Electro-optic liquid level sensing system for aircraft beverage brewing
AssigneeBE Intellectual Property, Inc.
InventorsSebastien A. Ramus, Keith R. DeBald, Joseph C. Dettmer, Winston S. Fliess
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Abstract
The electro-optic liquid level sensing system detects a level of liquid in a container having an upper opening, such as for a server container of a beverage maker for a transport system, such as for aircraft, trains, trucks, buses and the like. A support housing mates with the upper opening of the container, and a primary liquid level sensor is mounted in the support housing for non-intrusively measuring the liquid level. A secondary liquid level sensor may be mounted in the support housing to sense a predetermined liquid level to prevent accidental overflows. Protective lenses may be placed in front of the primary liquid level sensor.
Claims29
Apparatus for detecting a level of a surface of a liquid in a container having an upper opening, that apparatus comprising:
- a support housing moveable between an upward unlocked position and a downward locked position, said support housing being adapted to mate with the upper opening of the container in said downward locked position;
- an optical sensor device mounted in said support housing for non-intrusively measuring the level of the surface of the liquid in the container, said optical sensor device including a light emitting device for projecting incident light on the surface of the liquid in the container, and a light detecting device for detecting said incident light reflected from the surface of the liquid in the container;
- and
- protective lenses placed in front of the light emitting device and the light detecting device.
Apparatus for detecting a level of a surface of a liquid in a server container of a beverage maker for a transport system, said server container having an upper opening, that apparatus comprising:
- a support housing moveable between an upward unlocked position and a downward locked position, said support housing being adapted to mate with the upper opening of the server container in said downward locked position;
- an optical sensor device mounted in said support housing for non-intrusively measuring the level of the surface of the liquid in the server container, said optical sensor device including a light emitting device for projecting incident light on the surface of the liquid in the server container, and a light detecting device for detecting said incident light reflected from the surface of the liquid in the server container;
- and
- protective lenses placed in front of the light emitting device and the light detecting device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.