Patent ID: 8654337

Claim:
A turbidity sensor for installation in a household appliance for sensing the turbidity of a fluid in a working chamber in said household appliance, the turbidity sensor comprising: a light-transmissive housing, said light-transmissive housing comprising a body shell, an accommodation chamber defined in said body shell and a hollow shank perpendicularly extending from said body shell and surrounding one side of said accommodation chamber and a cover member covering said accommodation chamber; and a sensor module mounted inside said light-transmissive housing for detecting the turbidity of said fluid in said working chamber of said household appliance, said sensor module comprising a circuit board mounted in said accommodation chamber inside said body shell, a holder block supported on said circuit board, a set of light-transmitting devices mounted in a first accommodation hole of said holder block and electrically connected to said circuit board and adapted for emitting light through said body shell onto said fluid in said working chamber of said household appliance, a set of light-receiving devices mounted in a second accommodation hole of said holder block inside said hollow shank of said body shell in a right angle relationship relative to said light-transmitting devices and electrically connected to the circuit board for picking up reflected light from suspended particles/impurities in said fluid and producing a respective sensing signal for determination of the turbidity of said fluid and a connection interface extended from one side of said circuit board out of said cover member and electrically coupled with said circuit board for transmitting said respective sensing signal to external circuit means; wherein said connection interface and said circuit board are joined together to show a cross-shaped configuration; said circuit board comprises a plurality of mounting holes cut through opposing top and bottom walls thereof; said holder block is configured to fit the configuration of said circuit board, comprising a plurality of bottom mounting rods respectively press-fitted into the respective mounting holes of said circuit board; and wherein said circuit board comprises a transverse body portion, a plurality of first via holes symmetrically located on two distal ends of said transverse body portion, a longitudinal body portion perpendicularly extended from a middle part of said transverse body portion and a plurality of second via holes located on said longitudinal body portion remote from said transverse body portion; said light-transmitting devices are arranged in said holder block corresponding to said transverse body portion of said circuit board and respectively electrically bonded to said first via holes; said light-receiving devices are arranged in said holder block corresponding to said longitudinal body portion of said circuit board and respectively electrically bonded to said second via holes.