Vacuum break thermistor housing
View Patent ↗A vacuum break assembly including a housing and a sensor assembly. The housing has a pocket therein, the pocket having a wall. The sensor assembly includes a spring beam and a thermal sensor held against the wall of the pocket by force from the spring beam.
1. A vacuum break assembly, comprising:
a housing of the vacuum break assembly having a pocket therein and including a wall defining said pocket; and
a sensor assembly including:
a spring beam having a groove therein, said groove being an elongate channel in a surface of said spring beam; and
a thermal sensor held in said pocket against said wall defining said pocket by force from said spring beam, said elongate channel contacting said thermal sensor and accommodating a shape of said thermal sensor.
2. The vacuum break assembly of claim 1 , wherein said thermal sensor is a thermistor.
3. The vacuum break assembly of claim 1 , wherein said channel has a hemispherical cross-section.
4. The vacuum break assembly of claim 1 , wherein said housing additionally includes a water mixing chamber with said wall defining said pocket defining a portion of a boundary of said water mixing chamber.
5. The vacuum break assembly of claim 4 , wherein there is a passageway from said thermal sensor between said wall and said sensor assembly to a point of exit from said housing such that any moisture that may be proximate to said thermal sensor will drain along said passageway.
6. The vacuum break assembly of claim 1 , wherein said spring beam co-acts to provide said force and to serve as a pivot-point holding said sensor assembly in an over-center position relative to said housing.
7. The vacuum break assembly of claim 6 , further comprising a latch holding said sensor assembly in said over-center position.
8. A washing machine, comprising:
an enclosure; and
a vacuum break assembly supported by said enclosure, said vacuum break assembly including:
a housing having a pocket therein and including a wall defining said pocket; and
a sensor assembly including:
a spring beam having a groove therein, said groove being an elongate channel in a surface of said spring beam; and
a thermal sensor held in said pocket against said wall defining said pocket by force from said spring beam, said elongate channel contacting said thermal sensor and accommodating a shape of said thermal sensor.
9. The washing machine of claim 8 , wherein said thermal sensor is a thermistor.
10. The washing machine of claim 8 , wherein said channel has a hemispherical cross-section.
11. The washing machine of claim 8 , wherein said housing additionally includes a water mixing chamber with said wall defining said pocket defining a portion of a boundary of said water mixing chamber.
12. The washing machine of claim 11 , wherein there is a passageway from said thermal sensor between said wall and said sensor assembly to a point of exit from said housing such that any moisture that may be proximate to said thermal sensor will drain along said passageway.
13. The washing machine of claim 8 , wherein said spring beam co-acts to provide said force and to serve as a pivot-point holding said sensor assembly in an over-center position relative to said housing.
14. The washing machine of claim 13 , further comprising a latch holding said sensor assembly in said over-center position.