Measurement tube for a measuring device, measuring device formed by means of such a measurement tube, and production method for such a measurement tube
11493416 · 2022-11-08
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
B33Y10/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B22F7/08
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B22F10/28
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
G01F1/684
PHYSICS
B22F10/22
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
G01N9/32
PHYSICS
B33Y80/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
G01K13/02
PHYSICS
Y02P10/25
GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
International classification
G01N9/32
PHYSICS
G01F1/684
PHYSICS
G01F1/66
PHYSICS
G01L19/00
PHYSICS
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to a measurement tube including a tubular main body, which has a wall and a lumen, and a sensor holder, which is arranged on and integrally bonded to an outer lateral surface of the wall of the main body, opposite the lumen, the sensor holder configured to be mechanically connected to at least one sensor component for sensing at least one measurement variable of a measurement material located in the lumen. The sensor holder is at least partly produced by an additive manufacturing method directly on the lateral surface of the wall of the main body. In a method for producing such a measurement tube, liquefied material is applied to the outer lateral surface of the wall of the main body and allowed to resolidify there to form a part of the sensor holder, which part is integrally bonded to the wall of the main body.
Claims
1. A measurement tube for a measuring device, comprising: a tubular, hollow cylindrical main body having a wall and a lumen defined by the wall and adapted to conduct a fluid material to be measured, the wall including an outer lateral surface facing away from the lumen, wherein the outer lateral surface is curved at least sectionally, wherein the lumen defines a longitudinal axis of the main body, and wherein the main body is prefabricated by a primary manufacturing method; and a sensor holder disposed on and integrally bonded to the outer lateral surface, the sensor holder including a planar mounting surface and a through-channel, which defines a single holder axis, which is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the main body, wherein the sensor holder is configured to enable at least one sensor component to be detachably connected thereto and in communication with the lumen of the main body, wherein the at least one sensor component is a component of a sensor configured to sense at least one measurement variable of the fluid material in the lumen, wherein the sensor holder is formed directly on the outer lateral surface of the prefabricated main body at least partly by an additive manufacturing method, and wherein the primary manufacturing method differs from the additive manufacturing method.
2. The measurement tube of claim 1, wherein the primary manufacturing method by which the main body is formed includes a steel tube or a stainless steel tube that has been cast, pressed or welded.
3. The measurement tube of claim 1, wherein the sensor holder is configured as a connecting piece such that the mounting surface adapted for connecting to the at least one sensor component, wherein the mounting surface is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the main body and perpendicular to the holder axis.
4. The measurement tube of claim 1, wherein the primary manufacturing method by which the main body is formed includes a primary shaping method and/or a forming method, wherein the primary shaping method includes a casting method, and wherein the forming method includes an extrusion method.
5. The measurement tube of claim 1, wherein the sensor holder includes at least one planar surface formed by a subtractive, material-removing manufacturing method.
6. The measurement tube of claim 5, wherein the subtractive, material-removing manufacturing method includes milling and/or eroding.
7. The measurement tube of claim 1, wherein the wall of the main body and the sensor holder consist essentially of the same material.
8. The measurement tube of claim 1, wherein the wall of the main body includes a nickel-based metal alloy and/or the sensor holder includes a nickel-based metal alloy.
9. The measurement tube of claim 1, wherein the additive manufacturing method used to at least partly form the sensor holder includes at least one of selective laser melting, selective laser sintering, electron beam melting, deposition welding, metal powder application, cold gas spraying and electron beam welding.
10. The measurement tube of claim 1, wherein the measurement tube further includes at least one through-channel or through-hole that extends partially through the sensor holder and partially through the wall of the main body.
11. The measurement tube of claim 1, wherein the measurement tube further includes at least one blind hole having an open end and a closed end, wherein the at least one blind hole extends partially through the sensor holder and partially through the wall of the main body such that the open end is in the sensor holder and the closed end is within the wall of the main body.
12. The measurement tube of claim 1, wherein the main body is curved at least sectionally and/or straight at least sectionally relative to a longitudinal axis thereof, and/or wherein the main body is configured to be caused to vibrate.
13. The measurement tube of claim 1, wherein the sensor holder includes a side wall which extends from a perimeter of the mounting surface, parallel to the holder axis, and intersects the outer lateral surface such that the sensor holder has a footprint that is essentially a projection of the mounting surface onto the outer lateral surface.
