Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
073240060 | Detector detail | 27 |
20080196478 | Transition metals doped zeolites for saw based CO2 gas sensor applications - A surface acoustic wave based CO | 08-21-2008 |
20080216558 | Saw based CO2 sensors using carbon nanotubes as the sensitive layer - A surface acoustic wave based CO | 09-11-2008 |
20080236250 | Gaseous nuclear symmetric state and quantification thereof - This invention relates to methods and apparatus of quantifying the portion of a gas in a specific nuclear symmetric state. Specifically, the invention is directed to the measurement of the speed of sound in an unknown sample and comparing it to astandard. | 10-02-2008 |
20080264147 | Matrix nanocomposite containing aminocarbon nanotubes for carbon dioxide sensor detection - The design and synthesis of a matrix nanocomposite containing amino carbon nanotubes used as a functionalized sensing layer for carbon dioxide detection by means acoustic wave sensing devices, e.g., SAW/BAW devices. These sensing materials contain a type of amino carbon nanotubes (single walled or multi-walled) and a polymer (or other compounds) which are sensitive to carbon dioxide in the acoustic wave sensing device based gas sensors. The sensitivity of the matrix consisting of the amino carbon nanotubes and a polymer (or other compounds) is ensured by the presence of amino groups which can react at room temperature with CO | 10-30-2008 |
20090133470 | Dry Side Sensor Mounting for Sensor Chip Assembly - An assembly design for an oscillating resonator-based sensor where an oscillating crystal resonator such as a quartz crystal resonator is rigidly affixed or ‘mounted’ onto a solid substrate in such a fashion that the resonator can either rest flush against the substrate surface or upon a rigid mounting adhesive. Once cured, the mounting adhesive forms a liquid tight seal between the mounted resonator and the substrate such that only the sensing electrode surface will be exposed to fluids applied to the front side of the substrate. The mounted resonator assembly is designed in such a way that it can be interfaced with a fluid delivery system to form a liquid tight chamber or flow cell around the mounted resonator without incurring additional physical impact upon the mounted resonator. The assembled flow cell can in turn be used to direct multiple fluid streams to flow in a laminar manner over the sensing surface of the mounted resonator and by varying the rates of flow for the different laminar flowing fluid streams the total hydraulic pressure exerted on the surface of the mounted resonator can be held constant. | 05-28-2009 |
20090293590 | Ionic liquid thin layer sensor for electrochemical and/or piezoelectric measurements - An electrochemical piezoelectric sensor is disclosed. The sensor includes a piezoelectric substrate, three (or more) electrodes over a first surface of the substrate, and another electrode over a second (opposing) surface of the substrate. An ionic liquid in the form of a film is adhered, bound, immobilized, or otherwise positioned over the substrate and electrodes of the first surface. The ionic liquid film permits the absorption and detection of analytes from a gaseous sample, for environmental gases, example explosive vapors and/or explosive vapor species in the gaseous sample. Detection (optionally including analyte quantitation and qualitative identification) can be performed by both electrochemical and piezoelectric techniques using a single sensor. Systems incorporating and methods of using the electrochemical piezoelectric sensor also are disclosed. | 12-03-2009 |
20100107736 | DETECTION SENSOR, VIBRATOR - An object of the present invention is to provide a detection sensor and a vibrator which can offer improved sensitivity. The present invention uses a scheme in which no piezoelectric layer, drive electrode, or the like is provided on the surface of a vibrator | 05-06-2010 |
20100139368 | MICRO-OPTICAL-MECHANICAL SYSTEM PHOTOACOUSTIC SPECTROMETER - All-optical photoacoustic spectrometer sensing systems (PASS system) and methods include all the hardware needed to analyze the presence of a large variety of materials (solid, liquid and gas). Some of the all-optical PASS systems require only two optical-fibers to communicate with the opto-electronic power and readout systems that exist outside of the material environment. Methods for improving the signal-to-noise are provided and enable mirco-scale systems and methods for operating such systems. | 06-10-2010 |
