Patent ID: 8501117

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: a body containing a fluid well designed and configured to receive a fluid; and a structure exposed to an ambient environment capable of supporting partial evaporation of the fluid, said structure having: a longitudinal axis; a first end connected to said body; a second end spaced from said first end along said longitudinal axis; and a length from said first end to said second end; said structure containing a channel that extends along said length and defines a space that is in fluid communication with said fluid well and that receives a portion of the fluid from said fluid well, said channel: being dimensioned so as to wick the fluid from said fluid well, via capillary action, into said space along said length from said first end substantially to said second end; and having an opening extending at least a substantial portion of the entirety of said length of said structure so that, when 1) said structure is exposed to the ambient environment, 2) said space in said channel is in fluid communication with the space is full of the fluid, and 3) the structure is exposed to the ambient environment, said opening allows a portion of the fluid to evaporate from said space through said opening directly into the ambient environment in a direction radial to said longitudinal axis along substantially the entirety of said length; wherein: said structure comprises a pair of spaced members extending along said length parallel to said longitudinal axis, said pair of spaced members together defining said space of said channel and each having lateral sides spaced from one another and extending parallel to said longitudinal axis, said space being in fluid communication with the ambient environment along said lateral sides at a cross-section transverse to said longitudinal axis; and each of said pair of spaced members are cantilevered from said body.