CN212458550U

CN212458550U - Level meter and measuring system

Info

Publication number: CN212458550U
Application number: CN202021275514.5U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 呼秀山; 夏阳
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2020-07-03
Filing date: 2020-07-03
Publication date: 2021-02-02
Anticipated expiration: 2030-07-03

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a level gauge comprising an antenna, the antenna comprising: at least one transmitting antenna for forming a transmitted wave, wherein the transmitted wave forms an echo by being reflected by the object; and two or more receiving antennas for receiving echo signals formed by reflection from one object, wherein lobe angles of the two or more receiving antennas are set to be different from each other, so that the angle of one object is determined based on the energy difference of the echo signals received by the two or more receiving antennas and the distance of the echo signals. The present disclosure also provides a measurement system.

Description

Level meter and measuring system

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a level gauge and a measuring system.

Background

In the prior art, the interference objects and the material level inside the tank body are distinguished by using the distance difference or the phase difference of signals received by multiple receiving antennas, but the multiple receiving antennas are required to be spaced far apart, so that a plurality of openings are required to be arranged on the tank body, but the openings are limited by the area of the openings of the tank body.

In addition, the environment in the field is complex, and dust (solid materials), waves (liquid materials) and the like exist, so that the requirement on signal energy is high.

Therefore, in the prior art, the resolution of the angle is poor, for example, in the case of two receiving antennas, the distance between the receiving antennas needs to be increased to obtain better angular resolution, and in the case of 10GHz, the distance between the two receiving antennas is 0.6m when the two receiving antennas can resolve 90 degrees. The antenna gain and the effective signal strength are reduced, for example, only the number of the antennas is simply increased, and under the condition that the opening area is limited, the caliber of the antennas is reduced by times along with the increase of the number of the antennas, so that the gain of the antennas is reduced, the amplitude of signals received by the radar level gauge is reduced, the measurement stability and the reliability of the radar level gauge are greatly reduced, and the reason why the multi-antenna radar level gauge is not actually used is also reason. In addition, the antenna arrangement can only measure angles in a single direction, and cannot measure omnidirectional object angles.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

To address at least one of the above technical problems, the present disclosure provides a level gauge and a gauging system.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a level gauge includes an antenna, the antenna comprising:

at least one transmitting antenna for forming a transmitted wave, wherein the transmitted wave forms an echo by reflection from an object; and

the receiving antenna comprises more than two receiving antennas and a receiving antenna, wherein the receiving antenna is used for receiving echo signals formed by reflection from an object, the lobe angles of the more than two receiving antennas are set to be different from each other, and therefore the angle of the object is determined based on the energy difference of the echo signals received by the more than two receiving antennas and the distance of the echo signals.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the two or more receiving antennas simultaneously receive the echo signals, and simultaneously process the echo signals received by the two or more receiving antennas to obtain the energy difference.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the two or more receiving antennas receive the echo signals in a time-sharing manner, and the echo signals received by the two or more receiving antennas are processed in a time-sharing manner to obtain the energy difference.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the two or more receiving antennas are arranged at different angles such that main lobe angles of the two or more receiving antennas are different from each other.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the two or more receiving antennas are antennas having different structures from each other such that main lobe angles of the two or more receiving antennas are different from each other.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the at least one transmitting antenna and the two or more receiving antennas are microstrip antennas, and the two or more receiving antennas are located at the same position or different positions, and the two or more receiving antennas have different structural sizes and/or angles.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the at least one transmitting antenna is located on a straight line with the two or more receiving antennas.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the two or more receiving antennas are located on the same side or on both sides of the at least one transmitting antenna.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the at least one transmitting antenna and the two or more receiving antennas are located on intersecting straight lines, and a transmitting antenna is provided at or near an intersection of the intersecting straight lines.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the at least one transmitting antenna and the two or more receiving antennas are located on two perpendicular straight lines.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the apparatus further includes a microwave lens for converging the beam of the transmission wave and the beam of the echo, the at least one transmission antenna and the two or more reception antennas are located at one side of the microwave lens, and the object is located at the other side of the microwave lens.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, a circular waveguide structure is not disposed between the microwave lens and the transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the microwave lens is one microwave lens or a combined microwave lens formed by a plurality of lenses.

According to at least one embodiment of this disclosure, the microwave lens is provided with a plurality of microwave lenses, and the microwave lens is arranged on the shell.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the at least one transmitting antenna and the two or more receiving antennas are disposed on a focal plane of the microwave lens.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, when the two or more receiving antennas are at different positions, the microwave lens can change a main lobe angle of the receiving antennas.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the two or more receiving antennas are disposed on one printed circuit board or disposed on a plurality of printed circuit boards.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the two or more reception antennas are disposed on one printed circuit board and angles of the two or more reception antennas are different, or the two or more reception antennas are disposed on a plurality of printed circuit boards and angles of the plurality of printed circuit boards are different so that the angles of the two or more reception antennas are different.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, a processing circuit is disposed on the printed circuit board, and the processing circuit obtains a time difference between a transmission time of a transmission wave of the at least one transmission antenna and a reception time of an echo received by the two or more reception antennas based on a time-of-flight principle, so as to obtain information of a measurement point of the object.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the frequency of the transmission wave of the at least one transmission antenna is a continuously adjusted frequency.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing circuit obtains a frequency difference between the frequency of the transmission wave of the at least one transmitting antenna and the frequency of the echo wave received by the two or more receiving antennas at a certain time, so as to obtain information of the measuring point of the object.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the transceiver further comprises a microwave transceiving processing module, wherein the microwave transceiving processing module comprises a transmitting path and a receiving path, the transmitting path is used for providing a transmitting signal to the at least one transmitting antenna, and the receiving path is used for receiving echo signals from the more than two receiving antennas.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the transmitting path and the receiving path are disposed at different sides of the microwave transceiving processing module.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the two or more receiving antennas include: a receiving antenna having the same polarization direction as the at least one transmitting antenna, and a receiving antenna having a polarization direction opposite to the at least one transmitting antenna.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the microwave lens further comprises a blowing part, wherein the blowing part is arranged on the other side of the microwave lens and used for keeping the other side of the microwave lens clean.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the system further comprises an angle measuring section for measuring a tilt angle of the level gauge in order to derive an actual angle of the transmitted wave and the echo based on the measured tilt angle.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the at least one transmitting antenna repeatedly forms a transmitting wave, and two or more receiving antennas repeatedly receive an echo signal so as to perform real-time measurement on a measurement point of a subject.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the lobe angle is a main lobe angle.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the number of the transmitting antennas is three, the number of the receiving antennas is four, and transceiving is realized by a combination of the transmitting antennas and the receiving antennas to improve an angular resolution.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the one object is a disturbance present in the material containing device.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, after a transmission wave of at least one transmitting antenna is reflected by an object including an interfering object and a material, reflected echo signals are received by the two or more receiving antennas, and whether the echo signals are the reflected echo signals from the interfering object is determined by a phase difference between the echo signals received by the two or more receiving antennas.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, an angular range of an interfering object is determined based on a phase difference of the echo signals, and an angle at which the interfering object is located is determined based on an energy difference of the echo signals.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a measurement system includes:

a level gauge as described above;

the display device updates the displayed information in real time according to the measurement information of the level meter; and

and the communication device is used for realizing bidirectional communication between the level gauge and the display device.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a measurement method includes:

forming a transmission wave by at least one transmission antenna;

the transmitted wave forms an echo signal after being reflected by an object;

receiving the echo signal by two or more receiving antennas, wherein main lobe angles of the two or more receiving antennas are set to be different from each other; and

determining the angle of the object based on the energy difference of the echo signals received by the two or more receiving antennas and the distance of the echo signals.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, before determining an angle at which an object is located based on the energy difference value and the distance, the method further includes: and determining whether the echo signal is a reflected echo signal from the interfering object or not by using the phase difference between the echo signals received by the two or more receiving antennas.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the angular range of the interfering object is determined based on the phase difference of the echo signals, and the angle at which the interfering object is located is determined based on the energy difference of the echo signals.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a level gauge comprises a microstrip antenna and a microwave lens, the microstrip antenna comprising at least one transmitting antenna and two or more receiving antennas:

the at least one transmitting antenna for forming a transmitted wave, wherein the transmitted wave forms an echo by reflection from an object,

the two or more receiving antennas are configured to receive echo signals reflected from one object, and determine whether or not the echo signals are echo signals reflected from the one object as an interfering object based on phase differences between the echo signals received by the two or more receiving antennas,

the microwave lens is used for converging the wave beam of the transmitted wave and the wave beam of the echo, the at least one transmitting antenna and the more than two receiving antennas are positioned on one side of the microwave lens, and the object is positioned on the other side of the microwave lens.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the two or more receiving antennas simultaneously receive the echo signals, and simultaneously process the echo signals received by the two or more receiving antennas.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the two or more receiving antennas receive the echo signals in a time-sharing manner, and the echo signals received by the two or more receiving antennas are processed in a time-sharing manner.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the two or more receiving antennas are arranged at different angles.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the two or more receiving antennas are antennas having different structures from each other.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the two or more receiving antennas are at different positions, and the two or more receiving antennas are different in structural size and/or angle.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the microstrip antenna further includes a housing, and the housing and the microwave lens form a protection space for accommodating the microstrip antenna.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, lobe angles of the two or more receiving antennas are set to be different from each other, so that an angle of the one object is determined based on an energy difference value of the echo signals received by the two or more receiving antennas, a distance of the echo signals, and an angle range obtained based on a phase difference between echo signals.

According to yet another aspect of the disclosure, a measurement system includes:

a level gauge as described above;

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the disclosure and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a transmit antenna and receive antenna distribution according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a distribution of transmitting antennas and receiving antennas according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a distribution of transmitting antennas and receiving antennas according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4 is an energy differential diagram of a receive antenna echo signal according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a level gauge according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a microwave lens according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a schematic overview of a level gauge according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a microwave transceiving processing module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 9 is a schematic processing diagram of a microwave transceiving processing module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a phase difference processing manner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of a phase difference processing manner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a measurement system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 13 is a flow chart of a measurement method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 14 is a flow chart of a measurement method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The present disclosure will be described in further detail with reference to the drawings and embodiments. It is to be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are for purposes of illustration only and are not to be construed as limitations of the present disclosure. It should be further noted that, for the convenience of description, only the portions relevant to the present disclosure are shown in the drawings.

It should be noted that the embodiments and features of the embodiments in the present disclosure may be combined with each other without conflict. Technical solutions of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings in conjunction with embodiments.

Unless otherwise indicated, the illustrated exemplary embodiments/examples are to be understood as providing exemplary features of various details of some ways in which the technical concepts of the present disclosure may be practiced. Accordingly, unless otherwise indicated, features of the various embodiments may be additionally combined, separated, interchanged, and/or rearranged without departing from the technical concept of the present disclosure.

The use of cross-hatching and/or shading in the drawings is generally used to clarify the boundaries between adjacent components. As such, unless otherwise noted, the presence or absence of cross-hatching or shading does not convey or indicate any preference or requirement for a particular material, material property, size, proportion, commonality between the illustrated components and/or any other characteristic, attribute, property, etc., of a component. Further, in the drawings, the size and relative sizes of components may be exaggerated for clarity and/or descriptive purposes. While example embodiments may be practiced differently, the specific process sequence may be performed in a different order than that described. For example, two processes described consecutively may be performed substantially simultaneously or in reverse order to that described. In addition, like reference numerals denote like parts.

When an element is referred to as being "on" or "on," "connected to" or "coupled to" another element, it can be directly on, connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. However, when an element is referred to as being "directly on," "directly connected to" or "directly coupled to" another element, there are no intervening elements present. For purposes of this disclosure, the term "connected" may refer to physically, electrically, etc., and may or may not have intermediate components.

For descriptive purposes, the present disclosure may use spatially relative terms such as "below … …," below … …, "" below … …, "" below, "" above … …, "" above, "" … …, "" higher, "and" side (e.g., as in "side wall") to describe one component's relationship to another (other) component as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use, operation, and/or manufacture in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as "below" or "beneath" other elements or features would then be oriented "above" the other elements or features. Thus, the exemplary term "below … …" can encompass both an orientation of "above" and "below". Further, the devices may be otherwise positioned (e.g., rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, when the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising" and variations thereof are used in this specification, the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups thereof are stated but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups thereof. It is also noted that, as used herein, the terms "substantially," "about," and other similar terms are used as approximate terms and not as degree terms, and as such, are used to interpret inherent deviations in measured values, calculated values, and/or provided values that would be recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art.

According to a first embodiment of the present disclosure, a level gauge is provided, which may comprise at least one transmitting antenna and more than two receiving antennas.

The transmitting antenna is used to form a transmitted wave, wherein the transmitted wave is reflected by the object to form an echo.

And receiving antennas for receiving echo signals formed by reflection from an object, wherein lobe angles of more than two receiving antennas are set to be different from each other, so that the angle of the object is determined based on the energy difference of the echo signals received by the more than two receiving antennas and the distance of the echo signals.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the number of the transmitting antennas may be one, and the number of the receiving antennas may be two. As shown in fig. 1a, two receiving antennas may be located at one side of the transmitting antenna, and as shown in fig. 1b, two receiving antennas may be located at both sides of the transmitting antenna.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the number of the transmitting antennas may be one, and the number of the receiving antennas may be four, and preferably, as shown in fig. 1c, two receiving antennas may be disposed on both sides of the transmitting antenna. Of course, the receiving antennas may be arranged in other ways.

