Patent ID: 7051578

Claim:
A sensor apparatus for detecting the presence of a leak in a part under test, the part under test being pressurized with a gas including a tracer gas, the sensor apparatus comprising: a housing; a sensor configured to detect the presence of the tracer gas and to generate a sensing signal; at least a first portion of the sensor being contained in the housing; an I/O interface coupled to the housing, the I/O interface being configured to provide a first connection corresponding to an analog output and a second connection corresponding to a network output both the first connection and the second connection being adapted to connect to at least one remote device such that the analog output and network output can be transmitted to the at least one remote device; and a sensor controller connected to the sensor and the I/O interface and configured to generate an output signal based on the sensing signal generated by the sensor, the sensor controller further configured to determine if a network is present across the second connection of the I/O interface and to generate a data packet for transmission over the network if the network is present, the sensor controller being contained in the housing.