Inclination angle metering apparatus
First Claim
1. An apparatus for metering an inclination angle with respect to a surface of a liquid, comprising:
- a container for receiving said liquid;
light projecting means for emitting a light beam;
light receiving means;
means for splitting said light beam from said projecting means into first and second beams, such that said first beam is incident on said light receiving means after being reflected by the surface of said liquid and said second beam is incident on said light receiving means without being reflected by the surface of said liquid; and
means for determining said inclination angle based on an incident position of said first beam on said light receiving means and an incident position of said second beam thereon.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An inclination angle metering apparatus is arranged such that a beam from a light source is split into two beams by a half-mirror provided in a light path between the light source and the surface of a liquid. One beam is reflected by the liquid surface falls on a line sensor, and the other beam falls on the line sensor without reflected by the liquid surface. When a housing and the liquid are relatively inclined, an incident position of one beam changes on the line sensor, whereas an incident position of the other beam does not change. An inclination angle to the liquid surface is determined based on the incident position of one beam with respect to the incident position of the other beam.
38 Citations
18 Claims
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1. An apparatus for metering an inclination angle with respect to a surface of a liquid, comprising:
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a container for receiving said liquid; light projecting means for emitting a light beam; light receiving means; means for splitting said light beam from said projecting means into first and second beams, such that said first beam is incident on said light receiving means after being reflected by the surface of said liquid and said second beam is incident on said light receiving means without being reflected by the surface of said liquid; and means for determining said inclination angle based on an incident position of said first beam on said light receiving means and an incident position of said second beam thereon. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. Apparatus for metering an inclination angle with respect to a surface of a liquid comprising:
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a container for receiving said liquid; light source means for emitting a light beam; a light detector; means for splitting said light beam from said light source means into first and second beams, such that said first beam is incident on said light detector after being reflected by the surface of said liquid and said second beam is incident on said light detector without being reflected by the surface of said liquid; and means for determining said inclination angle Based on an incident position of said first beam on said light detector and an incident position of said second beam thereon. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. Apparatus for metering an inclination angle with respect to a surface of a liquid comprising:
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a container for receiving said liquid; light source means having a light source and an optical system for changing light of said light source to a substantially collimated light beam; a light detector; a splitter for splitting said light beam from said light source means into first and second beams such that said first beam is incident on said light detector after being reflected by the surface of said liquid and said second beam is incident on said light detector without being reflected by the surface of said liquid; and means for determining said inclination angle based on an incident position of said first beam on said light detector and an incident position of said second beam thereon. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. Apparatus for metering an inclination angle with respect to a surface of a liquid comprising:
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a source of substantially collimated light; a splitting member for splitting rays of said collimated light into first and second light rays; a container for receiving said liquid with the surface of said liquid being disposed to reflect said first light rays but not said second light rays; a detection system including a light detector and an optical member for converging and said first light rays reflected by said liquid and said second light rays toward a detecting face of said light detector, said second light rays being detected at a position which defines a fiducial position on the detecting face of said light detector, and said first light rays being detected at a position which corresponds to an inclination angle of said surface of said liquid relative to said container; and determining means for determining the inclination angle in accordance with the detected position of said first light rays relative to the detected position of said second light rays.
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Specification