Ultrasonic Flow Meter Polymer House Reinforcement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ultrasonic flow meters are vulnerable to water hammering, which can cause the polymer house to break, leading to permanent damage, and existing solutions either use a monolithic polymeric unit or mount transducers in a way that is not robust enough to withstand such forces.
Innovation Solution
A separate polymer house with a monolithic design and a mounting element with a higher elastic modulus than the house itself, which can absorb water hammering forces, is used to create a robust and watertight enclosure for the transducers and control electronics, with a single sealing member to prevent water intrusion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a separate polymer house is used to house transducers and electronics, then ease of manufacture and assembly is improved, but the house becomes vulnerable to water hammering forces
Solution Approach 1:
The flow meter is divided into separate functional modules: a polymer house containing transducers and electronics, and a flow tube. This segmentation allows the house to be manufactured separately with optimized water tightness while the flow tube handles pressure forces, resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and strength.
Solution Approach 2:
A mounting element acts as an intermediary between the polymer house and flow tube. This mounting element absorbs water hammering forces, protecting the polymer house from direct pressure exposure while maintaining the benefits of separate manufacturing and assembly.
2Reliability
If multiple sealing members are used to ensure water tightness, then water tightness is improved, but device complexity and potential leak areas increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple sealing functions are merged into a single sealing member that seals all openings of the polymer house simultaneously. This reduces the number of sealing components from multiple to one, maintaining high water tightness while simplifying the device structure and reducing potential leak areas.
3Strength
If the polymer house is made more robust to withstand water hammering, then strength is improved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting element serves as a mediator that absorbs water hammering forces, allowing the polymer house to maintain its simple, easy-to-manufacture design while still achieving the required strength and durability through the protective mounting element.
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
The solution effectively protects the flow meter from water hammering, ensuring the polymer house remains intact and maintaining a high level of water tightness while being simple to assemble and minimizing potential leak areas, thus preventing damage and ensuring precise measurement in utility consumption meters.
Implementation Method 1
the elastic modulus of the mounting element is higher than the elastic modulus of the polymer monolithic house element
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention provides an ultrasonic flow meter arranged to measure a flow rate of a fluid. The flow meter has a separate monolithic polymer house (H) with a bottom part (B). The bottom part (B) has areas for transmission of ultrasonic signals from ultrasonic transducers in the cavity (C). A mounting element (M) arranged at the bottom part serves to reinforce the house (H) by mutually engaging with the bottom part B of the house (H), so that the bottom part (B) of the house (H) and the mounting element (M) collectively absorb forces from a fluid pressure in the flow tube (F). Hereby, the polymer house (H) can withstand large forces on the transducer areas due to high fluid pressures in a pipe system known as water hammering.