Clinometer

Claim 1

A transducer having electrical capacitances which alter depending on the rotation of the transducer about an axis, comprising: a housing defining a fluid chamber, said chamber being in the form of a cylindrical drum and the two plane cylindrical faces of said drum comprise two opposed faces of said chamber and said chamber having conductor means located on said two opposed faces, there being at least two similarly shaped conductor means on one of said opposed faces and at least one conductor means on the other opposed face, and wherein the interior of said chamber is partially filled with a liquid having a di-electric constant different from the remainder of the contents of said chamber; wherein said chamber is mounted relative to a surface which is to serve as a measuring surface, such that the axis of rotation of said chamber is parallel to said measuring surface and such that the tilting of said chamber so that said measuring surface occupies different angles of inclination relative to the vertical, will produce an effective rotation of the transducer about its axis of rotation; electrical circuit means responsive to changes in the relative capacitance of said two opposed faces of said chamber for producing alternating electric currents, the frequency of which varies with changes in said relative capacitance; comparator means for determining the relative frequencies of the signals from said electric circuit means and for producing different signals therefrom; decoding circuit means for decoding said different signals and producing digital signals; computing circuit means for processing said digital signals in order to provide an electrical signal having a parameter whose value varies with the angular rotation of said chamber about its axis of rotation; and output means responsive to the said varying parameter of electric signal from said computing circuit means for indicating the angle of rotation of said chamber about its axis of rotation.