Abstract
The purpose is to improve the measurement accuracy of a thermal air flow meter. The device has: an auxiliary passage for entraining a portion of a fluid being measured; a sensor chip arranged in the auxiliary passage, for measuring the flow rate of the fluid being measured; an electronic component having an internal resistor, for converting the fluid flow rate detected by the sensor chip to an electrical signal; and a substrate on which the sensor chip and the electronic component are mounted. The substrate is covered by a filler material, on the surface of which the electronic component is mounted.
Claims
1. A thermal air flow meter comprising: a sub-passage through which part of a fluid to be measured is drawn; a sensor chip disposed in the sub-passage, the sensor chip measuring a flow rate of the fluid to be measured; an electronic component that includes a resistor and that converts a fluid flow rate detected by the sensor chip to a corresponding electric signal; and a substrate on which the sensor chip and the electronic component are disposed, wherein the substrate has a surface, on which the electronic component is disposed, covered with a filling material.
2. The thermal air flow meter according to claim 1, wherein the substrate and the filling material have Young's modulus and coefficients of linear expansion falling within a predetermined range that is determined by a ratio of Young's modulus of the substrate to Young's modulus of the filling material, and a ratio of a coefficient of linear expansion of the substrate to a coefficient of linear expansion of the filling material.
3. The thermal air flow meter according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined range is such that variations in a resistance value of the resistor fall within a predetermined range.
4. The thermal air flow meter according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined range is ±1%.
5. The thermal air flow meter according to claim 4, wherein, let Y be the ratio of the Young's modulus of the substrate to the Young's modulus of the filling material and let X be the ratio of the coefficient of linear expansion of the substrate to the coefficient of linear expansion of the filling material, then a relation of Y<0.4X.sup.−0.9 holds.
6. The thermal air flow meter according to claim 1, wherein at least part of the filling material is exposed to the fluid to be measured.
7. The thermal air flow meter according to claim 1, wherein the housing includes a connector for external output and, the connector and the substrate are electrically connected with each other by wire bonding.
8. The thermal air flow meter according to claim 1, wherein the at least one electronic component is electrically connected with the substrate by wire bonding or soldering.
9. The thermal air flow meter according to claim 8, wherein the filling material and the substrate have Young's modulus falling within a predetermined range that is determined by a ratio of the Young's modulus of the filling material to the Young's modulus of the substrate.
10. The thermal air flow meter according to claim 9, wherein a relation of E1/E2<0.1 holds for the predetermined range that is determined by the ratio of the Young's modulus of the filling material to the Young's modulus of the substrate, where E1 denotes the Young's modulus of the filling material and E2 denotes the Young's modulus of the substrate.
11. The thermal air flow meter according to claim 1, wherein the filling material is an epoxy resin.
12. The thermal air flow meter according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is a printed substrate.
13. The thermal air flow meter according to claim 1, wherein the housing is a thermoplastic resin.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 is a plan view of a sensor assembly according to a first embodiment of the present application.
[0012] FIG. 2 is a plan view of a thermal air flow meter according to the first embodiment of the present application.
[0013] FIG. 3 is a plan view of the thermal air flow meter that has been sealed by a filling material in the first embodiment of the present application.
[0014] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the thermal air flow meter that has been sealed by the filling material according to the first embodiment of the present application, taken along line C-C.
[0015] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a thermal air flow meter that has been sealed by a filling material according to a second embodiment of the present application when the thermal air flow meter is subjected to a change in temperature.
[0016] FIG. 6 is a characteristic diagram of distortion occurring in an electronic component according to the second embodiment of the present application.
[0017] FIG. 7 is a plan view of a thermal air flow meter according to a third embodiment of the present application.
[0018] FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the thermal air flow meter according to the third embodiment of the present application.
[0019] FIG. 9 is a plan view of the thermal air flow meter that has been sealed by a filling material in the third embodiment of the present application.
[0020] FIG. 10 is a plan view of a thermal air flow meter that has been sealed by a filling material in a fourth embodiment of the present application.
[0021] FIG. 11 is a characteristic diagram of distortion occurring in an electronic component according to a fifth embodiment of the present application.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0022] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
First Embodiment
[0023] A thermal air flow meter according to a first embodiment of the present invention will first be described.
