Method and apparatus for determining quantity of liquid in a container and/or lack of motion thereof

• US 5,745,377 A
• Filed: 03/20/1995
• Issued: 04/28/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Scott Technologies, Inc. (3M Company)
• Original Assignee: Figgie International, Inc. (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Inventors: Larocque, Gerald, Marchetti, Brenda, Reed, Michael A., Frustaci, Dominick J., Power, Wendy
• Primary Examiner(s): Voeltz, Emanuel T.
• Assistant Examiner(s): COLE, TONY MITCHELL
• Application Number:
  US08/406,508
• Time in Patent Office: 1,135 Days
• Field of Search: 73/304 C, 73/290 R, 73/149, 73/1 D, 73/1 H, 73/510, 73/500, 73/514.05, 73/1.73, 73/1.75, 33/366, 33/365, 33/377, 367/908, 340/612, 340/618, 340/620, 340/689, 340/686, 361/276, 361/284, 324/663, 324/664, 324/686, 324/684, 364/509, 364/566, 364/559, 116/109, 200/61.45 R, 200/61.52
• US Class Current: 702/55
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 23/266 measuring circuits therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 23/268 mounting arrangements of probes

Abstract

A sensor apparatus is described that detects and indicates the volume of cryogenic liquid in a Dewar container independent of the spatial orientation and physical motions acting on the Dewar container. The sensor apparatus comprises a first conductor, preferably positioned adjacent to the container inner shell wall and a second conductor comprising a plurality of axially spaced and concentric endless conductor bands mounted inside the container in a proximately spaced and a parallel relationship with respect to the first conductor. The second conductor bands divide the first conductor into zones that provide a plurality of distinct and separate capacitors. A computer measures the capacitance of each capacitor and compares the individual capacitance measurements to reference capacitance values corresponding to a known volume of cryogenic fluid filled in the container at known angles of inclination.

Claims

1. A method for sensing at least one of the volume of a liquid in a container independent of its spatial orientation and the spatial orientation of the container independent of the volume of the liquid therein, wherein the container comprises an enclosed surrounding side wall divided into a plurality of zones, comprising the steps of:

a. providing the container having a plurality of capacitors corresponding to the plurality of zones wherein the capacitors comprise first and second conductors with the first conductor provided by a plurality of continuous first conductive members disposed in a proximately spaced and parallel relationship with respect to the second conductor provided by the surrounding side wall to divide the container into the plurality of zones, and wherein the liquid in the container is capable of flowing freely between the first and second conductors to serve at least partially as a dielectric therefor;

b. measuring the percentage of contact by the liquid of each of the plurality of zones into which the container is divided corresponding to the capacitance of each of the plurality of capacitors; and

c. comparing the set of measured percentages of contact to a plurality of sets of reference percentage of contact values for the container at various volume percentages and spatial orientations to select a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation which is a best fit to the set of measured percentages of contact.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the container is an elongate cylindrical container which is axially divided into the zones over the length thereof, the method comprising operating a computer thereby computing the sum of the differences or the sum of the squares of differences between the reference percentage of contact values and the corresponding measured percentages of contact for each of the plurality of sets of reference percentage of contact values wherein a best fit is a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation at which the computed sum of differences or sum of the squares of differences is the least.

3. A method according to claim 1 wherein the container is an elongate cylindrical container which is axially divided into the zones over the length thereof, the method comprising operating a computer thereby computing an average volume percentage and further operating the computer thereby computing the sum of the squares of differences between the reference percentage of contact values and the corresponding measured percentages of contact for each of the plurality of sets of reference percentage of contact values for a preselected number of volume percentages closest to the computed average volume percentage whereby the sum of the squares computations are not made for the sets of reference percentage of contact values for all of the volume percentages for which sets of reference percentage of contact values are available and wherein a best fit is a volume percentage at which the computed sum of the squares is the least.

4. A method according to claim 1 wherein the container is an elongate cylindrical container which is axially divided into the zones over the length thereof, the method comprising operating a computer thereby scaling the measured percentages of contact to create an uncontacted value as zero and a fully contacted value as one, the sets of reference percentage of contact values also being scaled so that an uncontacted value is zero and a fully contacted value is one, computing the average volume percentage by adding the scaled measured percentages of contact and dividing the sum by the number of zones, computing the sum of the squares of differences between the scaled reference percentage of contact values and the scaled corresponding measured percentages of contact for each of the plurality of sets of scaled reference percentage of contact values for the volume percentage closest to the computed average volume percentage and for a plurality of volume percentages both less than and greater than said closest volume percentage, adding a constant to each sum of squares and dividing into another constant and taking the square root to obtain a comparative number wherein a best fit is a volume percentage at which the computed comparative number is the greatest.

5. A method according to claim 4 further comprising computing from the comparative numbers which are neighbors to the greatest comparative number a weighted average volume percentage to obtain a closer best fit.

6. A method according to claim 5 further comprising computing from the comparative numbers which are neighbors to the greatest number a weighted average spatial orientation.

7. A method according to claim 1 wherein the step of measuring the percentages of contact comprises providing the container to have a plurality of capacitors for the plurality of zones respectively wherein liquid in the container is capable of flowing freely between plates of each capacitor to serve at least partially as a dielectric therefor and measuring the capacitance of each of the capacitors.

8. A method for sensing at least one of the volume of a liquid in a container independent of its spatial orientation and the spatial orientation of the container independent of the volume of the liquid therein, wherein the container comprises an enclosed, surrounding side wall divided into a plurality of zones, comprising the steps of:

a) measuring the percentage of contact by the liquid of each of the plurality of zones into which the container is divided; and

b) computing the sum of the squares of differences between a reference percentage of contact values and a corresponding measured percentages of contact for each of the plurality of sets of reference percentage of contact values for the container at various volume percentages and spatial orientations to select a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation which is a best fit to the set of measured percentages of contact, wherein the best fit is a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation at which the computed sum of the squares is the least.

9. A method for sensing at least one of the volume of a liquid in a container independent of its spatial orientation and the spatial orientation of the container independent of the volume of the liquid therein, wherein the container comprises an enclosed, surrounding side wall divided into a plurality of zones, comprising the steps of:

a) measuring the percentage of contact by the liquid of each of a plurality of the zones into which the container is divided; and

b) operating a computer thereby computing an average volume percentage by adding the measured percentages of contact and dividing the sum by the number of zones and further operating the computer thereby computing the sum of the squares of differences between the reference percentage of contact values and the corresponding measured percentages of contact for each of the plurality of sets of reference percentage of contact values for a preselected number of volume percentages closest to the computed average volume percentage whereby the sum of the squares computations are not made for the sets of reference percentage of contact values for all of the volume percentages for which sets of reference percentage of contact values are available for the container at various volume percentages and spatial orientations to thereby select a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation which is a best fit to the set of measured percentages of contact, wherein a best fit is a volume percentage at which the computed sum of the squares is the least.

10. A method for sensing at least one of the volume of a liquid in a container independent of its spatial orientation and the spatial orientation of the container independent of the volume of the liquid therein, wherein the container comprises an enclosed, surrounding side wall divided into a plurality of zones, comprising the steps of:

a) measuring the percentage of contact by the liquid of each of the plurality of zones into which the container is divided; and

b) operating a computer thereby scaling the measured percentages of contact to create an uncontacted value as zero and a fully contacted value as one, a plurality of sets of reference percentages of contact values also being scaled so that an uncontacted value is zero and a fully contacted value is one, computing the average volume percentage by adding the scaled measured percentages of contact and dividing the sum by the number of zones, computing the sum of the squares of differences between the scaled reference percentage of contact values and the scaled corresponding measured percentages of contact for each of the plurality of sets of scaled reference percentage of contact values for the volume percentage closest to the computed average volume percentage and for a plurality of volume percentages both less than and greater than said closest volume percentage, adding a constant to each sum of squares and dividing into another constant and taking the square root to obtain a comparative number for the container at various volume percentages and spatial orientations to select a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation which is a best fit to the set of measured percentages of contacts wherein the best fit is a volume percentage at which the computed comparative number is the greatest.

11. The method according to claim 10 further comprising computing from the comparative numbers which are neighbors to the greatest comparative number a weighted average volume percentage to obtain a closer best fit.

12. The method according to claim 11 further comprising computing from the comparative numbers which are neighbors to the greatest number a weighted average spatial orientation.

13. A method of sensing the volume of a liquid in and/or spatial orientation of an elongate cylindrical container, comprising the steps of:

a) measuring the percentage of contact by the liquid of each of a plurality of zones into which the container is divided; and

b) computing the sum of the squares of differences between the reference percentage of contact values and a corresponding measured percentages of contact for each of a plurality of sets of reference percentage of contact values for the container at various volume percentages and spatial orientations to select a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation which is a best fit to the set of measured percentages of contact, wherein the best fit is a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation at which the computed sum of the squares is the least.

