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US 2002/0157455 A1Published application
Method and apparatus of nondestructive testing a sealed product for leaks
AssigneeATC, Inc.
InventorsNehemiah Hemi Sagi, Guosen Ronald Zhang, Ranajit Rana Ghosh, Xuguang Wang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of testing a product for leaks includes applying to the product a reference pressure that is less than 50.6 KPa. The method also includes developing a gas flow through a leak detection sensor in response to applying the reference pressure to the product. Another step of the method includes determining, based upon the gas flow between the product and the pressure system, whether the product leaked an unacceptable amount during the test period.
Claims3
A leak sensor comprising:
- a body comprising a conical bore between a first end and a second of the body, a first receiving port through the body to the conical bore, and a second receiving port through the body to the conical bore,
- a center shaft positioned within the conical bore to define a flow gap such that a first end of the center shaft is within the conical bore and a second end of the center shaft is within the conical bore,
- a differential pressure sensor coupled to the conical bore via the first receiving port and the second receiving port, the differential pressure sensor operable to generate a differential pressure signal representative of a differential pressure developed between the first receiving port and the second receiving port, and
- a microcontroller coupled to the differential pressure sensor to receive the differential pressure signal, the microcontroller operable to determine whether the product leaked an unacceptable amount during the test period based upon the differential pressure signal, wherein
- the first receiving port is located between the first end of the body and the first end of the center shaft and the second receiving port is located between the second end of the body and the second end of the center shaft.
2 more elements
A leak sensor comprising:
- a body comprising a conical bore between a first end and a second of the body, a first receiving port through the body to the conical bore, and a second receiving port through the body to the conical bore,
- a center shaft positioned within the conical bore to define a flow gap,
- a manifold coupled to the body such that the manifold routes the first receiving port of the body to a first port of the manifold and the second receiving port of the body to a second port of the manifold,
- a differential pressure sensor coupled to the first receiving port and the second receiving port via the first port and second port of the manifold, the differential pressure sensor operable to generate a differential pressure signal representative of a differential pressure developed between the first receiving port and the second receiving port, and
- a microcontroller coupled to the differential pressure sensor to receive the differential pressure signal, the microcontroller operable to determine whether the product leaked an unacceptable amount during the test period based upon the differential pressure signal.
2 more elements
A molecular flow sensor, including:
- a body that defines a flow path;
- wherein the sensor measures mass flow through the flow path in the molecular flow regime.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.