1006results about "Volume/mass flow by thermal effects" patented technology

A gas delivery system accurately measures and optionally regulates mass flow rate in real time. A fluid conduit connects an inlet valve, calibration volume, flow restrictor, and outlet valve in series. Pressure and temperature sensors are coupled to the calibration volume. One or more pressure sensors may be attached across the flow restrictor. Alternatively, an absolute pressure sensor may be attached upstream of the flow restrictor. One embodiment of differential pressure sensors comprises a floating reference differential pressure sensor, including a first transducer attached to the fluid conduit upstream of the flow restrictor and a second transducer attached to the conduit downstream of the flow restrictor. In this embodiment, each transducer receives a reference pressure from a reference source, and optionally, after the calibration volume is charged, the floating reference differential pressure transducers are calibrated. When gas flow is initiated, differential and/or absolute pressure measurements are repeatedly taken, and a measured mass flow rate calculated thereon. Gas flow is adjusted until the measured mass flow rate reaches a target mass flow. Using the temperature/pressure sensors at the calibration volume, repeated calculations of actual flow rate are made to uncover any discrepancy between actual and measured mass flow rates. Whenever a discrepancy is found, the manner of calculating measured mass flow is conditioned to account for the discrepancy; thus, the measured mass flow rate more accurately represents the actual mass flow rate thereby providing an actual mass flow rate more accurately achieving the target mass flow rate.

An electronic device having mounted thereon an MEMS element or other functional elements, in which a device body and lid define an element-carrying space, the element-carrying space is sealed air-tight by an ultrasonic bonded part bonding the device body and the lid, and the element-carrying space having arranged inside it a system element secured to the device body and/or the lid by flip-chip connection.

A compact sensor for detection of chemical and/or biological compounds in low concentration. The sensor comprises electromagnetic microcavities. The agent to be detected passes the microcavities, is absorbed and/or absorbed by the microcavities, and modifies the electromagnetic field inside the microcavities. After the agent has been adsorbed and/or absorbed, a probe beam is applied to the microcavities. The change of electromagnetic field is detected by the detector, and the frequency of the probe beam at which the resonance is observed, is indicative of a particular agent being present. A method for detecting chemical and/or biological compounds using the sensor.

A system for sensing or measuring the motion of a fluid such as air. The system typically has a two-part plastic body containing an internal flow passage. The parts of the body may snap together or attach with an adhesive. A transducer or an electronic sensor is typically located within the flow passage, which may measure mass flow rate and may have two resistive thermal devices (RTDs) located on either side of a heat source. The body may have two elongated port tubes configured to attach to tubing. The port tubes may contain venturis, and may be substantially straight and substantially parallel, forming a U shape. A metal lead frame may be provided in electrical communication with the sensor. The lead frame may be integrally molded within the body, and may have a lower coefficient of thermal expansion than the body. The internal flow passage and the sensor may be substantially symmetrical and measure the flow rate of the fluid substantially equally in either flow direction. The system may be configured for surface mounting or for through-hole mounting, and may be a dual in-line type.

The present invention relates to an in situ micromachined mixer for microfluidic analytical systems. In a preferred embodiment, a 100 pL mixer for liquids transported by electroosmotic flow (EOF) is described. Mixing was achieved in multiple intersecting channels with a bimodal width distribution and varying lengths. Five .mu.m width channels ran parallel to the direction of flow whereas larger 27 .mu.m width channels ran back and forth through the network at a 45.degree. angle. All channels were approximately 10 .mu.m deep. It was observed that little mixing of confluent streams occurred in the 100 .mu.m wide mixer inlet channel where mixing would be achieved almost exclusively by diffusion. In contrast, mixing was complete after passage through the channel network in the .apprxeq.200 .mu.m length mixer. Solvent composition was altered by varying the voltage on solvent reservoirs. The high efficiency attained in this mixer was attributed to the presence of a 2 pL vortex in the center of the mixer. Video tracking of fluorescent particles with a fluorescence microscope allowed the position and volume of this vortex to be determined.

A housing for a sensor to prevent condensate from collecting in the sensor. The housing includes a deflector to channel condensate forming in the housing away from the sensor. A notch is provided at the base of the sensor to ensure any condensate forming on the sensor itself does not collect at the sensor base. Further the interior of the housing is roughened and treated with an antifogging agent to ensure any condensate falls continuously so droplets do not form.

This invention provides methods and systems for flushing, washing, and priming microscale devices for reuse. Washing and priming methods include flowing solutions from a manifold to flush wells and microchannels of a microfluidic chip. Systems include manifolds adapted to seal and flow solutions or gasses into chip wells. Devices include microfluidic devices with data storage modules to track the reprocessing status of the microscale devices.

A method of forming a device including a plurality of micron or sub-micron sized features is provided. A master having a surface contour defining a plurality of features is provided. The surface contour of the master is coated with at least one layer of material to form a shell. The master is removed from the shell to form a negative image of the surface contour in the shell. The negative image in the shell is filled with material, for example, polycarbonate, polyacrylic, or polystyrene, to form a device having features substantially the same as the master. The negative image may be filled using injection molding, compression molding, embossing or any other compatible technique.

An improved light-emitting panel having a plurality of micro-components sandwiched between two substrates is disclosed. Each micro-component contains a gas or gas-mixture capable of ionization when a sufficiently large voltage is supplied across the micro-component via at least two electrodes. Several improved methods of forming micro-components are also disclosed.

A method of monitoring fluid flow uses an optical fibre having a heatable coating. The fibre is disposed within flowing fluid, and the heatable coating heated so that heat is transferred from the coating to the fluid. Optical measurements of the temperature of the heatable coating are made, where the temperature of the heatable coating depends on the flow velocity of the flowing fluid, and the temperature measurement is used to derive information about the flow. The coating may be an electrically resistive layer on the outer surface of the fibre, that is heated by passing electric current through it. This allows distributed flow measurements to be made. Alternatively, discrete measurements can be made if the coating is provided as a thin film layer on an end facet of the fibre. The coating is heated by directing light at a wavelength absorbed by the thin film material along the fibre.

The invention belongs to the surface patterning microstructure construction technique, which relates to a method for constructing a microstructure with anti-reflection performance on a foundation base by combining the self-assembly technique with the reactive ion beam etching technique. The method is to take monolayer polymeric micro-spheres, silicon dioxide micro-spheres and nano-particles of metal or metal oxides as a barrier layer and implement the RIE etching to the foundation base, then an approximate cone-shaped microstructure is constructed on the foundation base, and the structure has extreme high anti-reflection performance, thereby effectively improving the light energy utilization rate, reducing the interference of veiling glare in an optical system, increasing the optical transmittance, and further improving the sensitivity and stability of the optical system, and the method can be used for constructing large-area anti-reflection structures. The method of the invention has advantages of simple operation, changeable foundation base, strong applicability, good repeatability, low cost, high efficiency, adjustable anti-reflective applied wavelength and conformity to industrialized standards, and can be used for making photoelectric devices such as solar batteries and white light sensors.

A package for hermetically sealing a micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) device in a hybrid circuit comprise a firewall formed on a substrate for the MEMS device and which has a height defining a cavity of the package in which the MEMS device will be sealed. A second substrate spaced from the first substrate hermetically seals the cavity when the second substrate is flip-chip bonded to the first substrate and soldered to the first substrate with a thin film metal material placed on at least a top portion of the firewall. The resulting firewall MEMS device package can be further packaged using conventional CMOS packaging techniques. By hermetically sealing the cavity, the enclosed MEMS device is protected from deleterious conditions found in the environment of conventional CMOS packaging techniques which is often detrimental to MEMS device function.

A measuring device for measuring the mass of a medium flowing in a flow line, in particular the aspirated air mass of an internal combustion engine, including a measuring element bathed by the flowing medium and disposed in a flow conduit of the measuring device provided in the flow line. The flow conduit extends in a primary flow direction between an inlet opening that communicates with the flow line and at least one outlet opening that discharges into the flow line downstream of the inlet opening. The flow conduit branches at a first dividing point, disposed between the inlet opening and the measuring element, into a measuring conduit, in which the measuring element is disposed, and a first bypass conduit, which bypasses the measuring element in the primary flow direction.

A sensor for redundantly measuring gas flow has a housing suitable for being interposed in a gas flow conduit. The housing has an orifice through which the gas to be measured flows. A gas flow measuring, hot wire anemometer is positioned in the housing proximate to the orifice for providing a first measurement of the gas flow in the conduit. A first absolute pressure sensor measures gas pressure downstream of the orifice. The first pressure sensor may provide pressure compensation to the anemometer. A second absolute pressure sensor measures gas pressure upstream of the orifice. The first pressure sensor may be further used with the second pressure sensor to obtain a differential pressure measurement providing a further measurement of the gas flow in the conduit that is redundant to that of the anemometer.

The present invention is a water use and/or a water energy use monitoring apparatus that is affixed to the hot and cold water supply piping for continuously (or on demand) monitoring displaying the water and water energy (hot vs. ambient) use within a residential or commercial building. A first wire or wireless means is incorporated to communicate with a remote display for viewing by the owner of a commercial building or occupier/resident of a home. A second optional wire or wireless means can be incorporated that can be monitored by civil, commercial, governmental or municipal operators or agencies, using a remote display and/or recorder means or by a secure wire or wireless communication network (e.g. cell phone, smart phone or other similar technology communication means). A third wireless means communicates water parameter data utilizing typical cell tower technology and/or mesh network technology. The water use monitor apparatus includes a power generation, a microprocessor, temperature and water flow sensors, optional water quality sensors, timing circuits, wireless circuitry, and a display means. A wired or wireless means is designed to electronically communicate water use, water energy use and/or water quality information to a remotely located display apparatus or typical cell phone, smart phones, or similar apparatus for convenient observation by a commercial, operator or occupier, resident, municipal or government agency.

A system to measure fluid flow characteristics in a pipeline, meter, and methods includes a pipeline having a passageway to transport flowing fluid therethrough, a process density meter including at least portions thereof positioned within the pipeline to provide flowing fluid characteristics including volumetric flow rate, fluid density, and mass flow rate of the flowing fluid, and a fluid characteristic display to display the fluid characteristics. The process density meter includes a vortex-shedding body positioned within the pipeline to form vortices and a vortex meter having a vortex frequency sensor to measure the frequency of the vortices and to determine the volumetric flow rate. The process density meter further includes a differential pressure meter positioned adjacent the vortex-shedding body to produce a differential pressure meter flow rate signal indicative of the density of fluid when flowing through the pipeline. The process density meter also includes a thermal flow meter positioned adjacent the vortex-shedding body to produce a mass flow rate signal indicative of the mass flow rate of fluid when flowing through the pipeline. The process density meter produces an output of a volumetric flow rate, a flowing fluid density, and a mass flow rate to be displayed by the fluid characteristic display.

Robust microfluidic mixing devices mix multiple fluid streams passively, without the use of moving parts. In one embodiment, these devices contain microfluidic channels that are formed in various layers of a three-dimensional structure. Mixing may be accomplished with various manipulations of fluid flow paths and/or contacts between fluid streams. In various embodiments, structures such as channel overlaps, slits, converging/diverging regions, turns, and/or apertures may be designed into a mixing device. Mixing devices may be rapidly constructed and prototyped using a stencil construction method in which channels are cut through the entire thickness of a material layer, although other construction methods including surface micromachining techniques may be used.

A dual function flow measurement apparatus is provided that combines the functionality of an apparatus that measures the speed of sound propagating through a fluid flowing within a pipe, and measures pressures disturbances (e.g. vortical disturbances or eddies) moving with a fluid to determine respective parameters of the flow propagating through a pipe. The apparatus includes a sensing device that includes an array of pressure sensors used to measure the acoustic and convective pressure variations in the flow to determine desired parameters. The measurement apparatus includes a processing unit the processes serially or in parallel the pressure signals provided by the sensing array to provide output signals indicative of a parameter of the fluid flow relating to the velocity of the flow and the speed of sound propagating through the flow, respectively.

A packing method and system for measuring multiple measurands including bi-directional flow comprises of sampling ports arranged within a flow tube in a symmetrical pattern. The ports are arranged symmetrically with respect to the X and Y centerlines of the flow tube. In addition, the ports are also arranged symmetrical to the restrictor to minimize the amount of turbulent flow within the flow tube.

A flow measurement device is disclosed, in which an accumulation of pollution substance onto a detection element is prevented, and which can measure a reverse flow similarly to a normal flow. On both ends of an outer wall 23 outer peripheral portion of a divided flow pipe 20 having a OMEGA-shape pipe passage, there are oppositely formed an inlet port 25 and an outlet port 26, which open in faces orthogonal to a flow direction of a main flow M that is a detection object. Within the divided flow pipe 20, by a curved partition 27, plural branch flow passages 28a, 28b mutually branching and joining in the divided flow pipe 20 are formed. Inside both end portions of the outer wall 23, undulation portions 32, 33 are formed so as to clog an inlet and an outlet of the outer peripheral side branch flow passage 28a and, by this, throttles are formed respectively in a flow passage between the inlet port 25 and the inlet of the branch flow passage 28a and a flow passage between the outlet port 26 and the outlet of the branch flow passage 28a. In a bottom portion of the outer wall 23 of the divided flow pipe 20, a detection element 31 is attached so as to be exposed to a flow in the outer peripheral side branch flow passage 28a and, against its detection face, a down flow DW further divided from a divided flow D obliquely impinges.

A post in a fluid passage for passing a fluid flow extends across a part of the fluid flow; a measuring duct in the post extends through the post; and a flow rate detector is located in the measuring duct. The measuring duct has a fluid introduction port with an elongated shape, the measuring duct is constricted and has at least a portion located between the fluid introduction port and the flow rate detector, substantially smoothly narrowing toward a downstream direction of the flow in a longitudinal direction of the elongated shape.

