JP4636915B2 - Air flow measurement device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a device that detects the flow rate, pressure, temperature, and oxygen amount of an internal combustion engine, and more particularly to a flow rate sensor that measures the intake air amount of an internal combustion engine.

  Conventionally, devices for measuring physical quantities such as flow sensors, pressure sensors, temperature sensors, oxygen concentration sensors, etc. have been installed in the intake and exhaust pipes of internal combustion engines such as automobiles so that the operating state of the internal combustion engine is appropriate. It is controlled.

  In this physical quantity measuring device, a sensor for measuring a physical quantity and a drive circuit and an input / output circuit for driving the sensor, amplifying the sensor signal, and transmitting the sensor signal to the control device are formed.

In recent years, in order to reduce the size and cost of circuit boards, there are many examples in which pure Ag or Ag-Pt conductors mainly composed of Ag are used as the wiring material used for circuit boards from conventional Ag-Pd conductors. It has become. Pure Ag and Ag-Pt conductors are relatively small in resistivity and can be miniaturized and suitable for downsizing, but their corrosion resistance is lower than that of conventional Ag-Pd conductors. Ensuring was an issue.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-12987

  In the prior art, a wiring conductor mainly composed of Ag printed on a ceramic multilayer substrate is formed.

  In many cases, an Ag—Pd conductor, an Ag—Pt conductor, or the like is used as the wiring conductor material, and Ag is used as the interior conductor.

  In recent years, Ag-Pt conductors are often used instead of Ag-Pd conductors for the purpose of miniaturization and cost reduction, but most of Ag-Pt conductors are Ag, and corrosion resistance is a concern.

  Usually, these conductor materials are coated with glass to prevent corrosion. However, since glass has pinholes, further improvement is necessary to completely prevent corrosion.

  In particular, air flow sensors, pressure sensors, temperature sensors, and oxygen concentration sensors installed in the intake pipe or exhaust pipe of an internal combustion engine are exposed to various corrosive gases. The problem is to provide a measuring device.

The present invention is an air flow rate measuring device that is installed in an intake pipe of an internal combustion engine and measures the flow rate of air flowing through the intake pipe, and includes a laminated substrate in which a plurality of substrates are laminated, and a through hole formed in the laminated substrate. And a conductor made of a metal mainly composed of a base metal material formed on the multilayer substrate , and a plurality of electronic components such as a chip resistor and a chip capacitor that are electrically connected by the conductor , and the conductor is , Ri interior conductor der formed on the inner layer of the multilayer substrate, the solder paste on the through hole is applied, the portion where the solder paste is applied, a chip resistor and a chip capacitor located on the surface of the laminated substrate A plurality of electronic components such as these are mounted, and the plurality of electronic components are electrically connected by an interior conductor. Thereby, corrosion of the metal mainly composed of Ag can be prevented, and a significant improvement in reliability can be expected.

  This is a structure in which the conductor mainly composed of Ag is covered with solder, and corrosion of Ag can be avoided. Thereby, a highly reliable physical quantity measuring device can be provided.

  Reliability can be improved by changing the pattern layout without changing the material and component configuration using the conventional ceramic multilayer substrate.

  FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional structure of a flow rate measuring apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional structure of a laminated substrate on which the circuit shown in FIG. 1 is mounted. FIG. 3 is a front view of the multilayer substrate of FIG.

  The first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a flow rate measuring device 1 has a flow rate sensor element 2 disposed in a sub-passage 7 formed in a main passage 5, a laminated substrate that drives the flow rate sensor element 2 and converts it into an output signal. 4 and the housing 3, etc., and measures the intake air flow rate. The flow of inhaled air is indicated by the arrow 6.

  Details of the multilayer substrate 4 shown in FIG. 1 are shown in FIG. The laminated substrate 4 is made of ceramic such as alumina or glass-alumina, and when thermal conductivity is required, the product made of alumina is used, and when thermal insulation is required, the product is made of glass-alumina. Things are used.

  The method of manufacturing the laminated substrate is to form through holes 25 in an unfired soft green sheet substrate, print through hole vias 27a and 27b, interior conductors 26, gold conductors 28, etc. Firing after adhering. In this structure, exposed portions of the conductors such as through-hole vias 27a and 27b are printed and baked after baking to form a glass coating 29. In FIG. 2, the laminated substrate 4 is a laminate of five green sheets. Further, the portion on which the flow sensor element 2 is mounted is formed by laminating a substrate in which holes are made in a green sheet and a substrate in which holes are not made in advance by press punching.

Materials filled in the through-hole 25, materials used in the interior conductor 26, and materials used in the through-hole vias 27a and 27b are materials mainly composed of Ag that is inexpensive in price and capable of reducing resistance. Is generally used. For example, pure Ag is used for the interior conductor, and an Ag—Pt conductor in which Pt of several percent is mixed with Ag is used for the through hole 25 and the through hole vias 27a and 27b.

  However, Ag is a material that easily corrodes, and in particular, various sensors attached to an intake pipe and an exhaust pipe of an internal combustion engine have a problem of corrosion resistance. For example, in the flow rate measuring device 1 arranged in the intake pipe, SOx gas or NOx gas contained in blow-by gas, or unreacted sulfur excessively introduced from a rubber duct vulcanized with sulfur becomes sulfur gas. Occurs and reaches the flow rate measuring device 1 after the engine is stopped.

  Further, a large amount of SOx gas or NOx gas is generated in the exhaust pipe, and reaches various sensors attached to the exhaust pipe.

  Therefore, in order to improve the corrosion resistance, it is necessary to devise such as using an Ag—Pd conductor containing about 30% of precious metal Pd. However, if there are many noble metals, it will be expensive in price, and since wiring resistance will also increase, it will be necessary to make a wiring conductor thick, and size reduction will become difficult.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, chip components 30 such as chip capacitors and chip resistors and chip electrodes 31 are mounted on the through-hole vias 27a and 27b via solder 23, and a wiring conductor mainly composed of Ag is formed on the laminated substrate. The structure was not formed on the outermost surface. In addition, a gold conductor 28 is formed in a portion where the solder 23 cannot be connected as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and the through-hole vias 27a and 27b are covered with a glass coating 29, and Ag is mainly used. The wiring conductor was prevented from being formed on the substrate surface.

  As a result, by applying the present invention to the flow rate measuring device 1, it is possible to reduce the cost and reduce the size and to significantly improve the corrosion resistance.

  It is to be noted that a certain degree of corrosion resistance can also be obtained by making the wiring conductor a conductor mainly composed of Ag and applying the glass coating 29 on the wiring conductor. However, since the glass coating 29 has pinholes, the pin is formed on the thin wiring conductor. If holes exist, corrosion tends to proceed from there.

  Therefore, the structure of the present invention in which only a part that is somewhat large like the through-hole vias 27a and 27b is formed on the outermost surface of the multilayer substrate 4 as in the present invention is very advantageous.

  On the substrate, there are the flow sensor element 2 and the electronic component 32 which are connected by connection wires 21a and 21b such as gold wire or aluminum wire, but the connection wire 21a and the through-hole via 27b are corroded like the epoxy resin 22. If the material is sealed with a material that does not allow the passage of a reactive gas, the corrosion resistance becomes even more advantageous.

  Although the above has described the prevention of corrosion of conductors mainly composed of Ag, the present invention is not limited to conductors mainly composed of Ag, and other base metal materials such as Cu conductors and W conductors are used. The same effect can be obtained.

  In addition, some laminated substrates 4 are made of resin. However, in the case of resin, there is a risk that corrosive gas permeates through the resin substrate, and the heat treatment at the time of forming the glass coating 29 is not constant. It is effective to use the laminated substrate 4 made of ceramics such as the aforementioned alumina or glass-alumina.

  4 and 5 are a sectional view and a front view of a laminated substrate 4 for explaining another embodiment of the present invention.

In the present invention, the through hole via 27c is completely covered with the gold conductor 28 except for the through hole via 27a covered with solder such as the chip component 30 and the chip electrode 31. Further, the glass coating 29 is formed thereon. As a result, a portion mainly composed of Ag has a structure completely covered with the gold conductor 28 and the glass coating 29, and further improvement in corrosion resistance can be expected. However,
When Au and Ag are subjected to heat treatment after printing, a gap may occur at the boundary due to a diffusion phenomenon. Therefore, it is necessary to devise such as using an Ag conductor in which Au is mixed with Au and overlaying the Au conductor 28 thereon.

