Ultrasonic monitoring technique for containers and apparatus to carry it out
First Claim
1. A fill level monitoring apparatus adapted to monitor the height of contents in a container, comprising ultrasound generation means, an ultrasonic receiver and signal processing means adapted to receive signals from the receiver, the arrangement being such that the signal processing means identifies a first signal which is representative of a first ultrasonic wave which has travelled directly though the contents of the container to the receiver without reflection independently of the height of the contents in the container, and a second signal that is representative of a second ultrasonic wave that has been reflected from the interface between the upper surface of the contents in the container and the environment above the contents, and in which the signal processing means uses the difference in transit times for the two waves to provide an indication of the level of the contents in the container, and in which the first and second waves are part of the same ultrasonic wavefront in three dimensions.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention provides an apparatus and method for fill level monitoring in which the height of contents in a container (10) is monitored. The apparatus comprises an ultrasound reciever (30) and signal processing means (50-56) adapted to receive signals from the receiver, the arrangement being such that the signal processing means (50-56) identifies a first signal (32), in use, which is representative of a wavefront (26) transmitted through the contents of the container (10) independently of the height of the contents in the container (10), and a second signal (34) that is representative of a wavefront (24) that is reflected from the interface (22) between the surface of the contents in the container (10) and the environment above the contents, and in which the signal processing means (50-56) uses the difference in travel time for the two wavefronts (24, 26) to provide a measurement of the level of the contents in the container (10). A plasma generation system comprising a pulsed laser (99) and a target (101) in front of the container (102) is also disclosed, the plasma (103) creating ultrasound in the container (102).
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Citations
35 Claims
- 1. A fill level monitoring apparatus adapted to monitor the height of contents in a container, comprising ultrasound generation means, an ultrasonic receiver and signal processing means adapted to receive signals from the receiver, the arrangement being such that the signal processing means identifies a first signal which is representative of a first ultrasonic wave which has travelled directly though the contents of the container to the receiver without reflection independently of the height of the contents in the container, and a second signal that is representative of a second ultrasonic wave that has been reflected from the interface between the upper surface of the contents in the container and the environment above the contents, and in which the signal processing means uses the difference in transit times for the two waves to provide an indication of the level of the contents in the container, and in which the first and second waves are part of the same ultrasonic wavefront in three dimensions.
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27. A container filling line comprising containing filling means adapted to deliver contents to a container, control means controlling the operation of the container filling means and fill-level monitoring apparatus adapted to monitor the height of content in a container, comprising an ultrasonic generation means, an ultrasound receiver and signal processing means adapted to receive signals from the receiver, the arrangement being such that the signal processing means identifies a first signal which is representative of a first ultrasonic wave which has been transmitted through the contents of the container independently of the height of the contents in the container directly from the ultrasonic generation means to the receiver, and a second signal that is representative of the second ultrasonic wave that has been reflected from the interface between the surface of the contents in the container and the environment above the contents, and in which the signal processing means uses the difference in transit times for the two waves to provide an indication of the level of the contents in the container.
- 28. A method of monitoring the fill level of contents in a container comprising generating ultrasound waves in the container, detecting a straight through ultrasound wave, detecting a top surface reflected wave from the top surface of the contents of the container, and measuring the time difference between the detection of the two waves in order to obtain an indication of the level of the contents in the container.
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30. A method of monitoring the fill level of contents in a container comprising generating a first ultrasonic wave in the container and measuring its transit time to travel a first path directly through the contents of the container without reflection, from an ultrasonic generation means to an ultrasonic receiver that is independent of the level of contents in the container;
- generating a second ultrasonic wave in the container and measuring its transit time to travel a second path directly through the contents of the container that has a reflection from the surface of the contents of the container; and
using the difference in transit time to evaluate the height to which the container is filled.
- generating a second ultrasonic wave in the container and measuring its transit time to travel a second path directly through the contents of the container that has a reflection from the surface of the contents of the container; and
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31. A fill level monitoring apparatus adapted to monitor the height of contents in a container, comprising an ultrasonic generator, an ultrasound receiver, and signal processing means adapted to receive signals from the receiver, the arrangement being such that the signal processing means identifies a first signal which is representative of a first ultrasonic wave which has been transmitted through the contents of the container independently of the height of the contents in the container, and a second signal that is representative of a second ultrasonic wave that has been reflected from the interface between the upper surface of the contents of the container and the environment above the contents, wherein the ultrasound generator is adapted to generate simultaneously the first and second ultrasonic waves and in which the signal processing means uses the difference in transit times for the two waves to provide an indication of the level of the contents in the container.
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32. A fill level monitoring apparatus adapted to monitor the height of contents in a container, comprising an ultrasonic generator, an ultrasound receiver and signal processing means adapted to receive signals from the receiver, the arrangement being such that the signal processing means identifies a first signal which is representative of a first ultrasonic wave which has been transmitted through the contents of the container independently of the height of the contents in the container, and a second signal that is representative of a second ultrasonic wave that has been reflected from the interface between the upper surface of the contents of the container and the environment above the contents, in which the ultrasound generator is adapted to generate the ultrasound waves in a localized region in height of the container.
- 33. A fill line monitoring apparatus comprising container filling means adapted to deliver contents to a container, control means controlling the operation of the container filling means, an ultrasound generator, an ultrasound receiver and signal processing means adapted to receive signals from the receiver, the arrangement being such that the signal processing means identifies a first signal which is representative of a first ultrasonic wave which has been transmitted through the contents of the container independently of the height of the contents in the container, and a second signal that is representative of a second ultrasonic wave that has been reflected from the interface between the upper surface of the contents of the container, and in which the first and second waves are parts of the same ultrasonic wavefront in three dimensions.
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35. A container filling line comprising containing filling means adapted to deliver contents to a container, control means controlling the operation of the container filling means and fill-level monitoring apparatus adapted to monitor the height of content in a container, comprising an ultrasonic generation means, an ultrasound receiver and signal processing means adapted to receive signals from the receiver, the arrangement being such that the signal processing means identifies a first signal which is representative of a first ultrasonic wave which has been transmitted through the contents of the container independently of the height of the contents in the container, and a second signal that is representative of the second ultrasonic wave that has been reflected from the interface between the surface of the contents in the container and the environment above the contents, and in which the signal processing means detects ultrasound from only a localized region in height of the container and uses the difference in transit times for the two waves to provide an indication of the level of the contents in the container.
Specification