US 4,918,979 AGranted

Liquid testing apparatus

AssigneeGodfrey Howden Pty. Ltd.

InventorsDerry F. Pearce, Eugene Dimitriadis, James R. Starkey

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Abstract

The liquid testing apparatus comprises a housing incorporating a device for measuring the refractive index and a device for measuring the sonic velocity of the liquid under test. The housing comprises a chamber into which a prism protrudes and approximately collimated light is transmitted through the prism. By measuring the amount of totally internally refracted light, the refractive index of the liquid in the chamber is determined. A further chamber is provided in the housing and a sonic pulse transducer is disposed at one end of the further chamber which also receives the reflected pulse from the other end of the further chamber. A temperature sensor is also provided. The apparatus provides one or more signals to display the quality of the liquid and/or to provide a control of the liquid flow or of a device using the liquid. The apparatus may form part of a container drain plug and incorporate a drain valve.

Claims17

Dependent claims

Liquid testing apparatus including a housing comprising means defining at least one chamber capable of receiving liquid to be tested, optically transparent reflecting means in the housing and having a plurality of reflecting surfaces in said means defining at least one chamber, light transmitting means in the housing for radiating light onto said reflecting means, reflected light receiving means in the housing for receiving light from the transmitting means which has been reflected on said plurality of surfaces and means for converting said reflected light into a first electrical signal indicative of the refractive index of the liquid, means in the housing for generating at least one sonic pulse and for transmitting same through liquid to be tested in said means defining at least one chamber, means in the housing for generating a second electrical signal indicative of the sonic velocity of the liquid and derived from said at least one transmitted pulse, means in the housing for sensing the temperature of the liquid under test, means in the housing for generating a third signal dependent on the temperature sensed and means for transmitting said first, second and third signals for determining the quality of the tested liquid.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.