Airline coffee brewer

An ultrasonic system for measuring the volume of brewed coffee in an airline coffee brewer, comprising:

• a lid for the brewer;
• if a control board;
• an ultrasonic sensor subsystem electronically coupled to said control board and located on the underside of the lid of said system wherein said subsystem is adapted to emit and receive ultrasonic signals and is able to process said signals to determine the exact level of brewed coffee present in an underlying carafe;
• and
• a single heating element for warming the water to be brewed into coffee and for maintaining the water to be brewed into coffee at a relatively constant temperature, said heating element controlled by a three phase SCR/diode bridge that converts the alternating current of an aircraft into direct current power.

An ultrasonic system for measuring the volume of a liquid in a container, comprising:

• a control board;
• a lid for the container;
• an ultrasonic sensor subsystem that is electronically coupled to said control board and is located within and on the underside of said lid, wherein said ultrasonic sensor subsystem is adapted to determine the level of liquid in the container, and said ultrasonic sensor subsystem comprises at least one ultrasonic pulse transducer for both transmitting and receiving ultrasonic signals while located within and on the underside of the lid of said system, said at least one transducer emits ultrasonic pulses towards the liquid/air interface of an underlying liquid column housed in the container, and said ultrasonic pulse transducer located within and on the underside of the lid of said system receives said ultrasonic pulses reflected back to the lid to determine the level of liquid in the container;
• and
• a boiler for heating the liquid.

An ultrasonic system for measuring the volume of a liquid in a container, comprising:

• a control board;
• a lid for the container;
• an ultrasonic sensor subsystem that is electronically coupled to said control board and is located within and on the underside of said lid, wherein said ultrasonic sensor subsystem is adapted to determine the exact level of liquid in the container by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic pulses, processing the receiving of said ultrasonic pulses and calculating the roundtrip time traveled by said ultrasonic pulses, and wherein said ultrasonic sensor subsystem comprises at least one ultrasonic pulse transducer for both transmitting and receiving ultrasonic signals while located within and on the underside of the lid of said system, said at least one transducer emits ultrasonic pulses towards the liquid/air interface of an underlying liquid column housed in the container, and said ultrasonic pulse transducer located within and on the underside of the lid of said system receives said ultrasonic pulses reflected back to the lid to determine the level of liquid in the container;
• and
• a boiler for heating the liquid.

An ultrasonic system for measuring the volume of a liquid in a container, comprising:

• a control board;
• a lid for the container, said lid being removable coupled to said system;
• an ultrasonic sensor subsystem that is electronically coupled to said control board and is located within and on the underside of said lid, wherein said ultrasonic sensor subsystem is adapted to determine the exact level of liquid in the container, and wherein said ultrasonic sensor subsystem comprises at least one ultrasonic pulse transducer for both transmitting and receiving ultrasonic signals while located within and on the underside of the lid of said system, said at least one transducer emits ultrasonic pulses towards the liquid/air interface of an underlying liquid column housed in the container, and said ultrasonic pulse transducer located within and on the underside of the lid of said system receives said ultrasonic pulses reflected back to the lid to determine the level of liquid in the container;
• and
• a boiler for heating the liquid.