Level indicator
AssigneeMannesmann VDO AG
InventorsLothar Gier, Werner Wallrafen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fluid level sensor that is particularly useful in fluid fuel tanks of motor vehicles wherein a resistor network is arranged on a fixed support and it is possible to generate an output signal from the resistor network which corresponds to the position of a float member. The level sensor has particularly low wear and is inexpensive to produce with a contact structure for the resistor network that operates through interaction of a magnetic member is moved by the float and can be deflected such that an electrical connection is dependent on the position of the float.
Claims22
A fluid level sensor comprising a resistor network on a fixed support, wherein the resistor network is adjacent to, a contact structure, a magnet member attached to a float such that an electrical connection which is dependent on the position of the float and magnetic member occurs, the resistor network being arranged on an insulating substrate and nodes of the resistor network being connected to contact surfaces on the substrate, a housing cover enclosing the resistor network and further wherein the fluid level sensor has only the single magnetic member which bends a portion of a magnetic strip of material to make selective electrical contact without interaction with any other magnetic members.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.