Automotive oil gauge

Claim 1

An automotive oil gauge to provide a ready readout of the level of oil in an engine crankcase, the device comprising, in combination: a cylindrical hollow tube having an interior compartment along its length, a top surface and opposed bottom surface, with said tube being provided with external threads running a short distance along its length from said top surface, with a slot being further provided a short distance along the length of said tube from its bottom surface, and with a leaf spring affixed within the interior compartment of said tube so as to be positioned near said bottom surface and to be axially aligned with said slot with the tip of said leaf spring adjacent said bottom surface being biased inwardly; and a float mechanism consisting of opposed side surfaces, as blunt end surface and an opposed rounded end surface, tapered bottom and top surfaces, with said float mechanism assembled within said slot in the interior compartment of said hollow tube by means of a pin so as to provide a freely pivotable rotation thereon so that, when the bottom surface of said float mechanism is projected downwardly from the bottom surface of said hollow tube, said leaf spring is compressed against the inside surface of said hollow tube; and a cap consisting of a length of cylindrical tubing provided with internal threads for threadable engagement to said external threads on said hollow tube, with said tube securely affixed on one end to a cylindrical plate to which is affixed a float resistor and a flexible wire protector through which a wire is disposed and connected to said float resistor on one end and to a visual gauge on the opposite end; and a stiff wire disposed along the length of the internal compartment of said hollow tube and connected on one end to the rounded end surface of said float mechanism and to said float resistor on its other end; and a visual gauge designed to receive electrical impulses from said float resister to resistor readings for low, add, or full on the face of said gauge by means of a needle.