed out of the field of view of the observer, a separate gas-filled chamber disposed out of the field of view of the observer, and a soft flexible material disposed in a portion of the chamber which is out of the field of view of the observer.
An indication device comprising an elongated fluid chamber containing at least two immiscible fluids, at least one of which has a characteristic physical property different from the other fluid and at least one fluid is a liquid driven by an at least one electrically activated pump, wherein at least one feature of the liquid contained in the chamber is used as an indicator, which feature the at least one pump drives along the chamber either directly or indirectly, via another fluid in the chamber, along adjacent indices of an indicator visible to an observer, the indication device further including a fixed feature location sensor and a feedback controller which cooperate so as to activate the pump to move the feature to a desired location in the chamber in order to indicate to the observer, wherein at least one of the at least two immiscible fluids is an electrically conducting liquid driven by the pump and the other is an immiscible, relatively nonconductive fluid, the indication device further including a feedback controller which cooperate so as to move the feature to a desired location in the chamber in order to indicate a quantity to the observer.
An indication device comprising an elongated fluid chamber containing at least two immiscible fluids, at least one of which has a characteristic physical property different from the other fluid and at least one fluid is a liquid driven by an at least one electrically activated pump, wherein at least one feature of the liquid contained in the chamber is used as an indicator, which feature the at least one pump drives along the chamber either directly or indirectly, via another fluid in the chamber, along adjacent indices of an indicator visible to an observer, the indication device further including a fixed feature location sensor and a feedback controller which cooperate so as to activate the pump to move the feature to a desired location in the chamber in order to indicate to the observer, wherein the at least one pump is an MHD pump.
An indication device comprising an elongated fluid chamber containing at least two immiscible fluids, at least one of which has a characteristic physical property different from the other fluid and at least one fluid is a liquid driven by an at least one electrically activated pump, wherein at least one feature of the liquid contained in the chamber is used as an indicator, which feature the at least one pump drives along the chamber either directly or indirectly, via another fluid in the chamber, along adjacent indices of an indicator visible to an observer, the indication device further including a fixed feature location sensor which directly senses the different characteristic physical property of the fluids so as to localize the feature, the feature location sensor comprising a conductivity sensitive film, so as to localize the feature and a feedback controller which cooperate so as to activate the pump to move the feature to a desired location in the chamber in order to indicate to the observer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.