CN117309005A

CN117309005A - Sensor assembly

Info

Publication number: CN117309005A
Application number: CN202210723224.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 卢山; 赵成卫; 曹海洋; 张鹏
Original assignee: Continental Automotive Corp Lianyungang Co Ltd
Current assignee: Continental Automotive Corp Lianyungang Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-06-21
Filing date: 2022-06-21
Publication date: 2023-12-29

Abstract

The invention relates to a sensor assembly (1), comprising: a sensor head (2) comprising a first end (21) at which the reading surface (20) is located and a second end (22) opposite the first end at which the fitting section (2 m) is located; a mounting flange (3) having a first side (3 a) and an opposite second side (3 b), and a first aperture (31) extending between the first and second sides; and a coupling (4) for fixing the mounting flange (3) to the fitting section (2 m), the coupling having a through hole (40) and an outer peripheral surface; wherein the second end of the sensor head extends through the through hole (40), and the mounting flange is fitted over the outer peripheral surface of the coupling member through the first hole and is fixed to the second end in a tight-fitting manner; wherein the first side faces the first end, and a perpendicular distance between the reading surface (20) and the first side defines a reading height (H) of the sensor assembly.

Description

Sensor assembly

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of sensors, in particular to a combined sensor assembly.

Background

Currently, many types of sensors are typically integrally injection molded. For such sensors, a single injection mold needs to be used to meet different design requirements of different customers, and one set of molds can only correspond to one mold.

The sensor head requires development of the mold during production, and a different design requires redevelopment of the injection mold. The existing production line has low compatibility degree, and needs larger preparation time for switching production types because the mold needs to be replaced, and the mold development and verification period is longer.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to overcome the above problems, the present invention provides a sensor assembly that can employ a standard sensor head, and can obtain sensor assemblies having different read face heights and different mounting phases by changing the mounting configuration.

To this end, the invention provides a sensor assembly comprising: a sensor head comprising a first end and a second end opposite the first end, the read face being located at the first end, the mounting section being located at the second end; a mounting flange having a first side and an opposite second side, and a first aperture extending between the first side and the second side; and a coupling for securing the mounting flange to the fitting section, the coupling having a through hole and an outer peripheral surface; wherein the second end of the sensor head extends through the through hole, and the mounting flange is fitted over the outer peripheral surface of the coupling member through the first hole and is fixed to the second end in a tight-fitting manner; wherein the first side faces the first end, and a perpendicular distance between the reading surface and the first side defines a reading height of the sensor assembly.

In the present invention, the sensor assembly is assembled from three separate components, and different read heights and different mounting phases can be obtained by providing different sized coupling members and mounting flanges and adjusting the mounting orientation of the mounting flanges at the time of assembly, as required.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the assembly section of the sensor head can be configured cylindrically, and the length of the assembly section is greater than the length of the through-hole of the coupling. In this case, sensor assemblies of different read heights can be provided by adjusting the coupling and thus the mounting position of the mounting flange at the mounting section of the sensor head during assembly.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the through hole of the coupling element may be a circular through hole, the diameter of the fitting section being the same as the diameter of the circular through hole.

Preferably, the mounting flange further comprises a second aperture for mounting the sensor assembly to a mounting surface, wherein the first aperture is spaced apart from the second aperture by a distance, and the first aperture is a circular aperture. Here, the second hole may also be a threaded hole that may cooperate with a threaded fastener to secure the sensor assembly in a desired position.

According to one preferred embodiment, the outer peripheral surface of the coupling may comprise a first cylindrical section near the first end and a conical section near the second end and a second cylindrical section between the first cylindrical section and the conical section, the conical section tapering from the second cylindrical section towards the second end, the diameter of the first hole being slightly smaller than the diameter of the second cylindrical section. By providing a coupling so configured, the mounting flange can be easily slipped onto the second cylindrical section from the second end of the sensor head through the conical section, and since the diameter of the first bore is slightly smaller than the diameter of the second cylindrical section, the mounting flange and coupling are in a tight fit

In a preferred embodiment according to the invention, a limiting flange can be provided between the first cylindrical section and the second cylindrical section for limiting the position of the mounting flange.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the coupling may comprise three separate and identical arc-shaped sections, wherein the central angle of each of said arc-shaped sections is 120 degrees. By providing the coupling of this construction, the mounting flange can compressively deform the coupling upon assembly of the mounting flange, thereby securing to the sensor head in a tight-fitting manner.

In an alternative according to the invention, the coupling may be constructed as a one-piece member in the form of a sleeve, in the body of which a plurality of slits are provided extending from the conical section to the second cylindrical section. By providing a coupling of this construction, the mounting flange is also capable of compressive deformation of the coupling when the mounting flange is assembled, thereby securing to the sensor head in a tight fit.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the outer circumferential surface of the coupling member and the circular through hole may have the same central axis.

In an alternative of the invention, the central axis of the outer circumferential surface of the coupling may be offset with respect to the central axis of the circular through hole.

