Patent Application
20090151449
The present invention generally relates to sensor devices, and more particularly to a structure for sensor devices so that the sensor can be easily accessed and replaced.
Various sensor devices such as oxygen sensors, CO2 sensors, CO sensors, temperature sensors, light detectors, etc., are commonly deployed. A common structure for these devices is that a sensor for a specific type of substance or energy is installed on a circuit board, which is in turn housed in a casing.
To maintain the accuracy of the sensor device, the sensor has to be removed from the circuit board for calibration or replaced with a new one after a period of use. Therefore, the casing is often assembled and disassembled. Moreover, the sensor devices are usually installed on the ceiling or other difficult-to-reach location, thereby making the job even more troublesome.
There are teachings that the sensor is exposed outside the casing for easy access and replacement. However, this approach would reduce the appealing of the device's outlook or ruin the room's interior decoration.
Accordingly, a novel structure for sensor devices are provided herein to obviate the foregoing shortcomings of the prior art.
According to the present invention, a sensor is housed inside a casing of the sensor device. The casing has a reliably positioned yet manually removable cap so that, once the cap is removed, the sensor can be easily accessed and replaced. The cap is integrated with the casing smoothly so that the appealing of the outlook of the sensor device is minimally affected.
The foregoing objectives and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.
Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.
The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
A sensor device according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in
The second cover 20 has a substantially triangular through opening 21 in the center. The inner circumference of the opening 21 is surrounded with a substantially triangular flange 22. Three pin holes 23 are provided at the three vertices of the triangular flange 22, respectively. Three slits 24 are extended radially from the three vertices of the triangular opening 21 for an appropriate distance, respectively
A substantially triangular positioning piece 30 is housed inside the opening 21 and is supported by the flange 22. The positioning piece 30 has three blades 31 extended radially from its three vertices and accommodated in the slits 24, respectively. The positioning piece 30 also has three pins 32 that are housed inside the pin holes 23. Three bolts (not numbered) therefore can be screwed from the pin holes 23 into the pins 32 to tightly join the positioning piece 30 to the second cover 20. In the center of the positioning piece 30, there is also a through channel having a roughly triangular outer aperture 33 and a circular inner wall 35 with a smaller diameter. On the other hand, the triangular aperture 33 has three centripetal protrusions 36 from its three vertices and three centrifugal notches 34 from its three edges, respectively.
As further shown in
A circuit board 50 is housed inside the casing and is fixed to the bolt rods 12 by bolts 51. A sensor 52 is arranged on the circuit board 50 to be adjacent to the cap 40. The circuit board 50 has other electronic components for making the sensor 52 to function but they are not the subject matter of the present invention and therefore the details are omitted here. The circuit board 50 is powered by the electricity provided by a battery 53 in the battery chamber 13.
As described above, the opening 21 of the casing has a reliably positioned yet manually removable cap 40 so that, once the cap 40 is removed, the sensor 52 can be easily accessed, removed, or replaced. The cap 40 is integrated with the casing smoothly so that the appealing of the outlook of the sensor device is minimally affected.
While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.
