Pressure sensor

• US 8,297,124 B2
• Filed: 07/21/2009
• Issued: 10/30/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/22/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Original Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Inventors: Watanabe, Jun, Motoyama, Hisao, Fujisaki, Masanobu
• Primary Examiner(s): Caputo, Lisa
• Assistant Examiner(s): JENKINS, JERMAINE L
• Application Number:
  US12/506,468
• Publication Number:
  US 20100018318A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,197 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 73/715
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 19/02 Arrangements for preventing, or for compensating for, effects of inclination or acceleration of the measuring device; Zero-setting means for aneroid barometers G01L7/14
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 9/0022 of a piezoelectric element

Abstract

A pressure sensor includes: a housing; a pressure receiver which seals an opening of the housing and transmits pressure from outside the housing to the inside of the housing; and a pressure sensing element having a pressure sensing portion and a pair of base portions which are respectively coupled to both ends of the pressure sensing portion. In the pressure sensor, a force detecting direction is set to be a detection axis, a line connecting the pair of base portions and a displacement direction of the pressure receiver are arranged in parallel, one of the base portions is coupled to a central region, which is displaced by the pressure, of the pressure receiver, and the other of the base portions is coupled to a marginal region, which is at a fixing side, of the pressure receiver through a connecting member.

Claims

1. A pressure sensor, comprising:

a housing;

a pressure receiver sealing an opening of the housing and including a flexible portion of which one main surface is a pressure receiving surface and a marginal region positioned outside the flexible portion; and

a pressure sensing element including a pressure sensing portion, a first base portion, and a second base portion, the first base portion and the second base portion being respectively connected to both ends of the pressure sensing portion and arranged in a direction parallel to a displacement direction of the pressure receiver, wherein

the first base portion is coupled to a central region of the pressure receiver, the central region being a reverse side of the pressure receiving surface, and the second base portion is coupled to one of the marginal region of the reverse side and an inner wall of the housing, the inner wall being opposed to the first base portion, through a connector.

2. The pressure sensor according to claim 1, wherein the connector has a pair of supporting plates extending from the second base portion and sandwich the pressure sensing portion.

3. The pressure sensor according to claim 1, wherein the first base portion is coupled to a fixing part provided to a center of the flexible portion.

4. The pressure sensor according to claim 1, wherein the first base portion is coupled to the connector through a reinforcing part.

5. The pressure sensor according to claim 1, further comprising:

a reaction force generating part coupled to the pressure receiver and applying force in a direction reverse to gravity to the pressure receiving part by using a leveraged weight, the gravity being applied to the pressure receiver.

6. The pressure sensor according to claim 5, wherein the reaction force generating part is formed as a pair and sandwiches the pressure sensing element.

7. The pressure sensor according to claim 6, wherein a metal film is disposed on a surface of the leveraged weight.

8. The pressure sensor according to claim 5, wherein a metal film is disposed on a surface of the leveraged weight.

9. The pressure sensor according to claim 1, wherein the housing is integrally molded by metal squeezing.

10. The pressure sensor according to claim 1, wherein the housing includes a second opening formed opposed to the opening and sealed by a second pressure receiver, and the pressure receiver and the second pressure receiver are coupled to each other through a force transmission shaft.