Ultrasonic anemometer
US5343744A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 6, 1992 |
| Grant date | Sep 6, 1994 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 6, 2012 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01P5/248
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An ultrasonic anemometer employs three ultrasonic transducers arranged in a configuration defining a horizontal equilateral triangle. Each of the transducers has a response profile characterized by a primary central lobe and secondary or side lobes angularly inclined from and surrounding the primary lobe. Each transducer is tilted from the horizontal to align the secondary lobes with signal propagation paths between it and the other transducers, thus affording a minimum number of transducers performing at a high degree of efficiency. Circuitry is employed to cause the ultrasonic transducers to generate either continuous wave acoustic signals or single pulse acoustic signals on an alternating basis. In each case only one of the transducers transmits the acoustic signal while the other two transducers receive the signal. Propagation measurements based upon the continuous wave and the single pulse are combined to provide a composite propagation time, for each of two opposite directions in connection with each propagation path. These values in turn are combined to obtain a single vector representation of wind speed and direction.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.