Dieterich Standard, Inc.

Norman A Alston

Edward F Brooks

Horst W Kalin

James B Harbaugh

This invention relates to a method for seating a pitot tube type flow meter against the remote wall of the pipe in which it is being installed and subsequently sealing same within the tubular fitting through which it enters the pipe, such method comprising using a movable abutment to push compressible packing contained within an annular space provided between the outside of the pitot tube and the inside of its tubular fitting against a fixed abutment on the pitot tube thereby forcing the latter inward until it bottoms on the remote pipe wall and thereafter continuing to advance the movable abutment to narrow the gap between it and the fixed abutment so as to compress the packing between the two until it expands to fill the annular space and form a fluid-tight seal around the pitot tube. The invention also encompasses the novel apparatus for carrying out the above-described method.

Method and apparatus for seating and sealing a pitot tube type flow

This invention relates to the novel method for stabilizing the pressure sensed by the downstream-facing port of a pitot tube type flowmeter over a broad flow range, thereby providing a stable and repeatable flow coefficient. The invention comprises localizing the areas of boundary layer separation across deflecting surfaces located upstream of said port by sharply contouring the edges thereof and directing the flowing stream thereacross, and preventing reattachment of said boundary layer by positioning and contouring the surfaces containing said port downstream of said sharply contoured edges so as to continuously lie within the wake of the fluid flowing around the latter over a broad range of flow rates. The invention also encompasses the improved averaging pitot-type flowmeter characterized by flow deflecting means having sharply contoured edges on both sides thereof effective to fix the location at which boundary layer separation occurs over a broad range of laminar and turbulent flow conditions, an upstream-facing impact surface shaped to direct the flowing fluid across said sharply contoured edges, and a downstream-facing surface containing a port for sensing downstream pressure so contoured and positioned relative to said sharply contoured edges as to cooperate therewith in preventing reattachment of the boundary layer under varying flow conditions.

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Boulder, CO, United States of America

Norman A Alston