Apparatus and method for measuring specific gravity (concentration) of medium using ultrasonic wave

An apparatus for measuring a specific gravity (concentration) of a medium using an ultrasonic wave, comprising:

• a manipulation unit including:
• a power button for applying or cutting off a power supply voltage in response to a user's manipulation;
• and
• a voltage measurement button for inputting a voltage measurement request;
• a transmission/reception unit for receiving an electric signal to convert the electric signal into the ultrasonic wave, and receiving the ultrasonic wave to convert an ultrasonic wave into an electric signal;
• a reference pulse generator for generating a reference pulse, to be used as a reference time, matching a measurement time;
• a pulse divider for receiving the reference pulse from the reference pulse generator and generating a control clock and an ultrasonic wave transmission pulse;
• a transmission driver including:
• a transmission pulse counter for generating the predetermined number of pulses from the ultrasonic wave transmission pulse outputted by the pulse divider in response to a transmission start signal of an external input, and outputting the generated pulses;
• and
• a transmission pulse controller for transmitting the pulses generated by the transmission pulse counter to the transmission/reception unit, and cutting off a transmission operation for the predetermined number of pulses in response to a control signal inputted by a controller;
• a receiving driver including:
• a reception amplification and waveform shaping unit for amplifying the pulses, received from the transmission/reception unit, by a predetermined level, and shaping a waveform of the pulses;
• a receiving pulse counter for counting reference pulses inputted by the reference pulse generator in response to a counting start signal inputted by the transmission pulse controller and stopping a counting operation for the reference pulses in response to a counting stop signal as an external input;
• and
• a receiving pulse controller for counting the pulses received from the reception amplification and waveform shaping unit in response to the counting start signal inputted by the transmission pulse controller, comparing a comparative value corresponding to a count signal from the reception pulse counter outputting a reception completion signal with a reference value corresponding to the predetermined number of pulses, if the counted number of pulses matches the predetermined number of pulses, and outputting the counting stop signal to the receiving pulse counter if the comparative value matches the reference value;
• a temperature measurer for measuring a temperature of a liquid;
• a display unit for displaying measurement information in response to a control signal as an external input;
• the controller for outputting the transmission start signal to the transmission pulse counter, after performing an auto setting operation in response to the control clock inputted by the pulse divider, if the power button of the manipulation unit is manipulated by the user so that the power supply voltage can be applied, keeping a standby state until the reception completion signal is inputted, counting a period of time between a pulse reception time and a pulse transmission time if the reception completion signal is inputted, measuring the specific gravity (concentration) of the medium, performing a control operation for displaying the measured specific gravity (concentration) and a temperature measured by a temperature measurer, outputting a voltage measurement control signal if the voltage measurement request button of the manipulation unit is manipulated by the user so that a voltage measurement request signal can be inputted, and performing a control operation for displaying a measured voltage on the display unit;
• a voltage measurer for measuring a terminal voltage of a battery in response to a voltage measurement control signal from the controller;
• and
• a transmitter for externally outputting data of the measured specific gravity (concentration), temperature and voltage according to a control operation of the controller.

A method for measuring a specific gravity (concentration) of a medium using an ultrasonic wave, comprising the steps of:

• (a) displaying at least one medium to be measured on a display unit such that a user can select the medium to be measured;
• (b) measuring a propagation velocity of the ultrasonic wave for the medium selected by the user, reading a conversion equation for a specific gravity (concentration) corresponding to the selected medium, and inputting a value of the measured propagation velocity of the ultrasonic wave into the conversion equation;
• and
• (c) displaying the value of the specific gravity (concentration) calculated automatically by the conversion equation for the specific gravity (concentration).