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Means for counting drops

  • US 4,635,281 A
  • Filed: 11/23/1984
  • Issued: 01/06/1987
  • Est. Priority Date: 11/23/1984
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. For use with means to permit a body of clear fluid to move downwardly drop by drop, mechanism to count the number of drops comprising:

  • a pair of elongated members made of light conducting material;

    on each said member, a gap surface formed as a light refractive grating;

    means supporting said members to extend in a generally vertical direction with said gap surfaces facing one another to form a generally vertically extending gap;

    each member, at the top end of said gap, being formed with a slanted surface, the slanted surfaces facing one another and forming a guide to receive each of said drops and direct each drop into said gap;

    said slanted guide surfaces attracting the fluid of a drop impinging thereon with the attraction forces between the fluid and the slanted surfaces and the cohesive force of the fluid, providing that the fluid moves down through the guide as a unitary mass into the gap under the influence of gravity;

    said gap surfaces attracting the fluid of the drop entering the gap with the attraction forces between the fluid and gap surfaces providing that the fluid moves down as a unitary mass through the gap under the influence of gravity;

    a light source adjacent to one of said members and a light receiver adjacent to the other of said members, the light source being oriented to project a beam of light through said first member, through said gap, through said second member, and thence to said light receiver;

    said gap surfaces, in the absence of said liquid therebetween, refracting the light from the source so that the quantum of light received by the light receiver is less than the quantum of light from the source, and with the presence of said liquid between said gap surfaces changing the amount of said refraction whereby the quantum of light received by the receiver is substantially increased, said increase in light reaching the receiver signifying the presence or absence of a drop in said gap; and

    means connected to said receiver and operative as a function of said change in light to count the number of changes and thereby count the number of drops passing through said gap.

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