Force sensor
Technical Field
The utility model relates to the technical field of force sensors, in particular to a force sensor.
Background
Force sensors are devices for measuring force and are widely used, for example, in some structures and devices which need to bear axial load, the force sensors are used for monitoring the structure or the device bearing the load to ensure the normal operation of the structure or the device. Specifically, in an automobile braking system, a motor, a gear and a screw rod are used as force transmission mechanisms of braking force, the magnitude of the braking force is required to be detected in real time in the force transmission process so as to adjust the braking force, and a force sensor can be applied to the force transmission process to accurately detect the braking force.
Existing force sensors typically include an elastomer that is capable of deforming after being subjected to a force, and a sensing element attached to the elastomer is capable of detecting the deformation and converting the deformation into an electrical signal for output. However, when the force sensor is applied to the field of automobiles, in order to adapt to the size of an automobile force transmission mechanism, the size of an elastomer is designed to be larger, so that the stress generated after the elastomer is stressed is smaller, and the problem of lower sensitivity exists.
Disclosure of utility model
Embodiments of the present utility model provide a force sensor aimed at improving the sensitivity of the force sensor.
In order to solve the technical problems, the embodiment of the utility model discloses the following technical scheme:
a force sensor is provided, comprising an elastomer, a support structure, a circuit board, and a sensing element;
the elastic body comprises a first end and a second end which are opposite, the end face of the first end is convexly provided with a plurality of protruding blocks which are arranged at intervals, the side wall of each protruding block is provided with a through groove which penetrates through the protruding block, one side surface of the end face of each protruding block, which is away from the first end, is attached with the sensitive element, the supporting structure is abutted with the end face of the first end, the circuit board is connected with one side surface of the end face of the supporting structure, which is away from the first end, each protruding block is exposed on the end face of the supporting structure, which is away from the first end, and the circuit board is electrically connected with each sensitive element;
The second end is provided with a stress ring surface, the side wall of the elastic body is convexly provided with a fixed ring surface, the stress ring surface and the fixed ring surface are oppositely arranged in the thickness direction of the elastic body, the stress ring surface is a pressure bearing surface of the force sensor, and the fixed ring surface is a fixed constraint surface of the force sensor;
the center of the elastic body is also provided with a first assembly hole penetrating through the first end and the second end, the center of the circuit board is provided with a second assembly hole penetrating through the thickness of the circuit board, and the first assembly hole and the second assembly hole are concentrically arranged.
In addition to or instead of one or more features disclosed above, the end face of the first end is convexly provided with a convex ring, the convex ring is concentrically arranged with the first assembly hole, the plurality of bumps are connected with the side wall of the convex ring, the plurality of bumps are distributed at intervals along the circumferential direction of the convex ring, and are symmetrical in pairs, through grooves penetrating through the bumps are formed along the circumferential direction of the convex ring, and the plurality of bumps and the convex ring are integrally formed.
In addition to or in lieu of one or more of the features disclosed above, the through slot has a first slot wall and a second slot wall disposed parallel to and opposite the end face of the first end, and a third slot wall and a fourth slot wall connecting the first slot wall and the second slot wall, the third slot wall and the fourth slot wall being disposed opposite each other, and the third slot wall and the fourth slot wall each being arcuate concave surfaces.
In addition to or in lieu of one or more of the features disclosed above, the force-bearing annulus protrudes from an end face of the second end.
In addition to or in lieu of one or more of the features disclosed above, an annular groove is provided on an end face of the second end of the elastomer, the annular groove being concentric with the force-bearing annulus, and an inner diameter of the annular groove being greater than an outer diameter of the force-bearing annulus.
In addition to or in lieu of one or more of the features disclosed above, the support structure includes a support plate and an abutment ring connected to an edge of the support plate, an end of the abutment ring facing away from the support plate abutting against an end face of the first end, the support plate having a plurality of first windows extending through a thickness of the support plate, the circuit board having a plurality of second windows extending through a thickness of the circuit board, the first windows and the second windows being in one-to-one correspondence, the first windows and the bumps being in one-to-one correspondence, the end face of the bump facing away from the first end being exposed in the corresponding first windows and second windows.
In addition to or instead of one or more of the features disclosed above, the support plate further has a positioning groove penetrating through its thickness, a groove wall of the positioning groove is attached to a side wall of the convex ring, a positioning notch is formed in the groove wall of the positioning groove, a positioning bump is convexly formed on a side wall of the convex ring, the positioning notch is matched with the positioning bump, and the positioning bump is embedded in the positioning notch.
In addition to or in lieu of one or more of the features disclosed above, the support plate has a first locating hole extending through its thickness and the circuit board has a second locating hole extending through its thickness, the projections of the first locating hole and the projections of the second locating hole overlapping in the thickness direction of the support plate.
In addition to or in lieu of one or more of the features disclosed above, the sensor housing includes an outer barrel, an inner barrel, and a top plate, the top plate having a third assembly hole extending through its thickness, the third assembly hole and the second assembly hole being concentrically disposed, the outer barrel being connected to an edge of the top plate, the inner barrel being connected to a wall of the third assembly hole, a side of the outer barrel facing away from the top plate being in abutment with an end face of the first end, the inner barrel being in abutment with a wall of the second assembly hole and a wall of the third assembly hole;
the convex blocks, the circuit board and the supporting structure are located in a cavity formed by the outer cylinder, the top plate, the inner cylinder and the end face of the first end.
In addition to or in lieu of one or more of the features disclosed above, the sensor further comprises a wire harness, a wire outlet is formed in the top plate, a plurality of electric connection contact positions are further formed in one side surface of the circuit board, which faces away from the end face of the first end, and at least one of the electric connection contact positions comprises a power supply contact position, a ground contact position and a signal transmission contact position, and the wire harness is connected with different electric connection contact positions and penetrates out of the sensor housing from the wire outlet.
In addition to or in lieu of one or more of the features disclosed above, the side walls of the elastomer are provided with positioning grooves for positioning the force sensor.
According to the technical scheme, the elastic force sensor has the advantages that the lug is arranged on the end face of the first end of the elastic body in the protruding mode, when the stressed annular face is stressed, larger stress changes are more easily generated on the surface, deviating from the first end, of the lug relative to the surface of the first end, the sensitive element is attached to the surface, facing away from the end face of the first end, of the lug, the stress changes can be captured more accurately, and therefore sensitivity of the elastic force sensor is improved. And the side wall of each lug is provided with a through groove penetrating through the lug, and the through groove can change the stress distribution applied to the lug, so that the force is concentrated in the surrounding area of the through groove. The concentration effect can cause larger local stress at the mounting position of the sensitive element, so that the sensitive element captures more remarkable deformation signals. Therefore, the sensitivity and the overall performance of the force sensor can be improved on the premise of keeping the size adaptability of the force sensor.
Drawings
The technical solution and other advantageous effects of the present utility model will be made apparent by the following detailed description of the specific embodiments of the present utility model with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a force sensor according to an embodiment of the present application;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a second embodiment of a force sensor;
Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view at A-A in fig. 2.
Reference numerals illustrate:
100. Elastomer, 101, first end, 102, second end, 1021, forced ring surface, 1022, ring groove, 103, protruding block, 1031, through groove, 1032, positioning protruding block, 104, fixed ring surface, 105, first assembly hole, 106, convex ring, 107, positioning groove;
200. 201, a supporting plate, 2011, a first window, 2012, a positioning groove, 20121, a positioning notch, 2013, a first positioning hole, 202, an abutting ring;
300. The circuit board, 301, the second assembly hole, 302, the second window, 303, the second positioning hole, 304, the electrical connection contact position, 305, the conditioning chip;
400. A sensor;
500. Sensor shell, 501, outer cylinder, 502, inner cylinder, 503, top plate, 5031, third assembly hole, 5032, outlet;
600. A wire harness;
700. And (3) sealing rings.
Detailed Description
In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantageous effects of the present utility model more apparent, the present utility model will be further described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and detailed description. It should be understood that the detailed description is intended to illustrate the utility model, and not to limit the utility model.
