Measuring and testing – Volume or rate of flow – Thermal type
Patent
1991-03-08
1993-07-13
Goldstein, Herbert
Measuring and testing
Volume or rate of flow
Thermal type
7320418, G01F 168
Patent
active
052263193
ABSTRACT:
A hot wire air flow meter for producing a pulse output includes the combination of a hot wire element, for detecting air flow, a cold wire element, for detecting air temperature and an electronic circuit for controlling the current flowing through the hot wire so that the temperature thereof is maintained constant. The output characteristic of the hot wire element is compensated and modified by a zero/span circuit and the output voltage from the circuit is applied to a voltage-frequency conversion circuit which is adapted to provide a pulse output indicative of the air flow rate detected by said hot wire element. The invention resides in mounting the constant temperature control circuit, the zero/span circuit and the voltage-frequency conversion circuit on a common semiconductor chip to form an integrated circuit. In embodiments of the invention a power transistor for controlling heating current of the hot wire element is either located on said semiconductor chip or disposed separately from said semiconductor chip. In other embodiments, trimming resistor elements are disposed separately outside said semiconductor chip on a hybrid circuit substrate. The invention discloses a surge protection circuit located on the semiconductor chip. In a feature of the invention an integrator-type filter (dulling) circuit as described is provided for eliminating high frequency components caused by electromagnetic disturbance.
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