Fiber optic temperature sensor
AssigneeSentec Ltd
InventorsTakeo Sawatari, Philip A. Gaubis
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Abstract
A fiber optic temperature sensor uses a light source which transmits light through an optical fiber to a sensor head at the opposite end of the optical fiber from the light source. The sensor head has a housing coupled to the end of the optical fiber. A metallic reflective surface is coupled to the housing adjacent the end of the optical fiber to form a gap having a predetermined length between the reflective surface and the optical fiber. A detection system is also coupled to the optical fiber which determines the temperature at the sensor head from an interference pattern of light which is reflected from the reflective surface.
Claims20
A method for measuring temperature comprising:
- transmitting light in an optical fiber to a sensor head;
- reflecting a first light from a first surface in said sensor head;
- reflecting a second light from a second surface in said sensor head;
- generating an interference pattern by combining said first light and said second light;
- refracting said interference pattern into wavelengths;
- retrieving calibration data from a memory, said calibration data comprising a plurality of reference patterns corresponding to a plurality of previously measured reference temperatures;
- and
- determining the temperature by comparing said interference pattern with the calibration data.
A method for measuring temperature, comprising the steps of:
- transmitting light through an optical fiber to a sensor head;
- detecting an interference pattern generated by said sensor head;
- and,
- comparing said interference pattern with a plurality of reference patterns corresponding to a plurality of temperatures.
A method for measuring temperature, comprising the steps of:
- transmitting light through an optical fiber to a sensor head;
- detecting an interference pattern generated by said sensor head;
- normalizing said interference pattern relative to a reference pattern;
- and,
- measuring a distance between first and second fringes of said normalized interference pattern, said distance indicative of said temperature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.