External flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor and external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensing assembly

Abstract

The utility model discloses an external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor and an external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensing assembly, and the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor comprises a plurality of flexible ultrasonic sensors which are used for being attached to different positions of the outer surface of a liquid carrying bottle respectively so as to carry out liquid level detection on liquid in the liquid carrying bottle, the flexible ultrasonic sensor comprises a flexible substrate, a lower electrode, a macromolecule piezoelectric film and an upper electrode, the lower electrode is located on the surface of the flexible substrate, the macromolecule piezoelectric film is located on the surface of the lower electrode, and the upper electrode is located on the surface of the macromolecule piezoelectric film. And the polymer piezoelectric film is positioned between the upper electrode and the lower electrode. The external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor and the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensing assembly are suitable for various application scenes, the installation and maintenance difficulty is greatly reduced, the risk of impurity pollution is avoided, and no detection blind area exists.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The utility model relates to sensor technical field, especially relate to a kind of external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor and external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensing assembly. BACKGROUND

[0002] Liquid level measurement is an important parameter in many industrial processes, widely used in semiconductor, pharmaceutical, food and other industries.

[0003] Currently, float ball type liquid level meter or ultrasonic liquid level meter is commonly used. In the prior art, whether it is float ball type liquid level meter or ultrasonic liquid level meter, it needs to be built-in in the container containing liquid to realize the detection of the liquid level of the liquid in the container. However, on the one hand, the built-in liquid level meter cannot be installed in a small capacity container, resulting in the inability to detect the liquid level of the small capacity container, on the other hand, for some equipment and systems with high sealing requirements, high stability requirements and high cleanliness requirements, the built-in liquid level meter has the risk of inconvenience to maintain and introduction of impurities, and cannot be set at the lowest or highest position of the container, resulting in a detection blind area. SUMMARY

[0004] The technical problem solved by the utility model is to provide an external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor and an external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensing assembly to adapt to various application scenarios and greatly reduce the installation and maintenance difficulty, avoid the risk of introduction of impurities and there is no detection blind area.

[0005] To solve the above technical problems, the technical scheme of the utility model provides an external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor, comprising: a plurality of flexible ultrasonic sensors, the plurality of flexible ultrasonic sensors are used to be attached to different positions of the outer surface of a liquid carrying bottle to detect the liquid level of the liquid in the liquid carrying bottle, the flexible ultrasonic sensor comprises a flexible substrate, a lower electrode, a high molecular piezoelectric film and an upper electrode, the lower electrode is located on the surface of the flexible substrate, the high molecular piezoelectric film is located on the surface of the lower electrode, and the upper electrode is located on the surface of the high molecular piezoelectric film, so that the high molecular piezoelectric film is located between the upper electrode and the lower electrode.

[0006] Optionally, the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor is a continuous external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor, the number of flexible ultrasonic sensors is 2, the outer surface of the liquid carrying bottle includes an outer lateral wall surface and an outer bottom surface of the bottom of the liquid carrying bottle, and one of the flexible ultrasonic sensors is used to be attached to the outer lateral wall surface to measure the sound velocity of the liquid, and the other flexible ultrasonic sensor is used to be attached to the outer bottom surface to measure the liquid surface height of the liquid based on the sound velocity.

[0007] Optionally, one of the flexible ultrasonic sensors for attaching to the outer lateral wall surface is further for attaching to the lowest part of the outer lateral wall surface.

[0008] Optionally, the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor is a multi-point external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor, the number of the flexible ultrasonic sensors is more than two, the outer surface of the liquid carrying bottle includes an outer lateral wall surface, and each flexible ultrasonic sensor is for attaching to a different height of the outer lateral wall surface respectively, so that the flexible ultrasonic sensor detects whether there is liquid in the liquid carrying bottle at the corresponding height, the lowest flexible ultrasonic sensor corresponds to the lowest liquid level of the liquid carrying bottle, and the uppermost flexible ultrasonic sensor corresponds to the highest liquid level of the liquid carrying bottle.

