Double-sided meter

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6718907
  • Patent Number
    6,718,907
  • Date Filed
    Monday, June 24, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, April 13, 2004
    20 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Gutierrez; Diego
    • Courson; Tania
    Agents
    • Rosenberg, Klein & Lee
Abstract
A double-sided meter includes a case having two open ends, and a movement mounted in the case for measuring temperature, pressure, humidity, or other measurements. The movement is provided at front and rear surfaces with two sets of dial disc and pointer to enable observation of reading values at either side of the meter. The double-sided meter further includes at least one clip-on index that is so shaped that it has some extent of elasticity for fitly and movably attaching to a peripheral wall of the meter. Pointed free ends of the clip-on index are pointed toward scales on the dial discs at two sides of the meter to indicate a desired range of reading values.
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to a meter, and more particularly to a double-sided meter having dial discs and pointers provided on both sides thereof.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




A meter is used to indicate a certain type of measured value, such as pressure, rotating speed, temperature, or humidity. Such meters are widely used on production lines in plants. For some types of plants, it is very important and necessary to frequently observe readings on these meters.




There are complicate pipelines in many large-scale plants, and it is time-consuming to observe the meters mounted on these pipelines, particularly when the conventional meters


9


are one-sided meters having only one indicating side


91


, as shown in FIG.


1


. When the conventional one-sided meters are used in the large-scale plants having complicate pipelines, an operator must always go to the indicating side


9




a


of the meters


9


to observe the readings on the meters. It is possible the operator has to take a long time to reach a meter that faces away from the operator's observing position. When there are many one-sided meters facing toward different directions, the operator would have to take considerably long time to complete the observation of these meters, and it is, of course, very inconvenient to do so.




Moreover, it is a common practice to attach an additional index to a peripheral wall of the conventional one-sided meter to indicate a desired range of readings. Such index usually has a cross section close to a letter I and tends to separate from the meter when the latter is vibrated. And, the index frequently falls when it is pushed along the peripheral wall of the meter to a different position.




It is therefore desirable to develop an improved meter that enables convenient observation of a reading value shown thereon.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




A primary object of the present invention is to provide a double-sided meter having identically scaled dial discs and synchronously movable pointers provided at two sides of a movement of the meter, so that an operator may conveniently observe the reading values from either side of the meter at any time without the need of winding through complicate pipelines.




Another object of the present invention is to provide a clip-on index for fitly attaching to a double-sided meter. The clip-on index is so configured that it has some extent of elasticity and two bent sections near two ends thereof, enabling it to fitly and firmly clamp on a peripheral wall of the meter. Two free ends of the bent sections of the clip-on index are formed into two pointed index fingers for locating above the same scale on two sides of the meter to indicate a desired range of readings.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of a conventional meter;





FIG. 2

is an exploded perspective view of a double-sided meter according to the present invention;





FIG. 3

is an assembled perspective view of the double-sided meter of the present invention;





FIG. 4

is a sectioned side view of the double-sided meter of the present invention;





FIG. 5

shows clip-on indexes for the double-sided meter of the present invention, wherein the clip-on indexes are separated from the double-sided meter;





FIG. 6

shows the double-sided meter of the present invention with the clip-on indexes of

FIG. 5

attached thereto;





FIG. 7

is a sectioned side view of the double-sided meter of

FIG. 6

; and





FIG. 8

shows the manner of moving the clip-on indexes on the double-sided meter of the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




Please refer to

FIGS. 2 and 3

that are exploded and assembled perspective views, respectively, of a double-sided meter according to the present invention. As shown, the present invention includes a case


10


having two open ends for a measuring device


20


to mount therein. The measuring device


20


includes a movement


21


, two sets of dial disc


22


and pointer


23


separately provided at front and rear surfaces of the movement


21


, and a nipple


24


sideward projected from the movement


21


and a round hole


12


on the case


10


to connect to a pipeline to be inspected. When the movement


21


senses any measured result, it drives the pointers


23


to turn and indicate a reading value on the dial discs


22


.




To prevent a damping liquid filled in the case


10


from leaking, the case


10


is provided at both front and rear sides from outer to inner end with a seal ring


30


, a rubber gasket


50


, and a transparent sheet


40


. As can be seen from

FIG. 2

, the seal ring


30


before being attached to the case


10


has a straight lateral wall portion


31


. However, the straight lateral wall portion


31


is elastically bent to fitly contact with a flange


11


of the case


10


when it is attached to the open end of the case


10


, as shown in

FIG. 4

, which is a sectioned side view of the present invention, so as to firmly hold the rubber gasket


50


and the transparent sheet


40


to each side of the case


10


.




The double-sided meter of the present invention is convenient for use because both sides of which are provided with dial discs


22


and pointers


23


. When the double-sided meters are used in a big-scale plant at where large quantities of meters are needed, an operator is enabled to check and record reading values indicated on all meters from only one position. Since the double-sided meter has identical front and rear sides, it can be advantageously installed at high efficiency, too.




It is appreciated that the dial discs


22


and the pointers


23


at two sides of the case


10


can be replaced with liquid crystal display panels.




Please refer to FIG.


5


. The present invention further includes a predetermined number of clip-on indexes


61


. As shown, the clip-on index


61


has a cross section close to a symbol of Σ to provide some extent of elasticity and flexibility. The clip-on index


61


is provided near two outer ends with two bent sections


611


having profiles corresponding to that of two flanges


621


of a double-sided meter


62


. Free ends of the bent sections


611


are formed into two index fingers


612


. A middle part of the clip-on index


61


between the two bent sections


611


is a transverse section


613


having a predetermined curvature. Two push bars


614


are projected from an outer side of the transverse section


613


.




Please refer to

FIGS. 6 and 7

that are assembled perspective view and sectioned side view, respectively, of a double-sided meter


62


of the present invention with two clip-on indexes


61


attached to a peripheral wall thereof. The bent portions


611


of the clip-on indexes


61


are located outside the flanges


621


to fitly catch the latter while the curved transverse sections


613


are abutted on an outside of a depressed portion of the peripheral wall between the two flanges


621


, enabling the clip-on indexes


61


to firmly and stably connect to the meter


62


without the risk of separating therefrom. Particularly, the curved transverse section


613


provides an outward tension for the two bent sections


611


to more tightly clamp on the flanges


621


.





FIG. 8

shows the clip-on indexes


61


may be moved along the peripheral wall of the double-sided meter


62


to desired positions by pushing at the push bars


614


. The two push bars


614


provided on each clip-on index


61


are spaced for an operator to extend a finger therebetween to easily adjust the clip-on index


61


on the peripheral wall of the meter


62


to the position


61


′.




With the above arrangements, the double-sided meter of the present invention is a novel design enabling quick installation and convenient observations.



Claims
  • 1. A double-sided meter, comprising:an axially extended case having a tubular sidewall portion defining two open ends at axially opposed extremities thereof; and a measuring device mounted in said case coaxially in said sidewall portion, said measuring device including a movement, two sets of indicating means separately provided at opposing front and rear surfaces of said movement to capture said movement within said sidewall portion of said case, and a nipple sideward projected from said movement and said case to connect to a pipeline to be inspected; said indicating means being actuated responsive to said movement to indicate a reading value of any measured result; at least one clip-on index slidably coupled to said case for adjustable displacement thereabout.
  • 2. The double-sided meter as claimed in claim 1, wherein said indicating means are dial discs and pointers.
  • 3. The double-sided meter as claimed in claim 1, wherein said case is provided at each of said two open ends with a seal ring, which firmly holds a transparent sheet and a gasket fitted around said transparent sheet to said open end.
  • 4. The double-sided meter as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one clip-on index for attaching to a peripheral wall of said case, said clip-on index having a cross section having substantially a Σ-shaped configuration, and including two bent sections provided near two outer ends thereof and a transverse section located between said two bent sections; said bent sections having profiles corresponding to that of two flanges of said double-sided meter and having free ends formed into two index fingers to point toward scales on two sides of said meter, and said transverse section having a predetermined curvature for it to fitly abut on a depressed part of said peripheral wall of said case.
  • 5. A double-sided meter comprising:a case having two open ends; a measuring device mounted in said case and including a movement, two sets of indicating means separately provided at front and rear surfaces of said movement, and a nipple sideward projected from said movement and said case to connect to a pipeline to be inspected; and said movement driving said indicating means to indicate a reading value of any measured result: and, at least one clip-on index for attaching to a peripheral wall of said case, said clip-on index having a cross section having substantially a Σ-shaped configuration, and including two bent sections provided near two outer ends thereof and a transverse section located between said two bent sections: said bent sections having profiles corresponding to that of two flanges of said double-sided meter and having free ends formed into two index fingers to point toward scales on two sides of said meter, and said transverse section having a predetermined curvature for it to fitly abut on a depressed part of said peripheral wall of said case, said at least one clip-on index being provided at an outer side of said transverse section with push bars.
  • 6. The double-sided meter as claimed in claim 5, wherein said transverse section of said at least one clip-on index is provided with two said push bars, which are spaced by a distance slightly smaller than a width of an operator's finger.
  • 7. A double-sided meter comprising:a case having two open ends; a measuring device mounted in said case and including a movement, two sets of indicating means separately provided at front and rear surfaces of said movement, and a nipple sideward projected from said movement and said case to connect to a pipeline to be inspected; and said movement driving said indicating means to indicate a reading value of any measured result; and, at least one clip-on index for attaching to a peripheral wall of said case, said clip-on index having a cross section having substantially a Σ-shaped configuration, and including two bent sections provided near two outer ends thereof and a transverse section located between said two bent sections; said bent sections having profiles corresponding to that of two flanges of said double-sided meter and having free ends formed into two index fingers to point toward scales on two sides of said meter, and said transverse section having a predetermined curvature for it to fitly abut on a depressed part of said peripheral wall of said case, said curved transverse section of said at least one clip-on index providing an outward tension for said two bent sections to firmly clamp on said flanges of said meter.
US Referenced Citations (9)
Number Name Date Kind
1432566 Metcalfe Oct 1922 A
1636752 Mitchell Jul 1927 A
1999073 Awrey Apr 1935 A
2392581 Juhasz Jan 1946 A
3046931 Beer Jul 1962 A
3357394 Ingham et al. Dec 1967 A
5305290 Yoo Apr 1994 A
5353264 Corbin, III Oct 1994 A
5607078 Nordberg et al. Mar 1997 A
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number Date Country
11202057 Jul 1999 JP