Patent ID: 7600424

Claim:
A capacitive liquid condition sensing apparatus to be submerged at least partly in a liquid, for sensing a liquid condition of the liquid, the liquid condition sensing apparatus comprising: a first electrode pair of a 1 - 1 electrode and a 1 - 2 electrode arranged to form a first capacitance varying in accordance with a condition of the liquid; a second electrode pair of a 2 - 1 electrode and a 2 - 2 electrode arranged to form a second capacitance varying in accordance with another condition of the liquid; a circuit board formed with a sensing circuit to monitor the first and second capacitances and to sense the liquid condition in accordance with the first and second capacitances; a 1 - 1 conductive path connecting the 1 - 1 electrode to the sensing circuit and including a 1 - 1 conductive segment; a 1 - 2 conductive path connecting the 1 - 2 electrode to the sensing circuit and including a 1 - 2 conductive segment; a 2 - 1 conductive path connecting the 2 - 1 electrode to the sensing circuit and including a 2 - 1 conductive segment; and a 2 - 2 conductive path connecting the 2 - 2 electrode to the sensing circuit and including a 2 - 2 conductive segment; wherein the 1 - 1 conductive segment, the 1 - 2 conductive segment, the 2 - 1 conductive segment and the 2 - 2 conductive segment are arranged in a row, and extend side by side; and wherein the 2 - 1 conductive segment extends between the 1 - 1 conductive segment and the 1 - 2 conductive segment, and the 1 - 2 conductive segment extends between the 2 - 1 conductive segment and the 2 - 2 conductive segment.