Abstract: Fluid under pressure is routed through an input port to a bore provided within a housing. A piston is disposed within the housing for movement within the bore. A target member includes a piston portion which frictionally engages, and is received within, the wall of a bore provided in the piston, causing the piston and target to move as a unit. A proximity sensor mounts to the housing in a location to switch to its activated state in response to displacement of the target member to a position corresponding to a predetermined fluid pressure level. Spring packs, exhibiting a predetermined wear characteristic, resiliently bias the piston to resist displacement due to applied fluid pressure.

Abstract: A flowmeter is provided for receiving a plurality of fluid streams and providing signals representative of the mass flow rate of each stream and the differential mass flow rate of any selected pair of the streams. A housing defines a flow channel to accommodate each stream to be measured. An impeller is rotatably mounted in each channel to impart measured angular momentum to the fluid flowing in that channel and all of the impellers are driven by a common turbine and shaft. The impellers are each resiliently coupled to the shaft so that the impellers lag behind the shaft by an amount proportional to the angular momentum imparted by each impeller to the fluid in its respective channel.

Abstract: A proximity sensing system including an improved variable inductance measuring technique to provide an indication of the proximity of a target object to a remote sensor unit 10 which includes a sensor inductor. A variable inductance measuring apparatus measures the inductance of the sensor inductor, which inductance corresponds to the proximity of a target object. The variable inductance measuring network includes a sensor current pulse generator 20 which, in each of successive system periods, establishes a time-varying current through the sensor unit 10. A sensor control loop stage 30 senses when the resulting sensor voltage reaches a predetermined level and then captures the sensor current so as to clamp the sensor voltage at this level. A retrieval stage 40 then determines the rate of change of the sensor current at the time the sensor current is zero, establishing a calibrated analog voltage of the inductance of the sensor inductor which is substantially temperature independent.

Abstract: A heated platform scale for vehicles. A pair of electrical resistance heaters is installed in an enclosure for a load cell of a vehicle platform scale. A thermostat controls the heaters so as to maintain the enclosure, and therefore, the load cell within a range of temperatures above freezing. Accumulation of snow and ice around the load cell is thereby prevented, and inaccuracies due to temperature variations are eliminated.

Abstract: An electrical indicator is disclosed of the type including a housing with an elongated window therein, and an elongated scale and an adjacent, relatively-translatable index carried on an elongated tape loop, both viewable through the window. The indicator provides increased resolution over such indicators known to the prior art by placing the elongated scale also on a tape which is made translatable past the window but in a direction opposite to that of the tape carrying the index. Both tapes are driven by the same drum forming part of a DC torque motor, but are taken off a peripheral surface of that drum in opposite directions to achieve opposite translations of the tapes past the window. An electrical circuit for controlling the DC torque motor is disclosed, as are details of the DC torque motor and associated components of the electrical indicator.

Abstract: A problem that is often encountered under uneven terrain conditions with on-board load weighing systems for vehicles, such as logging trucks, having a frame member and a load support member to which a load which is to be measured is applied, is that structural failures occur in the load cell assemblies included in the on-board load weighing system. The cause of these structural failures is traced to rotation of the load cell assemblies resulting in undue tensive forces in the load cells thereof. Various restraining devices are discussed for limiting the upward deflection of an upper, load concentrating portion of the load cell to maintain the tensive forces within acceptable levels.

Abstract: A fluid flowmeter, of a type including a housing and a fluid flow measurement assembly rotatable therein which is driven by a turbine, is described in detail to illustrate a limitation on low flow rate operational capability and a related problem of contaminant particle malfunctions. A specific flowmeter used for such illustration is a typical prior art motorless mass flowmeter including a turbine secured to and rotatable with a shaft which in turn rotates a downstream impeller by means of a spring, the impeller being independently supported for rotation, so that relative deflection between the impeller and the shaft is a measure of mass flow rate.

Abstract: A linear eddy current loss (ECL) proximity distance measuring gauge comprising an ECL oscillator and a linearizing DC feedback circuit is disclosed. As the distance between a magnetic target and the ECL coil increases and changes the impedance of the ECL tuned circuit, the linearizing DC feedback circuit shunts current away from the tuned circuit and controls the rate at which oscillation amplitude varies with a change in target distance. The amplitude control created by the linearizing DC feedback circuit results in oscillation amplitude being linearly related to the distance between the target and the ECL coil. A peak detector circuit detects oscillation amplitude and applies a directly related DC voltage to a buffering emitter follower output circuit. Thus, output voltage is linearly related to target distance.

Abstract: A flowmeter in which first and second sets of electrical signals representative, respectively, of the mass flow rate and the volumetric flow rate of a fluid are used to generate an adjusted mass flow rate signal which is representative of the mass flow rate and which reflects changes in flow rate substantially as they occur. Means are provided to generate a control signal representative of the density of the fluid, the control signal in turn being applied to a multiplier circuit which multiplies the volumetric flow rate signal by the control signal to generate the adjusted mass flow rate signal. The control signal is generated by comparing the first set of signals, which are representative of the mass flow rate, with a delayed portion of the adjusted mass flow rate signal, an inequality between the first set of signals and the adjusted mass flow rate signal resulting in a corresponding change in the magnitude of said control signal.

Abstract: The required frequency of inspection, servicing and overhauling of jet engines is to a large extent determined by the history of excessive or over-temperature conditions of each engine. In order to monitor and record each such over-temperature condition, an indicator device is provided having electronic circuitry for processing a temperature signal from the jet engine and a light emitting diode matrix for graphically displaying each over-temperature incident. When the jet engine temperature exceeds a threshold over-temperature point, this occurrence is sensed and the circuitry of the indicator functions to automatically store and visually display the engine temperature as a function of time for the succeeding several seconds after the over-temperature condition has commenced.