Apparatus and method for volumetric determination of container contents

Abstract

A vessel is supported on a platform having a fulcrum upon which the platform is rested. A base supports the fulcrum and a first fixture; A second fixture is engaged with the vessel or with the platform. A measuring instrument is engaged between the first and second fixtures when the vessel is resting on the fulcrum. The fulcrum is placed off-center so that an unbalanced weight of the vessel and its liquid content applies a measurable force to the instrument. A look-up table defining various amounts of the liquid contained in the vessel relative to their corresponding force measurements enabling the determination of liquid volume in the vessel at any volume of the vessel's contents.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

Illustrated in the accompanying drawing(s) is at least one of the best mode embodiments of the present invention In such drawing(s):

FIG. 1 is a mechanical schematic showing a vessel holding a volume of a liquid, tilted to one side on a fulcrum and resting on a base.

FIG. 2 is a mechanical schematic showing the vessel as resting on the fulcrum with a force measuring device attached between base and vessel.

FIG. 3 is a mechanical schematic showing the vessel as mounted on a platform which, in turn, is resting on the fulcrum with the force measuring device attached between base and platform;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the vessel as mounted on the platform with a measuring arrangement capable of receiving a tensile load;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the platform resting on the base; and

FIG. 6 is similar to FIG. 4 showing a rigid measuring strut capable of receiving a compressive load.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The above described drawing figures illustrate the described apparatus and its method of use in at least one of its preferred, best mode embodiment, which is further defined in detail in the following description. Those having ordinary skill in the art may be able to make alterations and modifications to what is described herein without departing from its spirit and scope. Therefore, it must be understood that what is illustrated is set forth only for the purposes of example and that it should not be taken as a limitation in the scope of the present apparatus and method of use.

Described now in detail is an apparatus for determining the volume of a liquid 10 in a vessel 20. The present concept is presented in FIGS. 1-3 in schematic form. In FIG. 1 the vessel 20 rests on a fulcrum 40 which is supported by base 30. One may imagine the vessel 20 as being a round barrel as shown in FIG. 4, however, the vessel 20 may be almost any shape so that the present apparatus and method, are able to measure the volume of liquid 10 in a container of irregular shape. In FIG. 2 the vessel rests only on offset fulcrum 40 and held in place by measuring instrument 70 so that its unbalanced weight may be determined as will be described below.

Fulcrum 40 is assumed to be a linear bar extending into the drawing sheet, so that the vessel b is restricted to move on the fulcrum only within the plane of the drawing sheet. In FIG. 1, the weight vector W of vessel 20 plus liquid 10 is shown extending vertically down to the left of fulcrum 40 so that the vessel 20 rests in static equilibrium against base 30. In FIG. 2, the fulcrum 40 is placed offset to the right so that, again, the vessel 20 naturally tilts to the left. In this figure, vessel 20 has been moved to an upright position supported by fulcrum 40, and a force measuring instrument 70 has been placed between vessel 20 and base 30 so that the unbalanced force F of vessel 20 and liquid 10 is measured. In FIG. 2, vessel 20 has been placed in an upright level attitude according to bubble level 75. In this approach, we replicate the exact position of vessel 20 during each measurement of force F and therefore the only independent variable is the volume V of liquid 10, which is determinable since it corresponds to force F on a one-to-one basis. Of course, bubble level 75 is not necessary and vessel 20 need not be placed with its top horizontal. Actually, with vessel 20, in any attitude that will produce force F is suitable. In this approach, instrument 70 and its connecting fixtures are rigid, incompressible members able to receive the compressive force F without a reduction in their length L1. Instrument 70 contains a load cell or similar type force measuring device so that force F is measured without a corresponding change in L1. Since mechanical fixtures may have, or may develop some play in them over time and with use and wear, preferably a length adjustment device, such as a turnbuckle may be employed to assure that the instrument 70 and its fixtures is always at length L1. To summarize then, as long as length L1 is a constant, measurements of F can be taken as the volume V changes, with the assurance that V is a linear function of F.

Since force F is a function of the unbalanced volume of liquid 10 in vessel 20, by adding known increments of liquid 10 to vessel 20, and for each of the increments measuring force F, a look-up table of force F verses volume V, is produced, where V is the total volume of liquid in vessel 20. Clearly, the shape and weight of vessel 20 need not be known in order to produce this look-up table. As long as the shape of vessel 20 does not change between measurements, and the position of the fulcrum 40 is fixed relative to vessel 20, and the measuring instrument and its attachment fixtures remain at a fixed length L1, the look-up table reliably identifies the volume of liquid 10 in vessel 20.

A typical look-up table for beer stored in kegs may appear as follows:

Force (pounds) Volume (pints)
30             10
50             20
70             30
90             40

Clearly, such a look-up table may be produced with any level of precision desired and units may be liquid ounces, grams, pounds, etc. for force F, and ounces, ml, pints, quarts, liters, etc., for volume V. Since the force F and volume V are linearly related a simple linear graph showing F versus V enables the determination of V for any measured value of F. The look-up table, as defined herein, also refers in general to a look-up means, and such a look-up means may alternately be a chart showing a graph relating the variables F and V, or a computational formula algorithm that is access via a digital computer, or other means for defining values of V corresponding to measured values for F.

In an alternative embodiment, shown in FIG. 3, fulcrum 40′ may be placed to the left of the weight vector W so that vessel 20 tends to tilt to the right as shown by arrow A, and force F′, a tension, is induced in instrument 70. In this case, as shown in FIG. 3, the instrument 70 and its connecting fixtures need not be able to support a compressive load, but merely a tension load as illustrated in FIG. 4.

Preferably, vessel 20 is mounted fixedly on a platform 100, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 6. Preferably, platform 100 provides a rigid upright post 90 which engages a belt 80 which is extensive for encircling the vessel 20 when the vessel 20 rests on the platform 100. The belt 80 is positioned and enabled by its length and its buckle 82 for drawing the vessel 20 into abutting contact with the post 90, thereby positioning the vessel at a fixed and replicable position relative to fulcrum 40′ and thereby placing the weight vector W to one side or the other of the fulcrum 40′ depending on the position of fixed slot 105 which defines L2, the distance from fulcrum 40′ to fixture 50. Therefore, with L1 and L2 held constant, V is determinable by measuring F.

The enablements described in detail above are considered novel over the prior art of record and are considered critical to the operation of at least one aspect of the apparatus and its method of use and to the achievement of the above described objectives. The words used in this specification to describe the instant embodiments are to be understood not only in the sense of their commonly defined meanings, but to include by special definition in this specification: structure, material or acts beyond the scope of the commonly defined meanings. Thus if an element can be understood in the context of this specification as including more than one meaning, then its use must be understood as being generic to all possible meanings supported by the specification and by the word or words describing the element.

The definitions of the words or drawing elements described herein are meant to include not only the combination of elements which are literally set forth, but all equivalent structure, material or acts for performing substantially the same function in substantially the same way to obtain substantially the same result. In this sense it is therefore contemplated that an equivalent substitution of two or more elements may be made for any one of the elements described and its various embodiments or that a single element may be substituted for two or more elements in a claim.

Changes from the claimed subject matter as viewed by a person with ordinary skill in the art, now known or later devised, are expressly contemplated as being equivalents within the scope intended and its various embodiments. Therefore, obvious substitutions now or later known to one with ordinary skill in the art are defined to be within the scope of the defined elements. This disclosure is thus meant to be understood to include what is specifically illustrated and described above, what is conceptually equivalent, what can be obviously substituted, and also what incorporates the essential ideas.

The scope of this description is to be interpreted only in conjunction with the appended claims and it is made clear, here, that each named inventor believes that the claimed subject matter is what is intended to be patented.

Claims

1. An apparatus for determining liquid volume in a vessel, the apparatus comprising: a base providing a linear fulcrum upon which the vessel is rested in an off-center position, and a first fixture; a second fixture adapted for removable engagement with the vessel; a force measuring instrument engaged between the first and second fixtures; and a look-up means defining a liquid volume in the vessel relative to an unbalanced force as measured by the force measuring instrument when the vessel is supported by the force measuring instrument in an unbalanced position on the fulcrum.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a platform engaged with the vessel.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the platform provides an upright post and a belt, the belt extensive for encircling the vessel when the vessel rests on the platform, the belt positioned and enabled for drawing the vessel into abutting contact with the post, thereby positioning the vessel at fixed position.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the platform provides a means for engaging the platform with the linear fulcrum.

5. An apparatus for determining liquid volume within a vessel of the apparatus, the apparatus comprising: the vessel, a platform upon which the vessel rests; a base supporting the platform on a fulcrum, the base having a first fixture; a second fixture engaged with an upwardly extending post of the platform; a force measuring instrument engaged between the first and second fixtures; and a look-up means defining a liquid volume in the vessel relative to an unbalanced force measured by the force measuring instrument.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 further comprising a belt, the belt extensive for encircling the vessel when the vessel rests on the platform, the belt positioned and enabled for drawing the vessel into abutting contact with the post, thereby positioning the vessel at a fixed position relative to the fulcrum, said position placing a vertical center of symmetry of the vessel to one side of the fulcrum.

7. An apparatus for determining liquid volume, the apparatus comprising: a vessel holding a volume of liquid, a fulcrum upon which the vessel rests at a selected tilted angle; and a means for securing the vessel at the selected tilted angle, the securing means providing a force measuring means enabled for measuring a tilting force exerted on the vessel, and a look-up means defining a liquid volume in the vessel corresponding to a measured tilting force.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the support platform provides an upright post and a belt, the belt extensive for encircling the vessel when the vessel rests on the platform, the belt positioned and enabled for drawing the vessel into abutting contact with the post, thereby positioning the vessel at a fixed position relative to the fulcrum, said position placing a center of gravity of the vessel to one side of the fulcrum.

9. A method for determining a volume of a liquid in a vessel, the method comprising the steps of: resting the vessel, when empty, on a fulcrum at a fixed tilt angle; reading a force measurements asserted by the vessel for a plurality of known liquid volume contents; producing a look-up means of the force measurements associated with the known liquid contents; and identifying an unknown liquid volume within the vessel by reading a force measurement of the measuring instrument and then reading a corresponding liquid volume on the look-up means.