SENSOR ASSEMBLIES USED TO DETECT PROXIMITY OF MATERIAL TO MICROWAVE ELEMENT

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide sensor assemblies used to detect the proximity of a material to a microwave element.

SOLUTION: A sensor assembly includes: a signal generator 104 configured to generate at least one microwave signal; a coupler 106 connected to the signal generator 104; a microwave element 108 coupled to the coupler 106; and a processing module 112 connected to the coupler 106. The microwave element 108 is configured to generate an electromagnetic field as a function of at least one microwave signal. The microwave element 108 is structured to reflect a loading signal to the coupler 106 when a material 102 interacts with the electromagnetic field. The processing module 112 is configured to process the loading signal with a reference signal to generate a data signal representative of the proximity of the material to the microwave element 108. The data signal defines a sub-microwave frequency.

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