  In the second embodiment, the corrosion prevention of the conductor mainly composed of Ag is described. However, the present invention is not limited to the conductor mainly composed of Ag. For example, other base metal materials such as a Cu conductor and a W conductor are used. The same effect can be obtained even when using.

FIG. 6 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, the internal combustion engine has an air cleaner 101 installed at the inlet of the intake pipe, and a temperature sensor 102 and a flow rate measuring device 1 are attached between the air cleaner 101 and the throttle body 109. The air cleaner 101 and the throttle body 109 are connected by a rubber duct 106, and a pressure sensor 108 is attached to the throttle body 109.

  An oxygen concentration sensor 117 is attached to the exhaust pipe, and the various sensor signals described above are processed by the control unit 111. Based on the information, fuel is injected from the injector 112 into the cylinder.

  By adopting the laminated substrate of the present invention for various sensors such as the temperature sensor 102, the flow rate measuring device 1, the pressure sensor 108, and the oxygen concentration sensor 117 mounted on the intake pipe and the exhaust pipe, it is possible to reduce the cost and size. It can be a product with high corrosion resistance.

  In addition to a physical quantity measuring device attached to an intake pipe and an exhaust pipe of an internal combustion engine, the present invention can be applied to a flow rate sensor, a pressure sensor, and a temperature sensor that detect the flow rate of EGR gas.

It is sectional drawing which shows the flow volume measuring apparatus by this invention (Example 1). FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the multilayer substrate shown in FIG. 1 (Example 1). FIG. 3 is a front view of the multilayer substrate shown in FIG. 2 (Example 1). (Example 2) which is sectional drawing of the multilayer substrate by this invention. (Example 2) which is a front view of the laminated substrate shown in FIG. (Example 3) which is a system diagram of the internal combustion engine by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Flow measuring device, 2 ... Flow sensor element, 3 ... Housing, 4 ... Laminated substrate, 5 ... Main passage, 6 ... Fluid flow, 7 ... Sub passage, 21a, 21b ... Connection wire, 22 ... Epoxy resin,
23 ... Solder, 24 ... Die bond material, 25 ... Through hole, 26 ... Interior conductor, 27a,
27b: Through-hole via, 28 ... Gold conductor, 29 ... Glass coating, 30 ... Chip component, 31 ... Chip electrode, 101 ... Air cleaner, 102 ... Temperature sensor, 106 ... Rubber duct, 108 ... Pressure sensor, 109 ... Throttle body, 111 ... Control unit, 112 ... Injector, 117 ... Oxygen concentration sensor.

Claims (5)

An air flow rate measuring device that is installed in an intake pipe of an internal combustion engine and measures an air flow rate flowing through the intake pipe,
A laminated substrate in which a plurality of substrates are laminated;
A through hole formed in the laminated substrate;
A conductor made of a metal mainly composed of a base metal material formed on the laminated substrate ;
A plurality of electronic components such as chip resistors and chip capacitors electrically connected by the conductor ,
Said conductor, Ri interior conductor der formed on the inner layer of the multilayer substrate,
A solder paste is applied on the through hole located on the surface of the multilayer substrate,
The plurality of electronic components are mounted at a location where the solder paste is applied,
The plurality of electronic components are electrically connected by the interior conductor. The air flow rate measuring device according to claim 1,
A gold conductor made of a metal mainly composed of gold located on the surface of the multilayer substrate;
A plurality of electronic components electrically connected by the gold conductor,
The gold conductors, instead of the solder paste, the wiring on the through hole located on the surface of the laminated substrate,
An air flow rate measuring apparatus, wherein the through hole via is protected with glass.   3. The air flow rate measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the base metal material is a metal material mainly composed of Ag.   3. The air flow rate measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the laminated substrate is made of ceramics such as alumina or glass-alumina. In the air flow measuring device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
An air flow rate measuring device in which a rubber duct vulcanized with sulfur is used in a part of an intake pipe of the internal combustion engine, and is inserted into the intake pipe.

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