Acoustic pipe length measuring apparatus

Claim 2

An acoustic pipe length measuring apparatus comprising: a sound emitting means for emitting a pulse-like sound wave in a pipe-like member having a length at one end of the latter; a sound collecting means for collecting, at the one end of said pipe-like member, sound waves reflected at another end of said pipe-like member; a temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature in said pipe-like member; a memory means for storing a sonic velocity value at a reference temperature for a plurality of gases which may be present in said pipe-like member; means for selecting a sonic velocity reference value for the gas which is present in said pipe-like member; and a calculating means for calculating the length of said pipe-like member from a time between emission of said pulse-like sound waves and collection of the sound waves and a sonic velocity value which has been selected.

Claim 3

An acoustic pipe length measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said memory means stores several sonic velocity values one of which can be selected in accordance with a kind of gas present in said pipe-like member.

Claim 4

An acoustic pipe length measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein a gas sensor for determining a kind of gas present in said pipe-like member is provided.

Claim 5

An acoustic pipe length measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein a display unit for indicating the length to the pipe-like member obtained by said calculating means is provided.

Claim 6

An acoustic pipe length measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 1, where said reference temperature is 0° C.

Claim 7

An acoustic pipe length measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the sound wave emitted into said pipe-like member has a wave lengthλ which is set to satisfy the following expression: ##EQU5## where d is bore diameter of pipe-like member, n is signal-to-noise ratio in measuring apparatus, v is sonic velocity (m/s) in pipe-like member, Δt is sampling time in measuring apparatus, and ε is margin of error in measurement, inherent to measuring apparatus.

Claim 8

An acoustic pipe length measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the pulse-like sound wave emitted from said sound emitting means has a wave length which is variable.

Claim 9

An acoustic pipe length measuring apparatus comprising: a sound emitting means for emitting a pulse-like sound wave in a pipe-like member having a length at one end of the latter, said sound wave having a wave length λ which is set to satisfy the following expression: ##EQU6## where d is bore diameter of pipe-like member, n is signal-to-noise ratio in measuring apparatus, v is sonic velocity (m/s) in pipe-like member, Δt is sampling time in measuring apparatus, and ε is margin of error in measurement, inherent to measuring apparatus; a sound collecting means for collecting, at the one end of said pipe-like member, sound waves reflected at another end of said pipe-like member; a temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature in said pipe-like member; a memory means for storing a sonic velocity value at a reference temperature of a gas present in said pipe-like member; and a calculating means for calculating the length of said pipe-like member from the time between emission of said pulse-like sound wave and collection of the sound waves and a sonic velocity value which is obtained from said memory means.

Claim 10

An acoustic pipe length measuring apparatus comprising: a sound emitting means for emitting a pulse-like sound wave in a pipe-like member having a length at one end of the latter, said sound wave having a wave length λ which is set to satisfy the following expression: ##EQU6## where d is bore diameter of pipe-like member, n is signal-to-noise ratio in measuring apparatus, v is sonic velocity (m/s) in pipe-like member, Δt is sampling time in measuring apparatus, and ε is margin of error in measurement, inherent to measuring apparatus; a sound collecting means for collecting, at the one end of said pipe-like member, sound waves reflected at another end of said pipe-like member; a temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature in said pipe-like member; a memory means for storing a sonic velocity value at a reference temperature of a gas present in said pipe-like member; and a calculating means for calculating the length of said pipe-like member from the time between emission of said pulse-like sound wave and collection of the sound waves and a sonic velocity value which is obtained from said memory means.

Claim 11

An acoustic pipe length measuring apparatus comprising: a sound emitting means for emitting a pulse-like sound wave in a pipe-like member having a length at one end of the latter, said pulse-like sound wave having a wave length which is variable; a sound collecting means for collecting, at the one end of said pipe-like member, sound waves reflected at another end of said pipe-like member; a temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature in said pipe-like member; a memory means for storing a sonic velocity value at a reference temperature of a gas present in said pipe-like member; and a calculating means for calculating the length of said pipe-like member from the time between emission of said pulse-like sound wave and collection of the sound waves and a sonic velocity value which is obtained from said sonic velocity value at said reference temperature.

