Ultrasonic flowmeter and ultrasonic flow rate measuring method
First Claim
1. An ultrasonic flowmeter comprising:
- first and second ultrasonic transducers that send and receive an ultrasonic wave and are arranged so as to form a propagation path for the ultrasonic wave in a flow path of fluid;
a transmission unit and a reception unit that drive the first ultrasonic transducer and the second ultrasonic transducer such that the ultrasonic wave is sent and received in two ways between the first ultrasonic transducer and the second ultrasonic transducer, and receive the ultrasonic wave;
a zero-cross detection unit that measures a propagation time of the ultrasonic wave by subjecting a received signal generated by the ultrasonic wave received in the reception unit to zero-cross detection; and
a correction unit that reduces an error in the zero-cross detection caused by noise superimposed on the received signal, wherein the ultrasonic flowmeter calculates a flow volume of the fluid on the basis of the propagation time.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An ultrasonic flowmeter of the present invention includes: first and second ultrasonic transducers that send and receive an ultrasonic wave and are arranged so as to form a propagation path for the ultrasonic wave in a flow path of fluid; a transmission unit and a reception unit that drive the first ultrasonic transducer and the second ultrasonic transducer such that the ultrasonic wave is sent and received in two ways between the first ultrasonic transducer and the second ultrasonic transducer, and receive the ultrasonic wave; a zero-cross detection unit that measures a propagation time of the ultrasonic wave by subjecting a received signal generated by the ultrasonic wave received in the reception unit to zero-cross detection; and a correction unit that reduces an error in the zero-cross detection caused by noise superimposed on the received signal, in which the ultrasonic flowmeter calculates a flow volume of the fluid on the basis of the propagation time.
17 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. An ultrasonic flowmeter comprising:
-
first and second ultrasonic transducers that send and receive an ultrasonic wave and are arranged so as to form a propagation path for the ultrasonic wave in a flow path of fluid;
a transmission unit and a reception unit that drive the first ultrasonic transducer and the second ultrasonic transducer such that the ultrasonic wave is sent and received in two ways between the first ultrasonic transducer and the second ultrasonic transducer, and receive the ultrasonic wave;
a zero-cross detection unit that measures a propagation time of the ultrasonic wave by subjecting a received signal generated by the ultrasonic wave received in the reception unit to zero-cross detection; and
a correction unit that reduces an error in the zero-cross detection caused by noise superimposed on the received signal, wherein the ultrasonic flowmeter calculates a flow volume of the fluid on the basis of the propagation time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A flow volume measurement method by an ultrasonic wave that measures a flow volume of fluid on the basis of a propagation time difference of an ultrasonic wave, comprising the steps of:
-
sending an ultrasonic wave from a first ultrasonic transducer to fluid and receiving the ultrasonic wave in a second ultrasonic transducer;
measuring a propagation time of the ultrasonic wave by subjecting a received signal generated by the received ultrasonic wave to zero-cross detection;
measuring amplitude of the received signal; and
correcting the propagation time on the basis of the amplitude of the received signal. - View Dependent Claims (15, 20)
-
-
14. A flow volume measurement method by an ultrasonic wave that measures a flow volume of fluid on the basis of a propagation time difference of an ultrasonic wave, comprising the steps of:
-
sending an ultrasonic wave plural times from a first ultrasonic transducer to fluid and receiving the ultrasonic wave plural times in a second ultrasonic transducer with a sing around method;
measuring a propagation time of the ultrasonic wave, which is received plural times, by subjecting plural received signals due to the ultrasonic wave received plural times to zero-cross detection;
measuring amplitudes of the plural received signals; and
calculating an average value of the amplitudes of the plural received signals and correcting the propagation time on the basis of the average value.
-
-
16. A flow volume measurement method by an ultrasonic wave that measures a flow volume of fluid on the basis of a propagation time difference of an ultrasonic wave, comprising the steps of:
-
sending an ultrasonic wave from a first ultrasonic transducer to fluid and receiving the ultrasonic wave in a second ultrasonic transducer;
measuring a propagation time of the ultrasonic wave by subjecting a received signal generated by the received ultrasonic wave to zero-cross detection;
measuring the number of times of chattering of a comparator that occurs at the time of the zero-cross detection; and
correcting the propagation time on the basis of the number of times of chattering.
-
-
17. A flow volume measurement method by an ultrasonic wave that measures a flow volume of fluid on the basis of a propagation time difference of an ultrasonic wave, comprising the steps of:
-
sending an ultrasonic wave from a first ultrasonic transducer to fluid and receiving the ultrasonic wave in a second ultrasonic transducer;
measuring a propagation time of the ultrasonic wave by subjecting a received signal generated by the received ultrasonic wave to zero-cross detection; and
calculating a flow volume of the fluid on the basis of the propagation time, wherein the flow volume measurement method sets a reference potential for the zero-cross detection set to a negative voltage or a positive voltage depending upon whether the zero-cross detection is performed at a rising edge of a signal or a falling edge of a signal.
-
-
18. A flow volume measurement method by an ultrasonic wave that measures a flow volume of fluid on the basis of a propagation time difference of an ultrasonic wave, comprising the steps of:
-
sending an ultrasonic wave from a first ultrasonic transducer to fluid and receiving the ultrasonic wave in a second ultrasonic transducer;
measuring amplitude of a received signal generated by the received ultrasonic wave; and
measuring a propagation time of the ultrasonic wave by subjecting the received signal to zero-cross detection, wherein the flow volume measurement method repeats the reception step, the amplitude measurement step, and the propagation time measurement step with a sing around method and offsets a reference voltage for performing the zero-cross detection for the next received signal on the basis of a magnitude of the amplitude of the received signal measured in the amplitude measurement step.
-
-
19. A flow volume measurement method by an ultrasonic wave that measures a flow volume of fluid on the basis of a propagation time difference of an ultrasonic wave, comprising the steps of:
-
sending an ultrasonic wave from a first ultrasonic transducer to fluid and receiving the ultrasonic wave in a second ultrasonic transducer;
calculating a value obtained by integrating a rising edge part of a received signal generated by the received ultrasonic wave for a predetermined time; and
measuring a propagation time of the ultrasonic wave by subjecting the received signal to zero-cross detection, wherein the flow volume measurement method repeats the reception step, the step of calculating an integrated value, and the propagation time measurement step with a sing around method and offsets a reference voltage for performing the zero-cross detection for the next received signal on the basis of the integrated value of the received signal calculated in the step of calculating an integrated value.
-
Specification