14. A method of sensing the volume of a liquid in and/or spatial orientation of an elongate cylindrical container, comprising the steps of:

a) measuring the percentage of contact by the liquid of each of a plurality of zones into which the container is divided; and

b) operating a computer thereby computing an average volume percentage by adding the measured percentages and dividing the sum by the number of zones and further operating the computer thereby computing the sum of the squares of differences between the reference percentage of contact values and the corresponding measured percentages of contact for each of the plurality of sets of reference percentage of contact values for a preselected number of volume percentage whereby the sum of the squares computations are not made for the sets of reference percentage of contact values for all of the volume percentages for which sets of reference percentage of contact values are available for the container at various volume percentages and spatial orientations to select a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation which is a best fit to the set of measured percentages of contact, wherein a best fit is a volume percentage and spatial orientation at which the computed sum of the squares is the least.

15. A method of sensing the volume of a liquid in and/or spatial orientation of an elongate cylindrical container, comprising the steps of:

a) measuring the percentage of contact by the liquid of each of a plurality of zones into which the container is divided; and

b) operating a computer thereby scaling the measured percentages of contact to create an uncontacted value as zero and a fully contacted value as one, a plurality of sets of reference percentages of contact values also being scaled so that an uncontacted value is zero and a fully contacted value is one, computing an average volume percentage by adding the scaled measured percentages of contact and dividing the sum by the number of zones, computing the sum of the squares of differences between the scaled reference percentage of contact values and the corresponding scaled measured percentages of contact for each of the plurality of sets of scaled reference percentage of contact values for the volume percentages closest to the computed average volume percentage and for a plurality of volume percentages less than and greater than said closest volume percentage, and adding a constant to each sum of squares and dividing into another constant and taking the square root to obtain a comparative number for the container at various volume percentages and spatial orientations to select a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation which is a best fit to the set of measured percentages of contact, wherein the best fit is a volume percentage and spatial orientation at which the computed comparative number is the greatest.

16. Apparatus for sensing at least one of the volume of a liquid in a container independent of its spatial orientation and the spatial orientation of the container independent of the volume of the liquid therein, wherein the container comprises an enclosed, surrounding side wall divided into a plurality of zones, comprising means for measuring the percentage of contact by the liquid of each of a plurality of zones into which the container is divided and means including a computer for computing the sum of the squares of differences between the reference percentage of contact values and the corresponding measured percentages of contact for each of a plurality of sets of reference percentage of contact values and the computer means having a database for comparing the set of measured percentages of contact to a plurality of sets in the database of reference percentage of contact values for the container at various volume percentages and spatial orientations to select a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation which is a best fit to the set of measured percentages of contact, wherein the best fit is a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation at which the computed sum of the squares is the least.

17. Apparatus for sensing at least one of the volume of a liquid in a container independent of its spatial orientation and the spatial orientation of the container independent of the volume of the liquid therein, wherein the container comprises an enclosed, surrounding side wall divided into a plurality of zones, comprising means for measuring the percentage of contact by the liquid of each of a plurality of zones into which the container is divided and means including a computer for scaling the measured percentages of contact to create an uncontacted value as zero and a fully contacted value as one, the sets of reference percentage of contact values also being scaled so that an uncontacted value is zero and a fully contacted value is one, and wherein an average volume percentage is determinable by adding the scaled measured percentages of contact and dividing the sum by the number of zones and wherein the sum of the squares of differences between the scaled reference percentage of contact values and the corresponding scaled measured percentages of contact for each of the plurality of sets of scaled reference percentage of contact values for a preselected number of volume percentages closest to the computed average volume percentage is determinable whereby the sum of the squares computations are not made for the sets of scaled reference percentage of contact values for all of the volume percentages for which sets of scaled reference percentage of contact values are available, and the computer means having a database for comparing the set of measured percentages of contact to a plurality of sets in the database of reference percentage of contact values for the container at various volume percentages and spatial orientations to select a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation which is a best fit to the set of measured percentages of contact, wherein a best fit is a volume percentage at which the computed sum of the squares is the least.

18. Apparatus for sensing at least one of the volume of a liquid in a container independent of its spatial orientation and the spatial orientation of the container independent of the volume of the liquid therein, wherein the container comprises an enclosed, surrounding side wall divided into a plurality of zones, the sensing means comprising means for measuring the percentage of contact by the liquid of each of the plurality of zones into which the container is divided and means including a computer for scaling the measured percentages of contact to create an uncontacted value as zero and a fully contacted value as one, the set of reference percentage of contact values also being scaled so that an uncontacted value is zero and a fully contacted value is one, and wherein an average volume percentage is determined by adding the scaled measured percentages of contact and dividing the sum by the number of zones, and wherein the sum of the squares of differences between the scaled reference percentage of contact values and the corresponding scaled measured percentages of contact for each of the plurality of sets of scaled reference percentage of contact values is determined for the volume percentage closest to the computed average volume percentage and for a plurality of volume percentages both less than and greater than said closest volume percentage, wherein a constant is added to each sum of squares and divided into another constant and taking the square root to obtain a comparative number and the computer means having a database for comparing the set of measured percentages of contact to a plurality of sets in the database of reference percentage of contact values for the container at various volume percentages and spatial orientations to select a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation which is a best fit to the set of measured percentages of contact, wherein a best fit is a volume percentage at which the computed comparative number is the greatest.

