Hughes Aircraft Company

Werner V Brandt

Wilfried Krone-Schmidt

Mario P Palombo

Michael J Slattery

Matthew G Driggs

CO.sub.2 jet spray cleaning apparatus that monitors CO.sub.2 snow plume characteristics. The present invention is a CO.sub.2 jet spray cleaning system that comprises a holding tank for containing liquid CO.sub.2, a spray nozzle coupled to the holding tank, a valve coupled between the holding tank and the spray nozzle, and a temperature sensor coupled to the nozzle for sensing the temperature of a plume of CO.sub.2 that is sprayed by the nozzle and for providing a signal indicative thereof. The system may also comprise a display coupled to the temperature sensor for displaying the temperature of the plume of CO.sub.2 to an operator, or an alarm coupled to the temperature sensor for alerting an operator that the temperature of the plume of CO.sub.2 has risen to a predetermined level. Either the displayed signal or the alert signal indicates that the quality of the plume has diminished and that the liquid CO.sub.2 in the holding tank should be replenished. The present CO.sub.2 jet spray cleaning system and CO.sub.2 snow plume sensor provide an indication of the proper CO.sub.2 snow characteristics to an operator so that the system cleans in a proper manner.

CO.sub.2 jet spray system employing a thermal CO.sub.2 snow plume sensor

Optical sensing apparatus for use with a CO.sub.2 jet spray nozzle that sprays a plume. The apparatus comprises a coherent light source that provides a light beam. A photodiode is disposed such that it detects the light beam emitted by the coherent light source that passes through the plume sprayed by the CO.sub.2 jet spray nozzle. A bandpass filter is disposed between the photodiode and the coherent light source that only passes light produced by the coherent light source. A controller coupled to the coherent light source and the photodiode that comprises a power supply for providing power to the coherent light source and the photodiode. The controller includes a digital voltmeter coupled to the photodiode for displaying a voltage output signal corresponding to the amount of light energy detected by the photodiode, and a go/no-go indicator for providing an indication of CO.sub.2 snow production.

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Redondo Beach, CA, United States of America

Werner V Brandt