Acoustic Waveguide Sensor Housing Integration for Fluid Property Measurement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing apparatus for determining properties of fluids or soft materials using acoustic waveguides are costly due to the need for separate, sealed guide elements that require expensive manufacturing and maintenance to ensure long-term stability and prevent medium entry.
Innovation Solution
The guide elements of the acoustic waveguide are integrally formed with the housing, eliminating the need for separate seals and enhancing mechanical stability, while allowing for improved wave reflection reduction and bubble adherence prevention, thus enabling higher measuring accuracy and reduced manufacturing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If guide elements are arranged separately from the housing, then the waveguide can be formed with distinct sealing surfaces, but the manufacturing cost increases and mechanical stability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The guide elements are integrally formed with the housing as a single piece, eliminating the need for separate sealing surfaces and fastening connections. This merging of components reduces the number of parts, simplifies the structure, and eliminates sealing interfaces while maintaining the waveguide function.
2Adaptability or versatility
If guide elements are arranged separately from the housing, then the waveguide structure can be modular, but the manufacturing cost increases due to expensive seals and assembly requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The guide elements and housing are manufactured as a single integrated component, eliminating the need for separate seals, gaskets, and fastening hardware. This integration significantly reduces manufacturing costs by reducing the number of parts, eliminating sealing requirements, and simplifying the assembly process.
3Ease of manufacture
If guide elements are integrally formed with the housing, then manufacturing costs decrease and mechanical stability increases, but the sealing against medium entry becomes more challenging
Solution Approach 1:
By making the guide elements an integral part of the housing, the invention eliminates the sealing interface between separate components. The medium is contained by the overall housing structure rather than by seals at the guide element interfaces, thus preventing medium entry without requiring expensive sealing solutions.
4Device complexity
If guide elements are integrally formed with the housing, then the number of parts decreases and assembly is simplified, but the ability to replace worn components is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The guide elements are designed as an integral part of the housing, reducing the total number of parts and simplifying assembly. While this may seem to reduce repairability, the integral design actually eliminates sealing components that are prone to failure, and the housing itself can be designed for easy manufacturing and replacement if needed.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design enhances measuring accuracy and reduces costs by integrating guide elements with the housing, allowing for easier immersion and sealing, and improving mechanical stability, while also reducing gas bubble adherence and enabling evaluation of multiple wave groups.
Implementation Method 1
Via a transmitter, acoustic surface waves are generated in the waveguide, wherein at least a part of the energy of the acoustic surface waves is coupled into the medium, so that a part of the energy of the acoustic surface waves is converted into volumetric sound waves of the medium.
Implementation Method 2
Due to the reciprocity of this coupling process between a plate of the waveguide sensor and the medium, a part of the volumetric sound waves propagating in the medium is again coupled back into one or both of the plates of the waveguide, so that acoustic surface waves are generated therein.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus determines the properties of a medium in the form of a fluid or soft material. An acoustic waveguide has two opposing guide elements delimiting an interior space to be filled with a medium. The guide elements, upon filling the interior space with a medium, form an interface with the medium with an inner surface. A transmitter generates acoustic surface waves in the waveguide, which are received by a receiver. The waveguide can be coupled with an evaluation unit for determining physical properties of the medium based on a signal generated by the receiver. A housing accommodates the guide elements, transmitter and receiver. On the respective inner surface, at least a part of the acoustic surface waves can be converted into volumetric sound waves of the medium and at least a part of the volumetric sound waves can be converted into acoustic surface waves of the waveguide.