[0009] Optionally, the flexible ultrasonic sensors are arranged in sequence along the height direction.

[0010] Optionally, the height difference between adjacent flexible ultrasonic sensors is positively correlated with the size of the liquid level detection accuracy.

[0011] Optionally, the lowest flexible ultrasonic sensor is further for attaching to the lowest part of the outer lateral wall surface.

[0012] Optionally, the lower electrodes of the flexible ultrasonic sensors are disconnected from each other, one side of each lower electrode is connected to a lower electrode lead wire, the upper electrodes of the flexible ultrasonic sensors are connected to each other to form an integral upper electrode, and one side of the integral upper electrode is connected to an upper electrode lead wire.

[0013] Optionally, the flexible substrates are connected to each other to form an integral flexible substrate, and the high polymer piezoelectric thin films are connected to each other to form an integral high polymer piezoelectric thin film.

[0014] Optionally, the flexible ultrasonic sensors are disconnected from each other.

[0015] Optionally, the upper electrodes of the flexible ultrasonic sensors are disconnected from each other, one side of each upper electrode is connected to an upper electrode lead wire, the lower electrodes of the flexible ultrasonic sensors are connected to each other to form an integral lower electrode, and one side of the integral lower electrode is connected to a lower electrode lead wire.

[0016] Optionally, the flexible substrate is a flexible polyimide substrate, and the high polymer piezoelectric thin film is a polyvinylidene fluoride copolymer thin film.

[0017] Optionally, the flexible ultrasonic sensor further comprises an adhesive layer, the adhesive layer is located on the back of the flexible substrate, the flexible substrate is located between the adhesive layer and the lower electrode, and the adhesive layer is used for pasting the flexible ultrasonic sensor on the outer surface of the carrier liquid bottle.

[0018] Correspondingly, the technical scheme of the utility model also provides an external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensing assembly, comprising: any of the above external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensors;Driving control unit for driving and controlling the flexible ultrasonic sensor.

[0019] Compared with the prior art, the technical scheme of the utility model embodiment has the following beneficial effects:

[0020] The technical scheme of the utility model provides an external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor and an external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensing assembly, comprising a plurality of flexible ultrasonic sensors, the flexible ultrasonic sensor comprises a flexible substrate, a lower electrode, a polymer piezoelectric film and an upper electrode, the lower electrode is located on the surface of the flexible substrate, the polymer piezoelectric film is located on the surface of the lower electrode, and the upper electrode is located on the surface of the polymer piezoelectric film, so that the polymer piezoelectric film is located between the upper electrode and the lower electrode, and the plurality of flexible ultrasonic sensors are used for respectively pasting on different positions of the outer surface of the carrier liquid bottle to detect the liquid level in the carrier liquid bottle, therefore, the thickness of the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor is very thin, and the liquid level of the solution in the carrier liquid bottle can be detected by completely pasting the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor on the outer surface of the carrier liquid bottle, so that the ultrathin and externally pasted ultrasonic liquid level sensor is realized. Therefore, it can be attached to and applied to carrier liquid bottles of various capacities to adapt to various application scenarios, and the installation and maintenance difficulty is greatly reduced for various devices, and the risk of introducing impurities is also avoided. Especially for small-capacity carrier liquid bottles that cannot install liquid level sensors in their interiors, the liquid level of the small-capacity carrier liquid bottles can be detected, and for some devices and systems such as CVD devices and ALD devices that have high sealing requirements, high stability requirements and high cleanliness requirements for carrier liquid bottles (various containers such as precursor source bottles in the device), the liquid level sensor can be easily assembled, maintained and replaced, and the risk of introducing impurities is avoided. Moreover, the flexible ultrasonic sensor can be conveniently attached to any position of the carrier liquid bottle, so that the liquid level of any height can be detected, thereby avoiding the detection blind area.