A waste-material entry prevention member arranged upstream of a flow sensor is a rod- or plate-like member protruding halfway across the cross-section of a flow passage. Hence, vortexes or energy of the vortexes produced in fluid flowing by the waste-material entry prevention member is diffused by a stream of the fluid passing through a space left between the waste-material entry prevention member and the wall surface of the flow passage which the waste-material entry prevention member faces. Thus, production of vortexes is held down. Further, by making the flow sensor generate heat or heating the flow sensor, thermophoresis of the fluid is caused near the surface of the flow sensor. By this, particles contained in the fluid are prevented from accumulating on the flow sensor.

A projection is formed on a pump body of an electroosmotic flow pump so as to face a communication hole of a micro fluid chip. When the projection and the communication hole are fitted together, a first flow path of the pump and a second flow path of the micro fluid chip are communicated and the pump is fixed to the micro fluid chip. At the same time, the connection between the first flow path and the second flow path is sealed to prevent leakage of liquid gas, etc. to the outside.

An air flow measuring device includes a housing, flow sensor, and a humidity sensor. The housing defines a bypass flow passage through which intake it passes. A part of intake air is taken into the bypass flow passage to pass through the bypass flow passage. The flow sensor includes a sensing part disposed in the bypass flow passage, and produces a signal which is in accordance with the flow rate of intake air as a result of heat transfer between intake air taken into the bypass flow passage and the sensing part. The humidity sensor includes a sensing part exposed to the intake passage, and projects from an outer wall of the housing into the intake passage. The humidity sensor produces a signal which is in accordance with humidity of intake ail flowing through the intake passage.

A technique for cooling equipment racks that contain multiple individual devices, such as computers, that each have their own internal cooling fans. An air passage (“shunt tube”) is placed between a compartment inside the rack, and the ambient air outside the rack, or between compartments inside the rack. Sensors inside the air passage detect movement of the air inside the passage, and thus indirectly measure the presence of a differential pressure. The preferred sensor embodiment uses temperature sensors, and takes advantage of the differences of the air temperatures inside the computer rack, and outside the computer rack (or between internal computer rack compartments) to determine if the air is moving through the air passage, and which direction the air is moving. In response to the measurements, a control system is configured to drive the plenum to a slight vacuum, and then slowly reduce an exhaust fan until the plenum is slightly pressurized, at which point the fan speeds up and again creates a slight vacuum. This allows the rack enclosure to continuously adapt to any changes in cooling requirements, as the computer utilization changes.

A minute structure is provided in which electroconductive paths are only formed in nanoholes, and a material is filled in the nanoholes, which are disposed in a specific area, by using the electroconductive paths. The minute structure comprising pores comprises a) a substrate, b) a plurality of electroconductive layers formed on a surface of the substrate, c) a layer primarily composed of aluminum oxide covering the plurality of electroconductive layers and a surface of the substrate where no electroconductive layer is formed, and d) a plurality of pores formed in the layer primarily composed of aluminum oxide, in which the pores are disposed above the electroconductive layers and the surface of the substrate where no electroconductive layers is formed, with a part of the layer primarily composed of aluminum oxide provided under the bottoms of the pores, and in which the layer primarily composed of aluminum oxide provided between the electroconductive layer and the bottoms of the pores disposed above the electroconductive layer comprises a material forming the electroconductive layer.

An analytical chip is provided with a flow channel (5), whose section is in a closed shape and through which a fluid sample (Fs) is made to flow, for carrying out analysis regarding the fluid sample (Fs) based on interaction between a predetermined substance and a specific substance (61), which is placed facing said flow channel (5). The chip further has a projection member (9b) attached to said flow channel (5). With this arrangement, it becomes possible to analyze the fluid sample (Fs) efficiently with high precision.

An environmental monitoring and controlling system for a ventilated cage and rack system that monitors and measures air flow in the rack at either the rack or cage level. At the rack level, two pressure sensors are provided in a supply air system to accurately monitor the air flow rate into the rack. In addition, two pressure sensors may be provided in an exhaust air system to accurately monitor the air flow rate out of the rack. At the cage level, a cage may be equipped with a highly accurate pressure sensor, including a Venturi tube and thermistor, the monitor the air flow rate in a cage located at any cage position in the rack.

A semiconductor device includes: a semiconductor substrate; a flow sensor having a first heater for detecting a flow rate of fluid; and a humidity sensor for detecting a humidity of the fluid. The flow sensor and the humidity sensor are disposed on the semiconductor substrate. The flow sensor is disposed around the humidity sensor. The humidity sensor is disposed on an upstream side of the first heater. Since the device includes the humidity sensor, moisture in the fluid is compensated so that detection accuracy of the flow rate is improved.

A fluid identification device of long life for identification of a target fluid. The device uses at least two liquid type detection parts each of which is equipped with both of a temperature detector and a heating element, selects electrical conduction to any one of the heating elements, and identifies the target fluid based on a fluid temperature detection signal of the temperature detector in the fluid detection part not including the heating element whose electrical conduction has been selected and an output of the fluid type detection circuit.