Patent ID: 8171787

Claim:
A liquid-level detecting apparatus, comprising: a resistance plate which comprises an insulating substrate; a plurality of conductive segments which are arranged on the insulating substrate at substantially equal intervals; a resistor which is mounted on the plurality of conductive segments and through which the plurality of conductive segments are electrically connected to each other; a conductive sliding arm which comprises a contact part for selectively coming into sliding contact with a portion of the plurality of the conductive segments; a conducting pattern which is formed between at least one pair of two adjacent conductive segments of the plurality of conductive segments to short-circuit the two adjacent conductive segments; and a measuring device which is connected to one of the plurality of conductive segments and measures a value based on a portion of the resistor connected between a segment of the plurality of conductive segments that is contacted by the contact part and the one of the plurality of conductive segments that is connected to the measuring device, thereby detecting a level of the liquid surface.