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:
Feb. 18, 1986
Filed:
Dec. 30, 1982
Saul Miodownik, Bronx, NY (US);
Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases, New York, NY (US);
Abstract
A discontinuity detector detects a sudden change or discontinuity in a medium moving relative to the detector such as a liquid plug in a gas flowing along a conduct, an air bubble in a liquid, or a change form one liquid or gas to another. It has a sensor which senses the discontinuity and a circuit which compensates for gradual changes in the medium or sensor, but responds to the sensed discontinuity. The preferred circuit also determines that the sensor is functioning properly and is properly set up for sensing the discontinuity. The preferred circuit is an analog-to-digital delta modulator which periodically resets a clock pulse counter until a discontinuity is sensed. The clock pulses then increment the counter to a higher-than-normal count to signal the discontinuity. The preferred embodiments are intended for detecting discontinuities in patient gas or liquid supplies in a medical diagnostic or therapeutic instrument.