Patent ID: 6739203
Filing Date: 2004-05-25
Classification: G01F

Abstract:
A time of flight flow sensor, comprising:at least two thickness-mode piezoelectric transducer elements, each having a respective electrode associated with each of two faces thereof; at least one housing; a respective conformal layer acoustically coupling each piezoelectric element to the at least one housing, each conformal layer having a respective size selected to entirely cover a first of the two faces of the respective piezoelectric element, each conformal layer disposed between the respective first face and a respective first internal surface portion of the at least one housing; at least two connectors, each connector comprising a respective electrically insulating substrate and two electrical conductors disposed thereon, each connector interposed between the respective second face of the piezoelectric element with which it is associated and a respective acoustic isolation means for acoustically isolating the second face of the respective piezoelectric element from the at least one housing; and a respective spring disposed between each acoustic isolation means and a respective second portion of the internal surface of the at least one housing, the spring biasing the respective piezoelectric element toward the respective first internal surface portion of the at least one housing so as to clamp the conformal layer between the respective first internal surface portion and the respective piezoelectric element.