Patent ID: 8741120

Claim:
A humidity control apparatus comprising: a gas detector with a front panel and an electrochemical sensor containing an electrolyte of a first hydration level, the front panel having a cylindrically extending portion, the electrochemical sensor is carried within the cylindrically extending portion; a housing with a protruding member which defines, at least in part, an interior region and, a second closed region, the detector positioned with the cylindrically extending portion and electrochemical sensor extending into the interior region of the housing which in part surrounds an inflow port of the gas detector, the detector's front panel and protruding member providing a seal against the external environment; a vapor permeable membrane between at least a portion of the two regions; a salt solution carried within the second region; and a heating element carried adjacent to the second region that operates to carry out one of hydrating and dehydrating of the electrolyte of the electrochemical sensor, wherein the detector's front panel and the protruding member form a sealed chamber around the two regions in which a relative humidity is controlled in a fixed or dynamic fashion so as to restore a concentration of the electrolyte within the electrochemical sensor to the first hydration level and wherein a relative humidity in the sealed chamber is controlled by varying the temperature of the salt solution via the heating element.