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Hand-held vehicle exhaust analyzer

  • US 5,993,743 A
  • Filed: 03/26/1997
  • Issued: 11/30/1999
  • Est. Priority Date: 03/26/1997
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A vehicle exhaust analyzing system of a size and weight to be held in a user'"'"'s hands, the system comprising:

  • a polymeric housing having outer dimensions no greater than about 12 inches by 8 inches by 3 inches, and having an inlet receiving exhaust emitted from a vehicle under test through a sample hose providing a sealed path for exhaust to travel from the vehicle to the inlet, the sample hose having an inner diameter of about one-eighth of an inch;

    a filtering system recessed in the housing, comprising;

    means for receiving the exhaust emitted from the vehicle through the inlet;

    a filter assembly separating gas in the received exhaust from dirt and moisture in the received exhaust;

    a seal disposed on the filter assembly to trap dirt and moisture separated from the received exhaust within the filter assembly, such that dirt and moisture remain within the filter assembly at all angular orientations of the housing until the seal is physically opened; and

    means for passing only the gas separated from the received exhaust out of the filter assembly;

    a sensor assembly functioning at ambient temperature, the sensor assembly being disposed in the housing and receiving the filtered exhaust from the filtering system, the sensor assembly comprising;

    a differential infrared sensing system disposed in the housing in a gas flow path operating on the filtered exhaust to determine content of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons in the filtered exhaust;

    a chemical sensing system disposed in the housing in the gas flow path operating on the filtered exhaust to determine content of oxygen and oxides of nitrogen in the filtered exhaust; and

    a pump assembly advancing the filtered exhaust in the gas flow path through the infrared sensing system and the chemical sensing system at a rate of less than about one liter per minute;

    a user interface disposed on an outside surface of the housing, including at least one keypad for allowing a user to input instructions while holding the housing and a display for allowing a user to perceive output while holding the housing;

    a control system disposed in the housing and operatively coupled with the sensor assembly and the user interface, the control system operable to receive and interpret instructions input by a user via the at least one keypad, regulate operations of the sensor assembly in response to the instructions received, receive and interpret results of operations of the sensor assembly, and transmit the results for display as output on the display;

    a power supplying apparatus disposed in the housing, the power supplying apparatus delivering no greater than about 8 watts of power to the sensor assembly, the user interface and the control system; and

    wherein the housing, the filtering system, the sensor assembly, the user interface, the control system and the power supplying apparatus have a combined weight of no greater than about five pounds.

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