Engine Manifold Sensor Shielded Sensing Component
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Particulates and contaminants in recirculated exhaust gas and intake air accumulate on engine manifold sensors, reducing their efficiency and accuracy, and encasing the sensing elements can compromise their responsiveness to changing manifold conditions.
Innovation Solution
A sensor design with a shield partially surrounding the sensing component upstream to prevent contamination while maintaining direct exposure to manifold air, ensuring the sensor remains responsive to changing conditions through a gap between the sensing component and the shield.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the sensing component is fully encased to prevent contamination, then sensor reliability is improved, but responsiveness to changing manifold conditions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The shield provides localized protection only to the upstream side of the sensing component where contaminants originate, while leaving the downstream side exposed. This selective shielding maintains reliability by blocking contaminants where they first contact the sensor, while preserving responsiveness by allowing manifold air to reach the sensing component through the uncovered downstream portion and gaps.
2Measurement precision
If the sensing component is fully encased to prevent contamination, then sensor accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts only the essential protective function by implementing a partial shield around the upstream side of the sensing component, rather than enclosing the entire component. This extraction approach maintains measurement precision by blocking contaminants at their source while significantly reducing device complexity compared to full encasement, as the shield is a simple structural element without complex mechanisms.
3Speed
If the sensing component is exposed to manifold air for responsiveness, then responsiveness is improved, but contamination of the sensing component increases
Solution Approach 1:
The shield acts as an intermediary element positioned between the contaminants in the manifold air and the sensing component. It selectively blocks harmful particulates and contaminants from reaching the upstream side of the sensor while allowing the sensing component to remain exposed to manifold air through gaps and the uncovered downstream side, thus maintaining responsiveness. The shield mediates between the conflicting requirements of protection and exposure.
Data Source
AI summary
A sensor for an engine manifold is provided that includes a sensing component positioned within the engine manifold and responsive to a condition, such as temperature or pressure, within the engine manifold. The sensor includes a shield partially surrounding the sensing component upstream of the sensing component in flow within the manifold, which includes exhaust gases and manifold intake air. The shield does not surround a downstream side of the sensing component. The shield minimizes contamination of the sensing component by contaminants within the exhaust gases or manifold intake air, without compromising responsiveness of the sensing component to changes in the sensed condition, as the sensing component is still directly open to the manifold air (i.e., the exhaust gases and intake air).