Digital flowmeter
DC CAFCFirst Claim
Patent Images
1. A digital flowmeter comprising:
- a vibratable conduit;
a driver connected to the conduit and operable to impart motion to the conduit;
circuitry associated with the driver for measuring current supplied to the driver;
a sensor connected to the conduit and operable to sense the motion of the conduit; and
a control and measurement system connected to the driver and the sensor, the control and measurement system comprising circuitry to;
receive a sensor signal from the sensor, generate a drive signal based on the sensor signal using digital signal processing, supply the drive signal to the driver, and generate a measurement of a property of material flowing through the conduit based on the sensor signal.
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Litigations
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Accused Products
Abstract
A digital flowmeter includes a vibratable conduit, a driver connected to the conduit and operable to impart motion to the conduit, and a sensor connected to the conduit and operable to sense the motion of the conduit. A control and measurement system is connected to the driver and the sensor. The control and measurement system includes circuitry to receive a sensor signal from the sensor, generate a drive signal based on the sensor signal using digital signal processing, supply the drive signal to the driver, and generate a measurement of a property of a two-phase material flowing through the conduit based on the signal from the sensor.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A digital flowmeter comprising:
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a vibratable conduit;
a driver connected to the conduit and operable to impart motion to the conduit;
circuitry associated with the driver for measuring current supplied to the driver;
a sensor connected to the conduit and operable to sense the motion of the conduit; and
a control and measurement system connected to the driver and the sensor, the control and measurement system comprising circuitry to;
receive a sensor signal from the sensor, generate a drive signal based on the sensor signal using digital signal processing, supply the drive signal to the driver, and generate a measurement of a property of material flowing through the conduit based on the sensor signal. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A digital flowmeter comprising:
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a vibratable conduit;
a driver connected to the conduit and operable to impart motion to the conduit;
first and second sensors connected to the conduit and operable to sense the motion of the conduit;
a control and measurement system connected to the driver and the sensors, the control and measurement system comprising circuitry to;
receive a first sensor signal from the first sensor, receive a second sensor signal from the second sensor, generate a drive signal based on the first and second sensor signals using digital signal processing, supply the drive signal to the driver, and generate a measurement of a property of material flowing through the conduit based on the first and second sensor signals;
wherein the control and measurement system combines the sensor signals to produce a combined signal and to generate the drive signal based on the combined signal. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A digital flowmeter comprising:
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a vibratable conduit;
a driver connected to the conduit and operable to impart motion to the conduit;
a sensor connected to the conduit and operable to sense the motion of the conduit; and
a control and measurement system connected to the driver and the sensor, the control and measurement system comprising circuitry to;
receive a sensor signal from the sensor, generate a drive signal based on the sensor signal using digital signal processing, supply the drive signal to the driver, and generate a measurement of a property of material flowing through the conduit based on the sensor signal;
wherein the control and measurement system initiates motion of the conduit by using a first mode of signal generation to generate the drive signal, and sustains motion of the conduit using a second mode of signal generation to generate the drive signal. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A digital flowmeter comprising:
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a vibratable conduit;
a driver connected to the conduit and operable to impart motion to the conduit;
a sensor connected to the conduit and operable to sense the motion of the conduit; and
a control and measurement system connected to the driver and the sensor, the control and measurement system comprising circuitry to;
receive a sensor signal from the sensor, generate a drive signal based on the sensor signal using digital signal processing, supply the drive signal to the driver, and generate a measurement of a property of material flowing through the conduit based on the sensor signal;
wherein the control and measurement system digitally generates a gain for use in generating the drive signal based on one or more properties of the sensor signal. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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15. A digital flowmeter comprising:
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a vibratable conduit;
a driver connected to the conduit and operable to impart motion to the conduit;
a sensor connected to the conduit and operable to sense the motion of the conduit; and
a control and measurement system connected to the driver and the sensor, the control and measurement system comprising circuitry to;
receive a sensor signal from the sensor, generate a drive signal based on the sensor signal using digital signal processing, supply the drive signal to the driver, and generate a measurement of a property of material flowing through the conduit based on the sensor signal;
wherein the control and measurement system comprises a controller to generate a gain signal based on the sensor signal and a multiplying digital-to-analog converter connected to the controller to receive the gain signal and to generate the drive signal based on the gain signal.
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16. A digital flowmeter comprising:
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a vibratable conduit;
a driver connected to the conduit and operable to impart motion to the conduit;
a sensor connected to the conduit and operable to sense the motion of the conduit; and
a control and measurement system connected to the driver and the sensor, the control and measurement system comprising circuitry to;
receive a sensor signal from the sensor, wherein the sensor signal is a periodic signal, generate a drive signal based on the sensor signal using digital signal processing, supply the drive signal to the driver, and generate a measurement of a property of material flowing through the conduit based on the sensor signal;
wherein the control and measurement system;
collects a first data set for a period of the periodic signal;
processes the first data set to generate the drive signal and the measurement; and
collects a second data set for a subsequent period of the sensor signal simultaneously with processing the first data set.
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17. A digital flowmeter comprising:
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a vibratable conduit;
a driver connected to the conduit and operable to impart motion to the conduit;
a sensor connected to the conduit and operable to sense the motion of the conduit and to produce a periodic sensor signal; and
a control system connected to the driver and the sensor to;
collect data corresponding to a current cycle of the sensor signal, process the data for the current cycle to generate a drive signal and a measurement of a property of material flowing through the conduit, supply the drive signal to the driver, and collect data corresponding to a subsequent cycle of the sensor signal simultaneously with processing the data for the current cycle. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification