US3364733A - Liquid content indicating container - Google Patents

Liquid content indicating container Download PDF

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US3364733A
US3364733A US338190A US33819064A US3364733A US 3364733 A US3364733 A US 3364733A US 338190 A US338190 A US 338190A US 33819064 A US33819064 A US 33819064A US 3364733 A US3364733 A US 3364733A
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windows
fuel
light
compartment
filler
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US338190A
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Dennis W Holdsworth
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Comstock and Wescott Inc
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Comstock and Wescott Inc
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01F—MEASURING VOLUME, VOLUME FLOW, MASS FLOW OR LIQUID LEVEL; METERING BY VOLUME
    • G01F23/00—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm
    • G01F23/22—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm by measuring physical variables, other than linear dimensions, pressure or weight, dependent on the level to be measured, e.g. by difference of heat transfer of steam or water
    • G01F23/28—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm by measuring physical variables, other than linear dimensions, pressure or weight, dependent on the level to be measured, e.g. by difference of heat transfer of steam or water by measuring the variations of parameters of electromagnetic or acoustic waves applied directly to the liquid or fluent solid material
    • G01F23/284—Electromagnetic waves
    • G01F23/292—Light, e.g. infrared or ultraviolet

Definitions

  • This invention relates to containers of liquids, such as fuels, and particularly to a container which indicates its liquid content.
  • Lighters have been proposed which have a glass window frosted on its inside so that when wetted by fuel the window is transparent or highly translucent. Then ambient light entering the window from outside the lighter will be transmitted into and absorbed within the lighter giving a somewhat different indication than when light is reflected from the dry frosted surface. However, after a few fillings most lighter fuels deposit a waxy constituent which prevents the frosted side of the glass from changing translucency and indicating fuel content.
  • a liquid container comprises wall means forming a liquid compartment and at least two windows, and optical means forming an indirect light path through said compartment between said windows, said optical means being shaped to transmit light between said windows when said compartment is dry, and to pass light into said compartment when it is wet, thereby to indicate the liquid content of said container.
  • FIG. 1 is a front elevation of one form of cigarette lighter according to the invention
  • FIG. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;
  • FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragment of FIG. 2 showing a side elevation of an optical prismatic element
  • FIG. 4 is a front elevation of the prismatic element of FIG. 3;
  • FIG. 5 is an enlarged view like FIG. 3 showing another form of prismatic element.
  • FIG. 6 is a front elevation of the prismatic element of FIG. 5.
  • the cigarette lighter shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 comprises an outer housing bottom 1 connected to a cap 2 by a hinge 3.
  • An inner housing 4 telescopes into the bottom 1.
  • the inner housing 4 has side walls 6 and end walls 7 forming a fuel compartment 5 filled with a fuel absorbent filler 8 such as cotton Wadding.
  • a fuel absorbent filler 8 such as cotton Wadding.
  • At the top of the inner housing 4 is a chimney 9 into which a wick 11 extends from the absorbent filler 8.
  • a spark wheel 12 is mounted on the chimney 9 adjacent the wick 11.
  • a conventional flint feed tube omitted for the purposes of clarity, extends from the lower end of the inner housing 4 through the filler 8 to the spark wheel 12.
  • the outer housing bottom 1 has laterally opposed outer circular windows 13 inside of which the inner housing 4 has slightly larger rectangular windows 14. Fitted between the inner housing windows 14 is an optical prismatic element 16 which extends through, and is surrounded by, the fuel absorbent filler 8. In lighters having only one housing element to form the fuel compartment, the prismatic element would extend between the outermost windows of the housing.
  • the prismatic element 16 has shoulders 17 which engage the rectangular windows 14. From the shoulders 17 the prismatic element extends at an angle of 45 so that two sets of polished, parallel surfaces 18 and 19 are at to each other. Either of the two surfaces 18, both backed by the filler 8, can reflect ambient light inside of the prismatic element if the fluid medium beyond them differs considerably in refractive index. With a prismatic element made of a glass such as Pyrex or an acrylic resin having refractive indices in the order of 1.5 A. to 1.9 A., this condition exists when the filler is dry and the medium is air. Then, light entering either end of the prismatic element 16 is reflected from the polished surfaces along an indirect, folded light path 21 between the two windows 14, as shown in FIG. 2. A smoker, who would naturally hold the lighter toward a light source, would then see light in the window nearest him, indicating a lack of fuel.
  • the refractive index so closely approximates or approaches that of the glass or acrylic element that its surfaces pass substantial light into the fuel compartment by refraction.
  • any light reflected at the first surface 18 may be passed into the fuel compartment at the surfaces 19 and 18 further along the folded light path.
  • Light is absorbed in the filler by the multiple refractions so substantially that the exit window appears black thus providing a markedly contrasting indication to that when the dry fuel compartment allows light to be reflected between windows.
  • the appearance of the exit window will turn from black (complete non-transmission) through various shades of grey to a light shade (high transmission) before fuel is completely exhausted.
  • a somewhat more quantitative indication is given if the filler is colored red, for example.
  • the filler is substantially moist, that is one half to three quarters full, light is almost completely absorbed and the exit window is black.
  • the exit window turns a red color which is easily distinguished from the black, full indication or the white, empty indication.
  • the polished surface of the present prismatic element retains its indicating function when coated with a waxy deposit.
  • polished is meant to apply to surfaces molded to a good optical smoothness.
  • a wax deposit on a polished surface has little effect on either the reflective or refractive property of the surface, probably because the refractive index of the wax so closely approximates the index of the prismatic element that the wax merely constitutes an extension of the element.
  • the small extent that the wax does reduce the refractive property of the surfaces 18 and 19 is greatly diminished by the multiple refractions, so that the same striking difference between the dark, full indication and the light, empty indication persists.
  • the prismatic element has two arms at 90 to each other bounded by the surfaces 18 and 19.
  • the shoulders 17 may be easily snap fitted into the windows 14 of the inner housing 4, the walls 7 of the inner housing being sufiiciently flexible to yield as the element is inserted.
  • the ends of the element then fill the windows 14 and close them and the outer windows 13 against leakage of fuel, although the element ends may be cemented in the windows 14 if desired.
  • FIGS. 1 to 4 While a prismatic element of the shape shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 is preferred, other shaped elements may be used, for example the elongate prismatic element 26 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.
  • the ends of the element have shoulders 27 between which extend polished reflecting surfaces 28 and 29.
  • the shoulders fit into windows 34 of a housing 7, which windows are vertically offset at an angle of 45.
  • Light entering one window will follow a folded light path 32 being refracted and absorbed at several points in the filler 8 if the filler is wet, or being reflected several times to the exit window if the surfaces 28 and 29 are dry, in substantially the same way as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4.
  • a liquid container comprising wall means forming a liquid compartment and at least two Windows, a light-absorptive filler body in said compartment, and optical means forming an indirect light path through said compartment between said windows, said optical means being shaped to transmit light between said windows when said compartment is dry, and to pass light into said compartment and filler when it is wet, thereby to indicate the liquid content of said container and wherein said filler is colored thereby to color the light transmitted between said windows when said filler is almost dry.
  • a cigarette lighter comprising a housing including opposed, opaque walls forming a compartment for fuel of predetermined refractive index and having at least two windows respectively in said opposed walls, and a transparent prism system forming a folded light path through said compartment between said windows, said prism system having exterior surfaces at a substantial angle to said path for reflecting light from one window along said path to the other window when said compartment is substantially free of liquid, and said prism system having a refractive index close to the index of said fluid,
  • a cigarette lighter comprising a housing including opposed, opaque walls forming a compartment for fuel of predetermined refractive index and having at least two windows respectively in said opposed walls, a fuel absorbent filler in said compartment, and a transparent prism system forming a folded light path through said filler and between said windows, said prism system having exterior surfaces opposed by said filler and at a substantial angle to said path for reflecting light from one window along said path to the other window when said filler is substantially free of liquid, and said prism system having a refractive index close to the index of said fluid, whereby when said surfaces are wetted by fluid in said filler said surfaces pass light from said one window into said filler where it is absorbed rather than transmitted to said other window thereby to indicate the presence of fuel.
  • a cigarette lighter comprising an outer housing leaving two opposed outer windows in its opposite walls, an inner housing slidingly fitting in said outer housing, said inner housing including opposed walls forming a compartment for fuel of predetermined refractive index and having two inner windows respectively in said opposed walls, said inner windows facing said outer windows, and a transparent prism system forming a folded light path through said compartment between said windows, said prism system having exterior surfaces at a substantial angle to said path for reflecting light from one window along said path to the other window when said compartment is substantially free of liquid, and said prism system having a refractive index close to the index of said fluid, whereby when said surfaces are wetted by fluid in said compartment said surfaces pass light from said one window into said compartment where it is absorbed rather than transmitted to said other window thereby to indicate the presence of fuel, and said prism system having at each end shoulders fitting in and filling said inner windows thereby to prevent fuel loss through said inner and outer windows.

