Patent · US Active

Flow sensor with thermocouples

US8011240B2 · kind B2 · utility

8Cited by
33References
17Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 27, 2007
Grant dateSep 6, 2011
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 9, 2029

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01F1/696
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

The flow sensor comprises a heater arranged between two sensing thermopiles. In addition, at least one monitoring thermocouple is provided for measuring the temperature of the heater. The signal from the monitoring thermocouple can be used to improve the accuracy of the device in several ways. In particular, the signal from the monitoring thermocouple depends on changes of the Seeback constant and other inherent properties of the thermopiles in the same way as the signal from the sensing thermopiles, which allows a compensation of such effects. The signal from the monitoring thermocouple can also be used as a reference voltage to an A/D converter for converting the signals from the sensing thermopiles.

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