19. Apparatus for sensing at least one of the volume of a liquid in a container independent of its spatial orientation and the spatial orientation of the container independent of the volume of the liquid therein comprising a plurality of band-shaped capacitors spaced axially over the length of the container and disposed co-axially of the container and extending circumferentially adjacent to an inner wall thereof to divide the container into zones provided by the capacitors and including means for receiving liquid in the container between the band-shaped capacitors to serve at least partially as a dielectric therefor and further comprising means for measuring the capacitance of each of said capacitors to thereby determine the percentage of contact of the liquid with the zones and means including a computer having a database for comparing the set of measured percentages of contact to a plurality of sets in the database of reference percentage of contact values for the container at various volume percentages and spatial orientations to select a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation which is a best fit to the set of measured percentages of contact.

20. Apparatus according to claim 19 wherein the capacitors are sized to cover substantially the entirety of the container inner wall.

21. In a breathing apparatus including a container for cryogenic liquid, means for sensing the volume of the liquid in the container independent of its spatial orientation and/or spatial orientation of the container independent of volume of liquid therein, wherein the container is an elongate cylindrical container which is axially divided into a plurality of zones over the length thereof, the sensing means comprising means for measuring the percentage of contact by the liquid of each of the plurality of zones into which the container is divided and means including a computer having a database for comparing the set of measured percentages of contact to a plurality of sets in the database of reference percentage of contact values for the container at various volume percentages and spatial orientations to determine the sum of the squares of differences between the reference percentage of contact values and the corresponding measured percentages of contact for each of the sets of reference percentage of contact values to select a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation which is a best fit to the set of measured percentages of contact, wherein a best fit is a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation at which the computed sum of the squares is the least.

22. In a breathing apparatus including a container for cryogenic liquid, means for sensing the volume of the liquid in the container independent of its spatial orientation and/or spatial orientation of the container independent of the volume of liquid therein, wherein the container is an elongate cylindrical container which is axially divided into a plurality of zones over the length thereof, the sensing means comprising means for measuring the percentage of contact by the liquid of each of the plurality of zones into which the container is divided and means including a computer for scaling the measured percentages of contact to create an uncontacted value as zero and a fully contacted value as one, the computer means having a database for comparing the set of measured percentages of contact to a plurality of sets in the database of reference percentage of contact values for the container at various volume percentages and spatial orientations, the sets of reference percentage of contact values also being scaled so that an uncontacted value is zero and a fully contacted value is one, means for computing an average volume percentage by adding the scaled measured percentages of contact and dividing the sum by the number of zones, and means for computing the sum of the squares of differences between the scaled reference percentage of contact values and the corresponding scaled measured percentages of contact for each of the plurality of sets of scaled reference percentage of contact values for a preselected number of volume percentages closest to the computed average volume percentage whereby the sum of the squares computations are not made for the sets of scaled reference percentage of contact values for all of the volume percentages for which sets of scaled reference percentage of contact values are available to thereby select a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation which is a best fit to the set of measured percentages of contact, and wherein a best fit is a volume percentage at which the computed sum of the squares is the least.

23. In a breathing apparatus including a container for cryogenic liquid, means for sensing the volume of the liquid in the container independent of its spatial orientation and/or spatial orientation of the container independent of the volume of liquid therein, wherein the container is an elongate cylindrical container which is axially divided into a plurality of zones over the length thereof, the sensing means comprising means for measuring the percentage of contact by the liquid of each of a plurality of zones into which the container is divided and means including a computer for scaling the measured percentages of contact to create an uncontacted value as zero and a fully contacted value as one, the computer means having a database for comparing the set of measured percentages of contact to a plurality of sets in the database of reference percentage of contact values for the container at various volume percentages and spatial orientations, the set of reference percentage of contact values also being scaled so that an uncontacted value is zero and a fully contacted value is one, means for computing an average volume percentage by adding the scaled percentages of contact and dividing the sum by the number of zones, means for computing the sum of the squares of differences between the scaled reference percentage of contact values and the corresponding scaled measured percentages of contact for each of the plurality of sets of scaled reference percentage of contact values for the volume percentage closest to the computed average volume percentage and for a plurality of volume percentages less than and greater than said closest volume percentage, and means for adding a constant to each sum of squares and dividing into another constant and taking the square root to obtain a comparative number to thereby select a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation which is a best fit to the set of measured percentages of contact, wherein a best fit is a volume percentage at which the computed comparative number is the greatest.

