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:
Sep. 03, 1996
Filed:
Sep. 17, 1993
Donald L Hore, Bristol, GB;
Radiodetection Limited, Bristol, GB;
Abstract
An elongate vessel, preferably cylindrical, is partially filled with a conductive and/or ferromagnetic fluid. At least two coils are wound on the vessel in longitudinally different regions so that tilting the vessel varies the amount of the fluid inside the coils differently. This affects their inductances. The variation in inductances is monitored, directly or indirectly, e.g. by applying an AC signal to the coils and monitoring the voltage drops across them. This provides an electrical output related to the inclination of the sensor's axis. It is unaffected by rotation about the axis. Thus the sensor can be used to monitor the orientation of the axis of a drilling tool, e.g. a mole, which rotates about its axis.