The present application is based on and incorporates herein by reference Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-49817 filed on Mar. 12, 2015.
The present disclosure relates to a liquid surface detection apparatus, which senses a liquid surface level of liquid stored in a container, and a manufacturing method thereof.
Previously, there is known a liquid surface detection apparatus that senses a liquid surface level of liquid stored in a container. A liquid surface detection apparatus disclosed in the patent literature 1 includes a float, a sensor element and a body. The float floats on oil in an oil pan of an engine of a vehicle. The sensor element senses a position of the float. The body includes a dielectric portion made of a resin dielectric material and is formed integrally with a terminal connected with a lead line that outputs an electric signal of the sensor element with respect to the position of the float to an outside.
PATENT LITERATURE 1: JP2014-235157A
In the patent literature 1, the oil in the inside of the oil pan is supplied to corresponding respective parts of the engine through an oil pump and is thereafter returned to the inside of the oil pan. A position of the body relative to the float is often set such that the oil, which is returned to the inside of the oil pan, does not contact the float to limit erroneous sensing caused by movement of the float that is induced by contacting of the oil, which is returned to the inside of the oil pan, to the float.
At the time of manufacturing such a liquid surface detection apparatus, when molten resin is injected into an inside of a resin molding die, in which the terminal is placed, to integrate the terminal with the body, it is encountered a disadvantage of that the resin material flows to a connecting portion of the terminal in the molding die due to presence of inaccurate sealing between the molding die and the terminal. That is, the terminal is formed such that an end part of a plate member, which is made of an electrically conductive material, is cut in a form of a projection, and this projection is bent to have a U-shaped cross section while the lead line is clamped in the inside of the bent portion of the terminal to connect between the lead line and the terminal. Since the terminal is bent to have the U-shaped cross section, wrinkles are formed at a side of the terminal due to the transformation of the shape in the U-shaped form. Therefore, sealing between the side of the terminal and the molding die becomes insufficient due to the presence of the wrinkles at the side of the terminal. Thereby, the molten resin flows into the inside of the bent portion through a gap between the wrinkles at the side of the terminal and the molding die. Thus, at the time of removing the body, to which the terminal is integrally molded with the molding die, from the molding die, the resin may remain at the terminal to interfere with the electrical connection between the terminal and the lead line to cause conduction failure. Thereby, in such a case, the measurement signal of the sensor element cannot be correctly outputted to the outside.
The inventor of the present application has studied about forming of a through-hole around a connecting portion of the body that is connected to the plate portion of the terminal, which is bent in the U-shaped form. Specifically, even when the molten resin tries to flow into the inside of the bent portion of the terminal through the gap between the wrinkles of the side of the terminal and the molding die, the flow of the molten resin is blocked by the through-hole, so that the resin does not flow to the connecting portion of the terminal. However, it has been found that the oil, which is returned from the oil pan, flows through the through-hole of the body and falls on the float to cause movement of the float, and thereby liquid surface level cannot be accurately sensed.
The present disclosure is made in view of the above disadvantages, and it is an objective of the present disclosure to provide a liquid surface detection apparatus, which can accurately sense a liquid surface level, and a manufacturing method thereof.
In order to achieve the above objective, according to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a liquid surface detection apparatus for sensing a liquid surface level of liquid stored in a container, the liquid surface detection apparatus including: a float that floats on the liquid; a sensor element that senses a position of the float; a terminal that is made of an electrically conductive material, wherein a lead line, which outputs a measurement signal of the sensor element to an outside, is connected to the terminal; and a body that is formed integrally with the terminal and includes a dielectric portion, which is made of a dielectric material, wherein: the terminal includes: a connecting portion that is provided in a connecting area of the terminal, which is exposed from the body; a bent portion that is continuous with the connecting area, wherein the bent portion is bent on a bending side where the connecting area is exposed, so that the lead line is connected between the bent portion and the connecting portion; and a projecting wall portion that is formed continuously with the connecting area together with a side of a base of the bent portion, wherein the projecting wall portion projects in a form of a standing wall from the connecting area; and the body includes an extending portion that is securely joined to: a fixing part of a side surface of the bent portion located on a counter-bending side of the bent portion that is opposite from the bending side of the bent portion; and a fixing part of the projecting wall portion; and the extending portion extends from the fixing part of the side surface of the bent portion and the fixing part of the projecting wall portion toward a side that is opposite from the connecting portion.
