Apparatus for analyzing the size and number of particles in suspension

Claim 1

APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING THE AVERAGE SIZE OF PARTICLES AND THE NUMBER OF PARTICLES PER UNIT VOLUME IN A SUSPENSION OF SUCH PARTICLES, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING MEANS FORMING A PASSAGEWAY ADAPTED TO PROVIDE A FLOW OF SAID SUSPENDED PARTICLES THERETHROUGH, MEANS FORMING AN APERTURE ADJACENT TO THE PASSAGEWAY, MEANS PROVIDING A BEAM OF ENERGY DIRECTED THERETHROUGH SAID PASSAGEWAY AND APERTURE, THE APERTURE BEING OF SUCH SIZE THAT THE BEAM OF ENERGY PASSING THERETHROUGH AND THROUGH THE PASSAGEWAY TRAVERSES A VOLUME OF THE PASSAGEWAY OF CLUSTERS OF IS OF SUFFICIENT SIZE TO PERMIT THE PASSAGEWAY OF CLUSTERS OF PARTICLES AT RANDOM ORIENTATIONS WHICH PULSE SAID BEAM OF ENERGY SUCH THAT THE PULSES ARE PROPORTIONAL TO THE VOLUME OF THE PARTICLES FLOWING THROUGH THE PASSAGEWAY, MEANS CONVERTING THE PULSES INTO ELECTRICAL PULSES, PULSE MAGNITUDE SELECTOR MEANS RECEIVING SAID ELECTRICAL PULSES AND TRANSMITTING ONLY THOSE PULSE PORTIONS ABOVE A PRESELECTED MAGNITUDE, THE PULSES ABOVE SAID PRESELECTED MAGNITUDE RESULTING FROM RELATIVELY LARGE PARTICLES AND CLUSTERS OF PARTICLES AND WITH PULSES FROM INDIVIDUAL SMALL PARTICLES BEING BELOW SAID PRESELECTED MAGNITUDE, MEANS FOR PRODUCING A CONSTANT ENERGY OUTPUT PULSE RESPONSIVE TO A PULSE PORTION BUT IRRESPECTIVE OF THE MAGNITUDE THEREOF, AND MEANS FOR INTEGRATING SAID CONSTANT ENERGY PULSES WITH RESPECT TO A SELECTED TIME PERIOD TO DETERMINE THE AVERAGE RATE OF ARRIVAL OF SAID CONSTANT ENERGY PULSES OVER SAID TIME PERIOD.