Electricity: measuring and testing – Impedance – admittance or other quantities representative of... – Lumped type parameters
Patent
1992-11-13
1994-08-09
Wieder, Kenneth A.
Electricity: measuring and testing
Impedance, admittance or other quantities representative of...
Lumped type parameters
324446, 324722, 204412, 73 6143, G01N 2712, G01R 2722
Patent
active
053370180
ABSTRACT:
A sensor (10) is provided, which is based on a conductive polymer (16) as the active material to measure the concentration of alcohol in gasoline. This information is then sent to the engine to immediately adjust the air:fuel ratio, which is critical in these alternate fuel systems for the smooth operation of the engine. The sensor of the invention comprises the conductive polymer and a pair of sensing electrodes (12, 14) associated with the conductive polymer. Most conveniently, the sensing electrodes are arranged in an interdigitated fashion and are coated with the conducting polymer. Certain conducting polymers have been found whose resistance changes as a function of alcohol, e.g., methanol, concentration. Since the resistance of the conducting polymer is related to the alcohol concentration, this information can be processed by a microprocessor, which can then make the necessary adjustments in the air:fuel ratio. The device of this invention can be much smaller and much less expensive than the prior art dielectric-based sensor and yet retain precision and accuracy (.+-.0.5% required) with fast response time.
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Brown Glenn W.
Denson-Low W. K.
Duraiswamy V. D.
Hughes Aircraft Company
Wieder Kenneth A.
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