Patent ID: 6917886

Claim:
A self contained differential pressure sensor capable of being coupled to an apparatus through which a fluid flows, said sensor comprising: a fluid channeling device having a fluid channel defined therethrough and a fluid flow detector located in said fluid channel, said fluid channeling device further having a flexible input hose, a flexible output hose, and a fluid container having an input aperture to which said flexible input hose is coupled and an output aperture to which said flexible output hose is coupled; a circuit coupled to said fluid flow detector for detecting a level of fluid flow through said fluid channel; memory having stored therein a characteristic of said fluid channeling device, said characteristic comprising at least one fluid channel calibration constant, and wherein said characteristic of said fluid channeling device stored in said memory comprises calibration data related to the fluid impedance characteristics for said flexible input hose and said flexible output hose; and a microcontroller coupled to said fluid flow detector and said memory, said microcontroller being configured to determine a differential pressure value based on said level and on said characteristic; wherein the differential pressure sensor is capable of being coupled to the apparatus via said flexible input hose and said flexible output hose.