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:
Dec. 30, 2003
Filed:
Jun. 18, 2002
Daniel A. Gilmour, West Hartford, CT (US);
John R. Forgue, Cheshire, CT (US);
TI Group Automotive Systems, L.L.C., Warren, MI (US);
Abstract
An optical fuel level sensor for providing an electronic signal representative of the fuel level within a fuel tank, generally comprising a waveguide body, a photo source, and a photo receiver. The waveguide body can either be of a dual-tapered or single-taper shape and includes numerous tiered facets, which are angled surfaces located on the outer periphery of the waveguide. When the fuel level within the fuel tank is above a particular tiered facet, light that impinges that facet will refract out of the waveguide, conversely, when the fuel level is below that facet, impinging light will be reflected back into the waveguide such that it is received by the photo receiver. In this manner, the fuel level sensor is able to utilize the reflected light received by the photo receiver to provide an electronic signal representative of the fuel level. Furthermore, a calibration feature may be included which provides calibration information indicating when the fuel level has reached a known, predetermined level.