PRESSURE SENSOR AND METHOD FOR MONITORING A PRESSURE SENSOR

Abstract

A pressure sensor for determining a pressure measurement variable includes a housing, a pressure sensor element arranged in the housing, a lighting means arranged in the housing and a control/evaluation unit, the pressure sensor element having a semiconductor material and a measuring membrane, which has at least one integrated resistance element. When the measuring membrane experiences a pressure dependent deflection, the control/evaluation unit ascertains using the integrated resistance element, an electrical signal for determining the pressure measurement variable, wherein the lighting means optically excites the integrated resistance element, and the control/evaluation unit ascertains, based on a change of the electrical signal caused by the optical excitation, whether a malfunction of the pressure sensor is present.

Claims

1-14. (canceled)

15. A pressure sensor for determining a pressure measurement variable, the pressure sensor comprising: a housing; a pressure sensor element arranged in the housing, the pressure sensor element including a semiconductor material and a measuring membrane, which includes at least one integrated resistance element; a lighting source arranged in the housing; and a control/evaluation unit, wherein the measuring membrane is configured such that, when a first pressure is provided to a first side of the measuring membrane and a second pressure is provided to a second side of the measuring membrane, the measuring membrane experiences a pressure-dependent deflection, and the control/evaluation unit ascertains an electrical signal dependent upon the deflection using the at least one integrated resistance element for determining the pressure measurement variable, wherein the lighting source optically excites the pressure sensor element and/or the at least one integrated resistance element, and wherein the control/evaluation unit ascertains, based on a change of the electrical signal caused by the optical excitation, whether a malfunction of the pressure sensor is present.

16. The pressure sensor of claim 15, wherein the pressure sensor outputs a warning signal when the malfunction is present.

17. The pressure sensor of claim 15, wherein the lighting source optically excites the pressure sensor element and/or the at least one integrated resistance element using a number of individual optical pulses.

18. The pressure sensor of claim 15, wherein the lighting source optically excites the pressure sensor element and/or the at least one integrated resistance element after a defined time period.

19. The pressure sensor of claim 15, wherein the measuring membrane has more than one integrated resistance element and a lighting source is provided for each integrated resistance element.

20. The pressure sensor of claim 15, wherein the lighting source is a light-emitting diode.

21. A method for monitoring a pressure sensor, the method comprising: optically exciting at least one integrated resistance element of a pressure sensor element, the pressure sensor element including a semiconductor material and a measuring membrane, which includes the at least one integrated resistance element; registering a change of an electrical signal caused by the optical excitation; ascertaining whether the registered change of the electrical signal indicates a malfunction of the pressure sensor is present.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein for ascertaining whether a registered change of the electrical signal indicates a malfunction of the pressure sensor is present, the registered change of the electrical signal is compared with a tolerance range around an expected value, and wherein when the registered change of the electrical signal is outside the tolerance range, a malfunction of the pressure sensor is recognized.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein a number of individual optical pulses are used for the optical excitation, and, for registering the change of the electrical signal, a number of individual electrical signal values are registered.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the change of the electrical signal is ascertained by an average value formation of the registered number of individual electrical signal values.

25. The method of claim 21, further comprising outputting a warning signal when a malfunction of the pressure sensor is present

26. The method of claim 21, wherein the optical excitation is performed in regular intervals during measurement operation of the pressure sensor.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the change of the electrical signal is registered as a function of time and a malfunction of the pressure sensor is recognized based on such registration.

28. The method of claim 21, wherein the pressure sensor element has a plurality of integrated resistance elements, and a selective optical excitation of each of the integrated resistance elements is performed, and wherein for each of the integrated resistance elements a change of its electrical signal is registered, and whether a malfunction of the pressure sensor is present is ascertained based on the registered changes of the electrical signals of each of the integrated resistance elements.

Description

[0027] The invention will now be explained in greater detail based on the appended drawing, the figures of which show as follows:

[0028] FIG. 1 a schematic representation of the pressure sensor of the invention,

[0029] FIG. 2 a schematic block diagram of the pressure sensor of the invention,

[0030] FIG. 3 a schematic representation of the method of the invention, and

[0031] FIG. 4 a graph of experimentally ascertained measurements.

[0032] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of the pressure sensor 1 of the invention. Such includes a housing 2, a pressure sensor element 3 arranged in the housing 2, and a lighting means 4 likewise arranged in the housing.

[0033] The pressure sensor element 3 in the housing 2 comprises a semiconductor material, preferably silicon. Introduced into the pressure sensor element 3, for example, by an etching process, is a measuring membrane 5. For determining a pressure measurement variable, for example, when the pressure sensor 1 is embodied as a relative pressure sensor, the measuring membrane 5 is fed on a first side a first pressure p.sub.1, for example, an atmospheric pressure, and on a second side a second pressure p.sub.2, for example, a media pressure to be measured.