20100170324 | INTEGRATED ELECTRONIC MICROBALANCE PLUS CHEMICAL SENSOR - An electronic microbalance made in a semiconductor body accommodating an oscillating circuit adjacent to a diaphragm. A stack formed by a first electrode, a second electrode, and a piezoelectric region arranged between the first and the second electrode extends above the diaphragm. Any substance that deposits on the stack causes a change in the mass of the microbalance and thus in the resonance frequency of a resonator formed by the microbalance and by the oscillating circuit and can thus be detected electronically. A chemical sensor is obtained by forming a sensitive layer of a material suitable for binding to target chemicals on the stack. The sensitivity of the microbalance can be increased by making the first electrode of molybdenum so as to increase the piezoelectric characteristics of the piezoelectric region. | 07-08-2010 |
20100186482 | Sensor for Measuring Hydrocarbon Content in a Flow of Gas in a Purge Line - A sensor for the measurement of the hydrocarbon content in a flow of gas in a purge line. The sensor can measure the hydrocarbon content in the flow of gas in the purge line from a hydrocarbon storage device to an internal combustion engine. The sensor has at least one heating element and at least one thermal detector, with the heating element heating the flow of gas while the thermal detector determines the temperature of the flow of gas, which temperature is evaluated as a measurement of the hydrocarbon content in the flow of gas. | 07-29-2010 |
20100199746 | Cantilever Type Sensor - A cantilever type sensor includes a cantilever, an actuator that oscillates the cantilever, and a sensor provided at the cantilever so as to detect an oscillation condition of the cantilever. Further, the cantilever type sensor includes a control unit that controls the actuator so as to cause the cantilever to be subjected to pulse excitation, and a measurement unit that measures a physical quantity related to a measurement object, based on a change in pulse response detected in the sensor. | 08-12-2010 |
20100288014 | Gas sensor and method thereof - A gas sensor comprises a first surface-acoustic-wave device, at least one further surface-acoustic-wave device, and a control device. The first surface-acoustic-wave device includes a piezoelectric substrate, a pair of transducers and an external circuit. The pair of transducers consists of a first transducer and a second transducer, and they are formed on two sides of the piezoelectric substrate. The first transducer is utilized to generate a surface acoustic wave on the piezoelectric substrate. The external circuit electrically connects to the pair of transducers. At least one further surface-acoustic-wave device includes at least one first surface-acoustic-device and a sensing porous thin film of which two sides are formed on the pair of the transducers. The control device is utilized to control only one external circuit to become activated at one time. | 11-18-2010 |
20100288015 | CANTILEVERED PROBE DETECTOR WITH PIEZOELECTRIC ELEMENT - A disclosed chemical detection system for detecting a target material, such as an explosive material, can include a cantilevered probe, a probe heater coupled to the cantilevered probe, and a piezoelectric element disposed on the cantilevered probe. The piezoelectric element can be configured as a detector and/or an actuator. Detection can include, for example, detecting a movement of the cantilevered probe or a property of the cantilevered probe. The movement or a change in the property of the cantilevered probe can occur, for example, by adsorption of the target material, desorption of the target material, reaction of the target material and/or phase change of the target material. Examples of detectable movements and properties include temperature shifts, impedance shifts, and resonant frequency shifts of the cantilevered probe. The overall chemical detection system can be incorporated, for example, into a handheld explosive material detection system. | 11-18-2010 |
20110000280 | Dry Side Sensor Mounting for Sensor Chip Assembly - An assembly design for an oscillating resonator-based sensor where an oscillating crystal resonator such as a quartz crystal resonator is rigidly affixed or ‘mounted’ onto a solid substrate in such a fashion that the resonator can either rest flush against the substrate surface or upon a rigid mounting adhesive. Once cured, the mounting adhesive forms a liquid tight seal between the mounted resonator and the substrate such that only the sensing electrode surface will be exposed to fluids applied to the front side of the substrate. The mounted resonator assembly is designed in such a way that it can be interfaced with a fluid delivery system to form a liquid tight chamber or flow cell around the mounted resonator without incurring additional physical impact upon the mounted resonator. The assembled flow cell can in turn be used to direct multiple fluid streams to flow in a laminar manner over the sensing surface of the mounted resonator and by varying the rates of flow for the different laminar flowing fluid streams the total hydraulic pressure exerted on the surface of the mounted resonator can be held constant. | 01-06-2011 |
