Method of flow measurement and flow meter
OwnerPer Ask, Anders Engberg +2inventors
InventorsPer Ask, Anders Engberg, Anders Spangberg, Ake berg
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Abstract
A method of urine flow measurement where liquid in the form of a free-fall jet is collected in a collecting vessel and the vertical force produced by the collecting vessel on a measuring device, for example a scale or the like, is sensed, and the change in time of said force is utilized for obtaining a measure of the flow corresponding to the jet. The method is especially characterized in that the effect of the impulse of the jet on the sensed force is eliminated by deflecting the vertical flow constituted by the jet to a substantially horizontal flow by a rotating device before the liquid is caused to contact the vessel. The invention also relates to a flow meter.
Claims15
A method for measuring the rate at which urine is emitted without interference from the impulse force of the urine stream comprising:
- collecting urine in the form of a free-falling stream in a collecting vessel having substantially vertical walls;
- deflecting the free-flowing stream of urine using a rotating device contained within the collecting vessel but mounted separately therefrom, said device being rotated at a speed sufficient to generate a centrifugal force such that the vertical velocity of the urine is converted into horizontal velocity;
- causing the deflected urine stream to flow downward from the rotating device into a measuring chamber, said chamber being equipped with means for measuring the amount of urine contained in said measuring chamber;
- determining the rate of change of said amount of urine in the measuring chamber, whereby the rate of urine emission can be accurately measured without interference from the impulse force of the urine stream.
An apparatus for measuring the rate at which urine is emitted without interference from the impulse force of the urine stream comprising:
- a collecting vessel for receiving urine in the form of a free-falling stream, said vessel having a base and generally cylindrical vertical walls;
- mounting means to support the weight of the vessel and urine collected therein;
- a rotatable device positioned within the vessel such that after entering the collecting vessel, the free-falling stream of urine will strike the rotatable device, said rotatable device having an outer edge substantially adjacent to but not touching the interior of said vertical walls of the vessel, and said rotatable device dividing the vessel into an upper urine receiving chamber and a lower urine measuring chamber;
- means for rotating the rotatable device at a rate sufficient to cause the free-falling stream of urine striking the rotatable device to be deflected toward the vertical walls such that the vertical velocity of the urine stream is converted to horizontal velocity;
- and
- means for measuring the weight of the vessel and the urine collected in the urine measuring chamber, and determining therefrom the rate of urine emission, wherein the rotatable device is mounted separately from the collecting vessel such that neither the rate of rotation of the device nor the impulse force of the free-falling stream of urine contributes to the measured weight of the urine collected.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.