Method and apparatus for liquid content detection with refractive index and temperature signal mixing
First Claim
1. A liquid content detecting apparatus for detecting the content of a liquid component contained in a mixed liquid, said apparatus comprising:
- a refractive index sensor for sensing the refractive index of a liquid component in the mixed liquid and generating a corresponding refractive index signal;
a temperature sensor for sensing the temperature of the mixed liquid and generating a corresponding temperature signal;
a signal mixer coupled to the refractive index sensor and the temperature sensor for mixing the refractive index signal and the temperature signal with each other to generate a single mixed signal; and
a liquid content calculator coupled to the signal mixer for calculating the content of the liquid component based on the single mixed signal.
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Abstract
A refractive index sensor senses the refractive index of a mixed liquid and generates a corresponding signal. A temperature sensor senses the temperature of the liquid and generates a corresponding signal. A signal mixer mixes the refractive index signal and the temperature signal with each other to provide a single mixed signal which is then fed through a single signal line to a liquid content calculator where the sensed refractive index is modified based on the sensed liquid temperature to provide a temperature compensated refractive index from which the content of a liquid component in the liquid is calculated. This simplifies the arrangement of the entire apparatus and improves the operational reliability thereof as compared with the case in which the two signals are separately supplied to the liquid content calculator through two signal supply systems.
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Citations
8 Claims
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1. A liquid content detecting apparatus for detecting the content of a liquid component contained in a mixed liquid, said apparatus comprising:
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a refractive index sensor for sensing the refractive index of a liquid component in the mixed liquid and generating a corresponding refractive index signal; a temperature sensor for sensing the temperature of the mixed liquid and generating a corresponding temperature signal; a signal mixer coupled to the refractive index sensor and the temperature sensor for mixing the refractive index signal and the temperature signal with each other to generate a single mixed signal; and a liquid content calculator coupled to the signal mixer for calculating the content of the liquid component based on the single mixed signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A liquid content detecting method for detecting the content of liquid components contained in a liquid, said method comprising the steps of:
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sensing the temperature of the liquid and generating a corresponding temperature signal; sensing the refractive index of the liquid and generating a corresponding refractive index signal; reading a reference refractive index and a modification coefficient at a predetermined temperature for each liquid component of the liquid; calculating the temperature compensated refractive index of each liquid component at the sensed temperature of the liquid on the basis of the reference refractive index and the modification coefficient therefor thus read; and calculating the content of each liquid component based on the temperature compensated refractive index thereof.
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Specification