Ultrasonic pyrometer

Claim 1

A PYROMETER COMPRISING: A SOLID HEAT SENSING AND RESPONDING ELEMENT, SAID SOLID ELEMENT HAVING PREDETERMINED ACOUSTIC PROPAGATION PROPERTIES WHICH ARE A FUNCTION OF THE TEMPERATURE OF SAID SOLID ELEMENT, SAID SOLID ELEMENT HAVING A HEATING ZONE TO BE IMMERSED IN A REGION FOR MONITORING TEMPERATURE OF THE REGION, AT LEAST ONE PAIR OF DISCONTINUITES CONTAINED IN SAID HEATING ZONE AND SPACED APART A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE, A SOURCE OF ELECTRIC ENERGY COUPLED TO SAID SOLID ELEMENT AT A POSITION REMOTE FROM SAID HEATING ZONE, A TRANSDUCER INTERPOSED BETWEEN SAID ENERGY SOURCE AND SAID SOLID ELEMENT AND ADAPTED TO CONVERT ELECTRIC ENERGY FROM SAID SOURCE TO PULSED ACOUSTIC SIGNALS AND VICE VERSA, SAID SOLID ELEMENT CHANNELING EACH PULSED ACOUSTIC SIGNAL FROM SAID TRANSDUCER TO SAID DISCONTINUITIES AND CONVEYING BACK TO SAID TRANSDUCER A PAIR OF REFLECTED SIGNALS, ELECTRONIC TEMPERATURE INDICATING MEANS COUPLED TO SAID TRANSDUCER FOR RECEIVING THE TRANSDUCED ELECTRICAL ENERGY RESULT OF SAID PAIR OF REFLECTED SIGNALS AND DERIVING THEREFROM FOR TEMPERATURE DATA READOUT THE TIME SEPARATION THEREBETWEEN, THE TIME RECEIPT OF SAID REFLECTED SIGNALS BEING INDICATIVE OF THE TEMPERATURE OF THE REGION BEING MONITORED, AND GATING MEANS FOR COUPLING SAID TRANSDUCER TO SAID ENERGY SOURCE AND FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY INHIBITING SAID TEMPERATURE INDICATING MEANS FROM BEING INFLUENCED BY SAID ENERGY SOURCE.