[0021] In addition, compared with the ceramic ultrasonic sensor, the flexible ultrasonic sensor has the characteristics of ultrathin (less than 100 microns) and flexible, and has good impact resistance and conformability to irregular surfaces, so that the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor of the technical scheme of the utility model is a preferred liquid level monitoring scheme. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0022] Figure 1 is the assembly schematic view of the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor of one embodiment of the utility model;

[0023] Figure 2 is the cross section structure schematic view of the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor of one embodiment of the utility model;

[0024] Figure 3 is the assembly schematic view of the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor of another embodiment of the utility model;

[0025] Figure 4 is the cross section structure schematic view of the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor of another embodiment of the utility model.

[0026] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS:

[0027] 10-carrying liquid bottle;

[0028] 100, 200-flexible ultrasonic sensor; 110, 210-flexible substrate; 120, 220-lower electrode; 130, 230-polymer piezoelectric film; 140, 240-upper electrode; 150, 250-back adhesive layer. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] As described in the background, the application scene of the built-in liquid level meter is small, which cannot be installed in small capacity containers, resulting in that the liquid level of small capacity containers cannot be detected, and for some equipment and systems with high sealing requirements, high stability requirements and high cleanliness requirements, it is difficult to remove and overhaul or replace after the built-in liquid level meter is installed.

[0030] To solve the above technical problems, the technical scheme of the utility model provides an external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor and an external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor assembly, since a plurality of flexible ultrasonic sensors are included, the plurality of flexible ultrasonic sensors are used to be attached to different positions of the outer surface of a carrying liquid bottle to detect the liquid level of the liquid in the carrying liquid bottle, the flexible ultrasonic sensor includes a flexible substrate, a lower electrode, a polymer piezoelectric film and an upper electrode, the lower electrode is located on the surface of the flexible substrate, the polymer piezoelectric film is located on the surface of the lower electrode, the upper electrode is located on the surface of the polymer piezoelectric film, and the polymer piezoelectric film is located between the upper electrode and the lower electrode. Therefore, it can be attached to and applied to carrying liquid bottles of various capacities to adapt to various application scenes, and for various equipment, the installation and maintenance difficulty is greatly reduced, the risk of introducing impurities is avoided, and a detection blind area is avoided.

[0031] For the above-mentioned purposes, features and advantages of the present application to be more obvious and easy to understand, the following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application are described clearly and completely, obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor belong to the scope of protection of the present application.

[0032] The terms "first", "second", "third", "fourth" and the like (if any) in the description and claims of the present application and the drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and do not have to be used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the data used in this way can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances, so that the embodiments of the present application described herein can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein. In addition, the terms "include" and "have" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, for example, a process, method, system, product or device including a series of steps or units does not have to be limited to those steps or units clearly listed, but can include other steps or units not clearly listed or inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices. In addition, directional terms such as up, down, top, bottom, upward, downward, left, right, etc. are used with respect to the exemplary embodiments as they are shown in the drawings, upward or upward direction is towards the top of the corresponding drawing, and downward or downward direction is towards the bottom of the corresponding drawing.

[0033] Figure 1 is an assembly schematic view of the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor of an embodiment of the present application, Figure 2 is a cross-sectional structure schematic view of the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor of an embodiment of the present application.

[0034] Please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 An embodiment of the present application provides an external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor, comprising: two or more flexible ultrasonic sensors 100. All of the two or more flexible ultrasonic sensors 100 are used to be attached to different positions of the outer surface of the carrier liquid bottle 10 to detect the liquid level of the liquid in the carrier liquid bottle 10.

[0035] Specifically, the liquid in the carrier liquid bottle 10 is the object of liquid level detection, and the carrier liquid bottle 10 is the container containing the liquid.

[0036] The outer surface of the carrier liquid bottle 10 includes an outer side wall surface, and each flexible ultrasonic sensor 100 is used to be attached to different heights of the outer side wall surface, respectively.

