Patent ID: 7281413
Filing Date: 2007-10-16
Classification: B41J,G01N

Abstract:
1. A method for determining the surface tension and/or viscosity of a liquid comprising the steps of: a) exciting a surface of a liquid contained in a container with an excitation burst of acoustic energy that causes the surface to oscillate; b) discontinuing the excitation burst after the surface begins to oscillate; c) reflecting a plurality of short bursts of acoustic energy off of the surface over a period of time while the surface is oscillating; d) generating a positional data set comprised of a plurality of positional measurements related to the position of the surface at a plurality of times after the surface is excited, the positional data set being derived from information generated by the plurality of short bursts; and e) processing the positional data set to yield information about the surface tension and/or viscosity of the liquid.