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Smiths Industries Public Limited Company

Smiths Industries Plc

Ronald V Myers

David Adam Sinclair

Peter R Thrift

Peter Clinton

An aircraft fuel gauging system has a capacitance level probe mounted in a fuel tank that receives an alternating signal from a drive unit. The output of the level probe is connected to two diodes one of which is connected in series to earth and the other of which is connected in the opposite sense to a measuring unit. The measuring unit includes a signal conditioning unit which is switchable between operating as a d.c. current to voltage amplifier and a d.c. voltage amplifier by switching a resistor out of or into series connection with the diodes. A constant current source backs off the current from the probe when the tank is empty. Periodically, the supply of signals from the drive unit is interrupted and the conditioning unit is switched to operating as a d.c. voltage amplifier, the measuring unit measuring the voltage drop across the two diodes caused by current from the constant source. The current from the constant source may be increased when the resistor is connected in line such that the current through the diodes is substantially the same as the mean current during a.c. operation. The measuring unit may provide an indication of temperature derived from the voltage drop across the diodes.

Fluid-gauging systems

The output of a capacitance fuel sensor is supplied to two switches that are controlled by a switching control unit. The two switches are opened and closed in synchronism and antiphase with one another, and in quadrature with the drive voltage applied to the sensor. The output of one switch is supplied to the input of a first integrating current-to-voltage amplifier which in turn supplies a signal representative of fuel quantity to a fuel indicator. The output of the other switch is supplied to another integrating current-to-voltage amplifier which in turn supplies a signal representative of the quantity of contaminants to a contaminant indicator.

A fuel-gauging system has a capacitive sensor that is mounted in a fuel tank and supplied with an alternating electric signal from an oscillator. The oscillator output is supplied to a diode-pump circuit that produces a D.C. voltage proportional to the product of the amplitude and the frequency of the oscillator output. The D.C. voltage is supplied to the input of a comparator that receives a constant voltage at its other input. The comparator produces a D.C. output voltage, dependent on the difference between its inputs, which is supplied to an input of the oscillator, the oscillator being arranged such that the amplitude of its output voltage is dependent upon the amplitude of the input voltage. In this way, the product of the amplitude and frequency of the oscillator output is maintained substantially constant. The system may have another capacitor located in the fuel tank to enable compensation for temperature changes, and a further capacitor of open construction immersed in the fuel, arranged to enable compensation for changes in permittivity of the fuel.

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Basingstoke, United Kingdom

Ronald V Myers