Patent ID: 7691652

Claim:
A method of manufacturing an encapsulated calorimetric flow meter comprising the following steps: providing an integrated circuit assembly incorporating a fluid flow channel, at least two temperature sensing elements operative to measure the temperature in different regions of the channel and a heating element located in between the temperature sensing elements to heat a region of the channel; applying a quantity of gel to the integrated circuit to cover at least each end of the channel, thereby forming a gel-covered assembly; inserting the gel-covered assembly into a cavity of a moulding tool ensuring that at least a portion of the gel is in contact with a surface of the cavity; introducing a plastic mould compound into the cavity so as to encapsulate the gel-covered assembly except for the portion where the gel is in contact with the cavity surface; and removing the gel-covered assembly from the cavity, whereby the plastic mould compound forms a case which encompasses the gel-covered assembly, wherein there are openings defined in the case at each end of the channel thus allowing fluid to flow through the channel.