[0034] For registering a pressure difference dependent deflection produced by applying the pressures p.sub.1 and p.sub.2, the measuring membrane includes four resistance elements 6, which are produced, for example, by doping the semiconductor material. The resistance elements 6 integrated in this way into the measuring membrane 5 are typically arranged in the edge region of the measuring membrane 5, in order to register the pressure difference dependent deflection of the measuring membrane 5 in the form of resistance changes. Based on the resistance changes of the resistance elements 6, the pressure sensor 1 can ascertain, and output, a pressure measurement variable.

[0035] FIG. 1 shows a relative pressure sensor. The invention is, however, equally applicable to an absolute pressure sensor or a pressure difference sensor.

[0036] FIG. 2 shows a schematic block diagram of the pressure sensor 1 of the invention, which includes, besides the lighting means 4 with corresponding control unit 7 for the lighting means and the resistance elements 6, supplementally, a control/evaluation unit 8. The resistance elements 6 are interconnected to form a Wheatstone bridge 9 and the control/evaluation unit 8 serves typically for registering an electrical signal 10, for example, the bridge voltage signal U.sub.B, representing the resistance values. Based on the registered electrical signal 10, in the illustrated case the bridge voltage U.sub.B, the control/evaluation unit 8 ascertains a pressure measurement variable.

[0037] Additionally, the control/evaluation unit 8 is designed to execute the method of the invention schematically shown in FIG. 3 and described below, according to method steps as follows: [0038] optically exciting the integrated resistance elements 100 by at least one lighting means, which is, for example, a light-emitting diode. The optical excitation can, in such case, occur from a single lighting means or selectively via a number of lighting means, preferably a lighting means for each resistance element. Advantageously, the lighting means is pulsed, i.e. the optical excitations occur from a plurality of individual optical pulses, which directly follow one another. [0039] registering a change of the electrical signal 101 caused by the optical excitation, wherein, in the case, in which there is a lighting means 4 for each resistance element 6 and, thus, a selective optical excitation of the resistance elements 6 occurs, an electrical signal 10 is, preferably, registered from each of the resistance elements 6. [0040] In the case, in which the optical excitation is produced by a number of individual pulses, it is advantageous to determine the change of the electrical signal by forming an average value of the individually registered signal values. [0041] ascertaining whether, due to the registered change of the electrical signal 10, or the registered changes of the various electrical signals, a malfunction of the pressure sensor is present 102. For this, the registered change of the electrical signal is compared with an expected value. In the case, in which the registered change of the electrical signal 10 lies outside a predetermined tolerance range around the expected value, a malfunction of the pressure sensor is recognized. Serving as expected values can be, for example, theoretically ascertained values, which can be derived from the photoelectric effect, especially the above described photoconduction effect. Alternatively, values experimentally determined earlier can serve as expected values. [0042] outputting a warning signal 103, when a malfunction of the pressure sensor is ascertained.

[0043] FIG. 4 shows an experimentally ascertained measurement graph. In such case, a relative pressure sensor was operated at different pressures (p=0-40 bar) and different temperatures (T=20 C.-70 C.). The optical excitation occurred from a plurality of individual optical pulses at the corresponding pressures and temperatures. Registered was the change, or deviation, of the electrical signal via an average value formation of the registered number of individuals signal values, wherein the change, or deviation, is the difference between the electrical signal with optical excitation and the electrical signal without optical excitation.

[0044] As evident from FIG. 4, the registered electrical signal 10 shows a change as a result of the optical excitation. Likewise evident from FIG. 4 is that a temperature- and pressure dependence of the electrical signal 10 is present, which, in given cases, may still have to be compensated, before a malfunction of the pressure sensor 1 is ascertainable. If, now, in spite of a possible temperature- and pressure compensation, a change of the electrical signal goes beyond the tolerance range, it can with high probability be assumed therefrom that a malfunction, for example, a drift of the resistance elements 6 and/or a membrane fracture, or membrane tear, is present.

LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

[0045] 1 pressure sensor

[0046] 2 housing

[0047] 3 pressure sensor element

[0048] 4 lighting means

[0049] 5 measuring membrane

[0050] 6 resistance element

[0051] 7 lighting means control unit

[0052] 8 control/evaluation unit

[0053] 9 Wheatstone bridge

[0054] 10 electrical signal

[0055] p.sub.1 first pressure

[0056] p.sub.2 second pressure

[0057] U.sub.B bridge voltage