The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 29, 1994
Filed:
Nov. 05, 1992
John Vancha, Kewaskum, WI (US);
The West Bend Company, West Bend, WI (US);
Abstract
The system described in the specification detects and visually indicates the presence of significant calcification in a conduit made of clear (i.e., light-transmitting) material. The present invention directly determines calcification and indicates cleaning of the clear water conduit. An infrared transmitting circuit emits an infrared pulse through the clear conduit. As long as calcification has not formed on the conduit to block the infrared pulse, a phototransistor or infrared receiving circuit receives the infrared pulse. When calcification has formed to a degree sufficient to block the emitted infrared pulse, the receiving circuit determines that calcification has occurred and provides a visual indication to a user that the conduit needs cleaning.