[0037] For example, the carrier liquid bottle 10 can be a steel bottle with a bottle opening provided with a liquid inlet, and an internal volume of less than 100 milliliters. It should be noted that the volume here refers to the volume corresponding to the entire space inside the carrier liquid bottle, rather than the maximum liquid capacity in actual operation.

[0038] For the carrier liquid bottle 10 with an internal volume of less than 100 milliliters, the entire internal space of the carrier liquid bottle 10 is usually small and difficult to accommodate an internal liquid level sensor, and usually only one liquid inlet can be provided, which is difficult to provide space for an additional inlet and outlet for accommodating an internal liquid level sensor.

[0039] In an actual application scenario, the carrier liquid bottle 10 can be a precursor source bottle in a CVD or ALD device.

[0040] The flexible ultrasonic sensor 100 includes a flexible substrate 110, a lower electrode 120, a polymer piezoelectric film 130, and an upper electrode 140. The lower electrode 120 is located on the surface of the flexible substrate 110, the polymer piezoelectric film 130 is located on the surface of the lower electrode 120, and the upper electrode 140 is located on the surface of the polymer piezoelectric film 130, so that the polymer piezoelectric film 130 is located between the upper electrode 140 and the lower electrode 120.

[0041] In the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor of the present embodiment, since the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor includes two or more flexible ultrasonic sensors 100, the flexible ultrasonic sensor 100 includes a flexible substrate 110, a lower electrode 120, a polymer piezoelectric film 130, and an upper electrode 140. The lower electrode 120 is located on the surface of the flexible substrate 110, the polymer piezoelectric film 130 is located on the surface of the lower electrode 120, and the upper electrode 140 is located on the surface of the polymer piezoelectric film 130, so that the polymer piezoelectric film 130 is located between the upper electrode 140 and the lower electrode 120. In addition, the two or more flexible ultrasonic sensors 100 are used to correspond to different heights of the outer side wall surface of the external surface of the carrier liquid bottle 10, respectively, to detect the liquid level of the liquid inside the carrier liquid bottle 10. Therefore, the thickness of the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor 100 is very thin, and the liquid level of the solution inside the carrier liquid bottle 10 can be detected by completely attaching the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor 100 to the external surface of the carrier liquid bottle 10. Thus, an ultrathin and externally attached ultrasonic liquid level sensor is realized. In this way, the carrier liquid bottle of various capacities can be attached and applied to various application scenarios, and the installation and maintenance difficulty is greatly reduced for various devices, and the risk of introducing impurities is also avoided.

[0042] Especially for small-capacity carrier liquid bottles which cannot install liquid level sensors inside, the liquid level of the small-capacity carrier liquid bottles can be detected, and for some devices and systems such as CVD devices and ALD devices which have high sealing requirements, high stability requirements, and high cleanliness requirements for carrier liquid bottles (various containers such as precursor source bottles in the device), the liquid level sensor can be easily assembled, repaired and replaced, and the risk of introducing impurities is avoided.

[0043] Moreover, the flexible ultrasonic sensor 100 can be conveniently attached to any position of the carrier liquid bottle, for example, can be attached to the lowest position of the outer lateral wall surface of the carrier liquid bottle mentioned later to detect the 0 liquid level or the extremely low liquid level, or can be attached to the highest position of the outer lateral wall surface of the carrier liquid bottle to detect the full bottle liquid level, so as to correspond to detect the liquid level of any height, thereby avoiding the detection blind area.

[0044] In addition, compared with ceramic ultrasonic sensors, the flexible ultrasonic sensor 100 has the characteristics of ultrathin (less than 100 microns) and flexible, and thus has good impact resistance and can be attached to a heterogeneous curved surface, so that the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor in the embodiment becomes a preferred liquid level monitoring scheme.

