Patent ID: 7533571

Claim:
Apparatus for measuring a predetermined parameter having a known or determinable relationship with respect to the transit time of an energy wave through a medium, comprising: a sensor for sensing said predetermined parameter, said sensor including a transmitter for transmitting energy waves through said medium and a receiver for receiving said energy waves transmitted by said transmitter; and a data processor for measuring the transit time, or changes in the transit time, of energy waves from said transmitter to said receiver to thereby produce a measurement of said predetermined parameter; characterized in that said sensor includes a body of soft elastomeric material having high transmissivity and low attenuation properties with respect to said energy waves, said transmitter and receiver being embedded in spaced relation to each other in said body of soft elastomeric material to define a transmission channel constituted of the elastomeric material between said transmitter and reciever, such that said parameter, when sensed by said sensor, produces a displacement of said transmitter relative to said receiver, whereby measuring the transit time, or changes in the transit time, of said energy waves through said transmission channel from said transmitter to said receiver provides a measurement of the displacement of the transmitter relative to the receiver, and thereby of said predetermined parameter.