OPTICAL MULTIMETER

Abstract

The present disclosure embodies an improved optical instrument that includes an embodied fitting to the standardized probe with the optical structure to facilitate refractometer optics to the probe tip with a turbidity and/or color meter to form an embodied optical multimeter.

Claims

1. An improved optical instrument, comprising at least one of the following within a same refractometer probe: a turbidity meter and a color meter.

2. The improved optical instrument of claim 1, comprising in the same device, the refractometer prism in a double duty as a refractometer prism and a bulk measurement window.

3. The improved optical instrument of claim 1, wherein the color meter is adapted in the color measurement to apply in turn an ensemble of light sources comprising more than one light sources of different wavelengths.

4. The improved optical instrument of claim 3, wherein each color is produced by that color's own light source, to transform the optical signal in each respective color to corresponding electrical signal to provide a combination of the color signals in the measurements to yield the true color of the process liquid.

5. The improved optical instrument according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of the light sources of the optical instrument has such a light source whose emitted light has a wavelength that is in the visible spectrum range.

6. The improved optical instrument according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the light sources of the optical instrument has such a light source whose emitted light has a wavelength that is outside the said visible spectrum range.

7. A method of measuring absorption peaks, comprising providing the optical instrument of claim 1, and applying the optical instrument to measure the absorption peaks.

8. The method of claim 7, comprising measuring absorption peak of carbon dioxide.

9. A method of compensating for refractive index variation in bulk measurements, comprising providing the optical instrument of claim 1, and applying the optical instrument to perform the compensating.

10. The improved optical instrument of claim 1, wherein the improved optical instrument comprises a light source to provide incident light in a fluorescence measurement of the process liquid.

11. The improved optical instrument of claim 8, wherein the improved optical instrument comprises a receptor acting as a detector to detect as a secondary fluorescence light, at a fluorescence light source wavelength stimulated light as a response to the incident light.

12. The improved optical instrument of claim 10, wherein the improved optical instrument comprises an optical filter to filter out such light with wavelengths that are outside a certain desired range of fluorescence measurement light wavelengths, in a wavelength range that is of said incident light and/or secondary light.

13. The improved optical instrument according to claim 1, wherein the optical instrument comprises an ensemble of light sources each with at least one light-source-dedicated wavelength to emit the light in a bulk measurement by the improved optical instrument.

14. The improved optical instrument according to claim 1, wherein said ensemble of light sources are set to lighten in a sequence controlled by a controller to control the light source illumination in a bulk measurement by the improved bulk measurement.

15. The improved optical instrument according to claim 1, comprising a probe tip diameter of ½″ or 12 mm.

16. An improved optical instrument system comprising at least one improved optical instrument according to claim 1, wherein the system has a microprocessor, to control the illumination of at least one light source in a bulk measurement, as to provide the functionality of the controller of the optical instrument system.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium on which is stored software code that, when executed by the microprocessor of the improved optical instrument system of claim 16, causes the microprocessor to control the optical instrument system of claim 16.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the software code causes the microprocessor to control in a consecutive manner to turn the light on and off of the light sources of the improved optical instrument.

19. The improved optical instrument according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the light sources of the optical instrument has such a light source whose emitted light has a wavelength that is outside the visible spectrum range up to a wavelength less than 10 μm.

20. The improved optical instrument according to claim 19, wherein the emitted light has a wavelength that is outside the visible spectrum range up to a wavelength less than 6 μm.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0045] FIGS. 1 to 3 illustrate background techniques as such and the optical aspects thereof as such.

[0046] In the following, embodiments of the present invention are disclosed by non-limiting examples with reference to the FIGS. 4 to 5b, in which

[0047] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a prism of an embodied improved optical instrument optics, to be in combination to one or more embodiments,

[0048] FIG. 5a illustrates a ray path example in an embodied improved optical instrument probe, to be in combination to one or more embodiments, and

[0049] FIG. 5b illustrates an optional ray routing to FIG. 5a path example, to be in combination to one or more embodiments,

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0050] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the design goal has been made by the prism of an improved optical instrument that can utilize a refractometer optics as exemplified in FIG. 4.