In one preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, the number of the transmitting antennas may be three, and the number of the receiving antenna may be four.

In the present disclosure, echoes formed by the transmission waves of each transmitting antenna can be received by each receiving antenna, that is, each transmitting antenna and each receiving antenna form a transceiving antenna unit. As an example, in case of three transmitting antennas and four receiving antennas, 12 transceiving antenna units will be formed, such as shown in fig. 2.

In the case of tank applications, multiple receiving antennas may be distributed across the diameter of the tank. The receiving antennas and the transmitting antennas can be arranged in a row direction, so that the phase, the angle and the like can be better distinguished.

The echo signals received by the more than two receiving antennas are simultaneously received, and the echo signals received by the more than two receiving antennas are simultaneously processed to obtain an energy difference value.

The echo signals received by the more than two receiving antennas are received in a time-sharing mode, and the echo signals received by the more than two receiving antennas are processed in a time-sharing mode to obtain an energy difference value.

For example, a time-sharing method may be adopted for an object whose reflection state is fixed, and in the time-sharing method, the antenna and the signal processing circuit may be time-division multiplexed to perform calculation or the like.

For example, for objects with unstable reflection conditions, such as fluctuating liquids or moving objects, a plurality of receiving antennas are operated simultaneously, signals are received simultaneously, and amplification and acquisition of the signals are carried out simultaneously.

At least one transmitting antenna and more than two receiving antennas are microstrip antennas, the more than two receiving antennas are located at the same position or different positions, and the structural sizes and/or angles of the more than two receiving antennas are different.

In the present disclosure, the use of one or more transmitting antennas and a plurality of receiving antennas may effectively enhance the angular resolution capability of the level gauge of the present disclosure. The transmit and receive antennas may be in a line, such as shown in fig. 3a, which may enhance angular resolution in the line. The transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna are located on intersecting straight lines, and the transmitting antenna may be disposed at or near an intersection point of the intersecting straight lines, for example, as shown in fig. 3b, so that the angle resolution can be enhanced on the intersecting straight lines. Wherein, the intersecting straight lines can be mutually perpendicular straight lines.

The lobe angles of the respective receiving antennas are set to be different from each other, so that the angle of one object is determined based on the energy difference of the echo signals received by two or more receiving antennas and the distance of the echo signals.

In the present disclosure, it is preferable that the main lobe angles of the respective receiving antennas are set to be different from each other, but the lobe angles including the main lobe and the side lobes may be set to be different, and the main lobe will be described below as an example, but the case of the side lobes may also be the same.

Setting the lobe angles to be different from each other can be achieved, for example, by adjusting the angle of the receiving antenna; by using different configurations or sizes of receive antennas, etc.

In fig. 3, two receiving antennas are taken as an example, and it is shown that the main lobe angles of the two antennas are set to be different, and the energy difference based on the echo signals received by the two receiving antennas is.

The iso-energy points of one receiving antenna are connected to form an iso-energy curve, such as the 0db iso-energy curve, the 5db iso-energy curve, the 10db iso-energy curve, the 15db iso-energy curve, the 20db iso-energy curve and the 25db iso-energy curve shown in fig. 3. The energy curves are a function of distance and antenna axis angle. Generally, the more distant the distance, the weaker the energy, and the more the angle is off-center the weaker the energy.

In the present disclosure, a microstrip antenna may be used as a receiving antenna, and thus the distance between two microstrip antennas may be set to be close, but the angles of two receiving antennas are different, so that the iso-energy curves of two receiving antennas may intersect.

Equal energy curves with equal energy of the two receiving antennas intersect to form a point c0 db. I.e. the energy received by the two receiving antennas is substantially equal when reflected at this point.

The point c5db is formed when the iso-energy curve of the receiving antenna 2 intersects the iso-energy curve of the receiving antenna 1 and the iso-energy curve of the receiving antenna 2 is 5db greater than the iso-energy curve of the receiving antenna 1. That is, the echo reflected by the point is received by two receiving antennas, and the energy signal of the receiving antenna 2 is 5db greater than that of the receiving antenna 1.

The point c10db is formed when the iso-energy curve of the receiving antenna 2 intersects the iso-energy curve of the receiving antenna 1 and the iso-energy curve of the receiving antenna 2 is 10db greater than the iso-energy curve of the receiving antenna 1. That is, the echo reflected by the point is received by two receiving antennas, and the energy signal of the receiving antenna 2 is 10db greater than that of the receiving antenna 1.

Similarly, c15db, c20db, and c25db points may also be formed.

Taking the example that the point c5db is formed when the energy signal of the receiving antenna 2 is 5db greater than the energy signal of the receiving antenna 1, a c5db line can be formed by connecting all the points c5 db. I.e. the echo reflected from a point on this line, 2 receiving antennas all have an energy difference of 5 db.

Therefore, if the echo energy difference obtained by the two receiving antennas is 5db after the transmission wave of one transmitting antenna is reflected, the reflection point of the object transmitting the echo is located on the connecting line of the point c5db, and then the position of the transmission point can be obtained according to the distance D of the echo and the connecting line of the point c5db, so that the angle of the reflection point of the object can be obtained.

The above iso-energy curve and energy difference connection line may be obtained through simulation of antenna energy distribution, although the iso-energy curve of the main lobe is given above, the iso-energy curve of the side lobe may also be obtained through simulation, so that the energy difference connection line may be obtained through energy differences between the main lobe and the side lobe, and between the side lobe and the side lobe, and the principle is the same as that of the main lobe and the main lobe, and is not described herein again. The larger the lobe angle difference is, the smaller the main lobe angle is, and the more obvious the amplitude distinguishing angle is. High frequency signals above 10GHz are preferred in this disclosure.

Antenna energy gain is a function of antenna angle and distance, and when two antennas are very close together, the distances can be considered equal, and thus the antenna energy gain is considered angle-dependent.

For the calculation of the echo distance D, the time difference between the transmission time of the transmission wave of one transmitting antenna and the reception time of the echoes received by two receiving antennas can be obtained based on the time-of-flight principle, so as to obtain the distance of the measuring point of the object.

Furthermore, the frequency of the transmission wave of the transmitting antenna is a continuously adjusted frequency. The frequency difference between the frequency of the transmitting wave of the transmitting antenna and the frequency of the return wave received by the two receiving antennas is obtained by comparing the frequency of the transmitting wave of the transmitting antenna with the frequency of the return wave received by the two receiving antennas at a certain moment, so as to obtain the distance of the measuring point of the object.

In a further embodiment of the present disclosure, such as shown in FIG. 5, the level gauge further comprises a microwave lens for converging the beams of the transmitted waves and the beams of the echoes, at least one transmitting antenna and two or more receiving antennas are located at one side of the microwave lens, and the object under test is located at the other side of the microwave lens.

In a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, the microwave lens is arranged below the microstrip antenna, the position of the microstrip antenna relative to the microwave lens being different, so that the lobe of the microstrip antenna changes direction under the refraction of the microwave lens.

The microwave lens can converge the wave beam and converge the reflected wave in a certain direction to one point, thereby reducing the size of the microstrip antenna. Because the microwave lens has a convergence effect, a plurality of receiving antennas are arranged above the lens, and the number of the microstrip antennas is increased without reducing the gain of the arranged microstrip antennas, so that the antenna gain is independent of the number, the purpose of increasing the number of the antennas without reducing the gain is achieved, and the size of the level meter can be reduced.

A circular waveguide structure is not arranged between the microwave lens and the transmitting antenna and between the microwave lens and the receiving antenna, so that the transmitted wave of the transmitting antenna directly reaches the microwave lens, and the echo is refracted by the microwave lens and then directly reaches the receiving antenna.

The microwave lens is a microwave lens or a combined microwave lens formed by a plurality of lenses.

The microwave lens is disposed to be penetrated by the microwaves and can change the direction of the microwaves.

The microwave lens may be made of ceramic or plastic, and the dielectric constant may be uniform or non-uniform. In the present disclosure, the microwave lens may have a dielectric constant greater than 1, may be penetrated by microwaves, and may be made of a material having a small loss, such as ceramic or plastic.

Fig. 6 illustrates several forms of a microwave lens, and the form illustrated in fig. 6 is merely an example, and the present disclosure is not limited to the form illustrated in fig. 6. For example, the microwave lens may have a structure of a convex lens with a thick middle and a thin outer side, the microwave lens may have a structure of a concave lens with a thick outer side and a thin middle, the microwave lens may have a structure of a curved surface on one side and a flat surface on the other side, and the microwave lens may have a structure of curved surfaces on both sides. The curved surface can be a spherical surface or an elliptic spherical surface, and can also be a form of combining a plurality of curved surfaces. The microwave lens may be in the form of a solid lens or a hollow lens.

In addition, the microwave lens may include one microwave lens, or may be a combination of two or more microwave lenses. The purpose of a microwave lens and a microwave lens combination is to converge the transmit beam and the echo beam.

The plurality of microstrip antennas are disposed on a focal plane of the microwave lens. When a microwave beam is emitted at one side of the microwave lens at one microstrip antenna, a converged microwave beam may be formed at the other side of the microwave lens by the microwave lens.

The microwave beams emitted by the microstrip antennas at the corresponding positions of the microwave lenses can be converged by the microwave lenses, each microwave lens can be located at a focal point of the microwave lens, and the plane formed by the focal points can be referred to as the focal plane of the microwave lens.

In addition, the microwave lens may be arranged such that the focal plane of the microwave lens is a plane or a curved surface. By arranging the microstrip antenna on the focal plane of the microwave lens, the energy of the microwave reflected beam received by the receiving antenna can be maximized.

The level gauge according to the present disclosure may further include a case constituting a shield space accommodating the antenna with the microwave lens.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic view of a radar level gauge according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 7, the level gauge 10 may include a microwave circuit board 100, a microwave lens 200, and an antenna housing 300.

A microstrip antenna is disposed on the microwave circuit board 100. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the microwave circuit board is disposed on or near the focal plane of the microwave lens. The microstrip antenna provided on the microwave circuit board 100 includes at least one microstrip antenna serving as a transmitting antenna and two microstrip antennas serving as receiving antennas.

The level gauge of the present disclosure further comprises an additional circuit board 400, the additional circuit board 400 comprising at least a voltage modulation circuit for modulating a voltage input from an external power source. The additional circuit board 400 is disposed in another chamber different from the antenna chamber, and the microwave circuit board 100 is electrically connected to the additional circuit board 400. The electrical connection 500 is a wire connection or a plug connection and the microwave circuit board 100 is not potted and the additional circuit board 400 is potted.

Since the microwave circuit board 100 and the additional circuit board 400 are located in different chambers, a complicated potting process of the microwave circuit board 100 may be avoided, and a shield case and a circular waveguide design in an original design may also be omitted by sealing the microwave circuit board 100 into an antenna chamber, such that the structure according to the present disclosure is simple and highly reliable.

The microstrip antenna in the present disclosure may be an antenna formed on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB). The plurality of microstrip antennas may or may not be formed on one printed circuit board. Preferably, a plurality of transceiving antenna elements of the same microwave transceiving processing module described below are disposed on one printed circuit board.

The shape of the printed circuit board may be set according to the arrangement shape of the microstrip antenna, and may be, for example, a straight shape (when the focal plane is a plane) or a curved shape (when the focal plane is a curved plane). The plurality of microstrip antennas are disposed on one printed circuit board and angles of the plurality of microstrip antennas are different, or the plurality of microstrip antennas are disposed on a plurality of printed circuit boards and angles of the plurality of printed circuit boards are different so that the angles of the plurality of microstrip antennas are different. The printed circuit board is perpendicular or nearly perpendicular to the microwave transmission beam emitted by the microstrip antenna disposed on the printed circuit board.

The printed circuit board can be rotated or moved so as to change the emission angle or the emission position of the microwave emission beam emitted by the microstrip antenna of the printed circuit board. The rotation or movement of the printed circuit board is periodic.

The level gauge according to the present disclosure further comprises a microwave transceiving processing module, the microwave transceiving processing module comprising a transmit path and a receive path, the transmit path being configured to provide a transmit signal to at least one transmit antenna, and the receive path being configured to receive echo signals from more than two receive antennas. The transmitting path and the receiving path are arranged on different sides of the microwave transceiving processing module.

The microwave transceiving processing module obtains the time difference between the transmitting time of the transmitting wave beam of the transmitting antenna and the receiving time of the receiving antenna for receiving the echo based on the time flight principle so as to obtain the information of the object measuring point.

The frequency of the microwave transmission beam emitted by the transmitting antenna is a continuously adjusted frequency. The frequency difference between the frequency of the microwave transmitting beam transmitted by the transmitting antenna and the frequency of the microwave reflecting beam received by the receiving antenna is obtained by comparing the frequency of the microwave transmitting beam transmitted by the transmitting antenna and the frequency of the microwave reflecting beam received by the receiving antenna at a certain moment so as to obtain the information of the object measuring point.

In the preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, the microwave transceiving module is a multi-transceiving module, that is, one module includes a plurality of transmitting paths and a plurality of receiving paths. As shown in fig. 8, the receiving path and the transmitting path are not disposed on the same side of the microwave transceiving module, so that the isolation between the receiving and transmitting of the microwave transceiving module can be increased.

Fig. 9 shows a case where three transmitting antennas and four receiving antennas use one multi-transmission and multi-reception microwave transceiving processing module, and beams of the number of transmitting antennas multiplied by the number of receiving antennas can be obtained by the control of the microwave transceiving processing module. In the example of fig. 9, when measuring an object in a range of 40 degrees, for example, the angular resolution can be effectively increased by a combination of more transmitting and receiving antennas, and can reach 40/12.