20110113855 | Analyte Gas Sensors - Apparatuses and methods for determining the concentration of an analyte gas in a gas stream with a sensor are described. The analyte gas sensor may include a mass-sensitive resonator and a diffusion barrier. The mass-sensitive resonator may be coated with an absorptive material which is reactive with an analyte gas, such as NOx. The diffusion barrier may be positioned to limit a gas flow with the analyte gas towards the absorptive material, and a ratio of the diffusion time of the gas flow through the diffusion barrier to the reaction time of the analyte gas with the absorptive material may be from about 0.1 to about 100. | 05-19-2011 |
20110113856 | ALL-DIFFERENTIAL RESONANT NANOSENSOR APPARATUS AND METHOD - An all-differential resonant nanosensor apparatus for detecting multiple gasses and method of fabricating the same. The nanosensor apparatus generally includes a sensing loop, a reference loop, and a mixer. A sensing self assembled monolayer (SAM) or an ultrathin solid monolayer may be deposited on a sensing resonant beam associated with the sensing loop to detect the presence of the gas. A reference self assembled monolayer or an ultrathin solid film may be deposited on a reference resonant beam that possess similar visco-elastic properties (e.g., temperature, humidity and aging) as the sensing monolayer with no sensing properties. A differential reading electronic circuit may be interconnected with each resonant beam pair for signal processing. A drift-free frequency signal per each gas may be obtained by subtracting the frequency response from the sensing loop and the reference loop. | 05-19-2011 |
20120198916 | SENSOR - A sensor is provided having a diaphragm. One side of the diaphragm is arranged to be exposed to a fluid, to measure a characteristic of the fluid. Two supports are mounted on the diaphragm and a resonator is provided on the supports. The proportion of energy transferred from the resonator to the diaphragm is variable for the sensor to be used either as a viscosity/density sensor or as a pressure sensor. | 08-09-2012 |
20130098141 | LOCALIZED DEPOSITION OF POLYMER FILM ON NANOCANTILEVER CHEMICAL VAPOR SENSORS BY SURFACE-INITIATED ATOM TRANSFER RADICAL POLYMERIZATION - Cantilever chemical vapor sensors that can be tailored to respond preferentially in frequency by controlling the location of deposition of an adsorbing layer. Cantilever chemical vapor sensor having a base, one or more legs and a tip are fabricated using a gold layer to promote deposition of a sorbing layer of a polymeric material in a desired location, and using a chromium layer to inhibit deposition of the sorbing layer in other locations. Sorbing layers having different glass temperatures Tg and their effects are described. The methods of making such cantilever chemical vapor sensors are described. | 04-25-2013 |
20140007653 | ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT MEASURING APPARATUS, ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT MEASURING METHOD AND ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT MEASURING SYSTEM - An atmospheric environment measuring apparatus including a filter disposed in a casing and adsorbing a component of a gas to be detected; a first mass sensor disposed in the casing between an inlet of the casing and the filter, including a first piezoelectric vibration element and changing a resonance frequency according to a mass of a substance adhered on a surface of the first piezoelectric vibration element; a second mass sensor disposed in a stage following the filter in the casing, including a second piezoelectric vibration element and changing a resonance frequency according to a mass of a substance adhered on a surface of the second piezoelectric vibration element; and a fan disposed in a stage following the second mass sensor in the casing and fluidizing atmosphere from the inlet toward an outlet of the casing. | 01-09-2014 |
20140069168 | DETERMINING THE PHASE COMPOSITIONS OF A MULTIPHASE FLUID FLOW - There is disclosed a method of determining the phase compositions of a multiphase fluid flow in a fluid line, including obtaining a vibration signal from the fluid flow using a vibration sensor comprising a target disposed in the fluid flow which vibrates in response to fluid flow in the fluid line. The vibration signal is analysed to determine a first energy parameter which is related to the energy of the vibration signal within a first frequency band, and a second energy parameter which is related to the energy of the vibration signal within a second frequency band; and a phase composition parameter, such as a dryness parameter, relating to the phase compositions of the fluid flow is determined using the first and second energy parameters. There is also disclosed an apparatus for determining the phase compositions of a multiphase fluid flow in a fluid line. | 03-13-2014 |
