Laminar jet linear accelerometer

Claim 1

An improved laminar jet linear accelerometer, comprising: a housing; a first chamber defined within said housing and into which a pressurized fluid is supplied; a second chamber fluidically connected to said first chamber, said second chamber vented to an ambient environment through a plurality of vents to prevent pressure build-up within said second chamber; means defining a nozzle operatively associated with said first chamber for issuing said fluid from said first chamber and into said second chamber in the form of a laminar jet and along a predetermined axis; sensing means, fluidically connected downstream from said second chamber and disposed symmetrically about said predetermined axis within fluid channels, for sensing and indicating a differential fluidic output characteristic of said fluid, whereby under non-acceleration conditions, said differential output will be zero as said fluid flows along said axis and uniformly impinges upon said sensing means, while under applied acceleration conditions, said differential output will not be zero as said fluid flow will be deflected away from said axis by said applied acceleration so as to non-uniformly impinge upon said sensing means; flow splitter means integrally formed with said housing for facilitating the flow of said fluid into said channels toward said sensing means, said flow splitter means disposed co-axially with said flow axis and includes a sharply tapered upstream portion extending into said second chamber; and swirl attenuation vanes, disposed within said second chamber, for preventing recirculation and backflow of said fluid toward said nozzle.