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:
Feb. 10, 2004
Filed:
Dec. 10, 2002
William Bert Spillman, Jr., Charlotte, VT (US);
Maurizio Massimo, Shelburne, VT (US);
Simmonds Precision Products, Inc., Vergennes, VT (US);
Abstract
A volume measurement system uses volume element counting in determining the amount of a liquid such as fuel in an irregularly-shaped container such as a fuel tank which can have changing orientation. The container is conceptually divided up into a plurality of volume elements. An orientation sensor determines the orientation of the container or of the liquid surface, which is approximated as a plane. A computational or optical processor uses orientation data to project vectors representing the volume elements onto a direction normal to the liquid interface plane. These projected distances are then arithmetically or optically compared to the location of the liquid interface plane.