By adopting the technical scheme, the invention can produce at least one of the following beneficial technical effects: the standardized and automatic production of the sensor head can be realized; the compatibility of the production line can be improved, only one standard head production line needs to be established, and other parts such as the mounting flange and the connecting piece can be assembled inside after being produced by an external supplier; the sensor head is designed in a standard way, and different reading surface heights and different mounting phases can be obtained by adjusting assembly process parameters, such as the sizes of the mounting flange and the connecting piece and the mounting position and the orientation of the mounting flange, so that the requirements of different clients are met, and the adaptability of products is better; the mechanical property can be better ensured without secondary injection molding; the technology involved in the implementation process has high realizability, is more friendly to automatic production, and can improve the utilization rate of equipment.

Here, it should be noted in particular that a standard sensor head is a modular sensor head that is versatile and suitable for mass production.

Drawings

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following, or may be learned from practice of the invention. Wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a sensor assembly according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the sensor assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the sensor assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a standard sensor head according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an assembled sensor head and coupling;

fig. 6 is a bottom view of the sensor assembly of fig. 1, showing the angle between the reading face and the flange direction of the mounting flange being 0 °.

Fig. 7 is an exploded view of the sensor assembly shown in fig. 1.

Detailed Description

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below. The exemplary embodiments of dust screen apparatus described below and shown in the drawings are intended to teach the principles of the present invention to enable one skilled in the art to make and use the present invention in a number of different environments and for a number of different applications. Accordingly, the exemplary embodiments are not intended, and should not be considered, as limiting the scope of the invention.

Fig. 1 and 2 show perspective views of the front and the back sides, respectively, of a sensor assembly 1 according to an embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the sensor assembly 1 comprises three separate components, namely a sensor head 2, a mounting flange 3 and a coupling 4, with which coupling 4 the mounting flange 3 can cooperate to be fastened to the sensor head 2 in a tight fit.

Referring to fig. 5 and 7, there is shown a perspective view of a sensor head 2, which may also be referred to herein as a standard sensor head, configured in the form of an elongate shaft, including a first end 21 and a second end 22 opposite the first end, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. At a first end 21 a reading surface 20 is provided, and a fitting section 2m is formed at this second end 22. For example, the first end 21 of the sensor head 2 can be configured as a flat structure, the reading surface 20 being provided in one side of the flat structure, and the opening 23 being provided in the other side of the flat structure. In this embodiment, the sensor head 2 includes an integrated circuit element 24 and a cable 25 encapsulated in a housing by overmolding, the end of the cable 25 extending from the second end 22, an opening 23 for assisting the overmolding process, and the integrated circuit element 24 being visible through the opening 23 (see fig. 2).

Fig. 7 shows a perspective view of a mounting flange 3 according to one embodiment of the invention, the mounting flange 3 having a first side 3a and an opposite second side 3b (see fig. 3), and a first hole 31 and a second hole 32 extending therebetween, the first side and the second side defining a thickness of the mounting flange. As can be seen from the figure, the first hole 31 and the second hole 32 are spaced apart from each other by a certain distance and are each circular holes. The second hole 32 is used to mount the sensor assembly to a suitable mounting surface and may be configured as a threaded hole that may mate with a threaded fastener. Here, the mounting flange has a flange direction d, which is defined as the direction from the center of the circular first hole 31 towards the center of the circular second hole 32.

Fig. 4 and 7 show perspective views of a coupling 4 according to an embodiment of the invention. A coupling 4 for fixing the mounting flange 3 to the fitting section 2m has a through hole 40 and an outer peripheral surface. As can be seen in fig. 4, the outer circumferential surface of the coupling 4 comprises three sections, a first cylindrical section 41, a conical section 42 and a second cylindrical section 43 located between the first cylindrical section 41 and the conical section 42, the conical section 42 tapering from the second cylindrical section 43 towards said second end 22. The maximum diameter of the conical section 42 is substantially equal to the diameter of said second cylindrical section 43. The first cylindrical section 41 also serves to secure the sensor assembly 1 to a mounting surface.

In the above-described embodiment, the mounting flange 3 may be configured such that the first hole 31 thereof is slightly smaller than the diameter of the second cylindrical section 43 of the coupling member 4, so that when the mounting flange 3 is fixed to the fitting section 2m of the sensor head 2 by the coupling member 4, the mounting flange 3 can generate a pressing force on the coupling member 4, thereby fixing both the mounting flange 3 and the coupling member 4 to the sensor head 2 in a tight-fitting manner. In a preferred embodiment, a limit flange 44 may be provided between the first cylindrical section 41 and the second cylindrical section 43 for defining the position of said mounting flange.

In the assembled sensor assembly 1, the first cylindrical section 41 is adjacent to the first end 21 of the sensor head 2 and the conical section 42 is adjacent to the second end 22 of the sensor head 2. And the first side 3a of the mounting flange 3 faces said first end 21, the perpendicular distance between the reading surface 20 and the first side 3a defining a reading height H of said sensor assembly (see fig. 3). In addition, the sensor assembly 1 has a mounting phase, which in the above embodiment is defined as the angle between the reading surface 20 and the direction d of the mounting flange, as shown in fig. 6, the mounting phase of the sensor assembly 1 is in the range of 0 ° to 360 °.

