US 11,940,314 B2
Calibration method for first time use of equipment
Chester Roy Wildey, Euless, TX (US)
Assigned to Rochester Sensors, LLC, Coppell, TX (US)
Filed by Rochester Gauges, LLC, Dallas, TX (US)
Filed on Jul. 16, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/377,676.
Application 17/377,676 is a division of application No. 16/173,993, filed on Oct. 29, 2018, granted, now 11,099,052.
Prior Publication US 2022/0090954 A1, Mar. 24, 2022
Int. Cl. G01F 23/284 (2006.01)
CPC G01F 23/284 (2013.01) 9 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of calibrating a Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) measurement system for first use or service, the TDR measurement system having a housing, an elongate measurement probe having coaxially located inner and outer electrodes, and an electronics assembly in said housing for transmitting a signal along the elongate measurement probe and for receiving at least a return echo upon encountering a change in the impedance with respect to the inner and outer electrodes to thereby determine the position of a medium located in an inner space between the inner and outer electrodes, the method comprising:
a. measuring a known material level with the TDR measurement system to obtain a measured material level;
b. comparing the measured material level to the known material level;
c. calibrating the TDR measurement system so that the measured material level is equal to the known material level;
d. measuring an apparent length of an embedded calibration trace with a known temperature-versus-length profile;
e. calculating a default length of the embedded calibration trace at based on the apparent length measured and the known temperature-versus-length profile of the embedded calibration trace;
f. storing the default length for later use in measuring materials via the TDR measurement system.