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:
Jun. 09, 1992
Filed:
Aug. 07, 1990
James G Small, Westlake Village, CA (US);
Hughes Aircraft Company, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Abstract
A sensor includes a light source (24) and photosensor (28) which are disposed on opposite sides of a fluid flow passageway. A resilient member is fixedly supported at one end or edge and entrained in the fluid (14) for varying the amount of light incident on the photosensor (28) from the light source (24) as a function of the amount of deflection of the resilient member caused by motion of the fluid (14) in the passageway. The resilient member may be an optical fiber (18) which transmits light from the light source (24) toward the photosensor (28). Alternatively, the resilient member may be a curtain (62) which variably blocks propagation of light from the light source (24) to the photosensor (28). The passageway may be defined by a container (12) which is filled with the fluid (14), and the sensor constructed to sense rotational or linear motion of the container (12) relative to the fluid (14). In this case, the fluid resists movement due to stationary inertia, thereby causing relative deflection of the entrained resilient member. Alternatively, the passageway may be maintained stationary, and a fluid directed to flow therethrough which causes deflection of the resilient member and enables measurement of the rate of fluid flow through the passageway.