Patent ID: 7424373
Filing Date: 2008-09-09
Classification: G01F

Abstract:
1. A device for determining and/or monitoring the fill level of a medium in a container, comprising: a measuring unit, which comprises an oscillatable unit and which produces a first output signal, said first output signal being a measurement signal of said measuring unit; means for assigning a first task to said measuring unit, said first task implies how the first output signal is to be interpreted, said first task being either overflow protection or running-empty protection; at least one coding unit which encodes said first output signal of said measuring unit in correspondence with a first coding which is associated with said first task of said measuring unit; a control/evaluation unit, which produces a second output signal, and which further processes the first output signal of said measuring unit; at least one further coding unit which encodes said second output signal in correspondence with said second coding; and means for assigning a second task to said control/evaluation unit, wherein: said second task implies how the control/evaluation unit interprets said first output signal of said measuring unit, said second task being either overflow protection or running-empty protection; said control/evaluation unit is embodied in a manner such that it further processes said first output signal only in the case in which said first task and said second task are identical; at least one, first task-identification unit; and at least one, second task-identification unit; said first task-identification unit identifies the task of said measuring unit, and said second task-identification unit identifies the task of said control/evaluation unit; a first coordination unit; a second coordination unit; and a comparison unit, with which said measuring unit and said control/evaluation unit are connected, wherein: via said first coordination unit, said first coding is associated with the first task of said measuring unit; via said second coordination unit, said second coding is associated with the second task of said control/evaluation unit; and said comparison unit compares the first coding with the second coding and if said first coding and said second coding are different then said control/evaluating unit is blocked.