US 4,397,099 AGranted

Electronic apparatus for measuring the difference of elevation between two points

OwnerEdwin Gaucher, Rejean Desbiens +1inventors

InventorsEdwin Gaucher, Rejean Desbiens, Regis Desbiens

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Abstract

In an electronic apparatus for measuring a difference of elevation between two points, said apparatus comprising: a tube made of a flexible material; a fluid with a low viscosity completely filling said tube; two piezoelectronical pressure transducers each connected to a source of electrical power and mounted at one extremity of the tube in contact with the fluid filling said tube to produce signal a proportional to the pressure of this fluid; electronic means connected to each of said piezoelectrical pressure transducers for processing the signals received from said transducers, said processing means comprising means for generating a signal proportional to the difference between the signals received from the transducers and means for converting said generated signal into a value indicating the difference of elevation between the extremities of the tube, and means for displaying said value indicating the difference of elevation, the improvement wherein it further comprises means for generating a signal proportional to the mean temperature of the fluid filling said tube; and means for correcting said generated signal proportional to the difference between the signals received from the transducers, with said generated signal proportional to the mean temperature in order to compensate any variation of said generated signal due to a variation in the fluid temperature along the tube.

Claims6

Dependent claims

An electronic apparatus for measuring a difference of elevation between two points, said apparatus comprising:

(a) a tube made of a flexible material;
(b) a fluid with a low viscosity completely filling said tube;
(c) two piezoelectronical pressure transducers each connected to a source of electrical power and mounted at one extremity of the tube in contact with the fluid filling said tube to produce a signal proportional to the pressure of this fluid;
(d) electronic means connected to each of said piezoelectrical pressure transducers for processing the signals received from said transducers, said processing means comprising means for generating a signal proportional to the difference between the signals received from the transducers and means for converting said generated signal into a value indicating the difference of elevation between the extremities of the tube,
(e) means for displaying said value indicating the difference of elevation,
(f) means for generating a signal proportional to the mean temperature of the fluid filling said tube;
and
(g) means for correcting said generated signal proportional to the difference between the signals received from the transducers, with said generated signal proportional to the mean temperature in order to compensate any variation of said generated signal due to a variation in the fluid temperature along the tube, wherein:
said correcting means comprises means for dividing the signal proportional to the difference of values between the signal received from the transducers by the signal proportional to the mean temperature to give a corrected output signal and
said converting means comprises an analog digital converter receiving the output signal of the dividing means and transmitting a corresponding value indicating the difference of elevation to the displaying means.

7 more elements

An electronic apparatus for measuring a difference of elevation between two points, said apparatus comprising:

(a) a tube made of a flexible material;
(b) a fluid with a low viscosity completely filling said tube;
(c) two piezoelectronical pressure transducers each connected to a source of electrical power and mounted at one extremity of the tube in contact with the fluid filling said tube to produce a signal proportional to the pressure of this fluid;
(d) electronic means connected to each of said piezoelectrical pressure transducers for processing the signals received from said transducers, said processing means comprising means for generating a signal proportional to the difference between the signals received from the transducers and means for converting said generated signal into a value indicating the difference of elevation between the extremities of the tube,
(e) means for displaying said value indicating the difference of elevation,
(f) means for generating a signal proportional to the mean temperature of the fluid filling said tube;
and
(g) means for correcting said generated signal proportional to the difference between the signals received from the transducers, with said generated signal proportional to the mean temperature in order to compensate any variation of said generated signal due to a variation in the fluid temperature along the tube, wherein the means for generating a signal proportional to the mean temperature of the fluid comprises an element extending along the tube in the fluid and having a low electrical resistivity, and a voltage reference generator for supplying said element with a stable, D.C. voltage.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.