Patent ID: 7948388

Claim:
A leak detector apparatus for use with a drop ceiling having a grid-work of ceiling tiles, the leak detector apparatus comprising: a non-conducting tile body shaped and dimensioned to rest atop a ceiling tile, the tile body comprising multiple non-conducting non-absorbing layers and having a plurality of water collector cups therein, and wherein each of the plurality of water collector cups is formed by creating an opening in at least one of the multiple layers by removing a portion of the multiple non-conducting non-absorbing layers; a pair of spaced apart sensor wires forming an electrical grid, a portion of the sensor wires being separated by one of the non-conducting non-absorbing multiple layers of the tile body, one sensor wire extending on only one side of the one non-conducting non-absorbing layer and the other sensor wire extending on only the opposite side of the one non-conducting non-absorbing layer, the sensor wires extending through the water collector cups, and the sensor wires being operative to sense the presence of water in the water collector cups; and an electronics module associated with the sensor wires and electrically coupled thereto for triggering an alert in response to the presence of water in one or more of the water collector cups.