Claim 12

An acoustic pipe length measuring apparatus comprising: a sound emitting means for emitting a pulse-like sound wave in a pipe-like member having a length at one end of the latter, said pulse-like sound wave having a wave length which is variable; a sound collecting means for collecting, at the one end of said pipe-like member, sound waves reflected at another end of said pipe-like member; a temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature in said pipe-like member; a memory means for storing a sonic velocity value at a reference temperature of a gas present in said pipe-like member; and a calculating means for calculating the length of said pipe-like member from the time between emission of said pulse-like sound wave and collection of the sound waves and a sonic velocity value which is obtained from said sonic velocity value at said reference temperature.

Claim 13

Apparatus for measuring the length of a pipe-like member comprising: sound emitting means adapted to be located at one end of the pipe-like member for emitting a pulse-like sound wave in the pipe-like member; sound collecting means for collecting, at the one end of said pipe-like member, sound waves reflected at another end of said pipe-like member; temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature in said pipe-like member; memory means for storing a sonic velocity value at a reference temperature of a gas present in said pipe-like member, said gas chosen from the group consisting of methane, butane, propane, acetylene, natural gas, petroleum gas, and oil shale gas; and calculating means for calculating the length of said pipe-like member from the time between emission of said pulse-like member from the time between emission of said pulse-like sound wave and collection of the sound waves and a sonic velocity value at said reference temperature.

Claim 14

Apparatus for measuring the length of a pipe-like member comprising: sound emitting means adapted to be located at one end of the pipe-like member for emitting a pulse-like sound wave in the pipe-like member; sound collecting means for collecting, at the one end of said pipe-like member, sound waves reflected at another end of said pipe-like member; temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature in said pipe-like member; memory means for storing a sonic velocity value at a reference temperature of a gas present in said pipe-like member, said gas chosen from the group consisting of methane, butane, propane, acetylene, natural gas, petroleum gas, and oil shale gas; and calculating means for calculating the length of said pipe-like member from the time between emission of said pulse-like member from the time between emission of said pulse-like sound wave and collection of the sound waves and a sonic velocity value at said reference temperature.

Claim 15

Apparatus for measuring the length of a pipe-like member comprising: sound emitting means adapted to be located at one end of the pipe-like member for emitting a pulse-like sound wave in the pipe-like member; sound collecting means for collecting, at the one end of said pipe-like member, sound waves reflected at another end of said pipe-like member; means closing the one end of the pipe-like member and operatively coupling the sound emitting means and the sound collecting means with an interior of the pipe-like member; temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature in said pipe-like member; memory means for storing a sonic velocity value at a reference temperature of a gas present in said pipe-like member; and calculating means for calculating the length of said pipe-like member from a time between emission of said pulse-like sound waves and collection of the sound waves and a sonic velocity value which is obtained from said memory means.

Claim 16

Apparatus for measuring the length of a pipe-like member comprising: sound emitting means adapted to be located at one end of the pipe-like member for emitting a pulse-like sound wave in the pipe-like member; sound collecting means for collecting, at the one end of said pipe-like member, sound waves reflected at another end of said pipe-like member; means closing the one end of the pipe-like member and operatively coupling the sound emitting means and the sound collecting means with an interior of the pipe-like member; temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature in said pipe-like member; memory means for storing a sonic velocity value at a reference temperature of a gas present in said pipe-like member; and calculating means for calculating the length of said pipe-like member from a time between emission of said pulse-like sound waves and collection of the sound waves and a sonic velocity value which is obtained from said memory means.

Claim 17

Apparatus for measuring the length of a pipe-like member comprising: sound emitting means adapted to be located at one end of the pipe-like member for emitting a pulse-like sound wave in the pipe-like member; sound collecting means for collecting, at the one end of said pipe-like member, sound waves reflected at another end of said pipe-like member; temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature in said pipe-like member; means for closing the one end of the pipe-like member and operatively coupling the temperature detecting means with an interior of the pipe-like member; memory means for storing a sonic velocity value at a reference temperature of a gas present in said pipe-like member; and calculating means for calculating the length of said pipe-like member from a time between emission of said pulse-like sound wave and collection of the sound waves and a sonic velocity value which is obtained from said sonic velocity value at said reference temperature.

