Patent ID: 8826745

Claim:
A vibratory flow meter ( 5 ) for determining a viscosity of a flow material, being characterized by: a meter assembly ( 200 ) configured to generate a first vibrational response in a first flowtube ( 210 a ) and generate a second vibrational response in a second flowtube ( 210 b ); a common driver ( 104 ) configured to substantially simultaneously vibrate the first flowtube ( 210 a ) and the second flowtube ( 210 b ) to generate the first vibrational response and the second vibrational response; a changeable restrictive orifice ( 252 ) located in the first flowtube ( 210 a ), wherein the restrictive orifice ( 252 ) ensures that a first flow rate of the flow material in the first flowtube ( 210 a ) is less than a second flow rate of the flow material in the second flowtube ( 210 b ); and meter electronics ( 20 ) coupled to the meter assembly ( 200 ) and configured to determine the viscosity of the flow material from the first vibrational response and the second vibrational response, the meter assembly ( 200 ) including three pickoff sensors ( 218 ) configured to generate a first vibrational response from the first flowtube ( 210 a ) and a second vibrational response from the second flowtube ( 210 b ), wherein one of the three pickoff sensors ( 218 ) is shared between the first flowtube ( 210 a ) and the second flowtube ( 210 b ); and wherein the three pickoff sensors ( 218 ) are configured to generate a first independent vibrational response using the shared pickoff sensor and a first independent pickoff sensor of the three pickoff sensors, and to generate a second independent vibrational response using the shared pickoff sensor and a second independent pickoff sensor of the three pickoff sensors.