Radiometric temperature measurement based on empirical measurements and linear functions
US5967992A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 3, 1998 |
| Grant date | Oct 19, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 3, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01K7/42
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
In contrast to the non-linear systems used in certain past infrared thermometers, the present invention uses an empirical data set to determine patient temperature. The empirical data set provided by the present invention represents actually measured thermometer sensor outputs over a substantial number of target and ambient temperature points within the thermometer's operating range. The empirical data set is collected during a testing process, and is stored in a non-volatile memory within the thermometer. At temperature measuring time, the thermometer accesses the appropriate cell in the non-volatile memory to determine temperature. The substantial size of the empirical data set eliminates guesswork and estimation--since the most accurate indication of how a thermometer will perform under certain conditions is a record of how it previously performed under those same conditions. To reduce total testing time while achieving nearly comparable accuracy, the present invention systematically collects empirical data in sufficient quantities to cover a range of reference target and ambient temperatures. To provide additional resolution, a simple linear function such as averaging (i.e., ad…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.