Claim 18

Apparatus for measuring the length of a pipe-like member comprising: sound emitting means adapted to be located at one end of the pipe-like member for emitting a pulse-like sound wave in the pipe-like member; sound collecting means for collecting, at the one end of said pipe-like member, sound waves reflected at another end of said pipe-like member; temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature in said pipe-like member; means for closing the one end of the pipe-like member and operatively coupling the temperature detecting means with an interior of the pipe-like member; memory means for storing a sonic velocity value at a reference temperature of a gas present in said pipe-like member; and calculating means for calculating the length of said pipe-like member from a time between emission of said pulse-like sound wave and collection of the sound waves and a sonic velocity value which is obtained from said sonic velocity value at said reference temperature.

Claim 19

Apparatus for measuring the length of a pipe-like member comprising: sound emitting means adapted to be located at one end of the pipe-like member for emitting a pulse-like sound wave in the pipe-like member; sound collecting means for collecting, at the one end of said pipe-like member, sound waves reflected at another end of said pipe-like member; temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature in said pipe-like member; memory means for storing sonic velocity values at a reference temperature for a plurality of gases which may be present in said pipe-like member; means for selecting a wave length for sound to be emitted by the sound emitting means as a function of at least one of the pipe-like member the length of which is to be measured and the gas which is present in said pipe-like member; and calculating means for calculating the length of said pipe-like member from a time between emission of said pulse-like sound wave and collection of the sound wave on the basis of said sonic velocity value for the gas which is present in said pipe-like member.

Claim 20

Apparatus for measuring the length of a pipe-like member comprising: sound emitting means adapted to be located at one end of the pipe-like member for emitting a pulse-like sound wave in the pipe-like member; sound collecting means for collecting, at the one end of said pipe-like member, sound waves reflected at another end of said pipe-like member; temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature in said pipe-like member; memory means for storing sonic velocity values at a reference temperature for a plurality of gases which may be present in said pipe-like member; means for selecting a wave length for sound to be emitted by the sound emitting means as a function of at least one of the pipe-like member the length of which is to be measured and the gas which is present in said pipe-like member; and calculating means for calculating the length of said pipe-like member from a time between emission of said pulse-like sound wave and collection of the sound wave on the basis of said sonic velocity value for the gas which is present in said pipe-like member.

Claim 21

Apparatus for measuring the length of a pipe-like member comprising: a sound emitting means adapted to be located at one end of the pipe-like member for emitting a pulse-like sound wave in the pipe-like member; a sound collecting means for collecting, at the one end of said pipe-like member, sound waves reflected at another end of said pipe-like member; means closing the one end of the pipe-like member and operatively coupling the sound emitting means and the sound collecting means with an interior of the pipe-like member; means closing the other end of the pipe-like member; a temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature in said pipe-like member; memory means for storing a sonic velocity value at a reference temperature of a gas present in said pipe-like member; and calculating means for calculating the length of said pipe-like member from a time between emission of said pulse-like sound waves and collection of the sound waves and a sonic velocity value which is obtained from said memory means.

Claim 22

Apparatus for measuring the length of a pipe-like member comprising: a sound emitting means adapted to be located at one end of the pipe-like member for emitting a pulse-like sound wave in the pipe-like member; a sound collecting means for collecting, at the one end of said pipe-like member, sound waves reflected at another end of said pipe-like member; means closing the one end of the pipe-like member and operatively coupling the sound emitting means and the sound collecting means with an interior of the pipe-like member; means closing the other end of the pipe-like member; a temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature in said pipe-like member; memory means for storing a sonic velocity value at a reference temperature of a gas present in said pipe-like member; and calculating means for calculating the length of said pipe-like member from a time between emission of said pulse-like sound waves and collection of the sound waves and a sonic velocity value which is obtained from said memory means.

