Patent · US Active

Single transceiver ultrasonic flow meter having an array of transducer elements

US10175077B2 · kind B2 · utility

0Cited by

9References

8Claims

0Family size

Assignee

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED · US

Inventors

Matthieu Chevrier · Freising, DE
Michael Weitz · Schallstadt, DE

Key dates

Filing date	Feb 22, 2016
Grant date	Jan 8, 2019
Priority date	—
Expiry date	Feb 22, 2036

Classification

Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
CPC primaryH02H9/025
WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Elements of a single beam-forming array of ultrasonic transducer elements are selectively activated to direct two or more ultrasonic beams to a series of acoustic mirrors mounted to or fabricated at known locations at an inside surface of the pipe. The ultrasonic beams traverse measurement path segments at known angles through a fluid flowing through the pipe before being received back at the single transducer array. Fluid flow velocity along the fluid flow path is calculated as a function of a difference in time-of-flight (TOF) along first and second ultrasonic beam paths after subtracting TOF components contributed by known-length non-measurement path segments. The difference in TOF results from an additive downstream fluid flow velocity vector component along a first measurement path segment and a subtractive upstream fluid flow velocity vector component along a second measurement path segment.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.