Process and apparatus for monitoring the pressure prevailing in a vessel or receptacle
AssigneeMutec Ingenierie
InventorAndre Pailler
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In a purely optical process for monitoring the pressure prevailing in a container without contact with the container, the cap of the container is illuminated by an incident beam and a reflected monitoring beam is obtained; the latter is intercepted by a diffusing support, making it possible to obtain a spot of light observed by a linear video camera. The video signal representing the pressure, after conversion into an electric output signal, makes it possible to monitor or measure continuously the pressure in the container.
Claims13
A process for monitoring pressure prevailing in a vessel delimited by a rigid exterior wall in which a substantially flat monitoring member is provided which is adapted to curve through the action of a difference in pressure between the interior of said vessel and the outside, comprising:
- (a) directing an incident light beam onto the monitoring member, thereby producing a monitoring light beam emitted from the monitoring member;
- (b) training the monitoring light beam on a diffusing support located at or near a reference focal point determined by a pre-established value of a difference in pressure between the interior of the vessel and the outside, to form a spot of light on the diffusing support;
- and
- (c) receiving an image formed by the spot of light in at least one dimension of said spot on the other side of the diffusing support in relation to the monitoring member and producing from said image a video signal representing the pressure prevailing in said vessel.
An apparatus for monitoring pressure prevailing in a vessel delimited by a rigid exterior wall in which a substantially flat monitoring member is provided which is adapted to curve through the action of a difference in pressure between the interior of said vessel and the outside, said apparatus comprising:
- (a) a light source for directing an incident light beam onto the monitoring member and for producing a monitoring light beam emitted from the monitoring member;
- b) a diffusing support disposed transversely in the monitoring light beam at or near a reference focal point determined by a pre-established value of a difference in pressure between the interior of the vessel and the outside;
- and
- (c) a video camera disposed on the other side of the diffusing support in relation to the monitoring member and configured to observe a light spot formed in the diffusing support by the monitoring light beam and to supply a video signal representing the pressure prevailing in said receptacle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.