Non-contact ultrasonic micromeasurement system
First Claim
1. A non-contact ultrasonic system for measuring the volume of liquid in a each of a plurality of containers, comprising:
- an ultrasonic sensor disposed opposite the top of said containers;
a circuit for providing pulses of ultrasonic energy for transmission through the air to the air-liquid interface of liquid in each container and for measuring the round trip transit time from the sensor to the interface and back to the sensor;
a computer programmed with internal dimensional data of each container for computing the volume of liquid result in the container based on said data and the round trip transit time.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A non-contact ultrasonic system for measuring the volume of liquid in a container in which an ultrasonic sensor is disposed opposite the top of the container. A circuit provides pulses of ultrasonic energy for transmission through the air to the air-liquid interface of liquid in the container and for measuring the round trip transit time from the sensor to the interface and back to the sensor. A computer is programmed with dimensional data of the container internal volume and computes the volume of liquid in the container based on the dimensional data and the round trip transit time. The computed volume data is stored. The system can measure the volume of a plurality of containers using a plurality of sensors that are operated in sequence or at the same time or single sensor in which the plurality of sensors are moved relative to the single sensor for the volume of each of the sensors to be sequentially measured.
96 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A non-contact ultrasonic system for measuring the volume of liquid in a each of a plurality of containers, comprising:
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an ultrasonic sensor disposed opposite the top of said containers; a circuit for providing pulses of ultrasonic energy for transmission through the air to the air-liquid interface of liquid in each container and for measuring the round trip transit time from the sensor to the interface and back to the sensor; a computer programmed with internal dimensional data of each container for computing the volume of liquid result in the container based on said data and the round trip transit time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A non-contact ultrasonic system for measuring the volume of liquid in a container comprising:
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a single ultrasonic sensor disposed opposite the top of said container; a circuit for providing pulses of ultrasonic energy at a frequency of at least 1 Mhz for transmission through the air to the air-liquid interface of liquid in the container and for measuring the round trip transit time from said single the sensor to the interface and back to said single sensor; and a computer programmed with internal dimensional data of the container for computing the volume of liquid result in the container based on said data and the round trip transit time. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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20. A non-contact ultrasonic system for measuring the volume of liquid in a container comprising:
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an ultrasonic sensor disposed opposite the top of said container; a circuit for providing pulses of ultrasonic energy at a frequency operating with said sensor for transmission of the ultrasonic energy from said sensor at a beam angle of not greater than 2°
, the ultrasonic energy being transmitted through the air to the air-liquid interface of liquid in the container, and for measuring the round trip transit time from the sensor to the interface and back to the sensor; anda computer programmed with internal dimensional data of the container for computing the volume of liquid result in the container based on said data and the round trip transit time.
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Specification