A peristaltic pump, and related method, are disclosed that includes a cam shaft, a plunger-cam follower, a tube receiver, a spring, a plunger, a door, and a plunger lift lever. The cam shaft includes a plunger cam. The plunger-cam follower engages with the plunger cam of the cam shaft. The spring provides a bias and the plunger is biased toward the tube receiver by the spring. The plunger is coupled to the plunger-cam follower where expansion of the plunger cam along a radial angle intersecting the plunger-cam follower as the cam shaft rotates actuates the plunger away from the tube receiver. The door lever can be actuated between a first position and a second position. The plunger lift lever is coupled to the door lever to actuate the plunger away from the tube receiver when the door lever is actuated to the second position.

A method for detection of pipeline vibrations with a measuring instrument connected to a pipeline system through which a medium to be measured flows, the measuring instrument having at least one transducer for detection of an input variable and for output of an output variable and at least one evaluation unit. The method involves detecting the input variable, relaying of an output variable based on the input variable to the evaluation unit, determinating the measured value of the measured variable from the output variable. Monitoring of the operating state of a system is achieved in that the measured variable characterizes the medium located within the pipeline system, that the sampling rate for detection of the input variable is at least twice as high as the frequency of the pipeline vibration and a frequency analysis of the brief fluctuations of the measured variable is conducted.

The use of ultrasonic transducers installed in utility meters is provided for the detection of fluid leaks in a conduit. Such transducers are normally used to transmit acoustic waves in order to measure the velocity of fluid flow, but it is disclosed that such transducers are also capable of detecting leak noises in addition to such transmitted acoustic waves.

Methods and systems for configuring a fluid flow meter include a processor obtaining a measurement signal recorded by the fluid flow meter. The processor can determine a whitening frequency band. The processor can then construct a whitening filter based on the measurement signal and the whitening frequency band. The processor can then generate a reference signal based on the whitening filter and the measurement signal. The processor can provide the whitening filter and the reference signal for use by the fluid flow meter to measure a time shift between the reference signal and another measurement signal.

A harvesting machine capable of automatic adjustment, comprising a plurality of acoustic material flow sensors, a control system, a processor, and application software, wherein the plurality of acoustic material flow sensors are mounted internal to the harvesting machine at points of crop material flow and are capable of sensing an amount of crop material passing by them. The control system operates in a cause-and-affect mode for interactively enabling manual or automatic responses to Mass Material Distribution (MMD) information and equipment-related performance parameters. An interactive combine control method is also provided.

An ultrasonic transducer employing a meta slab includes a piezoelectric body configured to generate elastic waves; a meta slab connected to the piezoelectric body and configured to induce elastic wave mode conversion resonance with respect to the elastic waves incident on the meta slab; and a wedge connected to the meta slab, attached to an external surface of a pipe, and configured to transmit the elastic waves having passed through the meta slab to the pipe. The meta slab includes an anisotropic medium and a thickness of the meta slab satisfies the equation as follows: d=m.Math.n.sub.FS.Math.λ.sub.FS/4, d=m.Math.n.sub.SS.Math.λ.sub.SS/4, n.sub.SS/2−n.sub.FS/2=odd. Thus, highly-efficient flow velocity measurement is possible.

Embodiments are disclosed that sense vibrations caused by flow of water in pipes, and covert the sensed vibrations into water usage data which can be analyzed, aggregated, and made available to users. In one embodiment, mechanical vibrations of a pipe are sensed, via a piezo-electric sensor attached to an external surface of the pipe, to form analog electrical signals. The analog electrical signals are converted into time-sampled digital data via a microcontroller having analog-to-digital conversion capability. A frequency analysis is performed on the time-sampled digital data, via at least one processor, to generate spectral data. The spectral data is analyzed, via the at least one processor, to determine whether the vibrations are caused by a fluid flowing through the pipe.

The present invention relates to a system for estimating the individual water consumption of a plurality of devices supplied by the secondary fluid distribution network of a user. The system comprises a sleeve able to be fitted around the supply pipe of the secondary network and comprises an electromechanical sensor placed against the outside wall of the supply pipe, and a processor for analyzing the signals delivered by the electromechanical sensor with a view to extracting information characterizing the individual consumption of the devices supplied by the secondary network.

With the use of low cost microphones mounted near each nozzle, sound signatures of the nozzles may be captured and compared to a baseline calibration measurement corresponding to a substantially new nozzle to determine if the nozzle is worn out. Sound signatures may be periodically captured and compared to the baseline calibration measurement to provide a continuous indicator of wear out for each nozzle. The invention has the advantage of being relatively low cost with ceramic microphones, for example, and with little or no moving parts required.

A method for determining a flow rate of a fluid includes positioning a tubular within a wellbore formed in a subsurface formation, wherein a flow of fluid is to move through the tubular. An orifice plate is positioned in the tubular. The orifice plate is movable between a first position and a second position to alter a flow area of the flow of fluid moving through the tubular. The method includes detecting a change in a downhole attribute that changes in response to the alteration of the flow area of the flow of fluid. Sensors positioned within or in communication with an interior of the tubular can detect the change in the downhole attribute. The method further includes determining a flow rate of the flow of fluid based on the detected change in the downhole attribute. The flow of fluid may be single phase or multiphase.