US3718043A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Ionization gas flow meter with pulse rate servo
Assignee: Nucleonics Dev Co
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Filing: 1970-12-15
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Granted: 1973-02-27
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Expires: 1990-12-15
Abstract
Abstract An injection flow meter is provided with means for triggering an X-ray beam generator to produce a sheet of ions in gas flowing in a pipeline at a rate determined by a voltage controlled oscillator having a period approximately equal to the transit time of a sheet of ions to a detector downstream. A logic network, activated at approximately the time an ion sheet is to be detected in order to lock out spurious detector pulses, continually determines whether the ion sheet arrives before or after the X-ray beam generator is retriggered to so adjust the control voltage that the X-ray beam generator is continually retriggered at substantially the same time ion sheets are being detected. A failure to detect ion sheets will not affect the last established control voltage thereby dividing the flow into a number of precise units of volume even in the absence of detector pulses.
Inventors
- 👤 J Fishman
- 👤 W Mutschler
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-03 16:03
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01F; G01F1/00; G01F1/704; G01F1/708; G01F1/7088
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
134 words
Apparatus for monitoring the flow of fluid in a pipeline comprising controlled means for periodically generating trigger pulses, means responsive to said trigger pulses for injection into said fluid at a first fixed station in said pipeline tracers which may be carried by said fluid, one tracer for each trigger pulse, means at a second fixed station downstream from said first fixed station for detecting said tracers, means responsive to said tracer detecting means for controlling said trigger pulse generating means to generate trigger pulses substantially in time coincidence with the anticipated detection of tracers based upon the rate at which tracers have been detected most recently, and means responsive to said trigger pulses for continually producing at least one of two types of flow measurements, said types being cumulative volume and flow rate.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
134 words
Apparatus for monitoring the flow of fluid in a pipeline comprising controlled means for periodically generating trigger pulses, means responsive to said trigger pulses for injection into said fluid at a first fixed station in said pipeline tracers which may be carried by said fluid, one tracer for each trigger pulse, means at a second fixed station downstream from said first fixed station for detecting said tracers, means responsive to said tracer detecting means for controlling said trigger pulse generating means to generate trigger pulses substantially in time coincidence with the anticipated detection of tracers based upon the rate at which tracers have been detected most recently, and means responsive to said trigger pulses for continually producing at least one of two types of flow measurements, said types being cumulative volume and flow rate.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
171 words
A flow meter for monitoring the flow of fluid in a pipeline comprising controlled means for periodically generating trigger pulses, means responsive to said trigger pulses for injecting into said fluid at a first fixed station in said pipeline tracers which may be carried by said fluid, one tracer for each trigger pulse, means at a second fixed station downstream from said first fixed station for detecting said tracers and for producing a return pulse in response to each tracer detected, error detecting means for determining whether a return pulse is produced by said tracer detecting means early or late with respect to trigger pulses generated by said controlled means, control means responsive to said error detecting means for controlling said trigger pulse generating means to generate trigger pulses at substantially the same times that tracers are being detected by said tracer detecting means, and means responsive to said trigger pulses for continually producing at least one of two types of flow measurements, said types being cumulative volume and flow rate.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
171 words
A flow meter for monitoring the flow of fluid in a pipeline comprising controlled means for periodically generating trigger pulses, means responsive to said trigger pulses for injecting into said fluid at a first fixed station in said pipeline tracers which may be carried by said fluid, one tracer for each trigger pulse, means at a second fixed station downstream from said first fixed station for detecting said tracers and for producing a return pulse in response to each tracer detected, error detecting means for determining whether a return pulse is produced by said tracer detecting means early or late with respect to trigger pulses generated by said controlled means, control means responsive to said error detecting means for controlling said trigger pulse generating means to generate trigger pulses at substantially the same times that tracers are being detected by said tracer detecting means, and means responsive to said trigger pulses for continually producing at least one of two types of flow measurements, said types being cumulative volume and flow rate.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
152 words
A flow rate meter as defined in claim 2 wherein said trigger pulse generating means is controlled by an electrical signal to generate trigger pulses at a rate proportional to the amplitude of said signal, and said control means comprises means for generating an early or a late error pulse according to whether said error detecting means determines whether a given pulse produced by said tracer detecting means occurred too early or too late with respect to a trigger pulse for injecting the next tracer to be detected, means for integrating said early and late error pulses, and means responsive to said integrating means for altering the amplitude of said control signal in response to each error pulse in a direction which will cause the next pulse generated by said tracer detecting means to be detected closer in time to a trigger pulse generated to inject the next tracer to be generated.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
61 words
A flow rate meter as defined in claim 3 wherein said integrating means comprises digital means for counting in one direction in response to an early error pulses and in an opposite direction in response to a late error pulse, whereby a high degree of stability in the control signal is achieved for extended periods during which tracers are not detected.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
75 words
A flow rate meter as defined in claim 3 wherein said means for generating said pulses includes means for generating a square-wave and means for timing said trigger pulses to occur at the center of each cycle of said square-wave, and wherein said error detecting means includes means for comparing the time of a detector pulse with the phase of said squarewave to determine whether a tracer has been detected too early or too late.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
93 words
A flow rate meter as defined in claim 5 wherein said controlled means for generating said trigger pulses further includes means for generating gating pulses, each gating pulse of a duration that is a predetermined fraction of the current cycle of said periodic trigger pulse generating means and centered on the time that a trigger pulse is generated at the center of said current cycle, and said comparing means is responsive to said gating pulse generating means to enable an error determination to be made only during the presence of a gating pulse.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
109 words
A flow rate meter as defined in claim 6 wherein said controlled means for generating said trigger pulses comprises means for generating a symmetrical sawtooth waveform of substantially constant amplitude with a period directly proportional to the amplitude of said control signal, and said gating pulse generating means comprises means responsive to said sawtooth waveform for producing said gating pulses when said sawtooth waveform exceeds a predetermined level, whereby the period of each gating pulse is a substantially constant percentage of the cycle of said sawtooth waveform during which generated, and each gating pulse is centered about the center of the cycle of said sawtooth waveform during which generated.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
40 words
A flow rate meter as defined in claim 7 wherein said controlled means for periodically generating trigger pulses comprises means responsive to said sawtooth waveform for producing a trigger pulse at said center of each cycle of said sawtooth waveform.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
104 words
A flow rate meter as defined in claim 8 wherein said means responsive to said sawtooth waveform for producing a trigger pulse at said center of each cycle of said sawtooth waveform comprises means responsive to said sawtooth waveform for generating a square waveform, each cycle having a period corresponding directly to the period of said sawtooth waveform, means for differentiating said square waveform to produce sharp pulses of a given polarity at the beginning of each cycle of said square waveform and of an opposite polarity at the center of each waveform, and means for suppressing said sharp pulses of said given polarity.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
58 words
A flow rate meter as defined in claim 9 wherein said error detecting means comprises two three-terminal gates, each connected to receive said return pulses and said gating pulses at two terminals, and one of said gates connected to receive said square waveform, and an inverter coupling said square waveform to the other one of said two gates.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1976-02-27 | 1976-08-28 | 1977-02-27 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1980-02-27 | 1980-08-28 | 1981-02-27 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1984-02-27 | 1984-08-28 | 1985-02-27 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |