The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 02, 1983
Filed:
Mar. 27, 1981
James V Motsinger, Austin, TX (US);
Tom L Erb, Austin, TX (US);
Ramsey Engineering Company, St. Paul, MN (US);
Abstract
An apparatus for monitoring the level of material in a plurality of hoppers or bins includes a radiation source and sensor associated with each hopper. Each sensor generates an output signal representing the incidence of radiation passing through the material in the respective hopper. The sensor output signals are supplied to individual sample/hold circuits where they are temporarily stored. A central control circuit cyclically reads the stored signals from the sample/hold circuits and then generates a reset signal to clear the sample/hold circuits. The central control circuit compares the sum of the sensor output signals for each sensor over a predetermined time interval with at least one reference signal representing a predetermined material amount to generate a status signal for each hopper. A plurality of indicator circuits are responsive to respective condition of the status signals for visually and/or audibly indicating to an operator the status of the material level in the associated hopper.