US 12,181,316 B2 · Vibronic sensor

Abstract

A device for determining and/or monitoring at least one process variable of a medium in a container includes four, rod-shaped elements arranged on a membrane, three piezoelectric elements and an electronics system, wherein one first and one second rod-shaped element are arranged and configured such that they form a mechanically vibratable unit, wherein the device is configured to excite the vibratable unit via an excitation signal to create mechanical oscillations, to receive the mechanical oscillations of the vibratable unit, to convert them into a first received signal, to transmit a transmitted signal, and to receive a second received signal, and wherein the electronics system is configured to determine the at least one process variable based on the first and/or second received signal.

Claims15

Dependent claims

A device for determining and/or monitoring at least one process variable of a medium in a container, the device comprising:

four, rod-shaped elements disposed on a membrane, including a first element and a second element, wherein the first element and the second element are arranged and configured as to define a mechanically vibratable unit;
three piezoelectric elements;
and
an electronics system,
wherein the device is configured to:
excite the vibratable unit via an excitation signal to generate mechanical oscillations;
receive the mechanical oscillations of the vibratable unit and convert the mechanical oscillations into a first received signal;
transmit a transmitted signal;
and
receive a second received signal, and
wherein the electronics system is configured to determine the at least one process variable based on the first received signal and/or the second received signal.

8 more elements

A method for determining and/or monitoring at least one process variable of a medium in a container, the method comprising:

exciting a mechanically vibratable unit of a sensor unit with an excitation signal to generate mechanical oscillations, wherein the vibratable unit includes a first rod-shaped element and a second rod-shaped element;
receiving the mechanical oscillations of the vibratable unit;
converting the mechanical oscillations into a first received signal;
transmitting a transmitted signal;
and
receiving a second received signal,
wherein the at least one process variable is determined based upon the first received signal and/or second received signal,
wherein the sensor unit further includes a third rod-shaped element and/or a fourth rod-shaped element, wherein the third element and/or fourth element are configured as a baffle, which is configured and arranged to generate vortices in the medium when the medium is flowing across the sensor unit, wherein the vortices have a speed-dependent, vortex shedding frequency from the baffle,
wherein a vortex shedding frequency is determined based on pressure fluctuations, caused by the vortices, via the vibratable unit, and
wherein a Strouhal number of the medium, a Reynolds number of the medium, and/or a variable derived from the Strouhal number and/or the Reynolds number is determined based on the vortex shedding frequency.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Vibronic sensor

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Vibronic sensor

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims15