Measuring and testing – Liquid level or depth gauge
Patent
1981-12-17
1984-05-29
Goldberg, Gerald
Measuring and testing
Liquid level or depth gauge
116292, 73708, 73290R, G01F 2318, G01F 2314
Patent
active
044507216
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to apparatus for indicating quantity of liquified gas contained in a storage container for supplying gas to a consuming appliance.
The invention is primarily concerned with an apparatus which indicates the quantity by weight or volume of liquified butane of propane remaining in a container.
Since containers for liquified butane or propane are normally made of metal, they are non-transparent and therefore it is not possible to see how much liquified gas is present in the container.
Heretofore, the most common determination of the quantity of liquified gas in such a container has been achieved by weighing the container and substracting from that reading the weight of the empty container. This method is inconvenient since it requires the operative to know the weight of the empty container prior to it being emptied and also requires the operative to lift the container in order to weight it. This can be very difficult particularly bearing in mind that a full container can be very heavy for a person to lift.
There is therefore a need to provide an apparatus which can indicate in a convenient manner, the quantity by weight or volume of liquified gas in the container without the need to actually weigh the container.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus, for indicating quantity of liquified gas contained in a storage container for supplying gas to a consuming appliance, the apparatus including a pressure sensing means for sensing gas pressure within the container and being arranged to operate an indicator means which gives a desired indication, the indicator means being calibrated to indicate the quantity by weight or volume of liquified gas contained in said container.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of determining the quantity, by a weight or volume, of a liquified gas in a container comprising the steps of determining the gas pressure within the container during use, and using the determined gas pressure to indicate the quantity of liquified gas in the container.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Reference is now made to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a graph showing the relationship between gas pressure and weight of liquified gas within a container during controlled release of gas from the container;
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a system including an apparatus according to the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a front view of a gauge calibrated in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 3a is a similar view to FIG. 3 showing a modification; and
FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a further embodiment according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring initially to FIG. 1 the vertical axis of the graph indicates gas pressure within the container in units of pounds per square inch (p.s.i.) and the horizontal axis indicates the weight in pounds of the liquified gas in the container. When no gas is being released from the container, the pressure of the gas remains at a constant pressure at a constant ambient temperature. This is referred to as a static system. Thus measurement of pressure in a static system gives no indication of the quantity of liquified gas in the container since the pressure will remain unchanged (ignoring temperature effects) whilst there is liquified gas present.
However, it has been surprisingly discovered that when gas is released from the container in a controlled manner (for instance as when the pressurised gas is supplied to the consuming appliance via a presssure regulator) then there is a pressure variation within the container. This is referred to as a dynamic system.
The graph of FIG. 1 relates to a dynamic system and is a plot of pressure drop during usage. It has been found that the shape of the curve A is the same for any liquified gas/vapour system contained within a constant volume and in which the vapour or gas is released in a controlled manner.
Accordingly it has been disco
REFERENCES:
patent: 1856079 (1932-05-01), Mott
patent: 3301062 (1967-01-01), Reesby et al.
patent: 3596510 (1971-08-01), Siegel et al.
patent: 3602046 (1971-08-01), Lawford
Gaunt John
Gregory Kenneth E.
Energy Innovation Enterprises, Ltd.
Goldberg Gerald
Noland Tom
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