An embodiment of the present utility model discloses a force sensor, referring to fig. 1, comprising an elastic body 100, a support structure 200, a circuit board 300 and a sensing element 400. The elastic body 100 includes a first end 101 and a second end 102 opposite to each other, where the end surface of the first end 101 is convexly provided with a plurality of protruding blocks 103 arranged at intervals, and a through groove 1031 penetrating through the protruding blocks 103 is formed on the side wall of each protruding block 103. A sensing element 400 is attached to a surface of a side of each bump 103 facing away from the end face of the first end 101. The support structure 200 abuts against an end surface of the first end 101, and the circuit board 300 is connected to a side surface of the support structure 200 facing away from the end surface of the first end 101. Each bump 103 is exposed on a surface of the support structure 200 facing away from the end surface of the first end 101, and the circuit board 300 is electrically connected to each sensor 400. Referring to fig. 3, the second end 102 has a force bearing ring surface 1021, a fixing ring surface 104 is protruding from a side wall of the elastic body 100, the force bearing ring surface 1021 and the fixing ring surface 104 are oppositely arranged in a thickness direction of the elastic body 100, the force bearing ring surface 1021 is a pressure bearing surface of the force sensor, and the fixing ring surface 104 is a fixing constraint surface of the force sensor. The center of the elastic body 100 also has a first fitting hole 105 penetrating the first end 101 and the second end 102, and the center of the circuit board 300 has a second fitting hole 301 penetrating its thickness, and the first fitting hole 105 and the second fitting hole 301 are concentrically arranged. The bump 103 and the elastic body 100 are generally integrally formed.
The bump 103 is arranged on the end face of the first end 101 of the elastic body 100 in a protruding mode, when the stressed annular surface 1021 is stressed, larger stress changes are more easily generated on the surface, deviating from the first end 101, of the bump 103 relative to the surface of the first end 101, the sensitive element 400 is attached to the surface, facing away from the end face of the first end 101, of the bump 103, and the stress changes can be more accurately captured, so that the sensitivity of the sensor is improved. Moreover, the sidewall of each bump 103 is provided with a through groove 1031 penetrating the bump 103, and the through groove 1031 can change the stress distribution applied to the bump 103, so that the force is concentrated in the surrounding area of the through groove 1031. This concentration effect may result in greater local deformation, which in turn may cause the sensor 400 to capture a more pronounced deformation signal. Therefore, the sensitivity and the overall performance of the force sensor can be improved on the premise of keeping the size adaptability of the force sensor. It should be noted that, in some embodiments, the through-slot 1031 has a first slot wall and a second slot wall (i.e. the first slot wall and the second slot wall are flat slot walls) disposed parallel to and opposite to the end face of the first end 101, and a third slot wall and a fourth slot wall connecting the first slot wall and the second slot wall, the third slot wall and the fourth slot wall are opposite to each other, and the third slot wall and the fourth slot wall are arc-shaped concave surfaces. The arcuate concave surface may concentrate stress near the through-slot 1031, forming a significant localized stress concentration area, amplifying the stress variation, and making the sensor 400 more sensitive to small changes in stress, thereby improving the sensitivity of the sensor. Compared with a sharp edge design, the arc-shaped concave surface can smooth stress distribution, reduce material fatigue risk caused by stress concentration, and improve long-term reliability of the structure. The straight groove walls (the first groove wall and the second groove wall) can provide more support for the convex block 103 when being stressed, and prevent the excessive deformation of the structure.
