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. 22, 2005
Filed:
Mar. 31, 2003
Cecil M. Williamson, Carrollton, TX (US);
Cecil M. Williamson, Carrollton, TX (US);
Rochester Gauges, Inc., Dallas, TX (US);
Abstract
A capacitive gauge, suitable for measuring a fluid level in a container, includes upper and lower capacitive elements. Also provided is a control unit for calculating the fluid level in the container based on the capacitance of the upper and lower capacitors and a dielectric constant of the fluid in the container. The control unit also includes functionality for determining and storing the dielectric constant of the fluid in the container. The dielectric constant of the fluid is determined by first verifying whether the lower capacitive element is completely submerged based on a comparison of a measured capacitance of the upper capacitor to a reference capacitance of the upper capacitor. If the lower capacitor is verified to be submerged, then the dielectric constant of the fluid is calculated based on a measured capacitance of the lower capacitor.