Patent Application
20070013536
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an alarm, and more particularly to a liquid level alarm that detects a level of a liquid in a tank and alerts people when the liquid level exceeds a predicted limit. The liquid level alarm has a simple structure and a low cost.
2. Description of Related Art
Tanks for storage of liquid such as water or oil are used usually with level alarms to warn people when liquid levels in the tanks exceed predetermined limits by sounding an audible alarm or radiating a visual alarm. Many types of alarms for detecting liquid levels have been developed and are now available. However, most of those alarms have a complicated structure and a high cost.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a liquid level alarm to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
The main objective of the invention is to provide a liquid level alarm that detects a level of a liquid in a tank and alerts people when the liquid level exceeds a predetermined limit. The liquid level alarm has a simple structure and a low cost.
A liquid level alarm in accordance with the present invention is placed in a tank having a bottom and comprises a weight, a floating box, an alarm circuit and a cord.
The weight is placed on the bottom of the tank.
The floating box has a top recess, a passage, a slide and a top cover. The passage communicates with the top recess. The slide is mounted slidably in the passage.
The alarm circuit is mounted in the top recess in the floating box and has two contacts, an alarm element, a switch and a spring. The switch is connected to the slide. The spring is connected to the top cover and prevents the switch from making contact with the contacts.
The cord is connected to the weight and the slide.
Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
With reference to
The liquid level alarm has a weight (1), a floating box (2), an alarm circuit (3) and a cord (4).
The weight (1) is placed on the bottom of the tank (5).
The floating box (2) is hollow and has a top, a bottom, a top recess, a bottom recess, a passage (22), at least one internal chamber (21), a top cover (23), a bottom cover (24), a slide (25) and a seal (26). The top recess is defined in the top and has an inner surface. The bottom recess is defined in the bottom. The passage (22) is defined vertically in the floating box (2) between the top recess and the bottom recess. The at least one internal chamber (21) is defined hermetically inside the floating box (2). The top cover (23) is mounted hermetically on the top and covers the top recess to make the floating box (2) buoyant. The bottom cover (24) is mounted over the bottom recess and has a through hole defined through the bottom cover (24). The slide (25) is mounted slidably in the passage (22). The seal (26) is mounted on the inner surface of the top recess.
With further reference to
With further reference to
The structure of the liquid level alarm is simple. Furthermore, the elements such as the slide (25), the alarm element (32) and spring (35) are cheap so that the liquid level alarm has a low cost.
Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
