Moisture gauge

A rain gauge for collecting and measuring precipitation and capable of measuring the amount of collected precipitation that has evaporated. The rain gauge is also capable of measuring precipitation during an interim period of time without discharging the precipitation already collected. The rain gauge comprises a collection vessel, an evaporation vessel, a collection vessel support, an evaporation vessel support and a support post. Both a non-freezing liquid and a non-evaporating liquid are placed in each of the vessels to help prevent the water contained therein from freezing and evaporating, respectively. A movable scale and marking clips are attached to the collection vessel to enable the measurement of precipitation during an interim period of time. A removable screen can be attached to both the collection vessel and the evaporation vessel and a heater can be attached to the collection vessel to melt frozen precipitation. Both vessels and vessel supports are separable so that the rain gauge can be mounted in a variety of configurations.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a rain gauge for collecting and measuring 
precipitation and, in particular, to a rain gauge that shows the amount of 
collected precipitation that has evaporated. The rain gauge of the present 
invention also allows for the measurement of precipitation during an 
interim period of time without discharging the precipitation already 
collected. 
A common type of rain gauge utilizes a transparent tube to collect 
precipitation. The tube is usually marked on an outer surface to visually 
indicate the water level in the tube. A problem with such a rain gauge is 
that the collected precipitation may evaporate, leading to inaccurate 
water level readings. Therefore, some rain gauges use a non-evaporating 
liquid that floats on top of the collected precipitation to prevent the 
evaporation of the collected precipitation, as shown in Hunn U.S. Pat. No. 
2,507,206. 
Some non-evaporating liquids do not completely prevent the evaporation of 
collected precipitation. It is therefore advantageous to have a rain gauge 
that measures the amount of evaporation, enabling a more accurate water 
level reading. It is also advantageous to be able to measure the amount of 
precipitation that accumulates during an interim period of time without 
having to discharge the previously accumulated precipitation or record 
water levels on paper. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention provides a rain gauge which enables the user to 
determine the amount of precipitation that falls over a given period of 
time. More specifically, the invention enables the user to compensate for 
the evaporation of collected precipitation. The present invention also 
enables the measurement of precipitation during interim periods of time 
without discharging previously collected precipitation. 
The rain gauge comprises a collection vessel, an evaporation vessel, a 
collection vessel support on which the collection vessel is mounted, an 
evaporation vessel support on which the evaporation vessel is mounted and 
a support post for supporting both vessel supports. 
Both the collection vessel and the evaporation vessel are open at a first 
end and each vessel has a series of horizontal markings thereon for 
visually indicating the quantity of water contained therein. An 
evaporation cover is attached to the first end of the evaporation vessel 
to prevent precipitation from entering the evaporation vessel. 
Both the collection vessel and the evaporation vessel contain a 
non-freezing liquid which mixes with water and a non-evaporating liquid 
which floats on top of water, preventing most of its evaporation. A 
movable scale is removably attached to the outer surface of the collection 
vessel. The scale can be slid vertically along the collection vessel and 
enables the measurement of precipitation during an interim period of time.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The rain gauge 10 of the present invention is shown inserted into the 
ground in FIG. 1. The rain gauge 10 comprises a collection vessel 12, an 
evaporation vessel 14, a collection vessel support 16 attached to the 
collection vessel 12, an evaporation vessel support 18 attached to the 
evaporation vessel 14 and a support post 20. A movable scale 22 is 
releasably attached to an outer surface 24 of the collection vessel 12. A 
non-freezing liquid 26, such as propylene glycol antifreeze, and a 
non-evaporating liquid 28, such as liquid silicone, are placed in both the 
collection vessel 12 and the evaporation vessel 14. 
The collection vessel 12, shown in FIG. 2, is fabricated from a hard, clear 
plastic and has the general shape of a hollow cylinder open at both a 
first end 30 and a second end 32. A series of evenly spaced, horizontal 
markings 34 are located on the outer surface 24 of the collection vessel 
12 for visually indicating the water level therein. The markings 34 are 
scaled in both inches and centimeters starting at zero near the second end 
32 of the collection vessel 12 and ending near the first end 30 of the 
collection vessel 12. 