[0045] In some embodiments, the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor is a multi-point external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor. Correspondingly, the number of flexible ultrasonic sensors 100 is more than 4, and each flexible ultrasonic sensor 100 is used to correspond to be attached to a different height of the outer lateral wall surface of the carrier liquid bottle 10, so that the flexible ultrasonic sensor 100 detects whether there is liquid in the carrier liquid bottle 10 at the corresponding height. Among them, the lowest flexible ultrasonic sensor corresponds to the lowest liquid level of the carrier liquid bottle, and the uppermost flexible ultrasonic sensor corresponds to the highest liquid level of the carrier liquid bottle.

[0046] Specifically, the multi-point external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor mainly judges whether there is liquid at each height by the echo of the liquid, so as to determine the liquid level height of the liquid.

[0047] In the embodiment, the number of flexible ultrasonic sensors 100 is 4. Of course, in other embodiments, the number of flexible ultrasonic sensors 100 can also be 5, 6, or other numbers greater than 4.

[0048] Specifically, along the height direction H, each flexible ultrasonic sensor 100 is defined as sensor A, sensor B, sensor C and sensor D from low to high. The liquid level of the liquid is between the height where the sensor C is attached and the height where the sensor D is attached.

[0049] Thus, the sensor A emits an ultrasonic wave and detects a return wave within a preset time. Similarly, the sensor B and the sensor C also emit an ultrasonic wave and detect a return wave within a preset time. However, the sensor D emits an ultrasonic wave and does not detect a return wave within a preset time. On this basis, based on the signals detected by the sensor A, the sensor B, the sensor C and the sensor D, it is determined that the liquid level is between the height at which the sensor C is attached and the height at which the sensor D is attached.

[0050] Further, the flexible ultrasonic sensors 100 are arranged in sequence along the height direction H, that is, the flexible ultrasonic sensors 100 are arranged in a row along the height direction. Thus, the accuracy of liquid level detection is improved.

[0051] Further, the size of the height difference AH between adjacent flexible ultrasonic sensors 100 is positively correlated with the size of the liquid level detection accuracy. That is, the higher the liquid level detection accuracy, the smaller the height difference AH, and vice versa. Therefore, while taking into account the accuracy of liquid level detection, the number of flexible ultrasonic sensors 100 can be reduced as much as possible to reduce costs.

[0052] Further, the lowermost flexible ultrasonic sensor 100 is attached to the lowest part of the outer side wall. Therefore, the 0 liquid level or the extremely low liquid level can be detected to avoid the detection blind area.

[0053] In the present embodiment, the lower electrodes 120 of the flexible ultrasonic sensors 100 are disconnected from each other, one side of each lower electrode 120 is connected to a lower electrode lead (not shown), and the upper electrodes 140 of the flexible ultrasonic sensors 100 are connected to each other to form a whole upper electrode, one side of the whole upper electrode is connected to an upper electrode lead (not shown).

[0054] Since the lower electrodes 120 of the flexible ultrasonic sensors 100 are disconnected from each other and one side of each lower electrode 120 is connected to a lower electrode lead, the flexible ultrasonic sensors 100 can detect the liquid level at different positions respectively. At the same time, by connecting the upper electrodes 140 of the flexible ultrasonic sensors 100 to each other to form a whole upper electrode, and connecting one side of the whole upper electrode to an upper electrode lead, the number of upper electrode leads is reduced, which is convenient for wiring.

[0055] Further, the flexible substrates 110 are connected to each other to form a whole flexible substrate, and the polymer piezoelectric films 130 are connected to each other to form a whole polymer piezoelectric film. Thus, the overall assembly is facilitated, and the assembly difficulty of the flexible ultrasonic sensors 100 is further reduced and the assembly accuracy is improved.

[0056] In some other embodiments, the flexible ultrasonic sensors 100 can also be disconnected from each other, so as to be more flexible in installation.

[0057] In some other embodiments, the upper electrodes of the flexible ultrasonic sensors are disconnected from each other, one side of each upper electrode is connected to an upper electrode lead, and the lower electrodes of the flexible ultrasonic sensors are connected to each other to jointly form a whole lower electrode, and one side of the whole lower electrode is connected to a lower electrode lead.

[0058] Since the upper electrodes of the flexible ultrasonic sensors are disconnected from each other, and one side of each upper electrode is connected to an upper electrode lead, the flexible ultrasonic sensors can detect liquid levels at different positions respectively. At the same time, by connecting the lower electrodes of the flexible ultrasonic sensors to each other to jointly form a whole lower electrode, and connecting one side of the whole lower electrode to a lower electrode lead, the number of lower electrode leads is reduced, and wiring is facilitated.

[0059] In some embodiments, the flexible substrate 110 is a flexible polyimide substrate, and the polymer piezoelectric film 130 is a polyvinylidene fluoride copolymer film. Therefore, compared with an ultrasonic sensor using a piezoelectric ceramic, the flexible ultrasonic sensor 100 has the advantages of small tail, clear echo signal, and large longitudinal resolution.

[0060] In the present embodiment, the flexible ultrasonic sensor 100 further comprises an adhesive layer 150, the adhesive layer 150 is located on the back of the flexible substrate 110, the flexible substrate 110 is located between the adhesive layer 150 and the lower electrode 120, and the adhesive layer 150 is used to paste the flexible ultrasonic sensor 100 on the outer surface of the carrier liquid bottle 10. Therefore, the attachment of the flexible ultrasonic sensor 100 is realized.

[0061] In some other embodiments, the back of the flexible substrate and the adhesive layer 150 further have at least one of a backing layer, a matching layer, a protective layer, and a bonding layer.

[0062] Figure 3 is the assembly schematic view of the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor of another embodiment of the utility model, Figure 4 is the cross-sectional structure schematic view of the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor of another embodiment of the utility model.

[0063] The utility model discloses an external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor, and the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor in the embodiment comprises two flexible ultrasonic sensors 200.

[0064] In the embodiment, the outer surface of the carrier liquid bottle comprises an outer lateral wall surface and an outer bottom surface of the bottom of the carrier liquid bottle.

[0065] Specifically, by emitting high-frequency sound waves to the liquid in the carrier liquid bottle 10, the ultrasonic wave signal propagates in the liquid, and when the ultrasonic wave signal meets the liquid-carrier liquid bottle 10 inner surface, it is reflected back, and the flexible ultrasonic sensor 200 attached to the outer lateral wall surface of the carrier liquid bottle 10 receives the reflected ultrasonic wave signal to determine the sound velocity of the liquid. At the same time, the flexible ultrasonic sensor 200 attached to the outer bottom surface of the bottom of the carrier liquid bottle 10 emits high-frequency sound waves to the liquid in the carrier liquid bottle 10, and the ultrasonic wave signal propagates in the liquid, and when the ultrasonic wave signal meets the liquid-carrier liquid bottle 10 inner gas surface, it is reflected back, and the flexible ultrasonic sensor 200 attached to the outer bottom surface of the bottom of the carrier liquid bottle 10 receives the reflected ultrasonic wave signal to continuously determine the liquid level height combined with the sound velocity.

[0066] It should be noted that, in order to facilitate understanding, Figure 3 It should be noted that, in order to facilitate understanding,

[0067] Therefore, the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor in the embodiment also has the advantages of being able to be attached to and applied to carrier liquid bottles of various capacities to adapt to various application scenarios, and greatly reducing the installation and maintenance difficulty for various devices, avoiding the risk of introducing impurities and having no detection blind area. For details, please refer to the related description in the above embodiment.

[0068] Moreover, the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor in the embodiment can monitor the liquid in the liquid carrier bottle 10 in real time to obtain the sound velocity of the medium, and continuously determine the liquid level based on the sound velocity, so that no prior parameter configuration is required, the operation is simple, and the accuracy of the liquid level test result is greatly improved.