[0024] As shown in FIG. 1, a sensor assembly 10 includes an electronic component 3 and a sensor chip 2 mounted on a substrate 1. It is noted that a ceramic substrate or a printed substrate may be used for the substrate 1. The electronic component 3 may, for example, be an LSI. A resistor 7 is disposed inside the electronic component 3 and is used, for example, as a reference oscillator (clock) or an A/D converter. The substrate 1 and the sensor chip 2, and the substrate 1 and the electronic component 3, are each electrically wired using a solder or a bonding wire. During flow rate detection, air 26 flows from a direction of the arrow in FIG. 1 or a direction opposite thereto to pass through a flow rate detection part in the sensor chip 2, so that the flow rate is measured.
[0025] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the sensor assembly 10 mounted on a housing 5 that includes a sub-passage 12. The housing 5 includes the sub-passage 12 for introducing air that flows through a main passage to the sensor chip 2. The housing 5 formed of a first resin is integrally molded with the sensor assembly 10. The sensor assembly 10 is fixed to the housing 5 via a fixing zone 4 hatched in FIG. 1. The first resin used for the housing 5 is, for example, a thermoplastic resin. In this case, the sensor chip 2 including the flow rate detection part, being intended to measure the air flow rate, is disposed in the sub-passage 12.
[0026] FIG. 3 is a plan view of the thermal air flow meter that has been sealed by a filling material 6. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line C-C in FIG. 3. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the filling material 6 is applied to a space formed by the sensor assembly 10 and the housing 5 so as to cover the electronic component 3. An epoxy resin, for example, is used as the filing material.
[0027] Effects of the first embodiment will be described below. During flow rate measurement, voltage is applied to the resistor 7 within the electronic component 3, so that the resistor 7 generates heat. The generation of heat increases a temperature of the thermal air flow meter to thereby increase a difference in temperature between the thermal air flow meter and an environment. This results in degraded flow rate measurement accuracy. Thus, the temperature of the thermal air flow meter needs to be prevented from increasing, as caused by the heat generated by the resistor. Covering the electronic component 3 with the filling material 6 as shown in FIG. 3 improves thermal conductivity. This causes the electronic component 3 to readily dissipate heat, so that the temperature can be prevented from increasing. In addition, the thermal air flow meter is applied to flow rate measurement in, for example, a vehicle inwhich an internal combustion engine is mounted, so that the thermal air flow meter is exposed to an environment containing, for example, exhaust gases, gasoline, and salt water. The covering of the electronic component 3 mounted on the sensor assembly 10 with the filling material 6 prevents the electronic component 3 from being exposed to the above environment, so that variations in characteristics of the electronic component 3 can be prevented and a thermal air flow meter offering even higher accuracy can be provided.
Second Embodiment
[0028] A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a thermal air flow meter that, is subjected to a change in temperature. When an electronic component 3 on a sensor assembly 10 is covered with a filling material 6, bending deformation as shown in FIG. 5 occurs in the thermal air flow meter and a substrate 1, as caused by a difference in coefficient, of linear expansion or in resin contraction between the substrate 1 and the filling material 6. This results in stress (distortion) occurring also in a resistor 7 inside the electronic component 3. The stress (distortion) occurring in the resistor 7 causes a resistance value to be varied by a piezo effect, so that an output characteristic of the LSI 3 changes to thus affect measurementaccuracy of the air flow rate. FIG. 6 represents calculations, performed through stress analysis, of variations in a flow rate characteristic caused by thermal stress encountered by the resistor 7 in the electronic component 3 with respect to a ratio of Young's modulus of the filling material 6 to Young's modulus of the substrate 1 and a ratio of a coefficient of linear expansion of the filling material 6 to a coefficient of linear expansion of the substrate 1. In FIG. 6, the ordinate (y-axis) represents the ratio of the Young's modulus of the substrate 1 to the Young's modulus of the filling material 6 and the abscissa (x-axis) represents the ratio of the coefficient of linear expansion of the filling material 6 to the coefficient of linear expansion of the substrate 1. The both ratios are non-dimensional. FIG. 6 plots the relations, as calculated using stress analysis, between the ratio of the Young's modulus of the filling material 6 to the Young's modulus of the substrate 1 and the ratio of the coefficient of linear expansion of the filling material 6 to the coefficient of linear expansion of the substrate 1 when the variations in the flow rate characteristic as caused by the thermal stress encountered by the resistor 7 are ±1.0%, ±1.5%, and ±2.0%. Additionally, using the above plot, the relation between the ratios of the coefficient of linear expansion and the Young's modulus and the variations in the flow rate characteristic is obtained through power approximation. FIG. 6 reveals that the variations in the flow rate characteristic increase with increasing ratios of the coefficient of linear expansion and the Young's modulus.
