Wireless Telemetry Circuit Structure for Measuring Temperature in High Temperature Environments
First Claim
1. In a telemetry system for use in an internal combustion engine, a circuit structure affixed to a moving part of said engine and being disposed for processing information sensed about the temperature of said moving part, said circuit structure being adapted for the high temperature environment of said engine and comprising:
- a thermocouple disposed on said moving part for sensing a temperature thereof and providing a signal representative of the temperature sensed;
an amplifier having an input coupled to an output of said thermocouple and being disposed for amplifying the signal representative of the temperature sensed by said thermocouple;
a square wave oscillator disposed for generating a square wave signal having a frequency indicative of a local temperature of said circuit structure;
a chopper disposed for converting an output signal of said amplifier into an alternating current signal, said chopper having a first gating input coupled to an output of said square wave oscillator and a second input coupled to an output of said amplifier, said chopper having an output providing a signal having a frequency representative of the local temperature of said circuit and an amplitude representative of the temperature sensed by said thermocouple.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A circuit affixed to a moving part of an engine for sensing and processing the temperature of the part. The circuit generates a signal representative of the temperature sensed by a thermocouple (110) and amplified by an amplifier (112). A square wave oscillator (113) with a temperature sensitive capacitor (C8) varies its frequency in response to changes of a local temperature of the circuit. A chopper (114, J27) converts the output of the amplifier into an alternating current signal. The chopper is gated by the square wave oscillator and a second input is coupled to an output of the amplifier. Thus, the chopper has an output signal having a frequency representative of the local temperature and an amplitude representative of the thermocouple temperature, whereby the combined signals represent the true temperature of the part.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. In a telemetry system for use in an internal combustion engine, a circuit structure affixed to a moving part of said engine and being disposed for processing information sensed about the temperature of said moving part, said circuit structure being adapted for the high temperature environment of said engine and comprising:
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a thermocouple disposed on said moving part for sensing a temperature thereof and providing a signal representative of the temperature sensed; an amplifier having an input coupled to an output of said thermocouple and being disposed for amplifying the signal representative of the temperature sensed by said thermocouple; a square wave oscillator disposed for generating a square wave signal having a frequency indicative of a local temperature of said circuit structure; a chopper disposed for converting an output signal of said amplifier into an alternating current signal, said chopper having a first gating input coupled to an output of said square wave oscillator and a second input coupled to an output of said amplifier, said chopper having an output providing a signal having a frequency representative of the local temperature of said circuit and an amplitude representative of the temperature sensed by said thermocouple. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. In a telemetry system for use in an internal combustion engine, a circuit structure affixed to a moving part of said engine and being disposed for processing information sensed about a temperature of said moving part and for transmitting said sensed information to a receiver external to said engine, said circuit structure being adapted for the high temperature environment of said engine and comprising:
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a thermocouple disposed on said moving part for sensing the temperature thereof and providing a signal representative of the temperature sensed; an amplifier having an input coupled to an output of said thermocouple and being disposed for amplifying the signal representative of the temperature sensed by said thermocouple; a square wave oscillator disposed for generating a square wave signal having a frequency indicative of a local temperature of said circuit structure and including a feedback coupling capacitor having a capacitance variable with temperature, whereby an increase in the temperature of said circuit structure causes a decrease in capacitance of said coupling capacitor thereby causing a predictable increase in the frequency of said square wave signal; a chopper disposed for converting an output signal of said amplifier into an alternating current signal, said chopper having a first gating input coupled to an output of said square wave oscillator and a second input coupled to the output of said amplifier, said chopper having an output providing a signal having a frequency representative of the local temperature of said circuit structure and an amplitude representative of the temperature sensed by said thermocouple; and
,a voltage controlled oscillator having an input disposed for receiving said alternating current signal from said chopper and for producing a radio frequency signal representative of the temperature sensed by the thermocouple, said radio frequency signal being coupled to an antenna for transmission to a receiver remote from said engine. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification