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US 2006/0123910 A1Published application
Apparatus and method for measuring the mass of a substance
AssigneeThe Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.
InventorsBrian Cunningham, John Williams
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for measuring the mass of a substance includes a sensor having a membrane layer, the membrane for receiving the substance thereon, an oscillator device for driving the membrane at a reference resonant frequency, a frequency detection device for determining a change in the reference resonant frequency caused by the presence of the substance on the membrane, and a mass determining device for determining the mass of the substance, the change in the reference resonant frequency being indicative of the mass of the substance.
Claims18
An apparatus comprising:
- a sensor having a membrane layer, the membrane for receiving the substance thereon;
- an oscillator device for driving said membrane at a reference resonant frequency;
- a frequency detection device for determining a change in the reference resonant frequency caused by the presence of the substance on the membrane;
- a heating device for heating said substance to evaporate moisture from said substance, said frequency detection device determining the change in the reference resonant frequency after the moisture is evaporated from said substance;
- a mass determining device for determining the mass of the substance, the amount of change in the reference resonant frequency being indicative of the mass of the substance;
- and
- a moisture content determining device for determining the moisture content of the substance by comparing the mass of the substance before it is heated to the mass of the substance after it is heated.
4 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- a sensor having a membrane layer, the membrane for receiving the substance thereon;
- an oscillator device for driving said membrane at a reference resonant frequency;
- a frequency detection device for determining a change in the reference resonant frequency caused by the presence of the substance on the membrane;
- a mass determining device for determining the mass of the substance, the amount of change in the reference resonant frequency being indicative of the mass of the substance;
- a heating device for heating said substance with a temperature that is increasing at a constant rate which causes the reference resonant frequency to increase at a first rate as the mass of the substance decreases;
- a boiling point determining device for determining the boiling point of the substance when the rate of change of the reference resonant frequency becomes greater than the first rate.
3 more elements
A method comprising:
- driving a membrane of a sensor at a reference resonant frequency;
- depositing the substance onto the membrane of the sensor;
- measuring a shifted frequency within the membrane;
- detecting a change of the shifted frequency from the reference resonant frequency;
- determining the mass of the substance based on the change of the shifted frequency from the reference resonant frequency;
- heating the substance after the mass of the substance is determined to evaporate any moisture in the substance;
- measuring the post-heating frequency in the membrane;
- detecting a change of the post-heating frequency from the shifted frequency;
- determining the mass of the substance based on the change of the post heating frequency from the shifted frequency;
- and
- determining the moisture content of the substance based on the difference in the mass of the substance before the heating step and the mass of the substance after the heating step.
8 more elements
A method comprising:
- driving a membrane of a sensor at a reference resonant frequency;
- placing the sensor in a fluid environment and allowing the substance contained in the fluid environment to collect on the membrane, the substance including a volatile solution;
- measuring a shifted frequency within the membrane;
- detecting a change of the shifted frequency from the reference resonant frequency;
- and
- determining the mass of the substance based on the change of the shifted frequency from the reference resonant frequency.
3 more elements
A system comprising:
- a sensor having a membrane layer for receiving a substance thereon;
- an oscillator for driving the membrane layer at a reference resonant frequency;
- a solution deposition device for delivering a known quantity of the substance to the membrane layer;
- a transducer for detecting the change in frequency of the membrane layer due to the substance;
- a heating device for heating the to evaporate any moisture in the substance;
- and
- a processor configured to automatically determine the mass of the particles based on the change in frequency, and to determine the moisture content of the substance based on the difference in the mass of the substance before heating the substance and the mass of the substance after heating the substance.
4 more elements
A system comprising:
- a flexural plate wave device;
- an oscillator for driving the flexural plate wave device at a reference resonant frequency;
- a solution deposition device for delivering a known quantity of a solution containing particles to the flexural plate wave device;
- a transducer for detecting the change in frequency of the flexural plate wave device due to the particles after the solution evaporates;
- and
- a processor configured to automatically determine the mass of the particles based on the change in frequency, and to determine the boiling point of the particles.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.