Pressure Sensor

摘要

A pressure sensor is disclosed for measuring the pressure of a fluid, the pressure sensor comprising an atmospheric pressure sensing element, a fluid pressure sensing element, a processing unit, and a switch. The atmospheric pressure sensing element measures atmospheric pressure and the fluid pressure sensing element measures relative pressure of the fluid with respect to the atmospheric pressure. The switch is electrically coupled to the processing unit and comprises a first state and a second state, wherein: when the switch is set to the first state, the processing unit determines the absolute pressure of the fluid, and the processing unit generates an output corresponding to the absolute pressure of the fluid; and when the switch is set to the second state, the processing unit determines the relative pressure of the fluid, and the processing unit generates an output corresponding to the relative of the fluid.

主权项

1. A pressure sensor for measuring the pressure of a fluid, the pressure sensor comprising an atmospheric pressure sensing element, a fluid pressure sensing element, a processing unit, a switch, and an interface unit wherein:
the atmospheric pressure sensing element is operable to measure atmospheric pressure and is electrically coupled to the processing unit such that the processing unit is operable to read a measured atmospheric pressure from the atmospheric pressure sensing element; the fluid pressure sensing element is mechanically coupled to the fluid and is operable to measure relative pressure of the fluid with respect to the atmospheric pressure, and the fluid pressure sensing element is electrically coupled to the processing unit such that the processing unit is operable to read a measured relative pressure of the fluid from the fluid pressure sensing element; the interface unit is electrically coupled to the processing unit and is operable to receive a digital number from the processing unit and convert the digital number to an output signal; the switch is electrically coupled to the processing unit and comprises a first state and a second state, wherein:
when the switch is set to the first state, the processing unit determines the absolute pressure of the fluid based on the measured atmospheric pressure and the measured relative pressure of the fluid, and the digital number and the output signal correspond to the absolute pressure of the fluid; andwhen the switch is set to the second state, the processing unit determines the relative pressure of the fluid based on the measured relative pressure of the fluid, and the digital number and the output signal correspond to the relative pressure of the fluid.