Endress+Hauser honors inventors – 200 patents filed in 2009  

The inventors of Endress+Hauser have gathered to celebrate the tenth annual ‘Innovators’ Meeting’. The ‘Patent Rights Incentive Awards’ for particularly outstanding business patents went this year to inventions in environmental technology, flow and level measurement engineering.

Meeting in festive surroundings at the ‘Burghof’ arts center in Lörrach, over 200 inventors from the Endress+Hauser Group celebrated the tenth anniversary of the ‘Innovators’ Meeting’ on 26 March. “Last year we filed patents for 200 inventions – the same number as in the record year 2008. This shows us that our sponsoring program has lost none of its impact,” says Michael Ziesemer, COO of the Endress+Hauser Group.

Highlight of the festivities was the award ceremony of the three 10,000 euro ‘Patent Rights Incentive Awards’ for particularly important patents. The prizes in the jubilee year went to inventors of the Product Center Flowtec (Reinach/Switzerland), Maulburg (Germany) and Wetzer (Nesselwang/Germany). CEO Klaus Endress and Michael Ziesemer jointly presented the certificates and the trophies.

The invention of Johann Beller and Robert Zeller of Endress+Hauser Wetzer is used in environmental protection. Samplers in wastewater cleaning plants collect water samples at regular intervals and examine these in the laboratory. Even if ambient conditions change, the volume of these samples must always precisely match the preset quantity. The two inventors have managed to make automatic sampling easier and more reliable. “The conveying capacity of the peristaltic pump depends heavily on the delivery head,” explains Johann Beller. “Determining the delivery head automatically allows the pump to be controlled such that the exact specified volume is conveyed. What’s more, malfunctions such as blockages or leaks in the line can be identified.”

The award in flow measurement engineering went to Dr Rainer Höcker of Endress+Hauser Flowtec. His invention makes vortex velocity flowmeters more accurate and less prone to malfunctions. “A specific change to the geometry of the measuring tube can generate a vortex in the medium flowing through, which makes sure that flow has less impact on the measurement,” explains Rainer Höcker.

For their invention, Roland Grozinger and Klaus Ruf of Endress+Hauser Maulburg modified the sensor system of ultrasonic level measurement devices. “If you want to have reliable ultrasonic measurements, you have to take the temperature into account. Until now, the measured temperature value had to be transmitted via a separate lead,” says Roland Grozinger. “What we have managed to do is to transmit the measured temperature value and the runtime information through the same lead. This not only saves material, it also reduces the susceptibility to faults.”