14. A measuring device for measuring at least one measurement variable of a fluid, the measuring device comprising: a measurement tube comprising: a tubular, hollow cylindrical main body having a wall and a lumen defined by the wall and adapted to conduct a fluid material to be measured, the wall including an outer lateral surface facing away from the lumen, the outer lateral surface curved at least sectionally, wherein the lumen defines a longitudinal axis of the main body, and wherein the main body is prefabricated by a primary manufacturing method; and a sensor holder disposed on and integrally bonded to the outer lateral surface, the sensor holder including a planar mounting surface and a through-channel, which defines a single holder axis, which is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the main body, wherein the sensor holder is configured to enable at least one sensor component to be detachably connected thereto and in communication with the lumen of the main body, wherein the sensor holder is formed directly on the outer lateral surface at least partly by an additive manufacturing method, and wherein the primary manufacturing method differs from the additive manufacturing method; a sensor fastened to the measurement tube and protruding at least partially into the lumen of the main body, the sensor configured to sense at least one measurement variable of the fluid material in the lumen and to generate a sensor signal representing the at least one measurement variable, wherein the sensor is detachably, mechanically fastened to the sensor holder via the at least one sensor component, which is a component of the sensor; and an electronics unit electrically connected to the sensor and including at least one microprocessor, the electronics unit configured to receive and process the sensor signal and to determine, based on the sensor signal, measurement values for the at least one measurement variable.
15. The measuring device of claim 14, wherein the measuring device is a vortex flow measuring device, an ultrasonic flow measuring device, a Coriolis flow measuring device, a vibronic density and/or viscosity measuring device, a thermal flow measuring device, or a magnetically inductive flow measuring device.
16. The measuring device of claim 14, wherein the measuring device is an ultrasonic flow measuring device, wherein the sensor holder serves as a coupling element for an ultrasonic transducer.
17. The measuring device of claim 14, wherein the measuring device is a vortex flow measuring device, wherein the at least one sensor component connected to the sensor holder is a deformation body that holds a sensor vane protruding at least partially into the lumen and is disc-shaped or membrane-like.
18. The measuring device of claim 14, wherein the measuring device is a Coriolis mass flow measuring device and/or a vibronic density and/or viscosity measuring device, wherein the at least one sensor component connected to the sensor holder is a coil or a permanent magnet.
19. The measuring device of claim 14, wherein the measuring device is a temperature measuring device.
20. The measuring device of claim 14, wherein the measuring device is a pH measuring device.
21. The measuring device of claim 14, wherein the measuring device is a pressure measuring device.
22. A method for producing a measurement tube for measuring device, the method comprising: providing a prefabricated, tubular, metallic, at least sectionally hollow cylindrical main body having a wall and a lumen, the lumen defined by the wall, wherein the wall includes an at least sectionally curved outer lateral surface facing away from the lumen, wherein the main body is prefabricated by a primary manufacturing method; applying liquefied metal to the outer lateral surface; and allowing the liquefied metal applied to the outer lateral surface to solidify, thereby forming at least a portion of a sensor holder that is integrally bonded to the wall of the main body, wherein the sensor holder is formed to enable at least one sensor component of a sensor to be detachably mechanically connected to the sensor holder and in communication with the lumen of the main body, wherein the sensor is adapted to sense at least one measurement variable of a fluid to be measure in the lumen, wherein the primary manufacturing method differs from the operation of applying the liquefied metal.
23. The method of claim 22, further comprising: applying additional liquefied metal to a formed surface of a previously formed portion of the sensor holder; and allowing the additional liquid metal to solidify such that the sensor holder is enlarged or to form a further portion of the sensor holder.
24. The method of claim 23, further comprising removing excess material from a previously formed part of the sensor holder.
25. The method of claim 22, further comprising: forming, by drilling and/or milling, a through-channel extending partially through the sensor holder and partially through the wall of the main body; and/or forming, by drilling and/or milling, a blind hole having an open end and a closed end and extending partially through the sensor holder and partially through the wall of the main body such that the open end is in the sensor holder and the closed end is within the wall of the main body.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
(1) The invention as well as advantageous embodiments thereof are explained in more detail below based on exemplary embodiments shown in the figures of the drawings. Identical or identically acting or identically functioning parts are provided with the same reference signs in all figures; for reasons of clarity or if it appears sensible for other reasons, reference signs mentioned before are dispensed with in subsequent figures. Further advantageous embodiments or developments, in particular combinations of partial aspects of the invention that were initially explained only separately, furthermore result from the figures of the drawing and from the claims themselves.
