Flow-meter and viscometer

Claim 2

Measuring apparatus designed to be placed in a conduit having a fluid flowing therethrough, comprising an impeller with skew blades supported for unrestrained rotation about a shaft positioned longitudinally in the conduit, whereby the impeller is capable of rotating with a rotation speed which between certain fluid flow rate and viscosity limits is substantially proportional to said flow rate; a rotor supported for unrestrained rotation coaxially with and downstream of said impeller and provided with blades lying substantially in planes passing through the common axis of the blades; and means for measuring the impeller and rotor rotation speeds omega and omega 1, respectively.

Claim 3

Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, comprising computer means responsive to the rotation speed omega of the impeller for delivering a signal proportional thereto and representing the flow-rate of the fluid, and further computer means responsive to input signals representing the Rotation speeds omega and omega 1, of the impeller and rotor respectively, to deliver an output signal representing a comparison of said rotation speeds omega and omega 1.

Claim 4

Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said output signal represents the value of the ratio omega / omega 1.

Claim 5

Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, comprising a warning system, and means activating the warning system in response to the output signal exceeding a predetermined value.

Claim 6

Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, comprising computer means responsive to input signals representing the rotation speeds omega and omega 1, of the impeller and rotor respectively, to deliver an out signal proportional to a linear function of omega and omega 1, and representing the flow-rate of the fluid.

Claim 7

Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, comprising further computer means responsive to said input signals to deliver a further output signal representing a comparison of said rotation speeds omega and omega 1.

Claim 8

Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein said further output signal represents the value of the ratio omega / omega 1.

Claim 9

Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, comprising a warning system, and means activating the warning system in response to the further output signal exceeding a predetermined value.

Claim 10

Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, comprising means for computing the viscosity of the fluid from the measured values, of the impeller and rotor rotation speeds omega and omega 1, respectively.

Claim 11

Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the fluid dynamics characteristics of the impeller, consisting of the shape and the surface condition thereof, is selected so that the impeller rotation speed omega be strongly affected by the viscosity of the fluid, and the value of said viscosity can be derived from the measured values of the impeller and rotor rotation speeds omega and omega 1, respectively.

Claim 12

Flow-meter designed to be placed in a conduit having a fluid flowing therethrough, comprising an impeller having blades of helical pitch, a rotor having substantially feathered blades positioned in the conduit downstream of the impeller, the impeller and rotor being each supported for unrestrained rotation about a shaft positioned longitudinally in the conduit, means for measuring the impeller and rotor rotation speeds omega and omega 1, respectively, computer means responsive to the rotation speed omega of the impeller for delivering a signal proportional thereto and representing the flow-rate of the fluid, and further computer means responsive to the rotation speeds omega of the impeller and omega 1, of the rotor to deliver an output signal representing a comparison of said rotation speeds omega and omega 1, and wherefrom the accuracy of the flow-meter can be derived.

Claim 13

Flow-meter designed to be placed in a conduit having a fluid flowing therethrough, comprising an impeller having blades of helical pitch, a rotor having substantially feathered blades positioned in the conduit downstream of the impeller, the impeller and rotor being each supported for unrestrained rotation about a shaft positioned longitudinally in the conduit, means for measuring the impeller and rotor rotation speeds omega and omega 1, respectively, computer means responsive to the rotation speed omega of the impeller for delivering a signal proportional thereto and representing the flow-rate of the fluid, and further computer means responsive to the rotation speeds omega of the impeller and omega 1, of the rotor to deliver an output signal representing a comparison of said rotation speeds omega and omega 1, and wherefrom the accuracy of the flow-meter can be derived.

Claim 14

Flow-meter designed to be placed in a conduit having a fluid flowing therethrough, comprising an impeller having blade of helical pitch, a rotor having substantially feathered blades positioned in the conduit downstream of the impeller, the impeller and rotor being each supported for unrestrained rotation about a shaft positioned longitudinally in the conduit, means for measuring the impeller and rotor rotation speeds omega and omega 1 respectively, and computer means responsive to the rotation speeds omega of the impeller and omega 1 of the rotor to deliver a signal proportional to a linear function of omega and omega 1 and representing the flow-rate of the fluid.

Claim 15

Flow-meter designed to be placed in a conduit having a fluid flowing therethrough, comprising an impeller having blade of helical pitch, a rotor having substantially feathered blades positioned in the conduit downstream of the impeller, the impeller and rotor being each supported for unrestrained rotation about a shaft positioned longitudinally in the conduit, means for measuring the impeller and rotor rotation speeds omega and omega 1 respectively, and computer means responsive to the rotation speeds omega of the impeller and omega 1 of the rotor to deliver a signal proportional to a linear function of omega and omega 1 and representing the flow-rate of the fluid.

Claim 16

Flow-meter as claimed in claim 12, comprising further computer means responsive to the rotation speeds omega of the impeller and omega 1 of the rotor to deliver an output signal representing a comparison of said rotation speeds omega and omega 1 and wherefrom the accuracy of the flow-meter can be derived.

Claim 17

Viscometer designed to be placed in a conduit having a fluid flowing therethrough, comprising an impeller having blAdes of helical pitch, a rotor having substantially feathered blades positioned in the conduit downstream of the impeller, the impeller and rotor being each supported for unrestrained rotation about a shaft positioned longitudinally in the conduit, and means for measuring the impeller and rotor rotation speeds omega and omega 1 respectively, whereby the value of the viscosity of the fluid can be derived from the measured values of said rotation speeds omega and omega 1.

Claim 18

Viscometer designed to be placed in a conduit having a fluid flowing therethrough, comprising an impeller having blAdes of helical pitch, a rotor having substantially feathered blades positioned in the conduit downstream of the impeller, the impeller and rotor being each supported for unrestrained rotation about a shaft positioned longitudinally in the conduit, and means for measuring the impeller and rotor rotation speeds omega and omega 1 respectively, whereby the value of the viscosity of the fluid can be derived from the measured values of said rotation speeds omega and omega 1.

Claim 19

Viscometer as claimed in claim 14, wherein at least one of the fluid dynamics characteristics of the impeller, consisting of the shape and the surface condition thereof, is selected so that the impeller rotation speed is strongly affected by the viscosity of the fluid.

Claim 20

Apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein at least one of the fluid dynamic characteristics of the impeller, consisting of the shape and the surface condition thereof, is selected so that the impeller rotation speed be strongly affected by the viscosity of the fluid.