20140165702 | QCM SENSOR - A QCM (Quartz Crystal Microbalance) sensor includes a quartz crystal vibrator for measurement having a first electrode which contacts a measurement sample to be detected and a first quartz substrate in which is formed the first electrode, and a quartz crystal vibrator for reference having a second electrode which contacts a reference sample serving as a reference when detecting the physical quantity of the measurement sample and a second quartz substrate in which is formed the second electrode. A housing accommodates the quartz crystal vibrators and confines the reference sample in a state of contacting the second electrode. The QCM sensor is capable of detecting a physical quantity of the measurement sample accurately at the time of measuring the physical quantity of the sample in an atmosphere of the sample. | 06-19-2014 |
20140165703 | System, Method, and Apparatus for Detecting Air in a Fluid Line Using Active Rectification - A circuit for detecting air, a related system, and a related method are provided. The circuit for detecting air includes a receiver connection and an air-detection circuit. The receiver connection is configured to provide a receiver signal. The air-detection circuit is in operative communication with the receiver connection to process the receiver signal to generate a processed signal corresponding to detected air. The air-detection circuit includes one or more active-rectifying elements configured to actively rectify the receiver signal to provide the processed signal. | 06-19-2014 |
20140366611 | SENSING DEVICE - A sensing device is provided that has satisfactory sensing accuracy when a crystal unit where an excitation electrode is formed on both upper and lower surfaces of a piezoelectric piece is used to sense a sensing object. Adsorption regions are arranged in two places so as to intersect a direction of flow of a fluid, thus each of the adsorption regions senses the sensing object and reference regions are individually provided in these adsorption regions. A difference Δf1 between the oscillation frequencies of the regions and a difference Δf2 between the oscillation frequencies of the regions are added, and based on the result of the addition, whether the sensing object is present or not and its concentration are detected. | 12-18-2014 |
20150082865 | ENVIRONMENTAL MEASUREMENT APPARATUS AND ENVIRONMENTAL MEASUREMENT METHOD - An environmental measurement apparatus includes an operation unit which calculates a first change in a first oscillation frequency of a first QCM sensor and a second change in a second oscillation frequency of a second QCM sensor. The operation unit corrects the second change based on the first change in a first period and the second change in the first period. | 03-26-2015 |
20150308990 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ANALYZING A GAS - A gas analysis system includes a fluidic channel for flow of a gas to be analyzed, a detector in the channel and adapted for measuring interactions of the gas with the detector, the detector including a resonator of the electromechanical nanosystem (NEMS) type and a heating system for heating a part of the detector, an actuation device for vibrationally actuating the resonator according to an excitation signal applied to an input of the detector, a detection device adapted for providing an output electric signal representative of the vibrations of the resonator, a read-out device connected to an input of the detector and configured for simultaneously measuring, from the output signal of the detector, the change in resonance frequency and the change in amplitude of the vibrations at the resonance frequency of the resonator, and a processing device configured for determining from the changes a fluidic characteristic of the gas. | 10-29-2015 |
20150377835 | DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS FOR DETECTING ODORANTS - Devices, systems, and methods for sensing one or more odorants are disclosed. The device may include an oscillator crystal coated with a polymer. The oscillator crystal may typically oscillate at a known first frequency. The coated crystal may respond to exposure to an odorant by oscillating at one or more alternative frequencies. The coated crystal response may depend on the polymer composition, polymer concentration, coating geometry, and/or odorant to which it may be exposed. The system may include one or more oscillator crystals, each coated with a different polymer composition, polymer concentration, and/or coating geometry. The system may include non-coated crystals. The system may also include additional electronics to measure the frequencies of the one or more coated or non-coated crystals and to analyze their frequencies. The method may include the use of such devices and/or systems to identify and/or determine the concentration of one or more odorants. | 12-31-2015 |
20160011012 | Electromagnetic transducer for exciting and sensing vibrations of resonant structures | 01-14-2016 |