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:
Dec. 12, 1989
Filed:
Mar. 31, 1988
Nobuyuki Tanaka, Kyoto, JP;
Yasuhiko Inami, Nara, JP;
Masaya Hijikigawa, Yamatokoriyama, JP;
Shoei Kataoka, Tanashi, JP;
Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha, Osaka, JP;
Abstract
A flow sensor for detecting the rate of flow and the direction of flow of a fluid, comprising a substrate, a heating element disposed on the substrate, and four or more fluid temperature sensing elements disposed with an equal space therebetween on a virtual circle around the heating element, wherein the difference in temperature between the fluid and the heating element is maintained at a fixed level by the control of current that is applied to the heating element, so that the flow rate of the fluid can be calculated from changes in the current that corresponds to the flow rate of the fluid, and at the same time, the difference in current or in potential between the fluid temperature sensing elements is calculated from changes in temperature therebetween that arise from changes in the direction of flow of the fluid, so that the direction of flow of the fluid can be detected.