According to the above aspect, the body, which includes the dielectric portion made of the dielectric material, is formed integrally with the terminal that is made of the electrically conductive material. At the connecting portion of the terminal, the connecting area is exposed from the body. Here, the bent portion, which is continuous with the connecting area, is bent on the side where the connecting area is exposed, so that the lead line is connected between the bent portion and the connecting portion. When the lead line is connected between the connecting portion and the bent portion, the lead line is held in a manner that enables electrical conduction between the lead line and the terminal. Thereby, it is possible to limit the conduction failure.
In addition, the projecting wall portion, which projects in the form of the standing wall, is formed continuously with the connecting area together with the side of the base of the bent portion. With this projecting wall portion, even in the structure, in which the extending portion of the body is securely joined to the fixing part of the side surface of the bent portion located on the counter-bending side of the bent portion and the fixing part of the projecting wall portion, the inflow of the dielectric material from the counter-bending side to the connecting area is limited at the time of molding the body. Therefore, the connecting of the lead line in the state where the dielectric material is left is less likely to occur. Thus, the conduction failure is limited, and the measurement signal of the sensor element can be accurately outputted to the outside.
Since the extending portion, which is formable in the above described manner, extends toward the side that is opposite from the connecting portion, the liquid is less likely to pass through the body and fall on the float. Therefore, it is possible to limit influence of the movement of the float, which is caused by the falling of the liquid on the float, to the sensing result. Thus, the liquid surface level can be accurately sensed.
Furthermore, in order to achieve the above objective, according to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a manufacturing method for manufacturing the liquid surface detection apparatus through use of a molding die that molds the body, including: a positioning step of positioning the molding die such that the molding die contacts to an opposite side of the projecting wall portion, which is opposite from the connecting portion; and an injecting step of injecting the dielectric material to the counter-bending side after the positioning step.
According to the above aspect, once the molding die is positioned such that the molding die contacts the opposite side of the projecting wall portion, which is opposite from the connecting portion, the dielectric material is injected to the counter-bending side. Thereby, the body is molded. In this way, at the time of injecting the dielectric material, the molding die contacts the projecting wall portion on the side that is opposite from the connecting portion. Therefore, it is possible to form the extending portion, which is securely joined to the counter-bending side of the projecting wall portion, while limiting the inflow of the dielectric material to the connecting portion beyond the projecting wall portion. In the liquid surface detection apparatus, which is manufactured in the above described manner, it is possible to limit the conduction failure, and the liquid is less likely to pass through the body and fall on the float. Thus, the liquid surface level can be accurately sensed.
The present disclosure, together with additional objectives, features and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description in view of the accompanying drawings.
Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
A liquid surface detection apparatus 100 of the embodiment is installed to an internal combustion engine of a vehicle and is placed in an inside of an oil pan (serving as a container) 1. The oil pan 1 is installed to a bottom surface of a cylinder block of the internal combustion engine. Engine oil, which is received in an inside of the oil pan 1, is supplied to corresponding respective parts of the engine through an oil pump of the vehicle and is thereafter returned to the oil pan 1 through an oil dropper 1a. In the present embodiment, a main unit 7 of the liquid surface detection apparatus 100 is placed below the oil dropper 1a, more specifically a location between the oil dropper 1a and an oil pan bottom portion 1b.
The liquid surface detection apparatus 100 includes a connector 5, the main unit 7 and a wire 6 as main components thereof. The connector 5 fluid-tightly closes an opening 1d, which is formed in an oil pan peripheral portion 1c. Also, the connector 5 is formed to be fittable to a mating-side connector for electrically connecting with an external on-vehicle device (e.g., a combination meter). The main unit 7 is fixed to the oil pan 1 through, for example, a bracket 3 in an installed state shown in
Hereinafter, the main unit 7 of the liquid surface detection apparatus 100 will be described with reference to
As shown in
With reference to
The bottom wall 22 is located on the oil pan bottom portion 1b side of the cover 20 that is furthermost from the body 70, and the bottom wall 22 is shaped into a circular disk form. The outer tube 24 is shaped into a cylindrical tubular form that projects from an outer peripheral portion of the bottom wall 22 toward the body 70. The inner shaft 26 is placed on a radially inner side of the outer tube 24 and is shaped into a cylindrical tubular form that projects from the bottom wall 22 toward the body 70.
