Recall mechanism for a pressure gauge

• US 6,901,792 B2
• Filed: 10/17/2003
• Issued: 06/07/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Measurement Ltd (Measurement Ltd., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Measurement Specialties, Inc. (France) (TE Connectivity Limited)
• Inventors: Petrucelli, Steven
• Primary Examiner(s): McCall, Eric S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): JENKINS, JERMAINE L
• Application Number:
  US10/688,182
• Publication Number:
  US 20040154403A1
• Time in Patent Office: 599 Days
• Field of Search: 73146-1468, 340440-448
• US Class Current: 73/146
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 17/00 Devices or apparatus for measuring tyre pressure or the pressure in other inflated bodies
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 19/08 Means for indicating or recording, e.g. for remote indication
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 19/086 for remote indication

Abstract

A recall mechanism for a pressure gauge stores pressure reading outputs for effectively conveying “last value” information to a user when requested.

Claims

1. A pressure gauge comprising:

a housing having an inlet port for receiving fluid pressure of an object to be measured;

a sensor in communication with said inlet port for providing a value of said fluid pressure present at said inlet port;

a memory for storing said value; and

an actuator capable in response to actuation in a first mode for providing an audible output indicative of a pressure value stored in said memory prior to said actuation.

2. The pressure gauge of claim 1, wherein, the actuator is activatable for providing said audible input indicative of the stored pressure value independent of the time the value was stored in memory.

3. The pressure gauge of claim 1, wherein the actuator comprises a processor responsive to an activatable switch for providing said audible output.

4. The pressure gauge of claim 3, wherein the processor comprises a voice processor responsive to a microprocessor controller.

5. The pressure gauge of claim 3, wherein the processor comprises a look up table containing a mapping of pressure values to parameters indicative of audible utterances corresponding to said pressure values.

6. The pressure gauge of claim 3, wherein the activatable switch comprises a depressible area formed on the surface of said housing.

7. The pressure gauge of claim 3, wherein the activatable switch comprises a single depressible input.

8. The pressure gauge of claim 1, wherein, said memory is capable of storing multiple pressure values indicative of multiple pressure measurements, and wherein said actuator includes means for selectively accessing corresponding ones of said stored measurements.

9. The pressure gauge of claim 8, wherein the means for selectively accessing comprises an input panel on said housing for enabling user input selection.

16. The pressure gauge of claim 1, wherein the user activatable area includes a voice activatable sensor for causing said processor to retrieve said stored value from memory.

10. A handheld tire pressure gauge comprising:

a housing conforming to the hand of a user;

an inlet port formed on said housing for connecting to an object to receive air pressure of the object for measurement;

a sensor contained within said housing and in communication with said inlet port for determining the air pressure value associated with said object;

a memory for storing said value;

a user activatable area on said housing for generating a signal to a processor to retrieve said stored value from memory, said processor operable for providing an audible output indicative of said retrieved value.

11. The pressure gauge of claim 10, wherein said processor includes a microprocessor for generating a signal to a voice processor to generate said audible output.

12. The pressure gauge of claim 11, further comprising an analog to digital converter responsive to said sensor for providing a digital representation of said measured pressure to said microprocessor.

13. The pressure gauge of claim 10, further comprising a display formed on said housing for providing a visual display of said measured air pressure.

14. The pressure gauge of claim 10, wherein said user activatable area includes a user selection panel for selectively enabling retrieval of selected ones of a plurality of measured air pressure values stored in said memory.

15. The pressure gauge of claim 10, wherein the processor comprises a look up table containing a mapping of pressure values to parameters indicative of audible utterances corresponding to said pressure values.

17. A hand-held pressure gauge comprising:

a housing conforming to the hand of a user;

an inlet port at a first end of said housing for connecting to an object to receive air pressure of the object for measurement;

a sensor contained within said housing and in communication with said inlet port for determining the air pressure value associated with said object;

means responsive to said sensor for storing a parameter indicative of said measured value in memory and for providing both a visual display and audible utterance of said measured value to a user upon connection with said object;

means formed on said housing and responsive to subsequent user activation for recalling from said memory said last stored value and for outputting said audible utterance of said measured value.