In a preferred embodiment of the sensor head 2, see fig. 4 and 5, the fitting section 2m is configured cylindrically, correspondingly the through hole 40 of the coupling 4 is a circular hole, and the length of the fitting section 2m is greater than the length of the through hole 40. It will be appreciated that the shape of the fitting section 2m may also be chosen to be other suitable shapes, for example square, and accordingly the shape of the through hole 40 is likewise square adapted thereto. The length of the mounting section 2m is selected to be greater than the length of the through-hole 40, so that the coupling 4, and thus the mounting flange 3, can be adjusted in mounting position along the mounting section 2m at the time of assembly, as required, thereby altering the read height of the sensor assembly 1. Alternatively, the read height may be adjusted by changing, for example, the thickness of the mounting flange 3, the dimensions of the sections of the coupling 4 along the length of the through-hole 40, which are all within the scope of the present application. In addition, since the first hole 31 of the mounting flange 3 is a circular hole, the mounting flange can be rotated according to the requirement of a customer during assembly, the direction of the flange can be adjusted, and the mounting phase of the sensor assembly 1 can be adjusted, and the mounting phase can be selected from the range of 0 DEG to 360 deg.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 7, the coupling 4 may comprise three separate and identical arc-shaped sections 4a, wherein the central angle of each of said arc-shaped sections 4a is 120 degrees. By providing a coupling of this construction, the mounting flange enables compressive deformation of the coupling upon assembly of the mounting flange due to the gap between each section, thereby securing to the sensor head in a tight fit. Also, in this embodiment, the outer peripheral surface of the coupling 4 has the same central axis as the circular through hole 40.

In a further embodiment, not shown, the coupling may be constructed as a one-piece member in the form of a sleeve, a plurality of slits extending from the conical section to the second cylindrical section being provided in the body of the coupling. As an example, the number of slits may be two, three, four or six, or other suitable number, and these slits are evenly distributed along the axial direction of the coupling. By providing the slit, the mounting flange enables the coupling to be compressively deformed when the mounting flange is assembled, thereby being secured to the sensor head in a tight fit.

In another embodiment, not shown, the coupling may be configured such that the central axis of its outer circumferential surface is offset with respect to the central axis of the through hole according to the specific needs of the customer.

It should be noted that the above description is only exemplary and that a person skilled in the art may make various modifications and variants to the embodiments of the invention in light of the above description, which modifications and variants are all within the scope of protection of the invention.

Claims

1. A sensor assembly (1), comprising:

a sensor head (2) comprising a first end (21) and a second end (22) opposite to the first end, a reading surface (20) being located at the first end (21), a fitting section (2 m) being located at the second end (22);

a mounting flange (3) having a first side (3 a) and an opposite second side (3 b), and a first aperture (31) extending between the first side and the second side; and

a coupling (4) for fixing the mounting flange (3) to the fitting section (2 m), the coupling having a through hole (40) and an outer peripheral surface;

wherein the second end (22) of the sensor head (2) extends through the through hole (40), and the mounting flange is fitted over the outer circumferential surface of the coupling member (4) through the first hole (31) and is fixed to the second end (22) in a tight-fitting manner;

wherein the first side (3 a) faces the first end (21), the perpendicular distance between the reading surface (20) and the first side (3 a) defining a reading height (H) of the sensor assembly.

2. Sensor assembly (1) according to claim 1, wherein the fitting section (2 m) of the sensor head (2) is configured cylindrically and the length of the fitting section (2 m) is greater than the length of the through hole (40).

3. Sensor assembly (1) according to claim 2, wherein the through hole (40) of the coupling (4) is a circular through hole, the diameter of the fitting section (2 m) being the same as the diameter of the circular through hole.

4. A sensor assembly (1) according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the mounting flange (3) further comprises a second hole (32) for mounting the sensor assembly to a mounting surface, wherein the first hole (31) is spaced apart from the second hole (32), said first hole (31) being a circular hole.

5. The sensor assembly (1) according to claim 4, wherein the outer circumferential surface of the coupling (4) comprises a first cylindrical section (41) near the first end and a conical section (42) near the second end and a second cylindrical section (43) between the first cylindrical section and the conical section, the conical section (42) tapering from the second cylindrical section (43) towards the second end, the diameter of the first hole (31) being slightly smaller than the diameter of the second cylindrical section (43).

6. Sensor assembly (1) according to claim 5, wherein a stop flange (44) is provided between the first cylindrical section (41) and the second cylindrical section (43) for defining the position of the mounting flange.

7. Sensor assembly (1) according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the coupling (4) comprises three separate and identical arc-shaped sections (4 a), wherein the central angle of each arc-shaped section (4 a) is 120 degrees.

8. Sensor assembly (1) according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the coupling (4) is configured as an integral piece in the form of a sleeve, a plurality of slits extending from the conical section to the second cylindrical section being provided in the body of the coupling.

9. Sensor assembly (1) according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the outer circumferential surface of the coupling has the same central axis as the circular through hole.

10. The sensor assembly (1) according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the central axis of the outer circumferential surface of the coupling is offset with respect to the central axis of the circular through hole.