Pressure sensor housing

Details Pressure sensor housing Pressure sensor housing

2001-11-02

2002-12-10

Chervinsky, Boris (Department: 2835)

Electricity: electrical systems and devices

Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...

For electronic systems and devices

C361S600000, C361S679090, C257S727000, C073S756000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06493237

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a novel sensor housing and method of use thereof, and more particularly, to a pressure sensor housing and method of use thereof.
BACKGROUND ART
Pneumatically and electrically interfacing with a printed circuit board (PCB) mounted TO-8 pressure transducer is a recurring problem. Current solutions, interface TO-8 pressure transducers using two circuit boards in a stacked configuration. In order to manufacture the stacked configuration, manufacturing alignment/assembly issues force an expensive assembly process.
A side view of a prior art mounting configuration of a pressure transducer is shown in the diagram of
FIG. 1. A
standard size, i.e., TO-8, pressure transducer
10
is connected to a lower printed circuit board
12
and electrical leads
14
extend from the bottom of the pressure transducer
10
through lower board
12
. Pressure transducer may be any known pressure transducer for generating a signal representative of a pressure sensed. The leads
14
may be attached to a lower surface
12
A of the lower board
12
, may be routed to an upper surface
12
B of lower board
12
, or may be connected to another board (not shown). In other embodiments, the leads
14
may not extend through lower board
12
at all, rather they may connect directly to the surface of lower board
12
.
Pressure transducer
10
has a tube
16
extending upward, i.e., away from the upper surface
10
A of transducer
10
and the upper surface
12
B of lower board
12
, for directing pressure to a sensing portion
18
of transducer
10
. The sensing portion
18
is located within the radius of intersection of the tube
16
and the upper portion
10
A of the transducer
10
. Additional transducers may include additional sensing portions (not shown) to enable the transducer to provide differential pressure readings.
The upper end of tube
16
, opposite transducer
10
, is open to the pressure to be measured. The pressure to be measured includes a gas or liquid. The upper end of tube
16
extends through an upper printed circuit board
20
mounted (not shown) on lower board
12
. The upper board
20
has an upper surface
20
A and a lower surface
20
B, respectively facing away from upper surface
12
B of lower board
12
and facing toward the upper surface
12
B of lower board
12
. That is, upper board
20
is in a stacked configuration with lower board
12
.
The upper end of tube
16
extends into a cavity
22
formed by housing
24
mounted on the upper surface
20
A of upper board
20
. The housing
24
is generally cylindrically shaped and includes a mounting points
26
A,
26
B for connection to the upper surface
20
A. Housing
24
is typically bolted to the upper board
20
using bolts passing through upper board
20
and mounting points
26
A and
26
B. Pressure to be measured or monitored using transducer
10
is supplied to cavity
22
via a barb hook-up
28
(also referred to as a pneumatic connection) providing a passage into cavity
22
. Barb hook-up
28
is a generally cylindrical shaped tube having a ridge
30
(shown more clearly in conjunction with
FIG. 2
) encircling the outside surface for retaining attached supply tubing (not shown). Typically, flexible tubing is used to supply a gas or liquid under pressure from a remote location to barb hook-up
28
and thus into cavity
22
for measurement by transducer
10
.
The prior art or “two-board” design is shown in a perspective view in
FIG. 2
prior to assembly. Specific additional features viewable in
FIG. 2
include a through-hole
31
for insertion of upper end of tube
16
through upper board
20
and into cavity
22
, mounting through-holes
32
A and
32
B for receiving the mounting bolts securing housing
24
to upper board
20
via mounting points
26
A and
26
B, respectively, and ridge
30
on barb hook-up
28
for retaining supply tubing connected to the barb hook-up.
Also shown in
FIG. 2
is central axis line C (dashed line) depicting the necessary alignment of lower board
12
, transducer
10
, upper board
20
, and housing
24
for proper assembly. Each of the component parts must be aligned for assembly, e.g., the upper portion of tube
16
must be aligned with through-hole
31
and upper board
20
must be aligned with the mounting mechanism attaching it to lower board
12
. Thus, multiple openings in the upper board
20
must be aligned for mounting to lower board
12
. Misalignment of components increases the difficulty of assembly. Further, replacement or maintenance is made more difficult by having multiple parts to be aligned. Thus, there is a need in the art for a simpler pressure sensor housing mounting configuration to reduce or eliminate alignment issues.
Somewhat relatedly, due in part to the alignment issues described above and because of the multiplicity of component parts involved, the two-board design requires a longer assembly time than a single board design. Thus, there is a need in the art to reduce the assembly time required for a pressure sensor housing configuration. Further, because assembly is simplified with a single-board design, there is no additional specialized tooling required for assembly. With a two-board design, additional special tools are needed to ensure proper alignment of upper board
20
over lower board
12
, housing
24
on upper board
20
, and tube
16
inside housing
24
and upper board
20
. Once aligned, the piece parts need to be attached to one another, as well. Thus, there is a need in the art to eliminate the necessity of special tools for assembly. In conjunction with a reduction in the number of tools required and a simplified alignment process, an important by-product is the reduction of the amount of mounting hardware required for assembly. This reduces the cost and complexity of the assembly process. Thus, there is a need in the art for a sensor housing configuration requiring a reduced amount of mounting hardware.
Necessarily also, the amount of assembly-induced rework due to errors in assembly is increased because of the complicated nature of the two-board design. More component parts are handled, moved, and removed increasing the possibility of errors and/or breakage of components. Thus, there is a need in the art to reduce assembly-induced rework in the sensor housing configuration.
Further, in the two-board design it is difficult to test the individual component parts prior to assembly because the entire configuration must be assembled for a test.
That is, the housing
24
must be mounted to upper board
20
which must be attached to lower board
12
which must have the transducer
10
mounted thereon. Therefor, there is a need in the art for a mounting configuration more conducive to testing of components prior to assembly.
DISCLOSURE/SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a simpler pressure sensor housing mounting configuration to reduce or eliminate alignment issues.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a mounting configuration more conducive to component-level testing prior to assembly.
Still another object of the present invention is to reduce the assembly time required for a pressure sensor housing configuration.
Further still, another object of the present invention is to eliminate the necessity of special tools for assembly.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sensor housing configuration requiring a reduced amount of mounting hardware.
Still another object of the present invention is to reduce assembly-induced rework in the sensor housing configuration.
The above described objects are fulfilled by a pressure transducer including a tube for measuring pressure and leads for providing signals indicated of the measured pressure is mounted to a printed circuit board. A housing including elongated mounting portions or legs taller than the pressure sensor transducer and a cavity for receiving the tube is mounted over the pressure transducer to the printed circuit board. The housing is connected to the printed

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