US Patent 10001427 Leak detector

A handheld-sized, single-hand-holdable, single-hand-operable battery-powered gas leak detector that draws in a sample of ambient air for detecting the presence of a gas by sensing changes in infrared (IR) energy between an IR emitter and an IR sensor when the gas is in the space between the IR emitter and the IR sensor. An algorithm is used that triggers detection of a gas when the change in IR energy between the IR emitter and the IR sensor is more rapid than the thermal drift of the IR sensor, and the detector design allows for IR energy within a wide range of approximately 0.4 micrometers to approximately 20 micrometers to pass into the air being sampled.