(2) The Figures Show in Detail:
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
(11)
(12) The measuring device comprises an, in this embodiment, at least sectionally hollow cylindrical measurement tube 10, of which various embodiment variants are shown in
(13) As is also shown in
(14) The main body 110, or the measurement tube 10 formed therewith, extends from an inlet end 10+ to an outlet end 10# and is in particular provided to be used over the course of the aforementioned pipeline, forming a continuous flow path. At the inlet end 10+ as well as at the outlet end 10#, a flange serving respectively to produce a leak-free flange connection to a respective corresponding flange on an inlet-side or outlet-side line segment of the pipeline may accordingly also be provided. As respectively shown in
(15) The sensor holder 120 of the measurement tube 10 according to the invention, or of the measuring device formed therewith, is integrally bonded to the wall 110a of the main body 110 and is in particular provided or designed to be mechanically, in particular detachably, connected at least to at least one sensor component, namely one component of the sensor 20. For this purpose, as shown in
(16) The sensor 20 of the measuring device according to the invention is in particular provided or designed to sense the at least one measurement variable of the measurement material located in the lumen of the measurement tube 10 and to generate a sensor signal s1 representing said measurement variable. The sensor 20 and the measurement tube 10 may, for example, be designed for this purpose such that the sensor 20 is only mounted on the outside on the measurement tube, although not protruding into the lumen, or that the sensor 20 senses the measurement variable through the wall 110a of the main body; the sensor 20 and measurement tube 10 can, however, for example, also be designed such that, as also shown in
(17) As can be seen from a combination of
(18) As mentioned and indicated in
(19) In order to generate the sensor signal s1, the sensor 20 furthermore comprises at least one physical-electrical transducer element. In the exemplary embodiment shown in
(20) In the measurement tube 10 according to the invention, or the measuring device formed therewith according to the invention, the sensor holder 120 is produced at least partially by an additive manufacturing method directly on the lateral surface of the wall of the main body 110, which was previously produced, for example, in a primary shaping method and/or a forming method. Accordingly, the sensor holder is therefore produced only after the main body, namely in situ on said main body. The additive manufacturing method used for producing the sensor holder can be, for example, a so-called free-space method, such as a deposition welding method (cladding), a metal powder application method (MPA), an electron beam welding method (EBW) or a cold gas spraying method, or even a so-called powder bed method, such as selective laser melting (SLM), single-selective laser sintering (SLS) or electron beam melting (EBM).
(21) In an additive method which is advantageous for producing the measurement tube or its sensor holder, the main body 110 is first provided and material liquefied on said main body 110, for example a liquefied nickel-based alloy or another liquefied metal, is subsequently applied to an outer lateral surface 110a′, namely a lateral surface facing away from the lumen, of the wall 110a of the main body 110, which surface is also optionally curved at least sectionally. In order to form a part of the sensor holder 120 which is integrally bonded to the wall 110a of the main body 110, (still) liquid material applied to the outer lateral surface 110a′ is then allowed to solidify there. According to a further embodiment of the invention, liquefied material is furthermore again applied to an outer surface, namely a surface facing away from the lumen, of a previously-formed part of the sensor holder 120 and then allowed to solidify there so as to further enlarge said part, or so as to form another part of the sensor holder. This process may optionally be repeated several times, for example until a predetermined desired shape and size has been produced for the sensor holder or its part.
(22) The material used in the process can respectively always be the same material, namely, for example, also the same material as for the part directly connected to the wall of the main body; however, if necessary, a different material for the part directly connected to the wall of the main body may, for example, also be used, or different materials, possibly alternately for the formation of the aforementioned further parts, may also be used. In order to form parts of the sensor holder 120, the main body 110 can also be rotated (back and forth) about the imaginary longitudinal axis L and/or moved forward and backward translationally along said longitudinal axis during the application of liquefied material. The application of liquefied material to the wall of the main body that serves to form the sensor holder can, for example, be carried out by means of a multi-functional machine (DONE-in-One) as is offered, for example, by the company Yamazaki Mazak UK Ltd. under the trade name of “INTEGREX i-400.”
(23) According to a further embodiment of the invention, the sensor holder has at least one surface which is produced by a subtractive, namely material-removing, manufacturing method, namely, for example, by milling and/or eroding. Said possibly also planar surface can, for example, also be the aforementioned connecting surface and/or mounting surface 120a′ of the sensor holder 120. Accordingly, the production method according to the invention, which is used to produce the sensor holder, can also comprise removal of excess material from a previously formed part of the sensor holder, for example in direct succession to the additive manufacturing by means of the aforementioned multi-function machine (“INTEGREX i-400”).
(24) In order to increase a mechanical strength of the sensor holder and/or a connecting force holding the sensor holder on the wall, it may be advantageous to provide additional anchoring means on the measurement tube. Such an anchoring means can, for example, be a stay bolt which is firmly connected to the wall 110a, namely, for example, welded to the lateral surface 110a′ of the wall 110a, in the region of the sensor holder before its production, and which is ultimately embedded in the sensor holder formed thereafter. In order to increase the aforementioned connecting force holding the sensor holder on the wall, said stay bolt can additionally have, on its outer surface contacting the sensor holder, interlocking contours, such as one or more grooves and/or an external thread and/or a screw head. Alternatively or additionally, a bolt which is screwed to the wall or screwed into the wall and which is, for example, designed as a threaded rod or a screw can however also be used to increase the aforementioned mechanical strength or aforementioned connecting force. Said bolt may, for example, also be screwed into the wall before the manufacturing of the sensor holder. The wall 110a and the sensor holder 120 may however also be designed such that said bolt can, for example, only be connected to the measurement tube after completion of the sensor holder. For this purpose, another embodiment provides in the measurement tube according to the invention at least one blind hole 130, which is, for example, designed as a blind bore and which has an open end 130+ and a closed end 130# and which extends partially through the sensor holder 120 and partially through the wall 110a such that, as