| US 7,516,667 B2 | ||
| Differential pressure sensor having symmetrically-provided sensor chips and pressure introduction passages | ||
| Masato Ueno, Anjo (Japan) | ||
| Assigned to DENSO CORPORATION, Kariya (Japan) | ||
| Filed on Jun. 28, 2007, as Appl. No. 11/819,552. | ||
| Claims priority of application No. 2006-179563 (JP), filed on Jun. 29, 2006. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2008/0000302 A1, Jan. 03, 2008 | ||
| Int. Cl. G01L 13/02 (2006.01); G01L 15/00 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 73—716 [73/717; 361/283.1] | 3 Claims |
| 1. A differential pressure sensor comprising:
a case;
a first and a second pressure sensing element received in the case, the first pressure sensing element working to sense a
first pressure and output a first electrical signal representative of the sensed first pressure, the second pressure sensing
element working to sense a second pressure and output a second electrical signal representative of the sensed second pressure;
a first and a second pressure introduction passage which are provided in the case to introduce the first and second pressures
to the first and second pressure sensing elements, respectively; and
a differential pressure determining element working to determine a differential pressure, which is the difference between
the first and second pressures, based on the first and second electric signals output from the first and second pressure sensing
elements, the differential pressure determining element also working to output an electrical signal representative of the
determined differential pressure, wherein
the first and second pressure sensing elements have the same shape and size and are symmetrically arranged in the case with
respect to a reference,
the first and second pressure introduction passages also have the same shape and size and are symmetrically positioned in
the case with respect to the reference, the differential pressure sensor further comprises a third and a fourth pressure introduction
passages which are provided in the case to introduce a reference pressure respectively to the first and second pressure sensing
elements,
the case has a first and a second end face that are opposite to each other,
the first and second pressure introduction passages are formed through the first end face of the case, and the third and fourth
pressure introduction passages are formed through the second end face of the case,
the first pressure sensing element is configured to sense the first pressure as a first relative pressure to the reference
pressure, and the second pressure sensing element is configured to sense the second pressure as a second relative pressure
to the reference pressure, and
the differential pressure determining element is configured to determine the differential pressure as the difference between
the first and second relative pressures.
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