[0051] According to an embodiment of the improved optical instrument, a refractometer (FIG. 1) and any of the optical bulk measurements (FIG. 2, FIG. 3) can be combined, by using the refractometer prism as the bulk measurement window, here as embodied exemplified by one of the turbidity meter rays in FIG. 4. The “smallest angle” indicated, corresponds to the lowest concentration the refractometer can measure, typically water. If the process liquid is water, then all rays with an angle of incidence greater than the “smallest angle” is reflected. It means that all rays with angle of incidence less than the “smallest angle” penetrates water and are eligible for bulk measurement.

[0052] Both of the refractometer and the optical bulk measurements here described are well established being used in methods directed to the process liquid analyzing. According to an embodiment the refractometer prism does double duty as a bulk measurement window (FIG. 4)

[0053] Instead of direct light sources, also optical fibers can be used in embodiments to transfer the light for the turbidity and/or color measurement. Especially for small diameter probes, this is useful (FIG. 5a and FIG. 5b). In FIG. 5a such an embodiment is illustrated in which there is one single optical fiber to be used both directions to emit the light into the liquid for the turbidity measurement as well as to convey the light scattered from the particles to the imaging part of the turbidity meter.

[0054] In FIG. 5b, there is shown an example on an optional implementation, according to which the emitted light (E) and backscattered light (B) are led through the dedicated optical fibers. In FIGS. 5a and 5b show a detail at the optical instrument tip as a skilled person in the art can understand from the Figs.

[0055] The traditional color measurement applies in turn three light sources of different wavelengths. Combining the measurements yields the true color.

[0056] A light source wavelength can also be outside the visible spectrum, and measures absorption peaks. E.g., carbon dioxide CO2 can be measured because has an infrared absorption peak close to 4 μm.

[0057] According to an embodiment variant, the lighting can also facilitate measurements of fluorescence being included into the color measurement concept by the improver optical instrument as embodied.

[0058] According to an embodiment the light sources can be each turned on and off independently on each other so facilitating them being operated in arbitrary order and/or arbitrary durations to illuminate, including sequences in overlapping orders, if required in an arbitrary specific process for the liquid, the operator via the computer code can decide the illumination details, such as the duration of each light source illumination, the power, and the sequence and/or the order in respect to the other light sources corresponding operations.

[0059] The microprocessor can read the receptor according to the illumination in a synchronism, to provide the image therefrom, so that the operator has a fully control to the illumination, so that the multiple light sources, can be prevented from disturbing each other. A program will run the light sources consecutively.

[0060] The bulk properties don't disturb the refractometer's measurement of the process liquid concentration. That's used as a selling point for a refractometer: Insensitive to particles, bubbles and color of the liquid. The refractometer measures the edge of the light zone on the image sensor (FIG. 1). The light zone consists of the totally reflected rays. They don't penetrate the process liquid; hence they are oblivious of the volume properties.

[0061] The other way around is not true. What happens at the surface influences the bulk measurements. As rays pass from the prism to the process liquid, the transmission intensities and the directions can be influenced by the refractive indices of the prism and the liquid respectively. That influence is determined by Fresnel's equations. The prism refractive index is constant (save for temperature changes). But the refractive index of the liquid varies. There may be a need to compensate the optical bulk measurement for this variation. This invention has the unique capability to perform this compensation.

[0062] According to an embodiment the operations as well as the settings of the improved optical instrument in such a system can be controlled by a software code on a non-transitory computer readable media, comprising a computer executable code when run in a microprocessor to provide controller to control the optical instrument system.

[0063] According to an embodiment, such a software code can comprise instructions to microprocessor to control in a consecutive manner to turn the lights on and off of the light sources of the improved optical instrument.

[0064] According to an embodiment variant the timer to control of the illumination of the light sources can be implemented optionally by a hardware electronics-based logic to provide the sequence of the illumination as such in an optional implementation of the improved optical instrument.