Transducer housing for an ultrasonic fluid meter
AssigneeDaniel Measurement and Control, Inc.
InventorsHenry Charles Straub, Jr., Charles R. Allen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A transducer housing for an ultrasonic fluid meter. At least some of the illustrative embodiments a transducer housing comprising a housing having a proximal end, a distal end and an internal volume, the housing couples to a spoolpiece of an ultrasonic meter, and an acoustic matching layer that fluidly seals the distal end from the internal volume (wherein the housing accepts a piezoelectric element within the internal volume and proximate to the acoustic matching layer). The acoustic matching layer has an acoustic impedance between that of the piezoelectric element and a fluid within the ultrasonic meter.
Claims20
A transducer housing comprising:
- a housing having a proximal end, a distal end and an internal volume, the housing configured to couple to a spoolpiece of an ultrasonic meter;
- an acoustic matching layer fluidly sealed directly to the distal end of the internal volume;
- and
- an opening through the proximal end, the opening configured to enable selective insertion of a piezoelectric element to be proximate to the acoustic matching layer, and removal of the piezoelectric element, while the housing is coupled to the spoolpiece;
- wherein the acoustic matching layer is configured to remain fluidly sealed to the distal end in the absence of the piezoelectric element from the internal volume with the acoustic matching layer exposed to a highest expected pressure of fluid within the ultrasonic meter;
- wherein the acoustic matching layer has an acoustic impedance between that of the piezoelectric element and a fluid within the ultrasonic meter.
An ultrasonic meter comprising:
- a spoolpiece having an internal flow path for a measured fluid;
- and
- a transducer housing in operational relationship to the spoolpiece, the
- transducer housing comprising:
- an internal volume substantially at atmospheric pressure;
- and
- an acoustic matching layer that seals the internal volume from the measured fluid, wherein the acoustic matching layer has an acoustic impedance between that of a piezoelectric crystal and the measured fluid, and wherein the acoustic matching layer is configured to remain between the internal volume and the measured fluid in the absence of the piezoelectric crystal and in the presence of a highest expected measured fluid pressure;
- wherein the transducer housing is configured to receive the piezoelectric element to be proximate to the acoustic matching layer while the acoustic matching layer is exposed to the highest expected measured fluid pressure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.