Claim 23

An acoustic pipe length measuring apparatus comprising: sound emitting means for emitting a pulse-like sound wave in a pipe-like member having a length at one end of the latter, said sound wave having a wave length λ which is set to satisfy the following expression: ##EQU7## where d is the bore diameter of pipe-like member, n is the signal-to-noise ratio in measuring apparatus, v is the sonic velocity (m/s) in the pipe-like member for a given gas which is present in the pipe-like member, Δt is the sampling time in measuring apparatus, and ε is the margin of error in measurement, inherent to measuring apparatus; sound collecting means for collecting, at the one end of said pipe-like member, sound waves reflected at another end of said pipe-like member; temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature in said pipe-like member; memory means for storing sonic velocity values at a reference temperature for a plurality of gases which may be present in said pipe-like member; and calculating means for calculating the length of said pipe-like member from the time between emission of said pulse-like sound waves and collection of the sound waves and a sonic velocity value which has been selected for the given gas which is present in the pipe-like member.

Claim 24

An acoustic pipe length measuring apparatus comprising: sound emitting means for emitting a pulse-like sound wave in a pipe-like member having a length at one end of the latter, said sound wave having a wave length λ which is set to satisfy the following expression: ##EQU7## where d is the bore diameter of pipe-like member, n is the signal-to-noise ratio in measuring apparatus, v is the sonic velocity (m/s) in the pipe-like member for a given gas which is present in the pipe-like member, Δt is the sampling time in measuring apparatus, and ε is the margin of error in measurement, inherent to measuring apparatus; sound collecting means for collecting, at the one end of said pipe-like member, sound waves reflected at another end of said pipe-like member; temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature in said pipe-like member; memory means for storing sonic velocity values at a reference temperature for a plurality of gases which may be present in said pipe-like member; and calculating means for calculating the length of said pipe-like member from the time between emission of said pulse-like sound waves and collection of the sound waves and a sonic velocity value which has been selected for the given gas which is present in the pipe-like member.

Claim 25

An acoustic pipe length measuring apparatus for measuring the length of a pipe-like member which may hold at least one of a plurality of different gases comprising: sound emitting means for emitting a pulse-like sound wave of a wave length λ in the pipe-like member at one end of the latter, said sound emitting means including synchronous signal generating means for controlling a frequency of the pulse-like sound wave so that the wave length λ satisfies the expression: ##EQU8## where d is the bore diameter of pipe-like member, n is the signal-to-noise ratio in measuring apparatus, v is the sonic velocity (m/s) for the one gas in the pipe-like member for a given gas, Δt is the sampling time in measuring apparatus, and ε is the margin of error in measurement, inherent to measuring apparatus; sound collecting means for collecting, at the one end of said pipe-like member, sound waves reflected at another end of said pipe-like member; means for storing sonic velocity values for the gases which may be present in said pipe-like member; and calculating means for calculating the length of said pipe-like member from the time between emission of said pulse-like sound waves and collection of the sound waves and the sonic velocity value for the at least one gas which is present in said pipe-like member.

Claim 26

An acoustic pipe length measuring apparatus for measuring the length of a pipe-like member which may hold at least one of a plurality of different gases comprising: sound emitting means for emitting a pulse-like sound wave of a wave length λ in the pipe-like member at one end of the latter, said sound emitting means including synchronous signal generating means for controlling a frequency of the pulse-like sound wave so that the wave length λ satisfies the expression: ##EQU8## where d is the bore diameter of pipe-like member, n is the signal-to-noise ratio in measuring apparatus, v is the sonic velocity (m/s) for the one gas in the pipe-like member for a given gas, Δt is the sampling time in measuring apparatus, and ε is the margin of error in measurement, inherent to measuring apparatus; sound collecting means for collecting, at the one end of said pipe-like member, sound waves reflected at another end of said pipe-like member; means for storing sonic velocity values for the gases which may be present in said pipe-like member; and calculating means for calculating the length of said pipe-like member from the time between emission of said pulse-like sound waves and collection of the sound waves and the sonic velocity value for the at least one gas which is present in said pipe-like member.