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. 28, 1999
Filed:
Dec. 22, 1997
David Kleinschmitt, Bethel, CT (US);
Bayer Corporation, Tarrytown, NY (US);
Abstract
A bubble detector/direction sensor for detecting the presence of liquid and gas in a stream of liquid and gas segments flowing through an elongated transparent tube and for sensing the direction of flow of the stream. The sensor has first and second light sources, first and second input fiber optic bundles, and first and second collection fiber optic bundles. The first and second input fiber optic bundles couple the first and second light sources to first and second sides of the tube, respectively, so that light passes through the tube. When the tube is filled with liquid, the light passing therethrough from each light source passes through first and second predetermined regions. When the tube is filled with gas, the light passing therethrough passes outside of the predetermined regions. The first and second collection fiber optic bundles are coupled to the second and first sides of the tube, respectively, outside of the predetermined regions. A circuit is provided for producing signals indicating the presence of liquid in the tube, the presence of gas in the tube, and the direction of flow of liquid and gas through the tube based upon the light received by the first and second collection fiber optic bundles.