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, the solid state sensor comprising a Hall-effect sensor;
a magnetic source associated with the probe;
a microcontroller and an activating circuit including the solid-state sensor, the activating circuit being in communication with the microcontroller so that the circuit sends a non-active signal to the microcontroller when the sensor detects the presence of the magnetic field and sends an active signal to the microcontroller when the sensor detects the absence of the magnetic field, the activating circuit further comprises a logic gate for receiving an input signal from the sensor and for sending either the non-active signal or the active signal to the microcontroller;
the sensor being configured to send a high voltage output to the logic gate when the sensor is not activated and a low voltage output to the logic gate when the sensor is activated, and wherein the logic gate comprises an inverter, the inverter being configured to invert the input signal from the sensor so that the high voltage input from the sensor is changed to a low voltage output constituting the active signal and the low voltage input from the sensor is changed to a high voltage output constituting the non-active signal.
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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.
65 Citations
26 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, the solid state sensor comprising a Hall-effect sensor; a magnetic source associated with the probe; a microcontroller and an activating circuit including the solid-state sensor, the activating circuit being in communication with the microcontroller so that the circuit sends a non-active signal to the microcontroller when the sensor detects the presence of the magnetic field and sends an active signal to the microcontroller when the sensor detects the absence of the magnetic field, the activating circuit further comprises a logic gate for receiving an input signal from the sensor and for sending either the non-active signal or the active signal to the microcontroller; the sensor being configured to send a high voltage output to the logic gate when the sensor is not activated and a low voltage output to the logic gate when the sensor is activated, and wherein the logic gate comprises an inverter, the inverter being configured to invert the input signal from the sensor so that the high voltage input from the sensor is changed to a low voltage output constituting the active signal and the low voltage input from the sensor is changed to a high voltage output constituting the non-active signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of making an electronic thermometer comprising:
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mounting the temperature sensing component on a substrate; mounting a magnetic source on the substrate; assembling the substrate including the magnetic source and the 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 (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification