Heat conduction-type sensor for calibrating effects of temperature and type of fluid, and thermal flow sensor and thermal barometric sensor using this sensor
AssigneeTohoku Gakuin
InventorMitsuteru Kimura
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AssigneeTohoku Gakuin
InventorMitsuteru Kimura
Estimating the term…
A heat conduction-type sensor corrects (calibrate) effects of a temperature of a measurement target fluid and a type of the fluid on a measurement value in measurement of a flow velocity, a mass flow, or an atmospheric pressure. Also provided is a thermal flow sensor and a thermal barometric sensor with this correcting function, high sensitivity, simple configuration, and low cost. At least two thin films that are thermally separated from a substrate through the same cavity are provided, one thin film comprises a heater and a temperature sensor, and the other thin film comprises at least one temperature sensor, the temperature sensors being thin-film thermocouples. The thin film is arranged in proximity so that it is heated only through the measurement target fluid by heating of the heater. A calibration circuit calculates and compares quantities concerning heat transfer coefficients of a standard fluid and the unknown measurement target fluid.
A heat conduction-type sensor comprising at least two thin films thermally separated from a substrate (1) by the same cavity (40), wherein one thin film (10) comprises at least a heater (25) and a temperature sensor (20), the other thin film (12) comprises a temperature sensor (20), the thin film (10) and the thin film (12) are formed to be arranged in proximity to and spatially separated from each other so that the thin film (12) is heated only through a measurement target fluid when the thin film (10) is heated by the heater (25), and the substrate (1) comprises calibration circuit means (200) configured to calculate an amount concerning heat transfer coefficients of a standard fluid and the unknown measurement target fluid based on information concerning a temperature of the heater (25) when heating the heater (25), information concerning temperatures of the standard fluid and the unknown measurement target fluid from the temperature sensor (20) formed on the thin film (12), and information of a temperature of the measurement target fluid at the time of measuring a physical state of the measurement target fluid and to calibrate effects of a temperature and a type of the measurement target fluid on the measurement of the physical state of the measurement target fluid based on the amount concerning the heat transfer coefficients, or the substrate (1) comprises a calibration circuit terminal configured to communicate with the calibration circuit means (200) provided outside.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.