Pressure sensor device

• US 5,948,989 A
• Filed: 12/12/1997
• Issued: 09/07/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Inventors: Ichikawa, Junichi, Nishimura, Etsuo
• Primary Examiner(s): Chilcot, Richard
• Assistant Examiner(s): AW MUSSE, ABDULLAHI H
• Application Number:
  US08/989,866
• Time in Patent Office: 634 Days
• Field of Search: 73/708, 73/706, 73/756, 73/717, 73/723, 73/720, 73/721, 73/727, 374/144, 374/145
• US Class Current: 73/708
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 19/0084 to the outside of the housing other details about the housing see G01L19/14
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 19/0092 Pressure sensor associated with other sensors, e.g. for measuring acceleration or temperature G01L9/025, G01L9/045, G01L9/065, G01L9/085, G01L9/105, G01L9/125, G01L19/02, G01L19/04 take precedence; measuring two or more variable G01D21/02; temperature sensors with pressure compensation G01K1/26
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 19/143 Two part housings
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 19/147 Details about the mounting of the sensor to support or covering means

Abstract

Disclosed is a pressure sensor device including a temperature sensor, which can reduce the number of places required for mounting necessary sensors and can simplify a structure. The pressure sensor device comprises a housing including a connector portion provided at an outer periphery thereof, molded integrally with a plurality of external terminals and disposed to cover the pressure sensor from above, and a resin-made base cooperating the housing to define a container space for containing a pressure sensor and a circuit board. The base includes a pressure introducing passage, a temperature sensor containing projection with the temperature sensor installed therein, work holes into which are inserted the other ends of some of the external terminals, and intermediate terminals fixed to said base and having one ends electrically connected to leads of the temperature sensor, the intermediate terminals being partly exposed in the work holes and electrically connected to the other ends of the external terminals inserted into the work holes.

Claims

1. A sensor device comprising:

a pressure sensor having a pressure detecting element, a pipe, and first leads, wherein said pressure detecting element has an enclosed pressure reference chamber and an enclosed pressure introducing chamber within an enclosure and is deformed in accordance with a pressure difference between a pressure inside said pressure reference chamber and a pressure inside said pressure introducing chamber for detecting the pressure of an object to be measured introduced into said pressure introducing chamber, and wherein said pipe is connected to said pressure introducing chamber for introducing said object to be measured into said pressure introducing chamber from the exterior, and wherein said first leads transfer an output of said pressure detecting element to the exterior;

a circuit board on which said pressure sensor is mounted;

a temperature sensor having a heat sensitive element for detecting the temperature of said object to be measured and a pair of second leads for transferring an output of said heat sensitive element to the exterior;

a housing having a connector portion provided at an outer periphery thereof, said connector portion molded integrally with a plurality of external terminals such that said plurality of external terminals has first ends extending into said connector portion and other ends extending into the interior of said housing, said other ends disposed above said pressure sensor, wherein ends in a first set of said other ends are electrically connected to said circuit board, and wherein ends in a second set of said other ends penetrate said circuit board and extend downward; and

a resin-made base having a pressure introducing passage, a temperature sensor containing projection having an opening, work holes, and intermediate terminals, wherein said resin-made base is attached to said housing from below to define, jointly with said housing, a container space for containing said pressure sensor and said circuit board, and wherein said base includes a pressure introducing passage which has one end air-tightly connected to said pipe and a second end open to the exterior, and wherein said temperature sensor containing projection projects from the vicinity of said opening of said pressure introducing passage with said temperature sensor installed therein, and wherein some of said second set of other ends are inserted into said work holes, and wherein said intermediate terminals have ends electrically connected to said second leads, and wherein said intermediate terminals are partly exposed in said work holes and are electrically connected to said second set of said other ends.

2. A sensor device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said intermediate terminals serve as means for fixing said temperature sensor in said temperature sensor containing projection.

3. A sensor device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said temperature sensor is in the form of a temperature sensor body formed by sealing said leads of said temperature sensor with a resin into a one-piece solid structure while extending and exposing said heat sensitive element from said temperature sensor body.

4. A sensor device as claimed in claim 3, wherein said temperature sensor body is insert-molded in said base to be integrally installed in said temperature sensor containing projection.

6. A sensor device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said intermediate terminals are insert-molded in said base.

7. A sensor device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said intermediate terminals are fixedly disposed on said base by heat caulking.

8. A sensor device as claimed in claim 3, wherein said intermediate terminals are fixedly disposed on said temperature sensor body.

9. A sensor device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said work holes are bored to vertically penetrate said base for connecting said container space and the exterior below said base with each other, and wherein said work holes at the underside of said base are resin-sealed after said external terminals and said intermediate terminals have been electrically connected to each other.

10. A sensor device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said work holes have conical portions with large-diameter ends formed to face said container space, and wherein said intermediate terminals and said external terminals are disposed in proximity to each other in positions near small-diameter ends of said conical portions and are soldered in said positions for electrical connection.

11. A sensor device as claimed in claim 1, wherein one of said leads of said temperature sensor is electrically connected to a circuit pattern formed on said circuit board through a corresponding one of said external terminals, and wherein said circuit board is configured such that said one lead of said temperature sensor can be alternatively connected to one of a power supply terminal and a ground terminal by selectively short-circuiting between predetermined points on said circuit pattern through a short-circuit member.

5. A sensor device comprising:

a pressure sensor having a pressure detecting element, a pipe, and first leads, wherein said pressure detecting element is disposed to define an enclosed pressure reference chamber and an enclosed pressure introducing chamber within an enclosure and is deformed depending on a pressure difference between a pressure inside said pressure reference chamber and a pressure inside said pressure introducing chamber for detecting the pressure of an object to be measured introduced into said pressure introducing chamber; and

wherein said pipe is connected to said pressure introducing chamber for introducing said object to be measured into said pressure introducing chamber from the exterior, and wherein said first leads transfer an output of said pressure detecting element to the exterior;

a circuit board on which said pressure sensor is mounted;

a temperature sensor body formed by installing a temperature sensor in a bottom of a resin-made cylindrical temperature sensor container so that a heat sensitive element is positioned at the bottom of said resin-made temperature sensor container, wherein said temperature sensor comprises said heat sensitive element for detecting the temperature of said object to be measured and a pair of second leads for transferring an output of said heat sensitive element to the exterior;

a housing having a connector portion provided at an outer periphery of said housing, said connector portion molded integrally with a plurality of external terminals such that said plurality of external terminals have first ends extending into said connector portion and other ends extending to the interior of said housing, said other ends disposed above said pressure sensor, wherein ends in a first set of said other ends are electrically connected to said circuit board and ends in a second set of said other ends penetrate said circuit board and extend downward; and

a resin-made base attached to said housing from below to define, jointly with said housing, a container space for containing said pressure sensor and said circuit board, said resin-made base having a pressure introducing passage which has one end air-tightly connected to said pipe and a second end open to the exterior, a fitting hole which is bored in an adjacent relation to said pressure introducing passage and into which said temperature sensor body is fitted with a bottom side of said temperature sensor body extending out to the exterior, work holes into which are inserted the other ends of those of said external terminals penetrating said circuit board and extending downward, and intermediate terminals having ends electrically connected to said second leads of said temperature sensor, wherein said intermediate terminals are partly exposed in said work holes and are electrically connected to said second set of said other ends.