In the cover 20, a distal end part of the outer tube 24 and a distal end part of the inner shaft 26 are fitted to the body 70, and the float 10 is installed around the inner shaft 26 and is thereby received between the inner shaft 26 and the outer tube 24. The float 10 follows the liquid surface level LL and is thereby guided along the inner shaft 26 to move upward or downward. Furthermore, the movement of the float 10 toward the oil pan bottom portion 1b is limited within a predetermined range through contact of the bottom wall 22 to the float 10.
As shown in
With reference to
The terminal 41 will be described in detail below. As shown in
The terminal 41 includes connecting portions 43, 51 respectively formed at two locations, bent portions 45, 53 respectively formed at two locations, projecting wall portions 47, 55 respectively formed at two locations, and a bent holding portion 59, which all correspond to the first exposed portion 41a. The bent portions 45, 53 correspond to the connecting portions 43, 51, respectively. The projecting wall portions 47, 55 correspond to the connecting portions 43, 51, respectively.
As shown in the magnified views of
Hereinafter, a side of the bent portion 45, which is located on an inner side of a curve of the bent portion 45 formed by the bending, will be referred to as a bending side, and a side of the bent portion 45, which is located on an outer side of the curve of the bent portion 45, will be referred to as a counter-bending side. The definitions of the bending side and the counter-bending side are also equally applied to the bent portion 53 and the bent holding portions 59, 61, which will be described later.
The projecting wall portion 47, which corresponds to the connecting portion 43, is formed continuously with the connecting area 43a together with a base of the bent portion 45, and the projecting wall portion 47 projects in a form of a standing wall from the connecting area 43a. Specifically, the projecting wall portion 47 is formed to hold the base of the bent portion 45 from two opposite sides, respectively, of the base of the bent portion 45. The projecting wall portion 47 linearly extends from the two opposite sides of the base of the bent portion 45 in an extending direction that extends along an outer edge 41f of the terminal 41, and one side end 47a of the projecting wall portion 47 reaches the first covered portion 41d. Furthermore, another side end 47b of the projecting wall portion 47 reaches the intermediate covered portion 41c. In the projecting wall portion 47, a wall surface 49, which is in a form of a planar surface, is formed in a side surface of the projecting wall portion 47, which is opposite from the connecting portion 43 such that the wall surface 49 continuously extends in the extending direction also along the bent portion 45. This wall surface 49 is set such that the wall surface 49 defines an angle, which is other than an acute angle, relative to an exposed surface of an extending portion 74a of the body 70. Particularly, in the present embodiment, this angle is set to be a right angle.
As shown in an enlarged view in
The bent holding portion 59 is formed in a middle of the outer edge 41g, along which the wire 6 extends toward the bracket 3. The bent holding portion 59 is formed continuously with a holding area 58 that forms a common surface that is common with the connecting portion 51. Similar to the bent portion 53, the bent holding portion 59 is bent about 180 degrees, so that a portion of the wire 6, which is in the sheathed state, is clamped and held between the bent holding portion 59 and the holding area 58.
Similar to the projecting wall portion 47, the projecting wall portion 55, which corresponds to the connecting portion 43, is formed continuously with the connecting area 43a together with a base of the bent portion 53, and the projecting wall portion 55 projects in a form of a standing wall from the connecting area 43a. Specifically, the projecting wall portion 55 holds the base of the bent portion 53 from two opposite sides, respectively, of the base of the bent portion 53. The projecting wall portion 55 linearly extends from the two opposite sides of the base of the bent portion 53 in an extending direction that extends along the outer edge 41g of the terminal 41, and one side end 55a of the projecting wall portion 55 reaches the first covered portion 41d. Another side of the projecting wall portion 55, which is opposite from the one side end 55a, reaches a base of the bent holding portion 59 and further extends beyond the bent holding portion 59, so that another side end 55b of the projecting wall portion 55 reaches the intermediate covered portion 41c. Even in the projecting wall portion 55, a wall surface 57, which is in a form of a planar surface, is formed in a side surface of the projecting wall portion 55, which is opposite from the connecting portion 51 such that the wall surface 57 continuously extends in the extending direction also along the bent portion 53 and the bent holding portion 59. Similar to the wall surface 49, the wall surface 57 is set such that the wall surface 57 defines an angle, which is other than an acute angle, relative to an exposed surface of an extending portion 74b of the body 70. Particularly, in the present embodiment, this angle is set to be a right angle.
