Other

Bindicator Company

John W Lundstrom

Dennis M Anderson

William J Ehni

Dave B Straley

Darrell R Word

This disclosure describes a Soil Penetrating Electrode with Conical Taper for use with instrumentation for measurement of the electrical properties of soil in situ. The Electrode shape and configuration solves problems of stable and reliable contact with the soil, repeatable contact area, and ease of use by the operator.

Soil penetrating electrode with conical taper

The object of the Electrical Density Gauge (EDG) invention is to provide a low cost, portable, non-nuclear, and rugged field-use device that measures dry density in soils that have been constructed for use as road-beds and building foundations. This data is used to ensure the quality control of the constructed foundation. The electrical properties of soil are measured at a radio frequency using probes driven into the soil. To calibrate EDG, certain algorithms of these electrical properties are related to physically measured wet densities and unit weights of water for a plurality of calibration test spots. Correlation regressions are found, that are used to convert values of the electrical properties measured at unknown field test spots into values of dry density.

Electrically measuring soil dry density

A backup battery charger measures charging capacitor voltage and charging battery current to calculate battery charging circuit resistance and open circuit float battery voltage. Microcontroller computation of the backup battery float battery voltage and battery charging circuit resistance changes enable efficient charging and monitoring of battery conditions.

Battery charging method

A method and apparatus for sampling and optically measuring a selected characteristic of flowing granular material in which an optical window located at one end of a hollow sight tube is disposed in the material stream at an angle with respect thereto. A dam is carried by the sight tube downstream of the window to retard material flow and cause material to collect on the window surface. The selected material characteristic may then be measured as a function of an optical characteristic of the material as viewed through the sight tube and window. An air nozzle is disposed adjacent the window to remove the collected material sample at the end of a measurement sequence.

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Glendora, CA, United States of America

John W Lundstrom