Electrical impedance detector for measurement of physical quantities, in particular of temperature

• US 5,483,414 A
• Filed: 03/30/1993
• Issued: 01/09/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Vaisala OY
• Original Assignee: Vaisala OY
• Inventors: Turtiainen, Heikki
• Primary Examiner(s): Ledynh, Bot L.
• Application Number:
  US08/040,129
• Time in Patent Office: 1,015 Days
• Field of Search: 361/278, 361/282, 361/281, 361/277, 361/280, 361/286, 374/163, 374/184, 338/25, 324/71.1, 324/105
• US Class Current: 361/282
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 5/14 influencing the magnitude of a current or voltage
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 7/34 using capacitative elements capacitors per se H01G
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/225 by using hygroscopic materials

Abstract

Electrical impedance detector for measurement of physical quantities, in particular of temperature. The detector comprises electrodes (11,14), between which the electrical impedance (C;R) that represents the physical quantity to be measured is measured. Between these electrodes (11,14) there is an active material whose impedance properties are a function of the physical quantity to be measured. The active material of the detector is a very thin thread-like glass or glass-ceramic fibre (10), which has been manufactured by means of the glass-drawing technique. Further, a process for the manufacture of said detectors is described.

Claims

1. Electrical impedance detector for measurement of physical quantities, in particular of temperature, which detector comprises electrodes (11, 14), between which the electrical impedance (C;

R) that represents the physical quantity to be measured is measured, and between which electrodes (11,

     14) there is an active material whose impedance properties are a function of the physical quantity to be measured, characterized in that the active material of the detector is a very thin thread-like glass-ceramic fibre (10) which has been manufactured by means of the glass-drawing technique.

2. Detector as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said fibre is a glass-ceramic fibre (10) whose drawing into a glass-fibre thread has been carried out in a glass-like form and whose crystallization into the glass-ceramic form has been carried out in a heat treatment.

3. A detector as claimed in claim 1 and intended for measuring resistance or capacitance, characterized in that, in the glass-ceramic material, the active constituent is a crystalline barium-strontium titanate, Ba_x Sr_1-x TiO₃, wherein x is in a range of 0 . . . 1, which is present in a glass matrix.

4. A detector as claimed in claim 1 and intended for measuring resistance or capacitance, characterized in that the glass-ceramic fibre (10) is surrounded by a hermetic glass layer (13), which prevents access of moisture into the material of the active dielectric layer (12).

5. A detector as claimed in claim 1 and intended for measuring resistance or capacitance, characterized in that the detector-fibre thread is of substantially circular cross-section, and that the diameter of the detector-fibre thread (10) is of an order of D=25 . . . 500 μ

m.

6. A detector as claimed in claim 1 and intended for measuring resistance or capacitance, characterized in that the detector is coaxial and comprises a solid central electrode wire (11) or a corresponding hollow electrode thread and a glass-ceramic layer (12) placed around said central electrode, on which layer (12) there is a hermetic glass layer (13) and on the glass layer an electrode layer (14) and/or electrode patterns (14a, 14b, 14c, 14d).

7. A detector as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the detector comprises two detector-fibre threads (10A, 10B), which are joined together as parallel to one another by means of a joint (15) over the certain length (L) of the threads, on which length a detector capacitance (C) is formed that can be measured between the central electrodes (11a, 11b) placed inside the detector-fibre threads (10A, 10B).

8. A detector as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the detector comprises a piece of detector-fibre thread (10C) with no central electrode, electrode wires (16A, 16B) parallel to said piece of thread (10C) being attached to both sides of said piece of thread (10C), between which electrode wires (16A, 16B) the detector capacitance (C) can be measured.

9. A or resistive detector as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that, onto a piece of glass-ceramic-fibre thread (10D) with no central electrode, electrode patterns (4a, 4b) have been applied, which are placed as at least partly overlapping each other in the axial direction while separated from one another by an insulation gap (17a, 17b), and that the detector capacitance or resistance (C;

R) is measured between said conductive outer electrodes (14a, 14b).

10. A detector as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that, onto a glass-ceramic thread (10E) whose resistance is a function of the temperature, conductor patterns (14c, 14d) have been applied, which are separated from each other axially by an insulation gap (17c).