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US 2006/0154377 A1Published application
Chemical vapor sensor
AssigneeDelphi Technologies, Inc.
InventorsDavid Lambert, Larry Oberdier, Christopher Thrush
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AssigneeDelphi Technologies, Inc.
InventorsDavid Lambert, Larry Oberdier, Christopher Thrush
Estimating the term…
A chemical vapor sensor is provided that passively measures a chemical species of interest with high sensitivity and chemical specificity. In an aspect, ethanol vapor in a vehicle cabin is measured, and sufficient sensitivity is provided to passively detect a motor vehicle driver that exceeds a legal limit of blood alcohol concentration (BAC), for use with vehicle safety systems. The sensor can be situated in an inconspicuous vehicle cabin location and operate independently without requiring active involvement by a driver. A vapor concentrator is utilized to amplify a sampled vapor concentration to a detectible level for use with an infrared (IR) detector. In an aspect, in comparison to conventional chemical sensors, the sensitivity of detection of ethanol vapor is increased by a factor of about 1,000. Further, a single channel of infrared detection is utilized avoiding spurious infrared absorption and making the chemical vapor sensor less costly to implement.
A chemical vapor sensor comprising:
A passive chemical vapor sensor for sampling ethanol vapor from a vehicle cabin comprising:
A method of measuring a chemical vapor concentration comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.