Method of measuring torque

Claim 1

A method of determining the torque of a rotating element in a system having at least one rotating element and having constant or sufficiently slowly varying losses and/or load, without the necessity of appreciable perturbation of the operation of the system, said method comprising, establishing the angular acceleration value of the rotating element, relating the established angular acceleration value to the known inertial properties of said system and the unknown losses or unknown load or both each determinable by angular-acceleration measurements, eliminating the loss and load dependence by taking the difference between two measurements of angular acceleration taken at the same angular velocity, and making the result available for torque readout.

Claim 2

A method of determining the torque of a rotating element in a system having at least one rotating element and having constant or sufficiently slowly varying losses and/or load, without the necessity of appreciable perturbation of the operation of the system, said method comprising, establishing the angular acceleration value of the rotating element, relating the established angular acceleration value to the known inertial properties of said system and the unknown losses or unknown load or both each determinable by angular-acceleration measurements, eliminating the loss and load dependence by taking the difference between two measurements of angular acceleration taken at the same angular velocity, and making the result available for torque readout.

Claim 4

A method of determining the power of a rotating system having a rotating element and with constant or sufficiently slowly varying losses and/or load, without requiring appreciable perturbation of the operation of the system, said method comprising, simultaneous determination of angular acceleration or torque, and angular velocity, providing a circuit for relating the determination of angular acceleration or torque and angular velocity to that of power, using the known inertial properties of said system and, when either or both the losses or load are unknown the value of each unknown quantity, determinable by angular-acceleration measurements, elimination of the power''s dependence on the unknown load or frictional losses by taking the difference between two measurements of angular acceleration taken at the same angular velocity, and making the result available for power readout.

Claim 5

A method of determining the power of a rotating system having a rotating element and with constant or sufficiently slowly varying losses and/or load, without requiring appreciable perturbation of the operation of the system, said method comprising, simultaneous determination of angular acceleration or torque, and angular velocity, providing a circuit for relating the determination of angular acceleration or torque and angular velocity to that of power, using the known inertial properties of said system and, when either or both the losses or load are unknown the value of each unknown quantity, determinable by angular-acceleration measurements, elimination of the power''s dependence on the unknown load or frictional losses by taking the difference between two measurements of angular acceleration taken at the same angular velocity, and making the result available for power readout.

Claim 7

A method for determining the torque of a rotating system having a rotating element and having varying losses and/or load and known inertial properties, without the necessity of appreciable perturbation of the operation of the system, said method comprising a measurement by a controlled means at a particular angular velocity of angular acceleration of said rotating element of said system, said system generating unknown torque, using said measurement of angular acceleration to relate torque to the known inertial properties of said system and to the determinable losses or load or both, determining said loss and/or load contribution to the rate of change of angular momentum by isolating their effect on angular acceleration through a second measurement at same said angular velocity of angular acceleration with said rotating system generating known torque, eliminating said loss and/or load dependence from the rate of change of angular momentum of said rotating element by taking the difference between said two measurements of angular acceleration at same said angular velocity, and averaging as many measurements as may be required to establish to specified accuracy the torque of the rotating system and/or the losses and load, and making said determined torque and/or said determined losses and load available for further use.

Claim 8

A method for determining the torque of a rotating system having a rotating element and having varying losses and/or load and known inertial properties, without the necessity of appreciable perturbation of the operation of the system, said method comprising a measurement by a controlled means at a particular angular velocity of angular acceleration of said rotating element of said system, said system generating unknown torque, using said measurement of angular acceleration to relate torque to the known inertial properties of said system and to the determinable losses or load or both, determining said loss and/or load contribution to the rate of change of angular momentum by isolating their effect on angular acceleration through a second measurement at same said angular velocity of angular acceleration with said rotating system generating known torque, eliminating said loss and/or load dependence from the rate of change of angular momentum of said rotating element by taking the difference between said two measurements of angular acceleration at same said angular velocity, and averaging as many measurements as may be required to establish to specified accuracy the torque of the rotating system and/or the losses and load, and making said determined torque and/or said determined losses and load available for further use.