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:
Oct. 15, 2002
Filed:
Jul. 07, 2000
Jerome Leigh Kurz, Carmel Valley, CA (US);
Los Robles Advertising, Inc., Monterey, CA (US);
Abstract
An apparatus and method for weighing particulates in a gas stream has a generally cylindrical tube manufactured from a magnetostrictive material. One end of the tube is anchored to a mounting block, while the other end includes a filter. The gas stream passes through a filter, where particulates are collected. Several alternative filters provide various alternative benefits for varying applications to different sensing applications. Between the two ends of the magnetostrictive tube are electromagnetic drive and pick-up coils which are magnetically coupled to the tube. The drive coils are driven by an electrical current from an electronic control circuit to generate alternating magnetic fields. These alternating fields in turn stimulate ultrasonic oscillations in the magnetostrictive tube, causing the tube to extend and retract along the length. Oscillation is in the longitudinal direction only, resulting in only one mode of operation. The frequency of oscillation of the magnetostrictive tube is monitored by the pick-up coils, and this data is returned to the electronic control circuit. The frequency of oscillation varies directly in proportion to the mass of collected particulates, and so the mass is readily is calculated by the electronic control circuit and output as data for a user. The magnetostrictive material is not only chemically resistant, but also quite temperature, vibration and impact resistant, permitting use in a broad range of applications, some which were not previously possible to be sensed. A method of sensing is also disclosed.