The level meter of the present disclosure further includes a purging portion disposed at the other side of the microwave lens for keeping the other side of the microwave lens clean. The purging part is arranged below the microwave lens, and the microwave lens can be kept clean by compressed air and the like so as to avoid interference of dust and the like.

The level gauge of the present disclosure further comprises an angle measuring portion for measuring a tilt angle of the level gauge in order to derive an actual angle of the transmitted wave and the echo based on the measured tilt angle. For example, after the tilt angle of the level gauge is measured, the actual angle of each antenna is then obtained based on the relative angle of each antenna itself with respect to the level gauge. Thus, the actual angle of the antenna can be used when measuring the energy difference and thereafter the phase difference. The level gauge may also be mounted at an inclination, the level gauge may have an inclination angle, and the inclination angle is measured by a sensor. The tilt angle may also be entered by the customer. After the measured or entered tilt angle, the angle information of the antenna may be updated using the angle information to obtain the current actual angle information of the beam of the antenna. The sensor in which the tilt angle is measured may be a gyroscope or an inclinometer.

In the level gauge of the present disclosure, at least one transmitting antenna repeatedly forms a transmitting wave, and two or more receiving antennas repeatedly receive an echo signal, so as to perform real-time measurement on a measurement point of a subject.

In the present disclosure, the above-mentioned object may be a disturbing object existing in the material containing device (tank). Such as a disturbance mounted on the tank wall, etc. Of course, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the object may be a material at a certain position, or may be other objects. In the following, the interfering substance will be described as an example.

In the above aspect, the angle of the interfering object is obtained by setting the difference in the echo energy received by the plurality of receiving antennas having different lobe angles. In actual use, however, the range of angles in which the interfering object is substantially located may be known in advance before the energy difference is used to determine the angle, so as to determine which lobe the echo signal is in, and thus by knowing which lobe it is in. For example, a case of two receiving antennas will be described as an example. If the interference object is judged to be in the main lobe of the first receiving antenna and the main lobe of the second receiving antenna, the angle of the interference object is obtained by using an equal energy curve and an energy difference connecting line obtained through simulation, if the interference object is judged to be in the main lobe of the first receiving antenna and a certain side lobe of the second receiving antenna, the angle of the interference object is obtained through the equal energy curve and the energy difference connecting line of the two lobes obtained through simulation, and the like. This can avoid using the wrong lobe information when the angle of the interfering object is determined.

One way of determining the angular range in which the interfering object is located is by means of a phase method, in which a plurality of microstrip receiving antennas are located at different positions in the level gauge, for example, at different positions on a straight line when arranged along the straight line.

After the transmitting antenna forms a transmitting wave, the transmitting wave reaches an object and is reflected by the object to form an echo, and the echo is received by different receiving antennas. Due to the different positions of the receiving antennas, the echo signals via different propagation lengths will have a phase difference, and the phase difference is related to the azimuth angle at which the object is located. Therefore, the angular range of the object is obtained by judging the phase difference.

In the present disclosure, after the transmission wave of at least one transmitting antenna is reflected by the object including the interfering object and the material, the difference of the phase difference of the echo reflected by the interfering object and the echo reflected by the two receiving antennas is obviously greater than the phase difference of the echo signal after the echo reflected by the material is received by the two receiving antennas. Generally, the phase difference of the interfering object echoes is obvious, and the phase difference of the material echoes is basically unchanged. In this way, the reflected echo signals are received by the two or more receiving antennas, and whether the echo signals are the reflected echo signals from the interfering object is determined by the phase difference between the echo signals received by the two or more receiving antennas. Thereby determining the angular range of the interfering object based on the phase difference of the echo signals and determining the angle at which the interfering object is located based on the energy difference of the echo signals.

Fig. 10 shows a case where one transmitting antenna and two receiving antennas process echoes of an interfering object, and for echoes formed by reflection of a transmission wave of one transmitting antenna by the interfering object are received by the two receiving antennas, a phase difference between the echoes of the first receiving antenna and the echoes of the second receiving antenna is as shown in fig. 10. When the phase difference is obvious, the echo of the interference object can be judged, and the angle range of the interference object can be judged.

Based on the determined angle range, and then in combination with the energy difference manner described above, the specific angle at which the interfering object is located can be accurately obtained. Therefore, according to the mode disclosed by the invention, not only can material echoes and interfering object echoes be distinguished, but also the position of the interfering object can be accurately judged.

As another way of determining the angular range in which the interfering object is located, a way in which the polarization directions of the receiving antennas are different may be used. In this aspect, the two or more receiving antennas include: a receiving antenna having the same polarization direction as the at least one transmitting antenna, and a receiving antenna having a polarization direction opposite to the at least one transmitting antenna.

For example, fig. 11 illustrates one approach of the present disclosure. The transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna use circularly polarized antennas, for example, the transmitting antenna is polarized in the right-hand direction, one receiving antenna is polarized in the left-hand direction, and the other receiving antenna is polarized in the right-hand direction. The transmitting wave of the right-handed polarized transmitting antenna is right-handed polarized, a left-handed polarized reflected wave is formed after the reflection of the interference object, and a right-handed polarized echo is formed after the left-handed polarized reflected wave is reflected by the tank wall. If the echo passes through the material reflection, the echo with the left-hand polarization is formed through the material reflection.

The left-handed receiving antenna can receive the material surface reflected echo of a strong signal and also can receive the left-handed echo directly formed by an interfering object, and the right-handed receiving antenna can receive the strong interfering object and the reflected echo of the tank wall.

Thus, the material surface echo and the interfering object echo can be well distinguished by the receiving antennas with different polarization directions, and the angle range (approximate angle) where the interfering object is located can be obtained. Based on the determined angle range, and then in combination with the energy difference manner described above, the specific angle at which the interfering object is located can be accurately obtained. Therefore, according to the mode disclosed by the invention, not only can material echoes and interfering object echoes be distinguished, but also the position of the interfering object can be accurately judged.

Above, a circularly polarized antenna has been described, but it will be understood by those skilled in the art that vertically polarized and horizontally polarized antennas may be used to achieve the same effect.

According to a second embodiment of the present disclosure, a measurement system is provided.

The measuring system comprises the level meter, a processing unit and a central control unit, and also comprises a power supply unit, a communication unit and a display unit.

As shown in fig. 12, the microwave transceiving processing unit may be a microwave transceiving processing module, which may be a local oscillator or a set of devices such as a VCO, a mixer, a power amplifier, and a low noise amplifier. The frequency mixing and amplification device can provide frequency mixing and amplification of a signal source for microwave transmission and a microwave receiving signal to obtain an echo analog signal of reflection information.

The local oscillator can divide the local oscillator signal into one path to generate a reflection signal of the transceiving antenna unit, and divide the other path to provide the reflection signal to the mixer, and the mixer further receives the reflection signal and mixes the reflection signal to form a mixing signal for determining the distance of the material level. The amplifier is used for amplifying the mixing signal.

The processing unit can be in a form of a digital calculation module, and can perform AD sampling on the mixing signals, perform FFT (fast Fourier transform) and other operations on the sampled digital signals to obtain frequency spectrum information, and calculate and obtain distance information of a contact point between a transmitting beam and a material surface through frequency spectrum analysis.

One processing unit may correspond to one microwave transceiving processing unit, or may correspond to a plurality of microwave transceiving processing units. That is, one processing unit may calculate the distance of one point, or may calculate the distance of a plurality of points.

And obtaining the time difference between the transmitting time of the transmitting antenna for transmitting the microwave transmitting beam and the receiving time of the receiving antenna for receiving the microwave reflecting beam based on the time flight principle so as to obtain the information of the material measuring point.

The device also comprises an arithmetic unit or a processing unit as an arithmetic unit, and the arithmetic unit obtains the information of the material measuring point according to the time difference.

The frequency of the microwave transmitting beam transmitted by the transmitting antenna is continuously adjusted, and the frequency difference between the frequency of the microwave transmitting beam transmitted by the transmitting antenna and the frequency of the microwave reflecting beam received by the receiving antenna is obtained by comparing the frequency of the microwave transmitting beam transmitted by the transmitting antenna at a certain moment and the frequency of the microwave reflecting beam received by the receiving antenna, so that the information of the material measuring point is obtained. And the arithmetic unit obtains the information of the material measuring point according to the frequency difference.

The central control unit is used for controlling the processing units and the microwave processing module to work, collecting distance calculation results of the processing units, and calculating information such as position information of an interfering object, shape of a material, average height and total volume of the material according to preset tank body information, installation position information of the material measuring device, position information of a material inlet and outlet and angle information of a wave beam corresponding to each transmitting and receiving antenna.

The power supply unit is responsible for supplying various voltages to the measurement system. The communication unit outputs the information of the central control unit and inputs the external setting information. Wherein the communication unit can communicate in a wired mode or in a wireless mode. And the display unit updates the displayed information of the material in real time according to the information of each microwave reflection beam.

The measuring system further comprises a storage part for storing information of a plurality of microwave reflection beams.

In the above-described embodiments or examples, the position of the microstrip antenna is fixed. In the present disclosure, however, the microstrip antenna may also be mobile.

According to a third embodiment of the present disclosure, there is also provided a measurement method. For example, referring to fig. 13, the measuring method may include steps S10 to S40. In the above-described level gauge, the contents of the level gauge and the measuring system may be referred to, and the details are not repeated herein.

Forming a transmission wave through at least one transmission antenna in step S10;

in step S20, the transmitted wave forms an echo signal after being reflected by an object;

in step S30, echo signals are received by two or more receiving antennas whose main lobe angles are set to be different from each other. Wherein as mentioned above, it is also possible that the lobe angles are different.

In step S40, the angle at which an object is located is determined based on the energy difference between the echo signals received by the two or more receiving antennas and the distance between the echo signals.

One object in the measurement of obstacles is the presence of disturbances in the material containing means.

As shown in fig. 14, before determining the angle of the object based on the energy difference and the distance, the method further includes step S31: whether the echo signal is a reflected echo signal from an interfering object is determined by the phase difference between the echo signals received by the two or more receiving antennas.

In the method, the angular range of the interfering object may be determined based on the phase difference of the echo signals, and the angle at which the interfering object is located may be determined based on the energy difference of the echo signals. In this way, the angular position information of the object can be accurately obtained.

According to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure, in order to distinguish between level echoes and interferers, the present disclosure provides a level gauge comprising a microstrip antenna and a microwave lens, the microstrip antenna comprising at least one transmitting antenna and two or more receiving antennas, the at least one transmitting antenna for forming a transmitted wave, wherein the transmitted wave forms echo by reflecting from an object, more than two receiving antennas for receiving echo signal formed by reflecting from an object, the method includes determining whether an echo signal is a reflected echo signal from an object as an interfering object by using phase differences between echo signals received by two or more receiving antennas, wherein a microwave lens is used for converging a beam of a transmitted wave and a beam of an echo, at least one transmitting antenna and two or more receiving antennas are positioned on one side of the microwave lens, and the object is positioned on the other side of the microwave lens.

The level gauge of the fourth embodiment can refer to fig. 5. In this embodiment, the phase difference of the reflected echoes of the object received by the receiving antennas at different positions can be used to determine the angle of the object reflecting the echoes, thereby achieving the effect of distinguishing the level from the interfering object. In practical application, because the interferents are located on the tank body, the phases of the echoes emitted by the tank body and the interferents are different, and the echoes are distinguished by using the difference of the phases.

Reference may be made, inter alia, to the description of the first embodiment of the disclosure with regard to the content of the transmitting antennas and the receiving antennas, in which embodiment the details of the first embodiment are correspondingly cited.

Alternatively, more than two receiving antennas may receive echo signals simultaneously, and the echo signals received by more than two receiving antennas are processed simultaneously. The echo signals may be received by the two or more receiving antennas in a time-division manner, and the echo signals received by the two or more receiving antennas may be processed in a time-division manner.

In one example, the setting angles of the two or more receiving antennas may be different.

Alternatively, the two or more receiving antennas may be antennas having different structures from each other. More than two receiving antennas may be in different positions and the structural dimensions and/or angles of the more than two receiving antennas may be different.

Alternatively, at least one transmitting antenna and more than two receiving antennas may be located on a straight line. The two or more receive antennas may be located on the same side or on both sides of the at least one transmit antenna. At least one transmitting antenna and two or more receiving antennas may be located on intersecting straight lines, and a transmitting antenna may be disposed at or near an intersection of the intersecting straight lines. The at least one transmitting antenna and the two or more receiving antennas may be located on two perpendicular straight lines.

Optionally, no circular waveguide structure is provided between the microwave lens and the transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna. The precision requirement is too high in the processing process of the circular waveguide structure, and the corresponding effect can be achieved under the condition that the circular waveguide structure is omitted by the arrangement mode disclosed by the invention, so that the cost can be effectively reduced, and the like.

Alternatively, the microwave lens may be one microwave lens, or a combined microwave lens formed by a plurality of lenses. The microwave antenna can further comprise a shell, and the shell and the microwave lens antenna form a protection space for accommodating the microstrip antenna.

Optionally, at least one transmitting antenna and more than two receiving antennas are arranged on the focal plane of the microwave lens.

Alternatively, more than two receiving antennas may be provided on one printed circuit board or on a plurality of printed circuit boards. The two or more receiving antennas may be disposed on one printed circuit board and the angles of the two or more receiving antennas are different, or the two or more receiving antennas may be disposed on a plurality of printed circuit boards and the angles of the plurality of printed circuit boards may be different so that the angles of the two or more receiving antennas are different.

