Device for measuring flow rate
AssigneeLucas + Co.
InventorWilliam Peter Stuart-Bruges
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A device for measuring the rate of flow of fluids in a conduit is positioned within the conduit and includes a tube having two spaced part detectors which are separated by shielding units either side of them which are not in electrical contact with the detector units, when a variable electrical field is applied between the walls of the conduit and the shielding units the detector units detect discontinuities in the fluid, e.g., by detecting changes in the ratio of voltage to current and by correlating the movement of the discontinuities between the detector units, it is possible to measure the rate of flow of the fluid.
Claims18
A device for measuring the flow rate of fluids in a conduit which device is adapted to fit within the conduit and comprises
- (i) two spaced apart detector means a known distance apart capable of detecting and measuring an electric field,
- (ii) shielding units made from an electrically conductive material and
- (iii) means to apply an electrical field between the device and the wall of the conduit, the shielding units being positioned between the detector means and being in electrical contact with each other but not in electrical contact with the detector means and the detector means being connected to a measuring means able to measure variations in the electrical field between the conduit wall and the device.
A method for measuring the flow rate of a fluid in a conduit, which method comprises placing within the flowing fluid a detector unit which comprises two linearly spaced apart detectors which have a shielding unit made from an electrically conductive material positioned between them, but not in electrical contact with them, and which have a shielding unit made from an electrically conductive material upstream and downstream of the detectors and adjacent, but not in electrical contact with them, which method comprises applying an electrical field between the device and the wall of the conduit and measuring variations in the electrical field by means of the detectors and, by correlating discontinuities in the electrical field, measuring the flow rate of the fluid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.