Automatic Activating System for Thermometer
First Claim
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1. A hand-held thermometer comprising:
- a probe having at least one temperature-sensing component;
a housing having a probe well for removably receiving the probe;
a solid-state sensor associated with the housing and having no moving parts, the solid-state sensor and the probe being adapted and configured so that the solid-state sensor detects a first magnetic flux density indicative of the probe being seated in the probe well, the thermometer being configured to be in a non-active state when the sensor detects the first magnetic flux density and being configured to be in an active state when the sensor detects a second magnetic flux density different from the first magnetic flux density and indicative of the probe being removed from the well.
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Abstract
An electronic thermometer includes an automatic activating system for automatically configuring the thermometer between an active state (broadly, the thermometer is turned on) and a non-active state (broadly, the thermometer is turned off). In general the activating system includes a solid-state activating sensor, such as a Hall-effect sensor, in a housing of the thermometer and a magnet in a probe of the thermometer for activating the sensor when the probe is received in a probe well.
62 Citations
33 Claims
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1. A hand-held thermometer comprising:
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a probe having at least one temperature-sensing component; a housing having a probe well for removably receiving the probe; a solid-state sensor associated with the housing and having no moving parts, the solid-state sensor and the probe being adapted and configured so that the solid-state sensor detects a first magnetic flux density indicative of the probe being seated in the probe well, the thermometer being configured to be in a non-active state when the sensor detects the first magnetic flux density and being configured to be in an active state when the sensor detects a second magnetic flux density different from the first magnetic flux density and indicative of the probe being removed from the well. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of making an electronic thermometer comprising:
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assembling a temperature sensing component into a probe; mounting on a circuit board a microcontroller configured for placing the thermometer in an active state to acquire temperature information from the temperature sensing component and for placing the thermometer in an inactive state; mounting on the circuit board a solid-state sensor having no moving parts so that the solid-state sensor and the microcontroller are in electrical communication with each other, the solid-state sensor being capable of detecting a first magnetic flux density indicative of the probe being seated in a probe well and being capable of detecting a second magnetic flux density different from the first magnetic flux density and indicative of the probe being removed from the well assembling the circuit board with the microcontroller and solid-state sensor thereon into a housing of the thermometer; operatively interconnecting the microcontroller and the temperature sensing component for communication of temperature information from the temperature sensing component to the microcontroller. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification