Back to results
US 4,838,705 AGranted
Apparatus for determining percent of moisture
AssigneeArizona Instrument Corporation
InventorsCharles H. Byers, Jr., Terry L. Michl, Dennis E. Acord
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The apparatus determines the content by weight of a volatile fluid, such as water, in a sample under test where the volatile fluid is typically less than one-half percent by weight by heating the sample in a sealed chamber to evaporate the volatile fluid under test. The evaporated fluid is passed through a collector which senses and collects only the evaporated volatile fluid of interest which collection correspondingly increases the weight of the collector. Measuring the weight change of the collector and comparing it with the initial weight of the test sample provides a determination of the percent of the sensed volatile fluid in the test sample.
Claims45
Apparatus for collecting and weighing a volatile fluid of interest from a sample under test, said apparatus comprising in combination:
- (a) an oven for heating the sample under test and converting the volatile fluid of interest to a gaseous state;
- (b) a collector for collecting the volatile fluid of interest, said collector increasing in weight during accretion of the volatile fluid of interest;
- (c) means for conveying flow of the volatile fluid of interest from said oven to said collector;
- and
- (d) means for determining the change in weight of said collector in response to collection of the volatile fluid of interest and during flow of the volatile fluid of interest into said collector, said weight change determining means including means for supporting said collector, means for accommodating repetitively downward movement of said supporting means from an initial position in response to the increase in weight of said collector and means for repetitively repositioning said collector to the initial position after each downward movement;
- and
- (e) means for interconnecting said conveying means with said collector, said interconnecting means including a length of flexible tubing which accommodates repositioning of said collector relative to said conveying means without imposing any changes in forces acting upon said collector due to any flexing of said tubing.
4 more elements
Apparatus for collecting and simultaneously weighing a volatile fluid of interest from a sample under test, said apparatus comprising in combination:
- (a) an oven for heating the sample under test and converting the volatile fluid of interest to a gaseous state;
- (b) a collector for collecting only the volatile fluid of interest;
- (c) means for conveying flow of the volatile fluid of interest from said oven to said collector and said conveying means including a length of flexible tubing for conveying the volatile fluid of interest from a fixed location of said apparatus to said collector;
- and
- (d) an electromagnetic force restoration balance for determining the change in weight of said collector in response to collection of the volatile fluid of interest by repetitively repositioning a said collector during weight accretion and wherein said tubing isolates said collector from said conveying means to eliminate any apparent weight change of said collector that would otherwise be imposed by forces associated with said conveying means due to relative movement between said collector and said conveying means.
2 more elements
A method for determining the percent of weight of a fluid of interest in a test sample of known weight, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) heating the test sample within a chamber to convert the volatile fluid of interest to a gaseous state;
- (b) conveying the gaseous volatile fluid of interest from the chamber to a collector;
- (c) collecting the gaseous volatile fluid of interest in the collector;
- (d) determining the change in weight of the collector in response to collection of the gaseous volatile fluid of interest by supporting the collector on an electromagnetic force balance while the collector is in fluid communication with the chamber and while the gaseous fluid of interest is conveyed from said chamber to said collector;
- (e) comparing the change in weight of the collector with the weight of the test sample to determine the percent by weight of the fluid of interest in the test sample;
- and
- (f) isolating the collector from the imposition of any forces due to movement of the collector relative to the chamber during the accretion of weight by the collector.
4 more elements
Apparatus for determining by weight the amount of volatile fluid of interest in a sample under test, said apparatus comprising in combination:
- (a) a closed compartment for housing the sample;
- (b) means for heating the sample in said compartment to convert the volatile fluid of interest into a gaseous state;
- (c) means for collecting the volatile fluid of interest;
- (d) means for interconnecting said compartment with said collecting means in fluid communication with one another;
- (e) means for urging flow of the volatile fluid of interest in a gaseous state from said compartment to said collecting means;
- (f) means for determining the change in weight of said collecting means resulting from the collection of the volatile fluid of interest while said collecting means is in fluid communication with said compartment and during flow of the volatile fluid of interest to said collecting means by repetitively vertically repositioning said collecting means commensurate with the weight accretion of said collecting means;
- and
- (g) means for isolating said collecting means from any forces which would be imposed by said interconnecting means upon said collecting means as a result of vertical repositioning of said collecting means relative to said interconnecting means during flow of the volatile fluid of interest through said interconnection means and said collecting means during operation of said determining means.
