Patent ID: 7426875

Claim:
A flow meter for a fluid flowing at a low flow rate, comprising: a housing body; a flow inlet in the housing body receiving incoming fluid at the low flow rate; a flow outlet in the housing body allowing the fluid to exit from the housing body; a flow receiving chamber located in the housing body between the flow inlet and the flow outlet and receiving the low flow rate fluid; a turbine wheel mounted for rotational movement within the flow receiving chamber, the turbine wheel having a plurality of semi-circular openings formed therein at spaced positions about an outer peripheral portion, the openings extending laterally through the turbine wheel; the openings being successively positioned adjacent the flow inlet as the turbine wheel rotates and defining a volumetric space receiving a quantity of the incoming low flow rate fluid from the flow inlet; and a monitoring mechanism for monitoring the rotation of the turbine wheel in response to the passage of the low flow rate fluid through the receiving chamber.