Patent ID: 7140230
Filing Date: 2006-11-28
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
1. An odor measuring apparatus for analyzing a target gas having an odor, comprising: a) a component separator for temporally separating the target gas into sample components; b) a detector having m pieces of odor sensors for sequentially detecting the separated sample components with a lapse of time, where m is an integer greater than one and the odor sensors have different response characteristics; c) a reference data storage for storing data representing n pieces of reference odor vectors or reference odor curves defined by results of the measurements of n types of known standard odors within an m-dimensional space formed by detection signals of the m pieces of the odor sensors; d) a calculator for locating, within the m-dimensional space, a measurement point representing the detection outputs generated by the m pieces of the odor sensors at a certain point in time, and for calculating an index indicating a similarity between the sample component detected at the aforementioned point in time and the standard odors and/or an index representing a degree of intensity of an unknown odor on a basis of a positional relation of the measurement point to the n pieces of the reference odor vectors or the reference odor curves stored in the reference data storage; and e) an information creator for creating a piece of information showing a change of the index with a lapse of time.