Pressure transducer assembly having an integral back-up ring

Abstract

A pressure transducer assembly, and a method of making the same, comprising a header having a first connection portion; a port having a corresponding second connection portion, wherein the first connection portion of the header is attached to the second connection portion of the port to create a header-port interface; and an integral back up ring defined in one of the header and port, wherein the integral back up ring is separated from the header-port interface by a cavity. The first connection portion of the header is attached to the second connection portion of the port by a full penetration weld and the integral back up ring is adapted to block the full penetration weld from damaging the header and thus minimize, if not eliminate, crack propagation.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation in part application of copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 978,291, filed Oct. 29, 2007, entitled METHOD OF JOINING A PRESSURE SENSOR HEADER WITH AN ASSOCIATED TRANSDUCER ELEMENT, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 036,877, filed Jan. 14, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,369,032, entitled METHOD OF JOINING A PRESSURE SENSOR HEADER WITH AN ASSOCIATED TRANSDUCER ELEMENT which is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 867,029, filed Jun. 14, 2004, now. U.S. Pat. No. 7,212,096, entitled PRESSURE SENSOR HEADER HAVING AN INTEGRATED ISOLATION DIAPHRAGM, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 339,725, filed Jan. 9, 2003, entitled PRESSURE SENSOR HEADER HAVING AN INTEGRATED ISOLATION DIAPHRAGM, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference as if being set forth in their respective entireties here...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This patent provides a pressure transducer assembly and a method of making it. The assembly includes a header, a port, and an integral back up ring. The header and port are connected together creating a seamless interface, and the back up ring prevents the weld from damaging the header and reducing the likelihood of cracking. This design improves the reliability and durability of the pressure transducer assembly.

Problems solved by technology

Such deep welding processes usually produce localized heat in the header material, which may stress or crack the glass header seals, pins and other header components.

However, these conventional pressure sensor header to port joining methods still present various problems.

The extreme external pressures tend to fatigue and fracture the welded joints at the header-port interfaces.

Additionally, as described above, the weld heat during the joining process tends to heat and damage the glass seals.

The provision of larger or longer headers to avoid such weld damage may result in more costly, heavier or less accurate pressure headers.

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