As shown in
As shown in
The through-hole 72 is a hole that extends through the body 70 and is communicated with the inside of the inner shaft 26 of the cover 20. The through-hole 72 enables connection between the reed switch 30 and the terminal 41 by receiving the lead 35 through the through-hole 72.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The extending portions 74a-74c and the embedding portions 76a-76c of the body 70 form a partitioning wall 79 that is shaped into a circular disk form and partitions between the oil pan bottom portion 1b side and an opposite side, which is opposite from the oil pan bottom portion 1b. The float 10, which is placed in the inside of the cover 20, contacts the partitioning wall 79 in response to movement of the float 10 in the top-to-bottom direction, so that the movement of the float 10 toward the opposite side, which is opposite from the oil pan bottom portion 1b, is limited within a predetermined range. Furthermore, falling of liquid from the opposite side, which is opposite from the oil pan bottom portion 1b, on the float 10 is limited by the partitioning wall 79.
The flange portion 81 is formed integrally with the partitioning wall 79 such that the flange portion 81 surrounds an outer peripheral side of the partitioning wall 79. Installation rings 83, which are made of metal and are shaped into a cylindrical tubular form, are embedded in the flange portion 81 to secure the main unit 7 to the bracket 3 with screws inserted into the installation rings 83.
Now, a manufacturing method of the liquid surface detection apparatus 100 will be described with reference to a flowchart of
First of all, at a press step S10, the terminal 41 is formed through a press work. Specifically, a plate, which is made of an electrically conductive material, is clamped between press dies, which have corresponding recesses and projections, so that the terminal is formed in a form shown in
At a positioning step S20, which is executed after the press step S10, the molding dies 90, 92 and the terminal 41 are positioned such that the terminal 41 is held by the molding dies 90, 92. With reference to
The wall surface contacting portion 90a contacts the wall surface 49 of the projecting wall portion 55, which is in the form of the planar surface and is formed on the side that is opposite from the connecting portion 43. The wall surface contacting portion 90a is shaped in a form of a planar surface to avoid generation of a gap between the wall surface contacting portion 90a and the wall surface 49.
The wall crossing portion 90b contacts the terminal 41 such that the wall crossing portion 90b crosses the projecting wall portion 47 at a location between the bent portion 45 and the side end 47a. The wall crossing portion 90b is formed continuously and integrally with the wall surface contacting portion 90a in conformity with the shape of the projecting wall portion 47 and the shape of the connecting portion 43 in a manner that limits formation of a gap between the wall crossing portion 90b and the terminal 41. The wall crossing portion 90c contacts the terminal 41 such that the wall crossing portion 90c crosses the projecting wall portion 47 at a location between the bent portion 45 and the side end 47b in order to form the embedding portion 76b. The wall crossing portion 90c is formed continuously and integrally with the wall surface contacting portion 90a in conformity with the shape of the projecting wall portion 47 and the shape of the connecting portion 43 in a manner that limits formation of a gap between the wall crossing portion 90c and the terminal 41.
The extension forming portion 90d is formed to extend from the wall surface contacting portion 90a to the side that is opposite from the connecting portion 43. An extending surface of the extension forming portion 90d, which faces the oil pan bottom portion 1b, does not contact the terminal 41.
Furthermore, the molding die 90 also includes a wall surface contacting portion, two wall crossing portions and an extension forming portion for each of the bent portion 53 and the bent holding portions 59, 61 like in the case of the bent portion 45 discussed above.
The molding die 92 (see a dot-dash line in
At an injecting step S30, which is executed after the positioning step S20, the dielectric material is injected between the molding die 90 and the molding die 92. Specifically, the PPS resin, which serves as the dielectric material and is fluidized upon heating thereof, is injected between the molding die 90 and the molding die 92. Due to the contact between the molding die 90 and the terminal 41, the dielectric material is injected at the counter-bending side of the terminal 41.
At a removing step S40, which is executed after the injecting step S30, the molding die 90 and the molding die 92 are removed away from each other after cooling of the dielectric material, so that the terminal 41 and the body 70, which are formed as a one-piece molded product as shown in
At a lead line connecting step S50, which is executed after the removing step S40, as shown in
At the time of connecting the lead 35, the lead 35 is placed between the connecting portion 43 and the bent portion 45. Thereafter, one of two electrodes, each of which is in a form of a metal rod, is urged against the bent portion 45 from the side that is opposite from the connecting portion 43. In this way, the bent portion 45 is further bent from the form at the time of executing the press step S10, and thereby the lead 35 is clamped between the bent portion 45 and the connecting portion 43. Furthermore, the other one of the electrodes is urged against an exposed part 65 that is formed at the above-described corresponding location of the terminal 41 through the contacting of the projecting contact portion 92a to the terminal 41. When an electric current is applied between the two electrodes in the above-described state, a surface of the connecting portion 43 and the plating of the lead 35 are melted to join the lead 35 to the connecting portion 43.
