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US 12,298,170 B2Granted
Ultrasonic flow metering
AssigneeDune Labs Inc.
InventorsGaro S. Sarkissian, Gallin C. Chen, Bruce J. Buchan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Embodiments include a novel, easy to install, non-intrusive, ultrasonic water flow meter with a self-calibrating three-piezoelectric transducer configuration attached externally to a water pipe, that allows for accurate measurement of water flow, and can provide the flow data to a remote system for billing and further analysis. The water flow data can further be analyzed for water consumption by individual fixtures, in support of conservation and usage management efforts.
Claims20
An ultrasonic flow meter, the ultrasonic flow meter comprising:
- a clamp-on carrier assembly configured to be externally mounted on a pipe, wherein a medium intermittently has a direction of flow through the pipe;
- at least three ultrasonic transducers, mounted to the clamp-on carrier assembly, wherein:
- two or more of the at least three ultrasonic transducers are configured to perform at least one of:
- transmitting ultrasonic acoustic waves that propagate at oblique angles relative to the direction of flow through the pipe of the medium;
- or
- sensing ultrasonic acoustic waves that propagate at oblique angles relative to the direction of flow through the pipe of the medium;
- and
- one or more of the at least three ultrasonic transducers is configured to perform at least one of:
- transmitting ultrasonic acoustic waves that propagate at right angles relative to the direction of flow through the pipe of the medium;
- or
- sensing ultrasonic acoustic waves that propagate at right angles relative to the direction of flow through the pipe of the medium;
- and
- a processing system, mounted to the clamp-on carrier assembly, that is configured to perform an auto-discovery and self-calibration process comprising:
- obtaining a first set of measurements, wherein:
- obtaining the first set of measurements comprises using a plurality of different pairings of the at least three ultrasonic transducers to transmit and sense a plurality of ultrasonic acoustic waves;
- and
- the first set of measurements are obtained, when the medium is not flowing, based on a subset of the plurality of ultrasonic acoustic waves;
- and
- calibrating the processing system, based on the first set of measurements,
- wherein the calibrating comprises;
- generating, based on the first set of measurements, one or more calibration factors for calculating a distance that a given ultrasonic acoustic wave travels when the medium is flowing;
- and
- calibrating the process system based on the one or more calibration factors and one or more additional sets of measurements, obtained when the medium is flowing, using the at least three ultrasonic transducers.
20 more elements
A method for calibrating an ultrasonic flow meter, the method comprising:
- obtaining, from at least three ultrasonic transducers, a first set of measurements, wherein:
- the at least three ultrasonic transducers are mounted, along with a processing system performing the method, to a clamp-on carrier assembly configured to be externally mounted on a pipe;
- a medium intermittently has a direction of flow through the pipe;
- two or more of the at least three ultrasonic transducers are configured to perform at least one of:
- transmitting ultrasonic acoustic waves that propagate at oblique angles relative to the direction of flow through the pipe of the medium;
- or
- sensing ultrasonic acoustic waves that propagate at oblique angles relative to the direction of flow through the pipe of the medium;
- one or more of the at least three ultrasonic transducers is configured to perform at least one of:
- transmitting ultrasonic acoustic waves that propagate at right angles relative to the direction of flow through the pipe of the medium;
- or
- sensing ultrasonic acoustic waves that propagate at right angles relative to the direction of flow through the pipe of the medium;
- obtaining the first set of measurements comprises using a plurality of different pairings of the at least three ultrasonic transducers to transmit and sense a plurality of ultrasonic acoustic waves;
- and
- the first set of measurements are obtained, when the medium is not flowing, based on a subset of the plurality of ultrasonic acoustic waves;
- and
- generating, based on the first set of measurements, one or more calibration factors for calculating a distance that a given ultrasonic acoustic wave travels when the medium is flowing;
- and
- calibrating the processing system based on the one or more calibration factors and one or more additional sets of measurements, obtained when the medium is flowing, using the at least three ultrasonic transducers.
15 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.