Dual-passage, quick-connect fluid couplers with integrated fluid sensors and methods for making and using the same

A motor vehicle, comprising:

• a vehicle body;
• a plurality of road wheels attached to the vehicle body;
• an internal combustion engine (ICE) assembly attached to the vehicle body and operable to drive one or more of the road wheels to thereby propel the motor vehicle, the ICE assembly including a crankcase with a ventilation spigot, an intake system and/or a turbocharger, and a recirculation line fluidly connected to the intake system and/or the turbocharger;
• and
• a quick-connect (QC) fluid coupler including:
• a pressure sensor assembly including a sensor housing with a pressure sensing device located in the sensor housing and configured to monitor pressure of a fluid flowing from the crankcase to the recirculation line;
• a single-piece main connector body including an inlet end with an inlet port opposite and upstream from an outlet end with an outlet port, the inlet port being fluidly coupled to the ventilation spigot of the crankcase, and the outlet port being fluidly coupled to the recirculation line, the main connector body defining therein:
• a sensor chamber nesting therein a portion of the sensor housing;
• a primary fluid chamber extending from the inlet end to the outlet end of the main connector body and fluidly connecting the inlet and outlet ports;
• and
• a secondary fluid chamber interposed between the sensor chamber and the primary fluid chamber, wherein the secondary fluid chamber is fluidly connected to the sensor chamber via a sensor port and fluidly connected to the primary fluid chamber via a bleed port upstream from the sensor port;
• and
• a single-piece endcap welded to the outlet end of the main connector body, the endcap defining therein a merge channel downstream from the sensor port and fluidly connecting the secondary fluid chamber to the primary fluid chamber.

A method of manufacturing a quick-connect (QC) fluid coupler for fluidly coupling a fluid source to a fluid conduit, the method comprising:

• receiving a sensor assembly including a sensor housing and a sensing device located in the sensor housing, the sensing device being configured to monitor fluid flow from the fluid source to the fluid conduit;
• forming a main connector body including an inlet end with an inlet port opposite an outlet end with an outlet port, the main connector body being formed to define therein:
• a sensor chamber;
• a primary fluid chamber extending from the inlet end to the outlet end of the main connector body and fluidly connecting the inlet and outlet ports;
• and
• a secondary fluid chamber interposed between the sensor chamber and the primary fluid chamber, wherein the secondary fluid chamber is fluidly connected to the sensor chamber via a sensor port and fluidly connected to the primary fluid chamber via a bleed port upstream from the sensor port and a merge channel downstream from the sensor port;
• and
• attaching the sensor housing to the sensor chamber of the main connector body.