24. In a breathing apparatus including a container for cryogenic liquid, means for sensing the volume of the liquid in the container independent of its spatial orientation and/or spatial orientation of the container independent of the volume of liquid therein, the sensing means comprising a plurality of band-shaped capacitors spaced axially over the length of the container and disposed co-axially of the container and extending circumferentially adjacent to an inner wall thereof respectively for a plurality of zones into which the container is divided and including means for receiving the liquid in the container between said plates of said capacitors to serve at least partially as a dielectric therefor and further comprising means for measuring the capacitance of each of said capacitors and means including a computer having a database for comparing the set of measured percentages of contact to a plurality of sets in the database of reference percentage of contact values for the container at various volume percentages and spatial orientations to select a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation which is a best fit to the set of measured percentages of contact.

25. A method for sensing at least one of the volume of a liquid in a container and spatial orientation of the container, comprising the steps of:

a) sensing contact by the liquid with each of a plurality of zones into which the container is divided;

b) operating a computer thereby inputting to the computer information as to zones contacted by the liquid and computing therefrom at least one of the volume of the liquid in the container and spatial orientation of the container; and

c) comparing a plurality of the computed spatial orientations for a plurality of times respectively over a predetermined period of time and signalling when all of the plurality of computed spatial orientations are substantially the same.

26. A method for sensing at least one of the volume of a liquid in a container independent of its spatial orientation and the spatial orientation of the container independent of the volume of the liquid therein, comprising the steps of:

a) measuring the percentage of contact by the liquid of each of a plurality of zones into which the container is divided;

b) comparing the set of measured percentages of contact to a plurality of sets of reference percentage of contact values for the container at various volume percentages and spatial orientations to select a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation which is a best fit to the set of measured percentages of contact; and

c) comparing a plurality of the selected spatial orientations for a plurality of times respectively over a predetermined period of time and signalling when all of the plurality of selected spatial orientations are substantially the same.

27. A method of sensing the volume of a liquid in and/or spatial orientation of an elongate cylindrical container;

comprising the steps of;

a) measuring the percentage of contact by the liquid of each of a plurality of zones respectively into which the container is divided axially over its length;

b) comparing the set of measured percentages of contact to a plurality of sets of reference percentage of contact values for the container at various volume percentages and spatial orientations to select a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation which is a best fit to the set of measured percentages of contact; and

c) comparing a plurality of the selected spatial orientations for a plurality of times respectively over a predetermined period of time and signalling when all of the plurality of selected spatial orientations are substantially the same.

28. Apparatus for sensing the volume of a liquid in and/or spatial orientation of a container comprising means for sensing contact by the liquid with each of a plurality of zones into which the container is divided and computer means for receiving information from said sensing means as to the zones contacted by the liquid and for computing therefrom the volume of the liquid in and/or spatial orientation of the container, and further comprising means for comparing a plurality of the computed spatial orientations for a plurality of times respectively over a predetermined period of time and means for signalling when all of the plurality of computed spatial orientations are substantially the same.

29. Apparatus for sensing at least one of the volume of a liquid in a container independent of its spatial orientation and the spatial orientation of the container independent of the volume of the liquid therein, comprising means for measuring the percentage of contact by the liquid of each of a plurality of zones into which the container is divided and means including a computer having a database for comparing the set of measured percentages of contact to a plurality of sets in the database of reference percentage of contact values for the container at various volume percentages and spatial orientations to select a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation which is a best fit to the set of measured percentages of contact and further comprising means for comparing a plurality of the selected spatial orientations for a plurality of times respectively over a predetermined period of time and means for signalling when all of the plurality of selected spatial orientations are substantially the same.

30. In a breathing apparatus including a container for cryogenic liquid, means for sensing the volume of the liquid in the container independent of its spatial orientation and/or spatial orientation of the container independent of volume of liquid therein, comprising means for measuring the percentage of contact by the liquid of each of a plurality of zones into which the container is divided and means including a computer having a database for comparing the set of measured percentages of contact to a plurality of sets in the database of reference percentage of contact values for the container at various volume percentages and spatial orientations to select a volume percentage and/or spatial orientation which is a best fit to the set of measured percentages of contact and further comprising means for comparing a plurality of the selected spatial orientations for a plurality of times respectively over a predetermined period of time and means for signalling when all of the plurality of selected spatial orientations are substantially the same.