Description

Jan. 23, 1968 D. w. HOLDSWORTH 3,364,733
LIQUID CONTENT INDICATING CONTAINER Filed Jan. 16,- 1964 1 9 1, 9 I fi 'YI 21M, wag
United States Patent 3,364,733 LIQUID CONTENT INDICATING CONTAINER Dennis W. Holdsworth, Lincoln, Mass, assignmto Comstock & Wescott, Inc., Cambridge, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Jan. 16, 1964, Ser. No. 338,190 4 Claims. (Cl. 73-73) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device for indicating the quantity of fuel remaining in a cigarette lighter. A light transmitting rod extends through the fuel container between windows on opposite sides thereof and is shaped in such a way that a window appears dark when the fuel supply is abundant and light when the fuel supply is exhausted.
This invention relates to containers of liquids, such as fuels, and particularly to a container which indicates its liquid content.
For example, most cigarette lighters, for reasons of appearance and durability, are made with an opaque, metal case which conceals the amount of fuel available. Even in lighters having transparent cases and an absorbent filler it is diflicult to determine visually the degree of saturation of the filler when the fuel is nearly expended.
Lighters have been proposed which have a glass window frosted on its inside so that when wetted by fuel the window is transparent or highly translucent. Then ambient light entering the window from outside the lighter will be transmitted into and absorbed within the lighter giving a somewhat different indication than when light is reflected from the dry frosted surface. However, after a few fillings most lighter fuels deposit a waxy constituent which prevents the frosted side of the glass from changing translucency and indicating fuel content.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a way of indicating liquid content, such as the amount of fuel in a lighter, which gives a clear or quantitative indication, and which is not adversely affected by deposited constituents of the liquid.
According to the invention a liquid container comprises wall means forming a liquid compartment and at least two windows, and optical means forming an indirect light path through said compartment between said windows, said optical means being shaped to transmit light between said windows when said compartment is dry, and to pass light into said compartment when it is wet, thereby to indicate the liquid content of said container.
For the purpose of illustration typical embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawing in which:
FIG. 1 is a front elevation of one form of cigarette lighter according to the invention;
FIG. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;
'FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragment of FIG. 2 showing a side elevation of an optical prismatic element;
FIG. 4 is a front elevation of the prismatic element of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged view like FIG. 3 showing another form of prismatic element; and
FIG. 6 is a front elevation of the prismatic element of FIG. 5.
The cigarette lighter shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 comprises an outer housing bottom 1 connected to a cap 2 by a hinge 3. An inner housing 4 telescopes into the bottom 1. The inner housing 4 has side walls 6 and end walls 7 forming a fuel compartment 5 filled with a fuel absorbent filler 8 such as cotton Wadding. At the top of the inner housing 4 is a chimney 9 into which a wick 11 extends from the absorbent filler 8. A spark wheel 12 is mounted on the chimney 9 adjacent the wick 11. A conventional flint feed tube, omitted for the purposes of clarity, extends from the lower end of the inner housing 4 through the filler 8 to the spark wheel 12.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 the outer housing bottom 1 has laterally opposed outer circular windows 13 inside of which the inner housing 4 has slightly larger rectangular windows 14. Fitted between the inner housing windows 14 is an optical prismatic element 16 which extends through, and is surrounded by, the fuel absorbent filler 8. In lighters having only one housing element to form the fuel compartment, the prismatic element would extend between the outermost windows of the housing.
The prismatic element 16 has shoulders 17 which engage the rectangular windows 14. From the shoulders 17 the prismatic element extends at an angle of 45 so that two sets of polished, parallel surfaces 18 and 19 are at to each other. Either of the two surfaces 18, both backed by the filler 8, can reflect ambient light inside of the prismatic element if the fluid medium beyond them differs considerably in refractive index. With a prismatic element made of a glass such as Pyrex or an acrylic resin having refractive indices in the order of 1.5 A. to 1.9 A., this condition exists when the filler is dry and the medium is air. Then, light entering either end of the prismatic element 16 is reflected from the polished surfaces along an indirect, folded light path 21 between the two windows 14, as shown in FIG. 2. A smoker, who would naturally hold the lighter toward a light source, would then see light in the window nearest him, indicating a lack of fuel.
On the other hand, if the fuel compartment 5 is sufficiently full of fuel to submerge the prismatic element, or if the filler 8 is sufliciently wetted adjacent the surfaces 18 and 19, then the refractive index so closely approximates or approaches that of the glass or acrylic element that its surfaces pass substantial light into the fuel compartment by refraction. As shown in FIG. 3 any light reflected at the first surface 18 may be passed into the fuel compartment at the surfaces 19 and 18 further along the folded light path. Light is absorbed in the filler by the multiple refractions so substantially that the exit window appears black thus providing a markedly contrasting indication to that when the dry fuel compartment allows light to be reflected between windows.
Since the filler 8 tends to dry toward its lower end below the prismatic element 16, the appearance of the exit window will turn from black (complete non-transmission) through various shades of grey to a light shade (high transmission) before fuel is completely exhausted. A somewhat more quantitative indication is given if the filler is colored red, for example. When the filler is substantially moist, that is one half to three quarters full, light is almost completely absorbed and the exit window is black. When the filler becomes only slightly moist at about 15% saturation, the exit window turns a red color which is easily distinguished from the black, full indication or the white, empty indication.
In contrast to a frosted window the polished surface of the present prismatic element retains its indicating function when coated with a waxy deposit. (Herein the term polished is meant to apply to surfaces molded to a good optical smoothness.) Whereas the effect of a wax deposit on a frosted surface is to cause the surface to transmit light substantially the same when wet or dry, a wax deposit on a polished surface has little effect on either the reflective or refractive property of the surface, probably because the refractive index of the wax so closely approximates the index of the prismatic element that the wax merely constitutes an extension of the element. The small extent that the wax does reduce the refractive property of the surfaces 18 and 19 is greatly diminished by the multiple refractions, so that the same striking difference between the dark, full indication and the light, empty indication persists.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 the prismatic element has two arms at 90 to each other bounded by the surfaces 18 and 19. With this configuration the shoulders 17 may be easily snap fitted into the windows 14 of the inner housing 4, the walls 7 of the inner housing being sufiiciently flexible to yield as the element is inserted. The ends of the element then fill the windows 14 and close them and the outer windows 13 against leakage of fuel, although the element ends may be cemented in the windows 14 if desired.
While a prismatic element of the shape shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 is preferred, other shaped elements may be used, for example the elongate prismatic element 26 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The ends of the element have shoulders 27 between which extend polished reflecting surfaces 28 and 29. The shoulders fit into windows 34 of a housing 7, which windows are vertically offset at an angle of 45. Light entering one window will follow a folded light path 32 being refracted and absorbed at several points in the filler 8 if the filler is wet, or being reflected several times to the exit window if the surfaces 28 and 29 are dry, in substantially the same way as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4.
Thus, it will be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.
I claim:
1. A liquid container comprising wall means forming a liquid compartment and at least two Windows, a light-absorptive filler body in said compartment, and optical means forming an indirect light path through said compartment between said windows, said optical means being shaped to transmit light between said windows when said compartment is dry, and to pass light into said compartment and filler when it is wet, thereby to indicate the liquid content of said container and wherein said filler is colored thereby to color the light transmitted between said windows when said filler is almost dry.
2. A cigarette lighter comprising a housing including opposed, opaque walls forming a compartment for fuel of predetermined refractive index and having at least two windows respectively in said opposed walls, and a transparent prism system forming a folded light path through said compartment between said windows, said prism system having exterior surfaces at a substantial angle to said path for reflecting light from one window along said path to the other window when said compartment is substantially free of liquid, and said prism system having a refractive index close to the index of said fluid,
whereby when said surfaces are wetted by fluid said surfaces pass light from said one window into said compartment where it is absorbed rather than transmitted to said other window, thereby to indicate the presence of fuel.
3. A cigarette lighter comprising a housing including opposed, opaque walls forming a compartment for fuel of predetermined refractive index and having at least two windows respectively in said opposed walls, a fuel absorbent filler in said compartment, and a transparent prism system forming a folded light path through said filler and between said windows, said prism system having exterior surfaces opposed by said filler and at a substantial angle to said path for reflecting light from one window along said path to the other window when said filler is substantially free of liquid, and said prism system having a refractive index close to the index of said fluid, whereby when said surfaces are wetted by fluid in said filler said surfaces pass light from said one window into said filler where it is absorbed rather than transmitted to said other window thereby to indicate the presence of fuel.
4. A cigarette lighter comprising an outer housing leaving two opposed outer windows in its opposite walls, an inner housing slidingly fitting in said outer housing, said inner housing including opposed walls forming a compartment for fuel of predetermined refractive index and having two inner windows respectively in said opposed walls, said inner windows facing said outer windows, and a transparent prism system forming a folded light path through said compartment between said windows, said prism system having exterior surfaces at a substantial angle to said path for reflecting light from one window along said path to the other window when said compartment is substantially free of liquid, and said prism system having a refractive index close to the index of said fluid, whereby when said surfaces are wetted by fluid in said compartment said surfaces pass light from said one window into said compartment where it is absorbed rather than transmitted to said other window thereby to indicate the presence of fuel, and said prism system having at each end shoulders fitting in and filling said inner windows thereby to prevent fuel loss through said inner and outer windows.
References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,190,027 2/1940 Jordan ll6118 2,454,872 11/1948 Harris 73-73 3,120,125 2/1964 Vasel 73-293 LOUIS R. PRINCE, Primary Examiner.
S. C. SWISHER, Assistant Examiner.
US338190A 1964-01-16 1964-01-16 Liquid content indicating container Expired - Lifetime US3364733A (en)

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Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3504652A (en) * 1967-11-02 1970-04-07 Perfection Plastics Inc Sual indicator means for a container locking mechanism
US4787329A (en) * 1985-09-11 1988-11-29 S. T. Dupont Company Device for detection of imminent gas depletion of a liquified gas tank and gas lighter equipped with this device
US4846572A (en) * 1986-09-30 1989-07-11 Moistic Oy Moisture indicator

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2190027A (en) * 1939-02-11 1940-02-13 Jordan Henry Ewin Liquid detecting device
US2454872A (en) * 1944-12-05 1948-11-30 Ronson Art Metal Works Inc Fuel indicating lighter
US3120125A (en) * 1960-08-03 1964-02-04 American Pyrotector Inc Liquid level determining devices and method

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2190027A (en) * 1939-02-11 1940-02-13 Jordan Henry Ewin Liquid detecting device
US2454872A (en) * 1944-12-05 1948-11-30 Ronson Art Metal Works Inc Fuel indicating lighter
US3120125A (en) * 1960-08-03 1964-02-04 American Pyrotector Inc Liquid level determining devices and method

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3504652A (en) * 1967-11-02 1970-04-07 Perfection Plastics Inc Sual indicator means for a container locking mechanism
US4787329A (en) * 1985-09-11 1988-11-29 S. T. Dupont Company Device for detection of imminent gas depletion of a liquified gas tank and gas lighter equipped with this device
US4846572A (en) * 1986-09-30 1989-07-11 Moistic Oy Moisture indicator

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