Alternatively, the printed circuit board may be provided with a processing circuit, and the processing circuit obtains a time difference between a transmission time of a transmission wave of at least one transmitting antenna and a reception time of an echo received by two or more receiving antennas based on a time-of-flight principle, so as to obtain information of a measurement point of the object.

Optionally, the frequency of the transmission wave of the at least one transmission antenna is a continuously adjusted frequency.

Alternatively, the processing circuit may obtain the frequency difference between the frequency of the transmission wave of at least one transmitting antenna and the frequency of the return wave received by more than two receiving antennas at a certain time, so as to obtain the information of the measuring point of the object.

Optionally, the transceiver may further include a microwave transceiver processing module, where the microwave transceiver processing module includes a transmitting path and a receiving path, the transmitting path is used to provide a transmitting signal to at least one transmitting antenna, and the receiving path is used to receive echo signals from more than two receiving antennas.

Alternatively, the transmitting path and the receiving path may be disposed on different sides of the microwave transceiver processing module.

Optionally, the two or more receiving antennas include: a receiving antenna having the same polarization direction as the at least one transmitting antenna, and a receiving antenna having a polarization direction opposite to the at least one transmitting antenna.

Optionally, the microwave lens cleaning device further comprises a purging part, wherein the purging part is arranged on the other side of the microwave lens and used for keeping the other side of the microwave lens clean.

Optionally, an angle measurement portion is further included for measuring a tilt angle of the level gauge in order to derive an actual angle of the transmitted wave and the echo based on the measured tilt angle.

Alternatively, at least one transmitting antenna repeatedly forms a transmitting wave, and two or more receiving antennas repeatedly receive an echo signal so as to make a real-time measurement of a measurement point of the object.

Alternatively, lobe angles of two or more receiving antennas are set to be different from each other, so that the angle of one object is determined based on the energy difference value of echo signals received by the two or more receiving antennas, the distance of the echo signals, and an angle range obtained based on the phase difference between the echo signals. Therefore, the lobe in which the echo signal is positioned is judged through the phase difference, and an accurate angle is obtained based on the energy difference value through related lobe energy information obtained through simulation.

Optionally, the lobe angle is a main lobe angle. As described above, the angle of the side lobe may be set to pass through the equal energy curve of the main lobe and the main lobe, the equal energy curve of the side lobe and the side lobe, or the equal energy curve of the main lobe and the side lobe. And are not limiting in this disclosure. Preferably through the iso-energetic curve of the main lobe versus the main lobe.

Optionally, the number of the transmitting antennas is three, and the number of the receiving antennas is four, and the transmitting and receiving are implemented by a combination of the transmitting antennas and the receiving antennas, so as to improve the angular resolution.

In the description herein, reference to the description of the terms "one embodiment/mode," "some embodiments/modes," "example," "specific example," or "some examples," etc., means that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment/mode or example is included in at least one embodiment/mode or example of the application. In this specification, the schematic representations of the terms used above are not necessarily intended to be the same embodiment/mode or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments/modes or examples. Furthermore, the various embodiments/aspects or examples and features of the various embodiments/aspects or examples described in this specification can be combined and combined by one skilled in the art without conflicting therewith.

Furthermore, the terms "first", "second" and "first" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In the description of the present application, "plurality" means at least two, e.g., two, three, etc., unless specifically limited otherwise.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing embodiments are merely for clarity of illustration of the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. Other variations or modifications may occur to those skilled in the art, based on the foregoing disclosure, and are still within the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. Level gauge, characterized in that it comprises an antenna, said antenna comprising:

2. The level gauge of claim 1, wherein said two or more receiving antennas receive said echo signals simultaneously, and wherein said echo signals received by said two or more receiving antennas are processed simultaneously to obtain said energy difference.

3. The level gauge of claim 1, wherein said two or more receiving antennas receive said echo signals time-divisionally and process said echo signals received by said two or more receiving antennas time-divisionally to obtain said energy difference.

4. The level gauge of claim 1, wherein said two or more receiving antennas are arranged at different angles such that the main lobe angles of said two or more receiving antennas are different from each other.

5. The level gauge of claim 1, wherein said two or more receiving antennas are antennas having different structures from each other such that main lobe angles of said two or more receiving antennas are different from each other.

6. The level gauge according to claim 1, wherein said at least one transmitting antenna and said two or more receiving antennas are microstrip antennas and said two or more receiving antennas are located at the same position or at different positions, said two or more receiving antennas having different structural dimensions and/or angles.

7. The level gauge of claim 6, wherein said at least one transmitting antenna is located in-line with said two or more receiving antennas.

8. The level gauge of claim 7, wherein said two or more receiving antennas are located on the same side or on both sides of said at least one transmitting antenna.

9. The level gauge according to claim 6, wherein said at least one transmitting antenna and said two or more receiving antennas are located on intersecting straight lines, and wherein a transmitting antenna is located at or near the intersection of the intersecting straight lines.

10. The level gauge of claim 9, wherein said at least one transmitting antenna and said two or more receiving antennas are located on two perpendicular lines.

11. The level gauge according to claim 6, further comprising a microwave lens for converging the beam of the transmitted waves and the beam of the echo waves, the at least one transmitting antenna and the two or more receiving antennas being located on one side of the microwave lens, and the object being located on the other side of the microwave lens.

12. The level gauge of claim 11, wherein no circular waveguide structure is provided between the microwave lens and the transmitting and receiving antennas.

13. The level gauge of claim 11, wherein said microwave lens is a microwave lens or a combination of microwave lenses.

14. The level gauge of claim 11, further comprising a housing, said housing and said microwave lens forming a shielded space for housing said antenna.

15. The level gauge of claim 11, wherein said at least one transmitting antenna and said two or more receiving antennas are disposed at a focal plane of said microwave lens.

16. The level gauge of claim 15, wherein said microwave lens is capable of changing the main lobe angle of the receive antennas when said two or more receive antennas are at different positions.

17. Level gauge according to claim 11, characterized in that the two or more receiving antennas are arranged on one printed circuit board or on a plurality of printed circuit boards.

18. The level gauge of claim 17,

the two or more receiving antennas are disposed on a printed circuit board and the angles of the two or more receiving antennas are different, or

The two or more receiving antennas are disposed on a plurality of printed circuit boards, and angles of the plurality of printed circuit boards are different so that the angles of the two or more receiving antennas are different.

19. The level gauge as claimed in claim 17, wherein processing circuitry is provided on the printed circuit board, said processing circuitry deriving a time difference between the time of transmission of the transmitted wave of the at least one transmitting antenna and the time of reception of the echoes received by the two or more receiving antennas based on the time-of-flight principle, in order to derive information on the measurement point of the object.

20. The level gauge of claim 19, wherein the frequency of the transmission wave of said at least one transmitting antenna is a continuously adjusted frequency.

21. The level gauge of claim 20, wherein said processing circuitry derives a frequency difference between the frequency of the transmission from said at least one transmitting antenna and the frequency of the echoes received from said two or more receiving antennas at a time to derive information about the measurement point of said object.

22. The level gauge of claim 1, further comprising a microwave transceiver processing module comprising a transmit path and a receive path, the transmit path for providing a transmit signal to the at least one transmit antenna and the receive path for receiving echo signals from the more than two receive antennas.

23. The level gauge of claim 22, wherein said transmit path and said receive path are disposed on different sides of said microwave transceiver processing module.

24. The level gauge of claim 1, wherein said two or more receiving antennas comprise: a receiving antenna having the same polarization direction as the at least one transmitting antenna, and a receiving antenna having a polarization direction opposite to the at least one transmitting antenna.

25. The level gauge of claim 11, further comprising a purge disposed on the other side of the microwave lens for keeping the other side of the microwave lens clean.

26. The level gauge of claim 1, further comprising an angle measuring section for measuring a tilt angle of the level gauge to obtain an actual angle of a transmitted wave and an echo based on the measured tilt angle.

27. The level gauge of claim 1, wherein the at least one transmitting antenna repeatedly forms a transmitted wave and more than two receiving antennas repeatedly receive an echo signal for real-time measurement of a measurement point of a subject.

28. The level gauge of any one of claims 1 to 27, wherein the lobe angle is a main lobe angle.

29. Level gauge according to one of claims 1 to 27, characterized in that the number of transmitting antennas is three and the number of receiving antennas is four, and that transceiving is achieved by the combination of the transmitting antennas and the receiving antennas for improving the angular resolution.

30. Level gauge according to one of claims 1 to 27, characterized in that said one object is a disturbance present in the feed-containing device.

31. The level gauge of claim 30, wherein the echo signals received by the two or more receiving antennas after the waves transmitted by at least one transmitting antenna are reflected by an object comprising a disturbance and material are received by the two or more receiving antennas, and a phase difference between the echo signals received by the two or more receiving antennas is used to determine whether the echo signals are reflected echo signals from the disturbance.

32. The level gauge of claim 31, wherein an angular range of a disturbance is determined based on the phase difference of the echo signals, and an angle at which the disturbance is located is determined based on the energy difference of the echo signals.

33. A measurement system, comprising:

a level gauge as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 32;

34. A level gauge, characterized in that it comprises a microstrip antenna and a microwave lens, said microstrip antenna comprising at least one transmitting antenna and two or more receiving antennas:

35. The level gauge of claim 34, wherein said two or more receiving antennas receive said echo signals simultaneously and process said echo signals received by said two or more receiving antennas simultaneously.

36. The level gauge of claim 34, wherein said two or more receiving antennas receive said echo signals time-divisionally and process said echo signals received by said two or more receiving antennas time-divisionally.

37. The level gauge of claim 34, wherein said two or more receiving antennas are disposed at different angles.

38. The level gauge of claim 34, wherein said two or more receiving antennas are antennas having different configurations from each other.

39. The level gauge of claim 34, wherein said two or more receiving antennas are at different positions, and wherein said two or more receiving antennas are configured at different sizes and/or angles.

40. The level gauge of claim 34, wherein said at least one transmitting antenna is aligned with said two or more receiving antennas.

41. The level gauge of claim 34, wherein said two or more receiving antennas are located on the same side or on both sides of said at least one transmitting antenna.

42. The level gauge of claim 34, wherein said at least one transmitting antenna and said two or more receiving antennas are located on intersecting lines and a transmitting antenna is located at or near the intersection of the intersecting lines.

43. The level gauge of claim 34, wherein said at least one transmitting antenna and said two or more receiving antennas are located on two perpendicular lines.

44. The level gauge of claim 34, wherein no circular waveguide structure is provided between the microwave lens and the transmitting and receiving antennas.

45. The level gauge of claim 34, wherein said microwave lens is a microwave lens or a combination of microwave lenses.

46. The level gauge of claim 34, further comprising a housing, the housing and the microwave lens forming a shielded space containing the microstrip antenna.

47. The level gauge of claim 34, wherein said at least one transmitting antenna and said two or more receiving antennas are disposed at a focal plane of said microwave lens.

48. The level gauge of claim 34, wherein said two or more receiving antennas are provided on one printed circuit board or on a plurality of printed circuit boards.

49. The level gauge of claim 48,

50. The level gauge according to claim 48, wherein processing circuitry is provided on said printed circuit board, said processing circuitry deriving a time difference between a transmission time of a transmitted wave of said at least one transmitting antenna and a reception time of echoes received by said two or more receiving antennas based on the time-of-flight principle, for deriving information of a measurement point of said object.

51. The level gauge of claim 50, wherein the frequency of the transmission wave of said at least one transmitting antenna is a continuously adjusted frequency.

52. The level gauge of claim 50, wherein said processing circuitry derives a frequency difference between the frequency of the transmission from said at least one transmitting antenna and the frequency of the echoes received from said two or more receiving antennas at a time to derive information about the measurement point of said object.

53. The level gauge of claim 34, further comprising a microwave transceiver processing module, the microwave transceiver processing module comprising a transmit path and a receive path, the transmit path for providing a transmit signal to the at least one transmit antenna, and the receive path for receiving echo signals from the two or more receive antennas.

54. The level gauge of claim 53, wherein said transmit path and said receive path are disposed on different sides of said microwave transceiver module.

55. The level gauge of claim 34, wherein said two or more receiving antennas comprise: a receiving antenna having the same polarization direction as the at least one transmitting antenna, and a receiving antenna having a polarization direction opposite to the at least one transmitting antenna.

56. The level gauge of claim 34, further comprising a purge disposed on the other side of the microwave lens for keeping the other side of the microwave lens clean.

57. The level gauge of claim 34, further comprising an angle measuring section for measuring a tilt angle of the level gauge to obtain an actual angle of a transmitted wave and an echo based on the measured tilt angle.

58. The level gauge of claim 34, wherein the at least one transmitting antenna repeatedly forms a transmitted wave and more than two receiving antennas repeatedly receive an echo signal for real-time measurement of a measurement point of a subject.

59. The level gauge of any one of claims 34 to 58, wherein lobe angles of the two or more receiving antennas are set different from each other, such that the angle of the one object is determined based on an energy difference of the echo signals received by the two or more receiving antennas, a distance of the echo signals, and an angle range derived based on a phase difference between echo signals.

60. The level gauge of claim 59, wherein the lobe angle is a main lobe angle.

61. The level gauge of claim 59, wherein the number of said transmitting antennas is three and the number of said receiving antennas is four, and wherein transceiving is achieved by a combination of said transmitting antennas and said receiving antennas to improve angular resolution.

62. A measurement system, comprising:

level gauge according to any one of claims 34 to 61;