Whole body calorimeter
First Claim
1. In a calorimeter,a housing defining a hollow chamber adapted to receive substantially all of the trunk and limbs of a person for studies involving metabolic heat releases of the person;
- said housing being formed substantially of heavy metal which serves as a heat sink of substantially constant temperature for metabolic heat releases flowing from the person, when positioned in the interior of said chamber, into said heavy metal;
and thermopile means mounted on and within said hollow chamber in the path through which said heat releases flow in their passage to the heat sink from the interior of said chamber;
air inlet conduit means mounted on said housing into which the person'"'"'s head may be disposed for allowing flow of entering ambient air from outside of said housing past the head of the person and then into said hollow chamber;
said air inlet conduit means incorporating means for intercepting and absorbing substantially all the heat radiated from the person'"'"'s head, the last mentioned means permitting transport of substantially all the radiant heat from the person'"'"'s head to the flow of entering ambient air into said chamber;
insulation means mounted on said structure and insulating said structure from the ambient atmosphere;
and means connected to said thermopile means for measuring substantially all the heat releases flowing from the interior of said chamber through said thermopile means into said heat sink.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A calorimeter box accommodates a person lying on a cot. The system measures metabolic releases.
The person'"'"'s head extends into a transparent box-shaped duct system. Ambient air flows from the room in which the calorimeter is located into the duct system and past the person'"'"'s head and neck into the calorimeter box. substantially all convection and evaporative heat losses from the person'"'"'s head are transported into the calorimeter itself by the air flow. If the air flow were to stop, i.e., failed to exist, the person would have no trouble breathing because in essence his head is in the room. This obviates safety and claustrophobia problems; further the subject can talk to attendants in the room.
The calorimeter is of heavy aluminum panel construction for structural strength and for purposes of providing a heat sink. Coil of tubing remove heat from the aluminum panels, and water of constant temperature is circulated through such tubing to maintain the aluminum panels at a substantially constant temperature. Thermopiles are connected electrically in series to measure or indicate all the heat flowing from the interior of the calorimeter box to the heat sink. In another form of the invention, the subject, which in this instance may be an animal is visible through a transparent vacuum window. New means and techniques are provided for accounting for the heat losses resulting from heat flow through the insulating frame and the window.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. In a calorimeter,
a housing defining a hollow chamber adapted to receive substantially all of the trunk and limbs of a person for studies involving metabolic heat releases of the person; -
said housing being formed substantially of heavy metal which serves as a heat sink of substantially constant temperature for metabolic heat releases flowing from the person, when positioned in the interior of said chamber, into said heavy metal; and thermopile means mounted on and within said hollow chamber in the path through which said heat releases flow in their passage to the heat sink from the interior of said chamber; air inlet conduit means mounted on said housing into which the person'"'"'s head may be disposed for allowing flow of entering ambient air from outside of said housing past the head of the person and then into said hollow chamber; said air inlet conduit means incorporating means for intercepting and absorbing substantially all the heat radiated from the person'"'"'s head, the last mentioned means permitting transport of substantially all the radiant heat from the person'"'"'s head to the flow of entering ambient air into said chamber; insulation means mounted on said structure and insulating said structure from the ambient atmosphere; and means connected to said thermopile means for measuring substantially all the heat releases flowing from the interior of said chamber through said thermopile means into said heat sink. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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Specification