[0069] Preferably, the distance between the bottom end of the flexible ultrasonic sensor 200 attached to the outer sidewall of the liquid carrier bottle 10 and the bottom of the liquid carrier bottle 10 is greater than or equal to 1 mm. Thus, the sound velocity can be determined even in the case of an extremely low liquid level, so as to avoid the generation of a blind area.

[0070] In the embodiment, the flexible ultrasonic sensors 200 can also be disconnected from each other. This facilitates more flexible installation.

[0071] In some other embodiments, the lower electrodes of the flexible ultrasonic sensors are disconnected from each other, one side of each lower electrode is connected to a lower electrode lead, and the upper electrodes of the flexible ultrasonic sensors are connected to each other to form an integral upper electrode, one side of which is connected to an upper electrode lead.

[0072] Since the lower electrodes of the flexible ultrasonic sensors are disconnected from each other, one side of each lower electrode is connected to a lower electrode lead, the flexible ultrasonic sensors can detect different objects respectively. At the same time, by connecting the upper electrodes of the flexible ultrasonic sensors to each other to form an integral upper electrode, and connecting one side of the integral upper electrode to an upper electrode lead, the number of upper electrode leads is reduced, which facilitates wiring.

[0073] Further, the flexible substrates are connected to each other to form an integral flexible substrate, and the polymer piezoelectric films are connected to each other to form an integral polymer piezoelectric film.

[0074] In some embodiments, the flexible substrate 210 is a flexible polyimide substrate, and the polymer piezoelectric film 230 is a polyvinylidene fluoride copolymer film. Thus, compared with an ultrasonic sensor using a piezoelectric ceramic, the flexible ultrasonic sensor 200 has the advantages of small tail, clear echo signal, and large longitudinal resolution.

[0075] In the embodiment, the flexible ultrasonic sensor 200 further comprises an adhesive layer 250 located on the back of the flexible substrate 210, and the flexible substrate 210 is located between the adhesive layer 250 and the lower electrode 220. The adhesive layer 250 is used to paste the flexible ultrasonic sensor 200 to the outer surface of the liquid carrier bottle 10. Thus, the attachment of the flexible ultrasonic sensor 200 is achieved.

[0076] In some other embodiments, at least one of a backing layer, a matching layer, a protective layer, and an adhesive layer is further provided between the back of the flexible substrate and the adhesive layer 250.

[0077] Correspondingly, the utility model embodiment further provides a flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensing assembly, comprising: the above-mentioned external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor and drive control unit (not shown). Drive control unit is used for driving the above-mentioned external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor.

[0078] In some embodiments, the drive control unit includes a drive and signal processing circuit, a data processing and transmission module, and an auxiliary function module.

[0079] Specifically, the drive and signal processing circuit includes: pulse generator, power amplifier circuit, signal amplifier circuit, filter circuit and threshold detection circuit. Wherein, power amplifier circuit, signal amplifier circuit, filter circuit and threshold detection circuit are all signal processing circuits, power amplifier circuit is used for amplifying the voltage and current of signal source to ensure enough driving power, signal amplifier circuit is used to meet the requirements of ADC sampling signal, filter circuit is used to reduce the interference signal in ultrasonic receiving signal, threshold detection circuit is used to detect whether the input signal exceeds or reaches the preset threshold level, and outputs with high and low level.

[0080] The data processing and transmission module includes: ADC, digital logic control, data storage module, communication module and data protocol.

[0081] The auxiliary function module includes: temperature compensation circuit module, display circuit module and alarm device. The temperature compensation circuit module can adjust the parameters in the circuit to make it have the same performance at different temperatures based on the characteristic changes of electronic components at different temperatures by monitoring temperature changes and according to the pre-set compensation parameters. The display circuit module is used to display the corresponding state, numerical value and other information. The alarm device is used to alarm in the form of beeping or other forms when reaching the set threshold.

[0082] In some embodiments, the flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensing assembly further comprises: a plurality of transmission lines. The transmission lines connect the external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor and the drive control unit, so that the drive control unit can drive the above-mentioned external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor.

