Patent ID: 7629799

Claim:
A system for measuring nip width for a nip present between two rolls, comprising: a) a sensor assembly, said sensor assembly including: 1) a first strip formed of a first electrically conductive material having a resistance, said first strip having a first end and a second end and a first measuring zone between said first and second ends; 2) a second strip disposed adjacent said first strip and formed of a second electrically conductive material, said second strip having a second measuring zone disposed adjacent and substantially coextensive with said first measuring zone; 3) a gap defined between said first and second strips and electrically isolating said first and second strips from one another; and 4) wherein at least one of said first and second strips is deformable such that, when said device is placed in the press nip, pressure from the nip rolls forces portions of said first and second measuring zones into electrically conductive contact with one another over a contact length, the contact length corresponding to the nip width; b) a resistance-measuring unit that measures an electrical resistance; c) first and second leads, the first lead being connected to the first strip adjacent the first end, the second lead being connected to the second strip; and d) a controller operatively associated with the resistance-measuring unit, the controller including computer readable program code, the code including a plurality of data sets, each of the data sets representing a relationship between resistance of a sensor and environmental temperature.