5 more elements
Apparatus for collecting and weighing a volatile fluid of interest from a sample under test, said apparatus comprising in combination:
- (a) an oven for heating the sample under test and converting the volatile fluid of interest to a gaseous state;
- (b) a collector for collecting the volatile fluid of interest;
- (c) means for conveying flow of the volatile fluid of interest from said oven to said collector;
- (d) means for determining the change in weight of said collector in response to the collection of the volatile fluid of interest, said determining means including means for supporting said collector during weight accretion and for accommodating repetitive downward movement of said collector in response to the weight accretion and means for repetitively repositioning said collector upwardly after each downward movement;
- and
- (e) said conveying means including a length of flexible tubing for isolating said collector against any apparent weight change, that would be sensed by said determining means due to relative movement between said collector and said conveying means.
3 more elements
Apparatus for collecting and weighing a volatile fluid of interest from a sample under test, said apparatus comprising in combination:
- (a) an oven for heating the sample under test and converting the volatile fluid of interest to a gaseous state;
- (b) means for conveying flow of the gaseous volatile fluid of interest from said oven;
- (c) a collector for collecting the gaseous volatile fluid of interest;
- (d) means for interconnecting said conveying means with said collector;
- (e) said interconnecting means including means for isolating said collector from said conveying means to eliminate any apparent weight change imposed by forces associated with said interconnecting means due to relative movement between said collector and said conveying means;
- and
- (f) means responsive to a weight increase of said collector due to accretion of the fluid of interest therein for positionally moving said collector relative to said conveying means and for determining the change in weight of said collector as a result of such movement during collection of the volatile fluid of interest.
4 more elements
Apparatus for collecting and weighing a volatile fluid of interest from a sample under test, said apparatus comprising in combination:
- (a) an oven for heating the sample under test and converting at least the volatile fluid of interest to a gaseous product;
- (b) means for conveying gaseous products, including the volatile fluid of interest, from said oven to a location remote from said oven;
- (c) a collector for receiving the gaseous products and for collecting and accumulating the volatile fluid of interest, said collector increasing in weight in response to the quantity of the volatile fluid of interest collected, said collection including an inlet in fluid communication with said conveying means for receiving the gaseous products and an outlet for discharging the gaseous products received by said collector and not collected by said collector;
- (d) means responsive to the weight of said collector for determining the change in weight of said collector simultaneously with accumulation of the volatile fluid of interest within said collector during flow of the volatile fluid of interest into said collector;
- (e) means for removably supporting said collector upon said weight determining means;
- and
- (f) means for isolating said collector from imposition of any forces due to relative vertical movement between said collector and said conveying means while the volatile fluid of interest is being collected.
4 more elements
Apparatus for collecting and weighing a volatile fluid of interest from a sample under test, said apparatus comprising in combination:
- (a) an oven for heating the sample under test and converting the volatile fluid of interest to a gaseous state;
- (b) a collector having an inlet for collecting the volatile fluid of interest;
- (c) an electromagnetic force restoration balance for determining the change in weight of said collector in response to collection of the volatile fluid of interest by repetitively restoring the position of said collector during weight accretion and for sensing the cumulative forces necessary for restoration;
- and
- (d) means for conveying the flow of the volatile fluid of interest from said oven to said collector, said conveying means including a length of flexible tubing connected to said inlet, said length of tubing being sufficiently limp to avoid imposing any apparent weight change of said collector due to flexing of said tubing during repositioning of said collector by said electromagnetic force restoration balance.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.