Intelligent temperature and pressure gauge assemblies (52) for use with vessels (24) having pressurized hazard suppression materials therein include temperature and pressure sensors (136, 138) coupled with a digital processor (72) with associated memory for storing empirical temperature and pressure data. The data includes normalized linear temperature-pressure curves consistent with static or slowly changing temperature conditions experienced by the vessels (24), as well as nonlinear temperature-pressure curves consistent with rapidly changing temperature conditions. In use, the assemblies (52) repeatedly sense the temperature and pressure conditions of the hazard suppression material and compare these sensed values with the stored values, and generate an output in conformance with the comparison. In this fashion, the assemblies (52) compensate for rapidly changing temperatures without generating false failure signals.

A method of manufacturing a pressure sensor is shown, wherein the pressure sensor comprises a port element with a sealing structure and a membrane. Four strain gages will be attached to the membrane. The gages are used in a Wheatstone bridge to sense the fluid pressure. A first finite element action determines a first contour around the membrane central axis with equal compressive strain and a second contour around the membrane central axis with equal tensile strain wherein when fluid pressure is applied to the membrane strain on the first contour is opposite strain on the second contour. A second finite element action determines the four positions of the strain gages on the first and second contour such that the difference between the highest error signal and the lowest error signal at the output of the Wheatstone bridge is minimal under influence of parasitic forces.

A method of manufacturing a pressure sensor is shown, wherein the pressure sensor comprises a port element with a sealing structure and a membrane. Four strain gages will be attached to the membrane. The gages are used in a Wheatstone bridge to sense the fluid pressure. A first finite element action determines a first contour around the membrane central axis with equal compressive strain and a second contour around the membrane central axis with equal tensile strain wherein when fluid pressure is applied to the membrane strain on the first contour is opposite strain on the second contour. A second finite element action determines the four positions of the strain gages on the first and second contour such that the difference between the highest error signal and the lowest error signal at the output of the Wheatstone bridge is minimal under influence of parasitic forces.

The present invention makes it possible to, even when a stainless steel is adopted in a diaphragm: prevent the diaphragm and a strain sensor from exfoliating from each other; be hardly susceptible to the influence of temperature in an operating environment; not allow the sensitivity of a pressure sensor to be dominated only by the mechanical characteristic of a material constituting the diaphragm; and increase the degree of freedom in design of members constituting the pressure sensor. A pressure sensor according to the present invention is, in order to solve the above problems, characterized in that: the pressure sensor has a diaphragm deforming by the pressure of a fluid, an elastic body covering the whole surface of the diaphragm and joining to the diaphragm on one side, and a strain sensor being arranged by joining on the other side of the elastic body and on an end side apart from a position corresponding to the center of the diaphragm and detecting the deformation of the elastic body working together with the deformation of the diaphragm as a strain; and the elastic body is formed of a material having a linear expansion coefficient close to the linear expansion coefficient of a material constituting the strain sensor.

Certain implementations of the disclosed technology may include systems, methods, and apparatus for a sealed transducer with an adjustment port. The sealed transducer may include one or more terminals. A first terminal may include electrical connections for connecting to an input voltage source, a ground, and for providing a transducer output signal. A second terminal, for example, may include an electrical port for connecting to an external and separately sealed adjustment network. In one example implementation, the adjustment network can include one or more components configured to couple with internal circuitry of the transducer to alter a response of the transducer.

In a flexible printed wiring board (1), a first electrical conduction pattern (4) prepared on the first surface (3a) on which a bare chip (2) is mounted is prepared only inside a mounting region (3c) of the bare chip. Preferably, the first electrical conduction patterns (4) are prepared so as to avoid positions opposite to test electrodes (2b) which the bare chip comprises. Thereby, in the flexible printed wiring board used for mounting the bare chip, occurrence of malfunction resulting from electrical connection with a part other than a bump of the bare chip can be certainly prevented, and reliability of various devices using the bare chip can be improved.

In a flexible printed wiring board (1), a first electrical conduction pattern (4) prepared on the first surface (3a) on which a bare chip (2) is mounted is prepared only inside a mounting region (3c) of the bare chip. Preferably, the first electrical conduction patterns (4) are prepared so as to avoid positions opposite to test electrodes (2b) which the bare chip comprises. Thereby, in the flexible printed wiring board used for mounting the bare chip, occurrence of malfunction resulting from electrical connection with a part other than a bump of the bare chip can be certainly prevented, and reliability of various devices using the bare chip can be improved.

A pressure sensor may comprise a nylon socket, an upper PCB, a lower PCB, and a hex housing. The nylon socket may include a plurality of co-molded electrical pin conductors extending axially from electrical connectors defined within a top end of the nylon socket for receiving an external electrical cable to a bottom end of the nylon socket. A top side of the upper PCB may have electrical contacts configured to contact the electrical pin conductors. The lower PCB may be connected to the upper PCB by at least one structural member, and electrically coupled to the upper PCB and to strain gauges coupled to a diaphragm. The hex housing may have an interior axial port extending from a bottom of said hex housing to a counterbore for holding the diaphragm, thereby exposing a first side of said diaphragm to the fluid within the axial port.

The present invention relates to a method for cancelling effects of changes in interconnection capacitances on capacitive sensor readings, and an apparatus configure to perform such method. The sensor readings are provided by a capacitive sensor connected with an interface circuitry. The interface circuitry has at least two interconnections comprising a sensor interconnection and a compensating interconnection. The method comprises obtaining a total sensor capacitance value from the capacitive sensor, and obtaining a total compensating interconnection capacitance value from the compensating interconnection, calculating a compensated sensor capacitance value by reducing the obtained total compensating interconnection capacitance value multiplied with a weight coefficient from the obtained total sensor capacitance value and providing at an output of the interface circuitry an electrical signal corresponding to the compensated sensor capacitance value. The weight coefficient is independent of changes of relative permittivity in the immediate environment of the capacitive sensor and its interconnections.

The present invention relates to a method for cancelling effects of changes in interconnection capacitances on capacitive sensor readings, and an apparatus configure to perform such method. The sensor readings are provided by a capacitive sensor connected with an interface circuitry. The interface circuitry has at least two interconnections comprising a sensor interconnection and a compensating interconnection. The method comprises obtaining a total sensor capacitance value from the capacitive sensor, and obtaining a total compensating interconnection capacitance value from the compensating interconnection, calculating a compensated sensor capacitance value by reducing the obtained total compensating interconnection capacitance value multiplied with a weight coefficient from the obtained total sensor capacitance value and providing at an output of the interface circuitry an electrical signal corresponding to the compensated sensor capacitance value. The weight coefficient is independent of changes of relative permittivity in the immediate environment of the capacitive sensor and its interconnections.