A collection vessel plug 36 having the general shape of a cylinder is 
inserted into the second end 32 of the collection vessel 12 so that a 
first end 38 of the collection vessel plug 36 is flush with the second end 
32 of the collection vessel 12. The collection vessel plug 36 is epoxied 
in place to form a watertight seal with the collection vessel 12. The 
first end 38 of the collection vessel plug 36 has a circular recess 40 
therein into which a first end 41 of the collection vessel support 16 can 
be removably inserted. The collection vessel support 16 has the general 
shape of a tube and has two mounting holes 42 drilled therethrough. 
The movable scale 22, shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, is fabricated from a hard, 
clear plastic and has the general shape of a half-tube. The movable scale 
22 is slidably attached to the outer surface 24 of the collection vessel 
12 and has a series of evenly spaced, horizontal markings 43 thereon. The 
markings are scaled in both inches and centimeters and begin at zero near 
a first end 44 of the movable scale 22. The movable scale 22 can be slid 
along the collection vessel 12 until the zero marking is at the water 
level. After the desired time period has passed, the new water level can 
be read from the movable scale 22. 
The evaporation vessel 14, shown in FIG. 5, is fabricated from a hard, 
clear plastic and has the general shape of a hollow cylinder open at both 
a first end 45 and a second end 46. A series of evenly spaced, horizontal 
markings 48 are located on an outer surface 50 of the evaporation vessel 
14 for visually indicating the water level therein. The markings 48 are 
scaled in both inches and centimeters, starting at zero near the first end 
45 of the evaporation vessel 14 and ending near the second end 46 of the 
evaporation vessel 14. 
An evaporation vessel plug 52 having the general shape of a cylinder is 
inserted into the second end 46 of the evaporation vessel 14 so that a 
first end 54 of the evaporation vessel plug 52 is flush with the second 
end 46 of the evaporation vessel 14. The evaporation vessel plug 52 is 
epoxied in place to form a watertight seal with the evaporation vessel 14. 
The first end 54 of the evaporation vessel plug 52 has a circular recess 
56 therein into which a first end 58 of the evaporation vessel support 18 
can be removably inserted. The evaporation vessel support 18 has the 
general shape of a tube and has two mounting holes 60 drilled 
therethrough. 
An evaporation cover 62 having the general shape of a half-tube is 
pivotally attached to the first end 45 of the evaporation vessel 14 such 
that an inner surface 64 of the evaporation cover 62 faces the first end 
45 of the evaporation vessel 14. The evaporation cover 62 prevents 
precipitation from entering the evaporation vessel 14 but allows the 
evaporation of water in the evaporation vessel 14. The evaporation cover 
62 has two cover holes 66 therethrough and a cover screw 68 is inserted 
through the cover holes 66 and through a pair of corresponding vessel 
holes 70 in the evaporation vessel 14. The cover screw 68 is secured with 
a nut 72 to securely hold the evaporation cover 62 over the first end 45 
of the evaporation vessel 14. The evaporation cover 62 is able to pivot 
about the screw 6S to a position exposing the first end 45 of the 
evaporation vessel 14 enabling the user to place water in the vessel 14. 
One and one-quarter inches of the non-freezing liquid 26 is contained in 
the collection vessel 12, as shown in FIG. 7. The non-freezing liquid 26 
mixes with the collected precipitation in the collection vessel 12, as 
shown in FIG. 8, to prevent the water from freezing n cold weather. The 
evaporation vessel 14 contains a mixture of the non-freezing liquid 26 and 
water in sufficient quantity to bring the mixture level to the zero 
marking at the first end 45 of the evaporation vessel 14. 
One quarter inch of the non-evaporating liquid 28 is contained in both the 
collection vessel 12 and the evaporation vessel 14. The non-evaporating 
liquid 28 does not mix with either the non-freezing liquid 26 or water and 
floats on top of the non-freezing liquid 26 and any water in both the 
collection vessel 12 and the evaporation vessel 14. The non-evaporating 
liquid 28 substantially reduces the rate of evaporation of the water 
beneath it in the collection vessel 12. The rate of evaporation will 
depend upon the characteristics of the non-evaporating liquid 28 used. The 
use of the non-evaporating liquid 28 allows, over a period of time, the 
precipitation in the collection vessel 12 to more accurately reflect the 
amount of precipitation or moisture that is usable by crops or other 
vegetation. For any evaporation of water from the collection vessel 12 
that does occur, the same amount of water will evaporate from the 
evaporation vessel 14. Therefore, the amount of collected water that 
evaporates from the collection vessel 12 can be determined by visually 
examining the water level in the evaporation vessel 14. This allows a more 
accurate determination of the actual amount of precipitation. 
The support post 20 is fabricated from a hard, lightweight plastic and has 
the general shape of a tube. A support connector 74 is attached to a first 
end 76 of the support post 20 and has a circular first connector recess 78 
in a first branch 80 and a circular second connector recess 82 in a second 
branch 84. A second end 86 of the collection vessel support 16 is 
removably inserted into the first connector recess 78 and a second end 88 
of the evaporation vessel support 18 is removably inserted into the second 
connector recess 82. The diameter of a second end 90 of the support post 
20 narrows so that the support post 20 can be easily inserted into the 
ground. 
The collection vessel support 16 and the evaporation vessel support 18 can 
be removed from the first connector recess 78 and the second connector 
recess 82, respectively. The vessel supports 16,18 and therefore the 
vessels 12,14 can then be attached to a separate object such as a wooden 
post by inserting a screw through each of the mounting holes 42,60 and 
into the object. In addition, once separated from the support connector 
74, the vessel supports 16,18 can be attached to an ordinary fence post 
through the use of heavy-duty tape or other known methods. Both the 
collection vessel 12 and the evaporation vessel 14 can be used separately 
as well. 
A heater 92, shown in FIG. 6, is removably attached to the first end 30 of 
the collection vessel 12. The heater 92 comprises a first section 94, a 
second section 96 integral with a lower end 98 of the first section 94 and 
a heating element 100. The first section 94 has the general shape of a 
tube having inner and outer diameters equal to those of the collection 
vessel 12. The first section 94 will therefore collect the same amount of 
precipitation as the collection vessel 12. The second section 96 also has 
the general shape of a tube and has an outer diameter equal to the inner 
diameter of the collection vessel 12. 
The second section 96 of the heater 92 is inserted into the first end 30 of 
the collection vessel 12 until the lower end 98 of the first section 94 
comes into contact with the first end 30 of the collection vessel 12, 
forming a watertight seal. The heating element 100 is attached to the 
lower end 98 of the first section 94 and melts any frozen precipitation 
entering the first section 94 of the heater 92. The melted precipitation 
can then pass in liquid form through the second section 96 and into the 
collection vessel 12. 
A first removable screen 101 is inserted in the first end 30 of the 
collection vessel 12 and a second removable screen 102 is inserted in the 
first end 45 of the evaporation vessel 14. The first and second removable 
screens 101,102 prevent insects and debris from entering the collection 
vessel 12 and the evaporation vessel 14, respectively. When precipitation 
contacts the first removable screen 101, it may cause a splash. Therefore, 
the first removable screen 101 is pushed far enough into the collection 
vessel 12 to prevent the splash from falling outside of the collection 
vessel 12. 
A plurality of marking clips 104 can be removably attached to the outer 
surface 24 of the collection vessel 12 and the outer surface 50 of the 
evaporation vessel 14. Each marking clip 104 has the general shape of a 
half ring and can be used to mark a particular water level. 
Although the present invention has been described with reference to 
preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that 
changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit 
and scope of the invention.