[0083] Although the utility model discloses as above, the utility model is not limited to this. Any person skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of the utility model, can make various changes and modifications, therefore the protection scope of the utility model should be limited to the range defined by the claims.

Claims

1. An externally flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor, characterized in that, The application relates to an external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor. The external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor is a continuous external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor, the number of the flexible ultrasonic sensors is 2, the outer surface of the liquid carrier bottle comprises an outer lateral wall surface and an outer bottom surface of a bottle bottom of the liquid carrier bottle, and one of the flexible ultrasonic sensors is attached to the outer lateral wall surface to measure the sound velocity of the liquid, and the other flexible ultrasonic sensor is attached to the outer bottom surface to measure the liquid surface height of the liquid based on the sound velocity.

2. The extrinsic flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor of claim 1, wherein, The distance between the bottom end of the flexible ultrasonic sensor attached to the outer lateral wall surface and the bottle bottom of the liquid carrier bottle is greater than or equal to 1 mm.

3. The extrinsic flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor of claim 2, wherein, The external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor is a multi-point external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor, the number of the flexible ultrasonic sensors is more than 2, the outer surface of the liquid carrier bottle comprises an outer lateral wall surface, and each flexible ultrasonic sensor is correspondingly attached to different heights of the outer lateral wall surface, so that the flexible ultrasonic sensor detects whether there is liquid in the liquid carrier bottle at the corresponding height, and in each flexible ultrasonic sensor, the lowermost flexible ultrasonic sensor corresponds to the lowest liquid level of the liquid carrier bottle, and the uppermost flexible ultrasonic sensor corresponds to the highest liquid level of the liquid carrier bottle.

4. The extrinsic flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor of claim 1, wherein, The flexible ultrasonic sensors are sequentially arranged in the height direction.

5. The extrinsic flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor of claim 4, wherein, The height difference between adjacent flexible ultrasonic sensors is positively correlated with the liquid level detection accuracy.

6. The extrinsic flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor of claim 5, wherein, The lowermost flexible ultrasonic sensor is further attached to the lowest position of the outer lateral wall surface.

7. The extrinsic flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor of claim 5, wherein, The lower electrodes of the flexible ultrasonic sensors are disconnected with each other, one side of each lower electrode is connected with a lower electrode lead wire, the upper electrodes of the flexible ultrasonic sensors are connected with each other to form an integral upper electrode, and one side of the integral upper electrode is connected with an upper electrode lead wire.

8. The extrinsic flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The flexible substrates are connected with each other to form an integral flexible substrate, and the polymer piezoelectric films are connected with each other to form an integral polymer piezoelectric film.

9. The extrinsic flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor of claim 8, wherein, The flexible ultrasonic sensors are disconnected with each other.

10. The extrinsic flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The upper electrodes of the flexible ultrasonic sensors are disconnected with each other, one side of each upper electrode is connected with an upper electrode lead wire, and the lower electrodes of the flexible ultrasonic sensors are connected with each other to form an integral lower electrode, and one side of the integral lower electrode is connected with a lower electrode lead wire.

11. The extrinsic flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The flexible substrate is a flexible polyimide substrate, and the polymer piezoelectric film adopts a polyvinylidene fluoride copolymer film.

12. The extrinsic flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that ​ 13. The extrinsic flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The flexible ultrasonic sensor further comprises an adhesive layer, the adhesive layer is located on the back of the flexible substrate, the flexible substrate is located between the adhesive layer and the lower electrode, and the adhesive layer is used for pasting the flexible ultrasonic sensor on the outer surface of the carrier liquid bottle.

14. An externally flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensing assembly comprising: Comprise: The external flexible ultrasonic liquid level sensor according to any one of claims 1 to 13; A drive control unit is used for driving and controlling the flexible ultrasonic sensor.

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