Pressure measuring apparatus and method

Claim 2

In a pressure measuring apparatus of the type including a Bourdon tube coupled to be responsive to applied pressure at one end to produce an angular deflection at thE other end, the combination comprising: a. a uniformly rotating object, a point on said uniformly rotating object describing a circle concentric with said other end of said Bourdon tube; b. means for providing a stop electrical pulse as said point on said uniformly rotating object rotates through a position on said circle corresponding to the angular deflection of said Bourdon tube, the distance of said position along the circumference of said circle being linearly related to said angular deflection of said Bourdon tube; c. means for providing a start electrical pulse as said point on said uniformly rotating object rotates through a position on said circle corresponding to the undeflected position of said Bourdon tube, such that when said Bourdon tube is in said undeflected position said stop and start electrical pulses will occur simultaneously; and d. counting means for counting the time which elapses between the occurrence of said start and stop electrical pulses.

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising oscillator means for producing a reference oscillator signal, and wherein said counting means counts the number of pulses of said reference oscillator signal which occur during the time period between the occurrence of said start and stop electrical pulses.

Claim 4

The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising display means for displaying the count of the counting means in actual pressure units.

Claim 5

In a pressure measuring apparatus including a Bourdon tube coupled to be responsive to applied pressure at one end thereof to create a deflection angle proportional to said applied pressure at the other end thereof, the combination comprising: a. a first mirror having both sides reflective; b. motor means coupled to rotate said first mirror along the circumference of a circle at a uniform rate of speed; c. a second mirror connected to said other end of said Bourdon tube and located at the center of said circle to be rotated in position corresponding to applied pressure; d. first light source and photoelectric detector so positioned that as said first mirror passes through a zero pressure position light from said first source will be reflected by said first mirror back to said first detector causing a first electrical pulse; e. second light source and photoelectric detector so positioned that as said first mirror passes through a pressured position light from said second source will be reflected by said second mirror, then by said first mirror, then by said second mirror back to said second detector causing a second electrical pulse such that the time delay between said first and second electrical pulses is directly proportional to the pressure induced angular rotation of said Bourdon tube; f. oscillator means for providing a reference signal and coupled to control the speed of said motor means; g. counting means for counting the number of pulses of said reference signal which occur between the occurrence of said first and second electrical pulses; and h. display means for displaying the count of the counting means in pressure units.

Claim 6

In a pressure measuring apparatus including a Bourdon tube coupled to be responsive to applied pressure at one end thereof to create a deflection angle proportional to said applied pressure at the other end thereof, the combination comprising: a. a first mirror having both sides reflective; b. motor means coupled to rotate said first mirror along the circumference of a circle at a uniform rate of speed; c. a second mirror connected to said other end of said Bourdon tube and located at the center of said circle to be rotated in position corresponding to applied pressure; d. first light source and photoelectric detector so positioned that as said first mirror passes through a zero pressure position light from said first source will be reflected by said first mirror back to said first detector causing a first electrical pulse; e. second light source and photoelectric detector so positioned that as said first mirror passes through a pressured position light from said second source will be reflected by said second mirror, then by said first mirror, then by said second mirror back to said second detector causing a second electrical pulse such that the time delay between said first and second electrical pulses is directly proportional to the pressure induced angular rotation of said Bourdon tube; f. oscillator means for providing a reference signal and coupled to control the speed of said motor means; g. counting means for counting the number of pulses of said reference signal which occur between the occurrence of said first and second electrical pulses; and h. display means for displaying the count of the counting means in pressure units.

Claim 7

In a pressure measuring apparatus including a Bourdon tube coupled to be responsive to applied pressure at one end thereof to create a deflection angle proportional to said applied pressure at the other end thereof, the combination comprising: a. a first mirror; b. motor means coupled to rotate said first mirror along the circumference of a circle at a uniform rate of speed; c. a second mirror connected to said other end of said Bourdon tube and located at the center of said circle to be rotated in position corresponding to applied pressure; d. a third mirror fixed in position at the center of said circle; e. a light source and photoelectric detector so positioned that as said first mirror passes through a start position light from said source is reflected by said third mirror, then by said first mirror, then by said third mIrror back to said detector causing a start electrical pulse and as said first mirror passes through a pressured position, light from said source is reflected by said second mirror, then by said first mirror, then by said second mirror back to said detector causing a stop electrical pulse such that the time of occurrence of said stop pulse is indicative of the pressure induced angular rotation of said Bourdon tube; f. oscillator means coupled to control the speed of said motor means and to provide a reference signal; g. counting means for counting the number of pulses of said reference signal which occur between the occurrence of said start and stop pulse; h. means for subtracting from the count of said counter the number of pulses of said reference signal that occur while said first mirror travels from said start position to the zero pressure position; and i. display means for displaying the corrected count of said counting means in pressure units.

Claim 8

In a pressure measuring apparatus including a Bourdon tube coupled to be responsive to applied pressure at one end thereof to create a deflection angle proportional to said applied pressure at the other end thereof, the combination comprising: a. a first mirror; b. motor means coupled to rotate said first mirror along the circumference of a circle at a uniform rate of speed; c. a second mirror connected to said other end of said Bourdon tube and located at the center of said circle to be rotated in position corresponding to applied pressure; d. a third mirror fixed in position at the center of said circle; e. a light source and photoelectric detector so positioned that as said first mirror passes through a start position light from said source is reflected by said third mirror, then by said first mirror, then by said third mIrror back to said detector causing a start electrical pulse and as said first mirror passes through a pressured position, light from said source is reflected by said second mirror, then by said first mirror, then by said second mirror back to said detector causing a stop electrical pulse such that the time of occurrence of said stop pulse is indicative of the pressure induced angular rotation of said Bourdon tube; f. oscillator means coupled to control the speed of said motor means and to provide a reference signal; g. counting means for counting the number of pulses of said reference signal which occur between the occurrence of said start and stop pulse; h. means for subtracting from the count of said counter the number of pulses of said reference signal that occur while said first mirror travels from said start position to the zero pressure position; and i. display means for displaying the corrected count of said counting means in pressure units.

Claim 9

The pressure measuring apparatus of claim 5 further comprising a second light source and photoelectric detector so positioned that as said first mirror passes through a predetermined synchronization position light from said second source is reflected by said third mirror, then by said first mirror, then by said third mirror back to said second detector causing a synchronization electrical pulse.

Claim 10

A method of measuring applied pressure comprising: a. creating a deflection angle proportional to applied pressure, said deflection angle being the angular rotation induced by said applied pressure in a device which undergoes angular rotation proportional to applied pressure; b. rotating an object at a uniform rate of speed, a point on said object describing a circle concentric with the axis of rotation of said device; and c. measuring the time required for said point on said object to traverse the arc on the circumference of said circle defined by said deflection angle. 8.The method of claim 7 comprising the additional steps of providing a start pulse when said point on said object rotates through the first point on said arc and a stop pulse when said point on said object rotates through the last point on said arc, and wherein time is measured by electronically counting the number of pulses of a reference oscillator signal which occur between the occurrence of said start and stop pulses.

Claim 11

The method according to claim 8 further comprising the step of displaying the count of the electronic counter in pressure units.