Optical moisture sensor
First Claim
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.
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Accused Products
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.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. An optical moisture sensor, comprising:
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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. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification