Patent ID: 8919208

Claim:
An ultrasonic flowmeter apparatus detachably secured to a conduit made of a resilient and soft material for measuring a flow rate of a fluid flowing through said conduit, said apparatus comprising: first and second housing halves for clamping said conduit therebetween, a hinge mechanism for coupling first ends of said first and second housing halves in a swingable manner, and a clamp mechanism for locking second ends of said first and second housing halves in a closed position, wherein in each of said first and second housing halves there is formed a groove having plural inner walls comprising at least one flat surface, said grooves of the first and second housing halves being opposed to each other to form a clamping space having a given configuration when said first and second housing halves are closed, wherein a pair of ultrasonic wave transmission and reception elements are provided on an inner surface of the inner wall comprising the flat surface of the groove in the first housing half at positions such that the pair of ultrasonic wave transmission and reception elements are aligned along a stream of the fluid, and wherein after clamping said conduit within the clamping space such that the conduit is deformed to be brought into contact intimately with the inner walls of the first and second housing halves forming the clamping space, an ultrasonic wave beam is projected from one of the ultrasonic wave transmission and reception elements toward an inside of the conduit which is intimately in contact with the inner wall comprising the flat surface of the first housing half, and the ultrasonic wave beam reflected at a part of the conduit which is intimately in contact with the inner wall comprising the flat surface of the second housing half opposing said flat surface of the first housing half, is received by the other ultrasonic wave transmission and reception element.