Optical level sensor for reflective liquids
AssigneeXerox Corporation
InventorsDavid A. Tence, Matthew D. Savoy, David B. Tait
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An optical sensor enables a level of reflective fluid to be detected. The optical sensor includes a prism mounted at one end of a housing. The prism has an exterior surface that is parallel to the end of the housing and a width that corresponds to a width of the end of the housing. A photoemitter and a photodetector are mounted at another end of the housing to enable light emitted by the photoemitter to be reflected by the prism when the prism contacts reflective fluid and to enable light emitted by the photoemitter to pass out of the sensor when the prism is in contact with air.
Claims7
An optical sensor for detecting a presence and an absence of reflective fluid comprising:
- a housing having at least one wall that encloses a volume and the at least one wall has a first end and a second end;
- a base configured to close the first end of the at least one wall of the housing;
- a photoemitter positioned in the base;
- a photodetector positioned in the base;
- and
- a prism configured to close the second end of the at least one wall of the housing, the prism having no sloped surfaces, at least one surface of the prism is parallel to the second end of the at least one wall of the housing, and the at least one surface of the prism has a width approximately equal to a width of the second end of the at least one wall of the housing to enable the photodetector to generate a signal indicative of whether a reflective fluid is contacting the prism.
An reflective fluid supply system for a printer comprising:
- a volumetric container for storing reflective fluid;
- a reservoir having an internal volume;
- a pump configured to move reflective fluid from the volumetric container to the internal volume of the reservoir;
- at least one sensor positioned within the internal volume of the reservoir, the at least one sensor being configured with a housing having at least one wall that encloses a volume and the at least one wall has a first end and a second end, a base configured to close the first end of the at least one wall of the housing, a photoemitter positioned in the base, a photodetector positioned in the base, and a prism configured to close the second end of the at least one wall of the housing, the prism having no sloped surfaces, at least one surface of the prism is parallel to the second end of the at least one wall of the housing, and the at least one surface of the prism has a width approximately equal to a width of the second end of the at least one wall of the housing to enable the photodetector to generate a signal indicative of whether a reflective fluid is contacting the prism of the at least one sensor;
- and
- a controller operatively connected to the at least one sensor and the pump, the controller being configured to receive a signal from the at least one sensor indicative of whether the at least one sensor is contacting reflective ink within the internal volume of the reservoir and to operate the pump to move reflective fluid from the volumetric container into the internal volume of the reservoir in response to the signal from the at least one sensor indicating an absence of reflective fluid contacting the at least one sensor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.