Ice thickness indicator
OwnerDouglas W. Iwanickiinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An ice thickness indicator is disposed at the surface of a body of water, as by floats, and provides a means to indicate whether the water has frozen to a predetermined thickness. The device includes an enclosed chamber which may be filled with water. The chamber is expansible by means of a movable member which partly defines the chamber. The movable member is located below the surface of the water and is connected to an upwardly extending indicator which displays different indications, depending on the relative position of the movable member. As the body of water in which the device is immersed freezes, the water within the expansible chamber also freezes and expands to cause movement of the movable member and operate the indicator means.
Claims12
A device for indicating whether the surface of a body of water has frozen to a predetermined thickness comprising:
- a hollow housing adapted to be filled fully with water, said housing having a downwardly extending lower portion adapted to be submerged in the body of water and an opening formed in the downwardly extending lower portion;
- a member carried by the housing and covering the opening in the downwardly extending lower portion in sealing relation to the housing, the member being movable with respect to the housing, to define an expansible chamber in cooperation with the housing, said movable member being movable toward and away from the more upwardly disposed portions of the housing;
- means for supporting said housing so that predetermined portion thereof is disposed at reference surface said movable member is disposed at a predetermined depth below the surface of the body of water;
- said movable member being movable downwardly in response to expansion of water within the housing as the water in the housing freezes;
- indicator means carried by the housing at a location above the level of the housing;
- and
- means connecting the indicator means to said movable member to enable the indicator means to provide an indication of the position of the movable member and, thereby an indication of the thickness of the ice at the surface of the body of water.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.