Optical moisture sensor

• US 20060043269A1
• Filed: 08/29/2005
• Published: 03/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toro Company (Toro)
• Original Assignee: Toro Company (Toro)
• Inventors: Zimmerman, James
• Granted Patent: US 7,189,960 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 250/227.250
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/3554 for determining moisture content

Abstract

A soil moisture sensor has a cylindrical body of transparent cyclic olefin polymer (COC). A pair of axially spaced cavities tapered toward each other are formed in the body. A light source is placed in one of the cavities, and a light sensor is placed in the other. The walls of the cavities are so curved that divergent light rays from the light source are refracted at the cavity-body interface into parallelism, and that reflected parallel rays are refracted at the body-cavity interface so as to focus on the light sensor. The parallel rays coming from the light source are reflected or refracted at the outer surface of the body, depending upon whether the ambient environment of the sensor is dry or wet.

Claims

1. An optical moisture sensor, comprising:

a) a solid, elongated body of transparent material having an axis, said body having formed therein first and second axially spaced cavities, each of said cavities being tapered in a direction toward the other;

b) a light-emitting device positioned in said first cavity;

c) a light-sensing device positioned in said second cavity;

d) the walls of said first cavity being so curved that divergent light rays emanating from said light-emitting device are refracted at said first cavity walls into parallelism with each other in said material in a direction toward the surface of said body at an angle to said surface;

e) the walls of said second cavity being so curved that parallel light rays impinging thereon from a direction toward said axis are refracted at said second cavity walls into convergence upon said light-sensing device;

f) said angle being such that parallel light rays impinging upon said surface are substantially reflected as parallel rays toward said second cavity walls when said surface is exposed to a first fluid, and are substantially refracted outwardly of said body when said surface is exposed to a second fluid.

2. The sensor of claim 1, in which said body is cylindrical.

3. The sensor of claim 1, in which said first fluid is air and said second fluid is water.

4. The sensor of claim 1, in which said light-emitting device is substantially a point source of light.

5. The sensor of claim 1, in which said light is infrared.

6. The sensor of claim 1, in which said light-sensing device is a phototransistor.

7. The sensor of claim 1, in which said light-emitting device and said light-sensing device are positioned on said axis at the widest end of their respective cavities.

8. The sensor of claim 1, in which said material is highly resistant to moisture migration therethrough.

9. The sensor of claim 8, in which said material is a cyclic olefin polymer.

10. The sensor of claim 1, in which the tips of said cavities are so shaped as to refract substantially axial rays away from said light-sensing device.