Fluid tank with integral fluid quantity gauging
First Claim
1. A system for determining mass of liquid held in a container under a varying acceleration, comprising a plurality of force-responsive detectors disposed correspondingly at a like plurality of planar surface areas that define the container, each of said detectors sensing the total fluid force exerted across its respective surface area and producing a first electrical signal representative thereof;
- an accelerometer for sensing said varying acceleration of the container and producing a second electrical signal corresponding thereto; and
processing circuit means for receiving said first and second electrical signals and modifying each of said first electrical signals by both a corresponding predetermined surface area orientation signal and said second electrical signal;
said processing means combining the modified first electrical signals to produce a signal representative of the mass of liquid in the container.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A gauging system for a fluid tank includes means for determining fluid pressure data for the tank; means for determining acceleration data of the tank; and means for determining quantity of fluid in the tank as a function of the pressure and acceleration data. A method for determining quantity of fluid in a tank is also provided and includes the steps of:
a. determining an orientation vector for each of a plurality of sensing areas of the tank;
b. producing an output corresponding to pressure of the fluid on each of the respective sensing areas;
c. determining an acceleration vector of the tank; and
d. calculating quantity of fluid in the tank as a function of the pressure output signals, the orientation vectors and the acceleration vector.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. A system for determining mass of liquid held in a container under a varying acceleration, comprising a plurality of force-responsive detectors disposed correspondingly at a like plurality of planar surface areas that define the container, each of said detectors sensing the total fluid force exerted across its respective surface area and producing a first electrical signal representative thereof;
- an accelerometer for sensing said varying acceleration of the container and producing a second electrical signal corresponding thereto; and
processing circuit means for receiving said first and second electrical signals and modifying each of said first electrical signals by both a corresponding predetermined surface area orientation signal and said second electrical signal;
said processing means combining the modified first electrical signals to produce a signal representative of the mass of liquid in the container. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
- an accelerometer for sensing said varying acceleration of the container and producing a second electrical signal corresponding thereto; and
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8. A system for determining mass of liquid held in a tank under an acceleration of varying direction comprising:
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a number of sensors disposed correspondingly at a number of predetermined planar surface areas that define the tank;
each sensor sensing the total force on its respective surface area and producing a first signal indicative thereof;means for determining variations in magnitude and direction of the tank acceleration vector; and a processor circuit including means for receiving the first signals and for modifying each of the first signals respectively by said determined acceleration vector relative to respective orientation signals, each orientation signal being based on a vector normal to each corresponding planar surface area, and for summing all said modified first signals to produce a signal representative of the mass of the liquid in the tank. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification