Patent ID: 8132529

Claim:
An applicator that applies a corrosion preventative to a surface of a sensor assembly having a sensor instrument and a guide aperture positioned on the sensor surface, the applicator comprising: a reservoir block having a top, a bottom and sides connecting the top and the bottom; the top, bottom and sides forming a body that defines an interior reservoir that is configured to contain an amount of the corrosion preventative, the top including a sensor bore extending into the body that is configured to receive the sensor instrument and including an outlet port that is in operative communication with the interior reservoir; a plate fixed relative to the top of the reservoir block, the plate having a top surface, a bottom surface and sidewalls connecting the top surface and the bottom surface, the plate including a sensor aperture extending through the plate in axial alignment with the sensor bore, and which is configured to receive the sensor instrument, the plate also including a sensor guide that extends outward from the top surface and which is configured to engage the guide aperture of the sensor assembly to axially align the sensor instrument with the sensor bore during placement of the sensor assembly onto the applicator for application of said corrosion preventative; a plurality of discharge tubes extending from the top surface of the plate in a predetermined pattern adjacent to the sensor aperture and the sensor guide, the discharge tubes opening out of the bottom surface of the plate in operative communication with the outlet port of the reservoir block; a non-contact proximity sensor positioned at the base of the sensor bore, the non-contact proximity sensor configured to sense and to signal a presence of the sensor instrument when the sensor instrument is positioned through the sensor aperture and seated within the sensor bore, in spaced proximity to the non-contact proximity sensor wherein in response to the signaling of the sensor instrument position within the sensor bore, a controlled amount of the corrosion preventative contained in the reservoir is uniformly discharged through said plurality of discharge tubes onto a portion of the sensor assembly which is adjacent to the sensor instrument and external from said sensor bore.