[0029] In the present embodiment, the ratios of the Young's modulus and the coefficient of linear expansion of the substrate 1 to the Young's modulus and the coefficient of linear expansion of the filling material 6 are arranged to fall within a predetermined range indicated by a hatched portion in FIG. 6. Specifically, let x be the ratio of the coefficient of linear expansion of the substrate 1 to the coefficient of linear expansion of the filling material 6 and let y be the ratio of the Young's modulus of the substrate 1 to the Young's modulus of the filling material 6; then, a relation of y<0.4x.sup.−0.9 holds. Through these arrangements, variations in the resistance value of the resistor 7 with changing temperatures can be reduced and the variations in the flow rate characteristic can be held within ±1%. Further enhancement of the flow rate detection accuracy can thus be achieved.
Third Embodiment
[0030] A third embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9. FIG. 7 is a plan view of a thermal air flow meter in which a sensor assembly 10 is fixed to a housing 5. FIG. 8 is a bottom view. A configuration of the third embodiment differs from the preceding embodiments in that, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a plurality of electronic components 13 to 16 are disposed on a substrate. Examples of the electronic components include, but are not limited to, a thermistor, a microprocessor, a pressure sensor, and a humidity sensor. As shown in FIG. 7, a bonding wire 20 is used to electrically connect the sensor assembly 10 with a connector 21 disposed in the housing. Examples of the material used for the bonding wire include, but are not limited to, Al, Au, and Cu. FIG. 9 is a plan view of the thermal air flow meter that has been sealed by a filling material 6. Understandably, the configuration shown in FIG. 9 achieves equivalent effects. Furthermore, protection provided for the bonding wire 20 by the filling material 6 can prevent the bonding wire 20 from being deformed from vibration, so that a highly reliable flow meter can be provided.
Fourth Embodiment
[0031] A fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. 10.
[0032] A configuration of the fourth embodiment differs from the preceding embodiments in that a cover 8 is disposed on a housing 5 for forming a sub-passage and the cover 8 has a hole formed in at least part thereof. This results in a structure in which a filling material 6 is exposed to a main passage for a resultant greater heat dissipating effect of the filling material. Thus, further reduction in a temperature rise due to heat generated by electronic components 3 and 13 to 16 can be achieved. In addition, understandably, a structure featuring tight contact between the cover 8 and the filling material enhances a heat dissipating effect by air flow through the main passage, achieving higher accuracy.
Fifth Embodiment
[0033] A fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. 11.
[0034] The fifth embodiment differs from the preceding embodiments in that, as shown in FIG. 11, the relation between the ratios of the Young's modulus and the coefficient of linear expansion of the substrate 1 included in the thermal air flow meter to the Young's modulus and the coefficient of linear expansion of the filling material 6 included in the thermal air flow meter falls within a range indicated by the hatched portion in FIG. 11. Specifically, let y be the ratio of the Young's modulus of the substrate 1 to the Young's modulus of the filling material 6; then, a relation of y<0.1 holds. The electronic components 3, and 13 to 16 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 are electrically connected with a substrate 1 using a solder or a bonding wire. Furthermore, the substrate 1 and a connector 21 disposed in a housing are electrically connected with each other using the bonding wire 20. To enhance reliability of the solder and the bonding wire in terms of thermal deformation and to achieve a long service life, preferably, the difference in coefficient of linear expansion between these bonding materials and the filling material 6 is minimized. Having the relation within the range indicated by the hatched portion in FIG. 11 enables variations in the resistance value to be held within ±1% regardless of the ratio of the coefficient of linear expansion of the substrate 1 to the coefficient of linear expansion of the filling material 6. The difference in the coefficient of linear expansion between the solder or bonding wire and the filling material can thus be minimized and variations in the resistance value can be held within ±1%, so that a highly reliable flow meter offering high accuracy can be provided.
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST
[0035] 1 substrate [0036] 2 sensor chip [0037] 3 electronic component [0038] 4 fixing zone [0039] 5 housing [0040] 6 filling material [0041] 7 resistor [0042] 8 cover [0043] 10 sensor assembly [0044] 11 housing [0045] 12 sub-passage [0046] 13 to 16 electronic component [0047] 20 bonding wire [0048] 21 connector