In some embodiments, the end surface of the first end 101 is further provided with a convex ring 106 in a convex manner, the convex ring 106 is concentrically disposed with the first assembly hole 105, the plurality of bumps 103 are connected with the side wall of the convex ring 106, the plurality of bumps 103 are distributed at intervals along the circumferential direction of the convex ring 106, and the through grooves 1031 of each through bump 103 are symmetrically formed along the circumferential direction of the convex ring 106. The convex ring 106, the plurality of bumps 103, and the elastic body 100 are integrally formed, and the intervals between the bumps 103 are equal. The evenly spaced bumps 103 provide the sensor with relatively independent points of force at different locations such that each bump 103 can respond independently to an applied force, thereby enhancing the overall sensing capabilities of the sensor. The plurality of independent stress points help to disperse external interference more effectively, ensure that the sensing element 400 is not easy to be interfered by a single direction when detecting signals, and further improve the accuracy of the signals. In addition, the symmetrical design further reduces signal fluctuation in specific directions or positions, so that the sensor can keep consistent response under different working conditions, and the stability of the overall performance is improved. It should be noted that, the sensing elements 400 may be different components, in the embodiment of the present application, the number of the bumps 103 is four, the sensing elements 400 are correspondingly provided with four resistive strain gauges, and the resistive strain gauges are attached to the bumps 103 through a glass micro-melting process. Further, the four sensing elements 400 form a wheatstone bridge, and after being connected with the circuit board 300, differential signals can be output, and after being input into the circuit board 300, the differential signals can be correspondingly amplified by the circuits of the circuit board 300, and the circuits in the circuit board 300 can also convert the amplified signals into analog or digital forms for further processing or analysis. In some embodiments, the circuit board 300 is further electrically connected to a conditioning chip 305, where the conditioning chip 305 is used to amplify, filter, calibrate, etc. the signal output by the sensing element 400.
Further, the support structure 200 comprises a support plate 201 and an abutment ring 202 connected to an edge of the support plate 201, an end of the abutment ring 202 facing away from the support plate 201 being in abutment with an end face of the first end 101. In the disclosed embodiment, the end of the abutment ring 202 facing away from the support plate 201 and the end face of the first end 101 may be connected by welding to secure the support structure 200 to the end face of the first end 101. The supporting plate 201 is also provided with a plurality of first windows 2011 penetrating through the thickness of the supporting plate, the circuit board 300 is provided with a plurality of second windows 302 penetrating through the thickness of the supporting plate, the protruding blocks 103 are in one-to-one correspondence with the first windows 2011, and the first windows 2011 and the second windows 302 are in one-to-one correspondence. In the thickness direction of the support plate 201, the projections of the corresponding bump 103, the first window 2011 and the second window 302 overlap, and the end surface of the bump 103 facing away from the first end 101 is exposed in the corresponding first window 2011 and second window 302. By the design, after the sensing element 400 is mounted on the end face of the protruding block 103, which faces away from the first end 101, the sensing element can be electrically connected with the circuit board 300 through the first window 2011 and the second window 302, so that signal transmission and processing can be conveniently realized.
In order to ensure that the protruding block 103 is exposed in the corresponding first window 2011, the supporting plate 201 further has a positioning groove 2012 penetrating through the thickness of the supporting plate, a groove wall of the positioning groove 2012 is attached to a side wall of the convex ring 106, a positioning notch 20121 is formed on the groove wall of the positioning groove 2012, a positioning protruding block 1032 is convexly arranged on the side wall of the convex ring 106, and the positioning notch 20121 and the positioning protruding block 1032 are adapted, and the positioning protruding block 1032 is embedded in the positioning notch 20121. The design of the positioning tabs 1032 embedded in the positioning notches 20121 enables the support structure 200 to be naturally locked in the correct position upon installation, thereby ensuring that the corresponding tabs 103 are exposed in the first window 2011.
Further, in order to ensure that the bump 103 is exposed in the corresponding second window 302, the supporting board 201 has a first positioning hole 2013 penetrating through its thickness, the circuit board 300 has a second positioning hole 303 penetrating through its thickness, and in the thickness direction of the supporting board 201, the projection of the first positioning hole 2013 and the projection of the second positioning hole 303 overlap. When the circuit board 300 is mounted on a side surface of the end surface of the support plate 201 facing away from the first end 101, the second positioning hole 303 and the first positioning hole 2013 are aligned by the jig, so that the corresponding first window 2011 and the corresponding second window 302 can be ensured to be aligned, and the bump 103 is exposed in the corresponding second window 302. It should be noted that, the supporting plate 201 is made of an insulating material, the elastic body 100 is made of metal, and the supporting plate 201 is disposed between the circuit board 300 and the end face of the first end 101, so that not only the circuit board 300 can be supported, but also the short circuit caused by the direct contact between the elastic body 100 and the circuit board 300 can be avoided.
