Multimodulus pressure sensor
First Claim
1. A pressure sensor comprising:
- a first quantity of solid material defining a volume having interface means thereon;
a second quantity of solid material having a different modulus of elasticity from the first quantity of material and having interface means thereon engaging the interface means of the first quantity of material for forming a unitary solid body;
means for simultaneously applying a substantially uniform hydrostatic pressure on surface portions of both the first and second quantities of material of the unitary body tending to compress the quantities of material at the interface means, whereby the unitary body will be stressed as a function of applied pressure; and
means associated with at least a portion of the unitary body for providing a signal indicating the applied hydrostatic pressure.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A pressure sensor utilizes the effect of different elastic moduli between layers or sections of different material that are bonded together to form a body, so that when the bonded material unit is subjected to a uniform hydrostatic external pressure, the differences in the elastic moduli of each of the materials will cause the materials to deflect in a predictable manner proportional to pressure. The amount of warpage or deflection of the body of material can be measured as a function of pressure. Specifically, two layers of materials, such as silicon and borosilicate glass, which have substantially different elastic moduli can be bonded across an interface surface to form an assembly, and when subjected to a substantially uniform pressure on the exterior surfaces the assembly will deflect for indicating applied pressure at relatively high pressure ranges. The bonded material assembly is placed in a fluid to provide a substantially uniform applied hydrostatic pressure on all exposed surfaces of the bonded material assembly.
107 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A pressure sensor comprising:
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a first quantity of solid material defining a volume having interface means thereon; a second quantity of solid material having a different modulus of elasticity from the first quantity of material and having interface means thereon engaging the interface means of the first quantity of material for forming a unitary solid body; means for simultaneously applying a substantially uniform hydrostatic pressure on surface portions of both the first and second quantities of material of the unitary body tending to compress the quantities of material at the interface means, whereby the unitary body will be stressed as a function of applied pressure; and means associated with at least a portion of the unitary body for providing a signal indicating the applied hydrostatic pressure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A pressure sensor apparatus comprising:
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a unitary body flexure member of two solid materials, the unitary body being made of a first quantity of material defining a first volume of solid material; a second quantity of material having a different elastic moduli from the first quantity of material defining a second volume of solid material, the first and second volumes of material being integrally formed along an interface portion; and means for applying a substantially uniform hydrostatic pressure on exposed portions of both of the first and second quantities of material of the unitary body flexure member and tending to change the volume of both the first and second quantities to affect the interface portions sufficient to cause measurable deflection of at least portions of the unitary body flexure member from a reference position as a function of applied pressure. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An apparatus for sensing a fluid pressure, comprising:
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a first body disposed in the fluid having a first surface, the pressure tending to compress the first body at a first rate; a second body disposed in the fluid having a second surface joined to the first surface, the pressure tending to compress the second body at a second rate different from the first rate; the pressure compressing the joined bodies at different rates to cause the joined bodies to distort; and means attached to the joined bodies for sensing the distortion and converting to an output indicating the pressure. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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23. An apparatus for sensing a fluid pressure, comprising:
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a body disposed in the fluid having a first region which the pressure tends to compress at a first rate integral with a second region which the pressure tends to compress at a second rate, different from the first rate, the pressure distorting the body due to the difference in the rates of compression; and means attached to the body for sensing the distortion of the body and providing an output signal indicative of the pressure. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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Specification