Patent ID: 7469599

Claim:
A flowmeter having: at least two ultrasonic transducers, which are attached by clamping them on a containment, through which a medium is flowing in a stream direction, wherein the ultrasonic transducers alternately send and receive ultrasonic measuring signals in, and against, the stream direction; and a control/evaluation unit, which, on the basis of the travel time difference of the ultrasonic measuring signals propagating in, and against, the stream direction, determines and/or monitors the volume flow rate of medium in the containment, wherein: said at least two ultrasonic transducers are constructed such that they send and receive ultrasonic measuring signals, or sonic fields, with a large beam spread, a minimum separation of said at least two ultrasonic transducers and the beam spread of the ultrasonic measuring signals, or sonic fields, are dimensioned with the result that the ultrasonic measuring signals propagate along at least two sonic paths, which differ in the number of traverses, wherein a traverse defines the section of a sonic path, along which an ultrasonic measuring signal crosses once through the containment; and said control/evaluation unit calculates at least one of the system-or process parameters necessary for determining the volume flow rate of the medium in the containment.