At the time of connecting the wire 6, first of all, the sheathed portion of the wire 6 is placed at the corresponding part of the bent holding portion 59 and the corresponding part of the bent holding portion 61, and the distal end portion 6a of the wire 6 is placed between the connecting portion 51 and the bent portion 53. Thereafter, the one of the two electrodes, each of which is in the form of the metal rod, is urged against the bent portion 53 from the side that is opposite from the connecting portion 51. In this way, the bent portion 53 is further bent from the form at the time of executing the press step S10, and thereby the distal end portion 6a of the wire 6 is clamped between the bent portion 53 and the connecting portion 51. Furthermore, the other one of the electrodes is urged against the exposed part 65 that is formed at the above-described corresponding location of the terminal 41 through the contacting of the projecting contact portion 92a to the terminal 41. When an electric current is applied between the two electrodes in the above-described state, a surface of the connecting portion 51 and the plating of the distal end portion 6a are melted to join the wire 6 to the connecting portion 51. The bent holding portions 59, 61 are also bent to hold the wire 6.
Then, the float 10, the cover 20 and the body 70 are assembled together, and thereby the manufacturing of the liquid surface detection apparatus 100 is completed.
Now, advantages of the above-described embodiment will be described.
According to the present embodiment, the body 70, which includes the dielectric portion 71 made of the dielectric material, is formed integrally with the terminal 41 made of the electrically conductive material. At the connecting portions 43, 51 of the terminal 41, the connecting areas 43a, 51a are exposed from the body 70. The bent portions 45, 53, which are continuous with the connecting areas 43a, 51a, are bent on the side where the connecting areas 43a, 51a are exposed, so that each of the lead 35 and the wire 6, which serve as the lead lines, is connected between the corresponding bent portion 45, 53 and the corresponding connecting portion 43, 51. Each of the lead 35 and the wire 6 is connected between the corresponding connecting portion 43, 51 and the corresponding bent portion 45, 53, so that the lead 35 and the wire 6 are held in a manner that enables electrical conduction relative to the terminal 41, and thereby it is possible to limit occurrence of conduction failure.
In addition, the projecting wall portions 47, 55, each of which projects in the form of standing wall, are formed continuously with the connecting areas 43a, 51a, respectively, together with the base of the bent portions 45, 53. Because of the provision of the projecting wall portions 47, 55, even in the structure where the extending portions 74a-74b of the body 70 are securely joined to the fixing parts 45a, 53a of the side surfaces of the bent portions 45, 53, which are located on the counter-bending side, and the fixing parts 47c, 55c of the projecting wall portions 47, 55, it is possible to limit inflow of the dielectric material from the counter-bending side to the connecting areas 43a, 51a at the time of molding the body 70. Thereby, it is unlikely to occur that the lead 35 and the wire 6 are connected to the connecting areas 43a, 51a in the state where the dielectric material is left at the connecting areas 43a, 51a. Thus, the conduction failure is limited, and thereby the measurement signal of the reed switch 30, which serves as the sensor element, can be accurately outputted to the outside.
Since each of the extending portions 74a-74b, which are formed in the above described manner, extends toward the side that is opposite from the corresponding connecting portion 43, 51, the engine oil, which is the liquid, is less likely to pass through the body 70 and fall on the float 10. Therefore, it is possible to limit influence of the movement of the float 10, which is caused by the falling of the engine oil on the float 10, to the sensing result. Thus, the liquid surface level LL can be accurately sensed.
Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the body 70 includes the embedding portions 76a-76b, in which the side ends 47a-47b, 55a-55b of the projecting wall portions 47, 55 are embedded. In the above-described form having the embedding portions 76a-76b, for example, it is not required to mold the body 70 in the state where the molding die 90 contacts the side ends 47a-47b, 55a-55b. Therefore, the degree of sealing at the time of molding is improved, so that it is possible to more reliably limit occurrence of the conduction failure, which would be otherwise caused by inflow of the dielectric material into the connecting areas 43a, 51a. As a result, the liquid surface level LL can be accurately sensed.
Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the wall surface 49, 57, which is in the form of the planar surface, is formed in the side surface of the corresponding projecting wall portion 47, 55, which is opposite from the corresponding connecting portion 43, 51. For example, in the case of die-molding the body 70, the molding die 90 and the wall surface 49, 57 can contact with each other in the state where the degree of sealing between the molding die 90 and the wall surface 49, 57 is high. Therefore, the inflow of the dielectric material from each of the extending portions 74a-74b to the corresponding connecting portion 43, 51 can be reliably limited by the corresponding projecting wall portion 47, 55. Thus, the conduction failure can be limited, and the liquid surface level LL can be accurately sensed.
Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the molding die 90 is placed to contact each projecting wall portion 47, 55 on the side that is opposite from the corresponding connecting portion 43, 51, and then the dielectric material is injected in the counter-bending side of the projecting wall portion 47, 55. Thereby, the body 70 is molded. In this way, at the time of injecting the dielectric material, the molding die 90 contacts the projecting wall portion 47, 55 on the side that is opposite from the corresponding connecting portion 43, 51. Therefore, it is possible to form the extending portions 74a-74b, each of which is securely joined to the counter-bending side of the corresponding projecting wall portion 47, 55, while limiting the inflow of the dielectric material to the connecting portions 43, 51 beyond the projecting wall portions 47, 55. In the liquid surface detection apparatus 100, which is manufactured in the above described manner, it is possible to limit the conduction failure, and the engine oil is less likely to pass through the body 70 and fall on the float 10. Thus, the liquid surface level LL can be accurately sensed.
Although the embodiment of the present disclosure has been described, the present disclosure should not be limited to the above embodiment and may be applied to various other embodiments without departing form the scope of the present disclosure. Hereinafter, modifications of the above embodiments will be described.
Specifically, as a first modification, each of the projecting wall portions 47, 55 may extend only from one side of the base of the bent portion 45, 53 as long as the bent portion 45, 53 is formed continuously from the connecting area 43a, 51a together with the base of the corresponding bent portion 45, 53.
As a second modification, the body 70 may not include the embedding portions 76a-76b, in which the side ends 47a-47b, 55a-55b of the projecting wall portions 47, 55 are embedded. Furthermore, at least a portion of the side end(s) 47a-47b, 55a-55b of the projecting wall portion 47, 55 may be exposed from the body 70.
As a third modification, the wall surface 49, 57 may be in another form, which is other than the form of the planar surface.
As a fourth modification, it may not be necessary to provide the bent portion, the projecting wall portion and the extending portion to all of the connecting portions as long as at least one of the connecting portions is provided with the bent portion, the projecting wall portion and the extending portion.
As a fifth modification, another type of synthetic resin, which is other than the PPS resin, may be used as the dielectric material. Furthermore, for example, rubber or ceramic may be used as an example of another material, which is other than the synthetic resin.
As a sixth modification, another element, which is other than the reed switch 30, such as a Hall element, may be used as the sensor element as long as such an element can sense the position of the float 10.
As a seventh modification, at the lead line connecting step S50, the lead 35 or the wire 6 may be connected by using another method, which is other than the electric heat fusing, such as spot welding.
As an eighth modification, the application subject of the present disclosure should not be limited to the sensing of the liquid surface level LL of the engine oil. The present disclosure may be applied to a liquid surface detection apparatus to be installed to a container for another type of liquid such as brake fluid, engine coolant, or fuel installed to the vehicle. Furthermore, the present disclosure may be applied to a liquid surface detection apparatus to be installed to a container of various types of consumer equipment, transportation equipment or the like. That is, the application subject of the present disclosure should not be limited to the liquid surface detection apparatus 100 that is placed on the lower side of the oil dropper 1a. As one example of this, the liquid surface detection apparatus of the present disclosure can have the above advantages even for falling of liquid droplets adhered to a ceiling portion of a container in the case where the container has the ceiling portion.
While the present disclosure has been described with reference to various exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments or constructions. To the contrary, the present disclosure is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements. In addition, while the various elements of the present disclosure are shown in various combinations and configurations, which are exemplary, other combinations and configurations, including more, less or only a single element, are also within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2015-049817 | Mar 2015 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2016/001233 | 3/8/2016 | WO | 00 |