Method and apparatus for measuring liquid quantity in bulk containers

1. Apparatus for measuring the mass of a liquid, comprising:

a bulk fabric storage container having an expanded size when filled with the liquid and a smaller, collapsed size when empty;

at least one deflection member arranged in a grid pattern upon which said bulk fabric storage container is positioned, said grid pattern having a size at least equal to said expanded size of said bulk fabric storage container, said at least one deflection member having a hollow interior filled with a fluid, said at least one deflection member being movable between a first position in which said hollow interior has a first cross sectional area and said bulk fabric storage container is empty, and a second position in which said hollow interior has a second cross sectional area and said bulk fabric storage container is full, said second cross sectional area being less than said first cross sectional area, said at least one deflection member being effective to assume any cross sectional area between said first and second cross sectional areas in response to variations in the mass of the liquid within said bulk fabric storage container;

at least one pressure measurement device coupled to said at least one deflection member, said at least one pressure measurement device being effective to sense the pressure of said fluid within said hollow interior of said at least one deflection member with said bulk fabric storage container resting on said grid pattern and while the size of said bulk fabric storage container varies between said expanded size and said collapsed size as liquid is introduced into or removed from said bulk fabric storage container, the pressure sensed by said at least one pressure measurement device varying in relation to said cross sectional area of said at least one deflection member, said at least one pressure measurement device producing a measurement of said pressure that may be correlated to the mass of the liquid within said bulk fabric storage container.

2. The measuring apparatus of claim 1 in which said at least one deflection member comprises at least one flexible line.

3. The measuring apparatus of claim 2 in which said at least one flexible line comprises a number of flexible lines each having a hollow interior which communicate with one another.

4. The measuring apparatus of claim 2 in which said at last one flexible line is a fabric-covered flexible hose.

5. The measuring apparatus of claim 2 in which said at least one flexible line arranged in a grid pattern is affixed to a mat.

6. The measuring apparatus of claim 1 further including a temperature sensor coupled to said at least one deflection member, said temperature sensor being effective to sense the temperature of the fluid within said hollow interior of said at least one deflection member.

7. A method of measuring the mass of a liquid, comprising:

(a) providing a bulk fabric storage container having an expanded size when filled with the liquid and a smaller, collapsed size when empty;

(b) providing at least one deflection member arranged in a grid pattern having a size at least equal to said expanded size of said bulk fabric storage container, said at least one deflection member having a hollow interior filled with a fluid;

(c) placing the bulk fabric storage container onto said grid pattern of said at least one deflection member, said at least one deflection member being movable from between a first position in which said hollow interior has a first cross sectional area and wherein said bulk fabric storage container is filled with liquid, and a second position in which said hollow interior has a second cross sectional area and wherein said bulk fabric storage container is empty;

(d) sensing the pressure of the fluid within said hollow interior of said at least one deflection member while said bulk fabric storage container varies in size between said expanded size and said collapsed size as liquid is introduced into or removed from said bulk fabric storage container, said pressure varying in relation to said cross sectional area of said hollow interior of said at least one deflection member;

(e) correlating the pressure sensed in step (d) to the mass of the liquid within said bulk fabric storage container.

8. The method of claim 7 in which step (b) comprises providing at least one flexible line having a hollow interior.

9. The method of claim 7 further including:

(f) sensing the temperature of the fluid within said hollow interior of said at least one deflection member;

(g) adjusting the magnitude of the pressure sensed in step (d) in relation to the temperature sensed in step (f); and

(h) correlating the magnitude of the pressure as adjusted in step (g) to the mass of the liquid within the bulk container.