Abstrict A flow meter system having the components of a meter with a housing
and a rotator and a sensor thereon, and an electronic digital counter
and an electric timer are connected with the sensor, all for determining
the quantity of flow of fluid through the meter. The sensor is a
radio frequency type and the rotor has a metallic piece which disturbs
the radio wave in effecting the counting of the revolutions of the
rotor.
Claims What is claimed is:
1. A flow meter system comprising a housing having a fluid inlet
and a fluid outlet and a circular chamber in flow communication
with said inlet and said outlet, a cylindrically-shaped rotor rotatably
disposed in said chamber and being capable of rotation in response
to the flow of fluid through said housing and with said rotor having
a plurality of openings spaced around the circumference thereof
and having vanes projecting radially between said openings and having
an axial opening extending therethrough, said housing and said rotor
being non-metalic, end covers on said housing, and a bolt of a diameter
having clearance with said rotor axial opening and extending into
said housing and loosely through said rotor axial opening for securing
said end covers fluid-tightly to said housing, a metalic piece attached
to one of said vanes of said rotor and being disposed at the periphery
thereof, a radio frequency sensor mounted on said housing and extending
to a location adjacent said chamber for sensing the passing of said
metalic piece during rotation of said rotor in the disturbance of
the radio wave emitted by said sensor, and a counter connected with
said sensor for recording the wave disturbances and thus the revolutions
of said rotor to thereby determine the flow of fluid through said
housing.
2. The flow meter system as claimed in claim 1 including an electronic
counter electrically connected with said sensor and being responsive
to the disturbance of the radio wave for recording the revolutions
of said rotor.
3. The flow meter system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said housing
is cylindrically shaped and has a blind hole extending radially
therein for receiving said sensor, and said housing and said rotor
both being of a plastic material.
4. The flow meter system as claimed in claim 3 wherein said metalic
piece is a staple embedded in said rotor.
5. The flow meter system as claimed in claim 1 including an electronic
counter electrically connected with said sensor and being responsive
to the disturbance of the radio wave for recording the revolutions
of said rotor, and an electric timer connected with said counter
for controlling the length of time said counter is being energized.
Description This invention relates to a flow meter system, and, more particularly,
it relates to components which are useful in determining the rate
of flow of a fluid in an installation.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The prior art is already aware of many different systems and components
for use in determining the quantity of flow of fluid in various
installations. That is, it is common practice to provide a meter
which has a rotor responsive to the flow of the fluid past the rotor,
and there is commonly provided a type of detector or sensor which
senses the revolutions of the rotor, all for determining the quantity
of fluid passing through the system. Examples of such prior art
are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3866469 and 3636767. However, those
prior art systems are complicated and expensive in their various
components, and, more particularly, they do not utilize the principles
employed in the present invention and especially with regard to
utilizing radio frequency waves for the purpose of detecting the
revolutions of a rotor and thus the quantity of fluid flowing through
the meter. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to achieve
the aforementioned advantages and to particularly do so with system
components which are readily available and inexpensively provided
and which operate in a reliable and accurate manner for determining
the quantity of flow of fluid through the meter.
More specifically, it is an object of this invention to provide
a system which utilizes a meter having a housing and a rotor, both
of which are made of inexpensive plastic material, and to have a
radio frequency sensor which can be attached to the meter housing
and to have the rotor support a metal piece, such as a staple, which
disturbs the radio frequency wave and thus determines the revolutions
of the rotor and therefore controls the quantity of fluid flowing
through the meter.
Still further, it is an object and advantage of this invention
to provide a flow meter system which will have a wide range of capacity
so that it can show low flow and high flow rates of fluid flowing
through the system, and will be accurate in all quantities of flow
and through the wide range mentioned. Still further, the system
of this invention will operate on either a gas or a liquid flowing
therethrough for the purpose of measuring the quantity or rate of
flow of the gas or liquid. Also, the fluid flow system of this invention
can be safely used for measuring the flow of combustible gases or
liquids.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent upon reading
the following description in light of the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the parts of the flow
meter itself and which is employed in this system.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the assembled flow meter shown in
FIG. 1 and with the other components shown electrically connected
therewith.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIG. 1 shows the flow meter itself to include a cylindrically-shaped
housing 10 having an outer circumference 11 and an inner circular
bore 12 which extends between the opposite faces 13 and 14 and which
is of one diameter through the housing 10 and extending end-to-end
therethrough. The housing 10 may be made of an extruded plastic
so that it can be conveniently and easily provided, and it need
not have close tolerances or the like but yet would be highly efficient
and can be made fluid-tight with the elements described hereinafter.
A rotor 16 can be rotatably disposed within the bore 12 and it
has a plurality of radially-extending vanes 17 and a central opening
18 which extends axially through the rotor 16. Every two vanes 17
are separated by the openings shown therebetween, and those openings
are reliefs in the circumference of the rotor 16. Thus the rotor
16 is of an outer diameter which is substantially the same as that
of the bore 12 and the rotor 16 is of course therefore snugly rotatable
in the bore 12. A fluid inlet fitting 19 and a fluid outlet fitting
21 are threadedly connected with the housing 10 and they are in
fluid-flow communication with openings 22 and 23 respectively,
in the housing 10. Thus, with the fittings 19 and 21 threaded into
the housing 10 fluid can be introduced into the bore 12 and can
be exhausted therefrom, and, in the process, the fluid passing around
the bore 12 as described will induce rotation in the rotor 16. The
rotor 16 is also made of a plastic material, and it is lightweight
and therefore readily rotates in the housing bore 12 and does so
in direct proportion to the flow of fluid through the housing 10
as described and indicated.
A radio frequency sensor 24 is attached to the housing 10 by threading
into a threaded blind hole 26 extending radially in the housing
10 and thus the sensor 24 has threads 27 and the blind hole 26
has an end wall 28 which is spaced from the bore or chamber 12 and
therefore does not open into the chamber 12. The radio frequency
sensor is a standard component available on the market and may be
one such as that made by Namco Controls, a division of Acme Cleveland
Corporation of Cleveland, Ohio and it may be sensor model no. EE510-20000.
Also attached to the housing 10 are two end caps or covers 29 and
31 which are circular in shape and each of which has a cylindrical
projection 32 which extends into the housing bore 12 for a short
distance and presents an end wall 33 for flanking the respective
end of the rotor 16. Also, O-rings 34 extend around the bosses 32
and against the shoulders 36 of the caps 29 and 31 and then a bolt
or axial 37 can extend through the caps and the housing 10 and the
rotor 16 to thus clamp the caps 29 and 31 against the housing ends
13 and 14 and thereby make the meter shown in FIG. 1 to be fluid
tight. Of course a nut 38 secures the bolt 37 sufficiently tight
to create the fluid tightness described.
With the construction of the meter as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 the
housing 10 and rotor 16 are made of a plastic material, and the
caps 29 and 31 are also made of plastic. The method of making the
meter unit itself is thus shown and described and the housing 10
can be made from an extruded tube which is cut to length at the
walls or ends 13 and 14 and the rotor 16 can be machined from a
cylindrical plastic piece, to render the rotor 16 in the cylindrical
shape shown, and the same is true of the end caps 29 and 31. Then,
the entire unit can be assembled by positioning the rotor 16 within
the bore 12 and then placing the end caps 29 and 31 at opposite
ends of the housing 10 and utilizing and positioning the O-rings
34 and finally placing the bolt 37 through the pieces, as mentioned,
and tightening with the nut 38.
The sensor 24 thus produces a radio frequency wave, and that wave
is disturbed by a metalic piece 39 which is embedded in the rotor
16. The piece 39 is shown to be a staple which can be forced into
the periphery of one of the rotor vanes 17 and the piece 39 thus
will rotate past the sensor 24 and disturb the radio wave emitted
by the sensor 24 and that disturbance can be detected by a counter
41 which is an electronic counter connected by means of wires 42
with the sensor 24 in a conventional connection. Also, an electric
timer 43 is connected with the counter 41 and thus a certain length
of time can pass while the counter 41 is operative or energized,
and, when the timer 43 is then opened or shut off, then the counter
41 will stop and whatever numbers register on the digital face 44
of the counter 41 will be significant in determining and disclosing
the flow of fluid through the meter itself. Also, FIG. 2 shows that
electric wires 46 connect with the sensor 24 and timer 43 and a
switch 47 can be disposed in the line for manual starting and stopping
of the entire system, all in a conventional electrical arrangement.
Thus, the timer 43 may be of the type made by the Eagle Company
of Baraboo, Wisconsin and can be their model no. BR41OA6 and the
digital counter 41 can be of the type made by the Durant Corporation
of Watertown, Wisconsin and can be their model no. 43000-811. Thus
the sensor 24 creates a radio frequency signal which projects a
sensing field in front of its face and toward the chamber 12. The
metal piece or staple 39 changes the sensor impedance and this activates
the sensors output circuit to supply an electronic output to the
counter 41.
With this arrangement, a flow meter system is arranged wherein
an accurate measurement of the flow of either gas or liquid through
the housing 10 can be obtained, and the digital recorder 41 will
provide a readout for the quantity of flow, as desired.
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