Method and an apparatus for measuring the inclination angle of a pile of a powdery or granular material
US5986750A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 24, 1998 |
| Grant date | Nov 16, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 24, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01N33/0091
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
By the side of a powdery or granular material stacked in a conical pile on a horizontal surface, a sensor that emits sensor light and, by receiving light reflected from a spot illuminated by the sensor light, detects the distance to the pile of the powdery or granular material is placed with the optical axis of the sensor light horizontal. While the sensor is moved in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the sensor light, the distance to each of a plurality of measurement points arranged horizontally at regular intervals along a line that runs on said pile of the powdery or granular material so as to face the movement path of the sensor. This step is performed every time the sensor is moved vertically a predetermined distance at a time. In each session of the step, a point is extracted that is closest to the sensor, and a function describing a straight line approximating the curve through all of the thus extracted points is determined by the least-squares method. Then, the angle of this straight line with respect to a horizontal plane is determined.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.