In some embodiments, referring to fig. 2 and 3, the force bearing annulus 1021 protrudes from an end face of the second end 102. An annular groove 1022 is further formed on the end surface of the second end 102 of the elastic body 100, the annular groove 1022 and the force-bearing annular surface 1021 are concentrically arranged, and the inner diameter of the annular groove 1022 is larger than the outer diameter of the force-bearing annular surface 1021. It should be noted that in some embodiments, the inner diameter of the stationary annulus 104 is also greater than the outer diameter of the annular groove 1022.
To better enable packaging of the force sensor, referring to fig. 1 and 3, in some embodiments the force sensor further comprises a sensor housing 500, the sensor housing 500 comprising an outer cartridge 501, an inner cartridge 502, and a top plate 503. The top plate 503 has a third fitting hole 5031 penetrating its thickness, the outer cylinder 501 is connected to the edge of the top plate 503, and the inner cylinder 502 is connected to the wall of the third fitting hole 5031. The third fitting hole 5031 and the second fitting hole 301 are concentrically arranged, one side of the outer cylinder 501 facing away from the top plate 503 is abutted against the end face of the first end 101, and the inner cylinder 502 is attached to the hole wall of the second fitting hole 301 and the hole wall of the third fitting hole 5031. When the sensor housing 500 is disposed on the end face of the first end 101, the bump 103, the circuit board 300, and the support structure 200 are located in a cavity formed by the outer cylinder 501, the top plate 503, the inner cylinder 502, and the end face of the first end 101. When the force sensor is used, the first fitting hole 105, the second fitting hole 301, and the third fitting hole 5031 together form a fitting channel for the shaft-like component to pass through.
In some embodiments, the force sensor further comprises a sealing ring 700, the hole wall of the first assembly hole 105 is provided with a sealing groove along the circumferential direction of the assembly hole, the sealing groove is embedded with the sealing ring 700, and the wall surface of the inner barrel 502 of the sensor housing 500 is abutted with the sealing ring 700 so as to form radial sealing for the force sensor. And when the force sensor is assembled with other equipment, lubricant such as butter is prevented from penetrating into the force sensor.
Further, the force sensor further includes a wire harness 600, the top plate 503 is provided with an outlet 5032, a plurality of electrical connection contact positions 304 are further provided on a surface of a side of the circuit board 300 facing away from the end surface of the first end 101, and the plurality of electrical connection contact positions 304 at least include a power supply contact position, a ground contact position, and a signal transmission contact position, and the wire harness 600 is connected with different electrical connection contact positions 304 and penetrates out of the sensor housing 500 from the outlet 5032.
In order to facilitate the processing of the force sensor, the side wall of the elastic body 100 is provided with a positioning groove 107 which is specially used for positioning the force sensor. By these positioning grooves 107, the assembly worker can quickly and accurately align the respective components during the installation process, thereby reducing the assembly time and the operation difficulty. Accurate positioning ensures that the production process of each force sensor is consistent, and defects caused by positioning errors are reduced. In addition, when the force sensor is used, the positioning grooves 107 can also be used for effectively fixing the force sensor, so that the stability and reliability of use are further improved.
The technical features of the above embodiments may be arbitrarily combined, and all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are not described for brevity of description, however, as long as there is no contradiction between the combinations of the technical features, they should be considered as the scope of the description.
The foregoing examples illustrate only a few embodiments of the application, which are described in detail and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the claims. It should be noted that it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that several variations and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the application, which are all within the scope of the application. Accordingly, the scope of protection of the present application is to be determined by the appended claims.