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:
Jun. 30, 2009
Filed:
Apr. 22, 2004
Jeffrey C. Andle, Westbrook, ME (US);
Jeffrey C. Andle, Westbrook, ME (US);
Vectron International, Inc., Hudson, NH (US);
Abstract
A sensor, method and system, for measuring certain characteristics of a fluid. The sensor utilizes a piezoelectric device having at least two tightly coupled resonators providing a two pole electric transfer function responsive to an electrical signal coupled to the input resonator. The piezoelectric sensor has a textured entrapment layer, constructed to entrap a known volume of fluid and impart motion to the entrapped fluid as well as to surrounding non-trapped fluid. The common mode frequency shift of the two resonant frequencies is related to mass loading due to the entrapped fluid, while the energy absorbed by the fluid, or a phase shift of one of the resonant frequencies, is related to the viscosity/density product of the fluid. Extracting the viscosity is a matter of mathematical manipulation. By controlling the energy level of the input electrical signal, the viscosity measurement may be conducted at a predetermined shear rate.