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US 5,311,781 AGranted
Flowmeter for object-bearing liquids
AssigneeAdvanced Instrumentation Inc.
InventorWendall C. Gates
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The flowmeter of this invention computes the volumetric flow rate of a liquid by measuring the changing positions of objects carried in the flow. This information can be combined with data describing the size, shape and fraction of filling of the conduit. By measuring displacement instead of velocity, accurate measurements of liquid movement can be obtained even when flows are moving very slowly, or not at all.
Claims10
A flowmeter for measuring the movement of an object-bearing liquid in a conduit, the liquid containing one or more objects, the flowmeter comprising:
- an emitter which emits energy into the liquid at successive points in time;
- a receiver which receives energy reflected back from the one or more objects in the liquid at the successive points in time;
- means for converting the reflected energy received by the receiver from the one or more objects into a first set of individual electric signals corresponding to the energy reflected form the one or more objects;
- means for storing the first set of individual electric signals;
- means for comparing the first set of individual electric signals and a second set of individual electrical signals from the successive point in time, the comparing means have a predetermined threshold for comparing the first and second set of individual electrical signals, the comparing means identifying pairs of electric signals, one from the first set and one from the second set, being within the predetermined threshold of each other, each pair of electric signals defining an identified object at the successive points in time;
- and
- means for determining the displacement of each of the identified objects between the successive points in time.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.