Sensor arrangement and chip comprising additional fixing pins

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9640467-B2
Application number	US-201013388097-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 5, 2010
Priority date	Aug 5, 2009
Publication date	May 2, 2017
Grant date	May 2, 2017

Abstract

An electronic chip is disclosed, including at least one electronic circuit and two or more contact-making pins, wherein the chip additionally has at least one fixing pin. A sensor arrangement is also disclosed for detecting at least one physical or chemical variable relating to a carrier. The sensor arrangement has at least one sensor element which is directly or indirectly coupled to the carrier, and also has an electronic interface arrangement with at least one leadframe, at least one electronic circuit connected to the leadframe, and also at least one electrically insulating housing part which is embodied in such a way that it performs at least one of the functions of (i) at least partly enclosing the at least one electronic circuit, and (ii) mechanically supporting at least parts of the leadframe to one another.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An electronic chip, comprising at least one electronic circuit, two or more contact-making pins, and at least one fixing pin,
wherein the at least one fixing pin includes a first portion that projects in a lateral direction from the chip, and includes a second portion that projects in a direction perpendicular to the lateral direction below a lower surface of the chip, the second portion projecting further below the lower surface of the chip than each of the contact-making pins,
wherein the at least one fixing pin extends from a same side of the chip as the two or more contact-making pins, and
wherein the at least one fixing pin has at least one feature selected from a group consisting of:
the at least one fixing pin has a larger cross section than the contact-making pins,
the at least one fixing pin is formed from a different material than the contact-making pins,
and
the spring stiffness of the at least one fixing pin is at least 25% greater than the spring stiffness of the contact-making pin.

2. The chip as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the spring stiffness of the at least one fixing pin is at least twice as great as the spring stiffness of the contact-making pin.

3. An electronic chip, comprising at least one electronic circuit, two or more contact-making pins, and at least one fixing pin,
wherein the at least one fixing pin includes a first portion that projects in a lateral direction from the chip, and includes a second portion that projects in a direction perpendicular to the lateral direction below a lower surface of the chip, the second portion projecting further below the lower surface of the chip than each of the contact-making pins,
wherein the at least one fixing pin extends from a same side of the chip as the two or more contact-making pins, and
wherein the at least one fixing pin projects more than half the height or length or width of the chip housing laterally from the chip housing.

4. A sensor arrangement for detecting at least one physical or chemical variable relating to a carrier, wherein the sensor arrangement has at least one sensor element which is directly or Indirectly coupled to the carrier, and also has an electronic interface arrangement with at least one leadframe, at least one electronic circuit connected to the at least one leadframe, and also at least one electrically insulating housing part which is embodied in such a way that it performs at least one of the functions of (i) at least partly enclosing the at least one electronic circuit, and (ii) mechanically supporting at least parts of the at least one leadframe to one another, wherein the electronic interface arrangement has two or more contact-making pins, at least one of which is electrically conductively connected to the at least one sensor element,
wherein the electronic interface arrangement additionally has at least one fixing pin which is directly or indirectly mechanically connected to the carrier, the at least one fixing pin including a first portion that projects in a lateral direction from the electronic interface arrangement, and a second portion that projects in a direction perpendicular to the lateral direction below a lower surface of the electronic interface arrangement,
wherein the at least one sensor element has a defined measurement zone with the carrier, the defined measurement zone defined as a contact area between the at least one sensor element and the carrier and a predetermined area of the carrier surrounding the contact area, and
wherein the at least one fixing pin is directly or indirectly mechanically connected to the carrier in an area of the carrier outside the defined measurement zone of the at least one sensor element.

5. The sensor arrangement as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the sensor arrangement has a plurality of sensor elements which are arranged directly or indirectly on or in the carrier and wherein the interface arrangement comprises a plurality of fixing pins.

6. The sensor arrangement as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the measurement zone of each sensor element is defined as the contact area between the sensor element and the carrier and additionally an adjoining area of the carrier around the contact area with a width (d) of said adjoining area which is greater than or equal to 50% of a width (b) or of a length (l) of a basic area of the sensor element.

7. The sensor arrangement as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the interface arrangement is arranged above one or more of the sensor elements.

8. The sensor arrangement as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the interface arrangement is formed and arranged in a manner enclosing the carrier.

9. The sensor arrangement as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the interface arrangement is formed and arranged enclosing the carrier in a substantially ring-shaped manner.

10. The sensor arrangement as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the at least one fixing pin has at least one feature selected from a group consisting of:
the at least one fixing pin has a larger cross section than the contact-making pins,
the at least one fixing pin is formed from a different material than the contact-making pins, and
the spring stiffness of the at least one fixing pin is at least 25% greater than the spring stiffness of the contact-making pin.

11. The sensor arrangement as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the spring stiffness of the at least one fixing pin is at least twice as great as the spring stiffness of the contact-making pin.

12. The sensor arrangement as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the sensor element is embodied as a strain gauge and is connected to the carrier by an electrically insulating insulation layer.

13. The sensor arrangement as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the at least one sensor element and the interface arrangement are covered or surrounded jointly on the carrier at least partly by at least one of a protective compound, a cover, or a housing.

14. The sensor arrangement as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the carrier is embodied in curved fashion as an outer housing of a bearing.

15. The sensor arrangement as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the sensor arrangement comprises a self-test device, which is embodied in such a way that it tests one or both of (i) the electrical effectiveness of the insulation layer between sensor element and carrier, and (ii) the electrical effectiveness of an additional insulation layer between the at least one electronic circuit of the Interface arrangement and the at least one sensor element.

16. The sensor arrangement as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the Interface arrangement at least partly encloses jointly the carrier and the sensor elements arranged on/in the latter, wherein the interface arrangement and also the sensor elements are additionally jointly surrounded by an Inner housing having openings, which is fixed on the carrier and the interface arrangement, the sensor elements and also the inner housing are jointly encapsulated by injection molding with plastic as outer housing on the carrier.

17. The sensor arrangement as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the interface arrangement at least partly encloses jointly the carrier and the sensor elements arranged on/in the latter, wherein the interface arrangement and also the sensor elements are additionally jointly surrounded by a substantially solid housing fixed on the carrier, said housing being filled with a protective compound.

18. An electronic chip, comprising at least one electronic circuit, two or more contact-making pins, and at least one fixing pin,
wherein the at least one fixing pin includes a fir

Assignees

• Schillinger Jakob
• Risch Stephan
• Huber Dietmar
• Romhart Günther
• Döring Andreas
• Continental Teves Ag & Co Ohg

Inventors

• Schillinger Jakob
• Risch Stephan
• Huber Dietmar
• Romhart Günther
• Döring Andreas

Classifications

• H10W90/756

  between a chip and a stacked lead frame, conducting package substrate or heat sink · CPC title

• H10W90/753

  between laterally-adjacent chips · CPC title

• H10W74/00

  Encapsulations, e.g. protective coatings · CPC title

• H10W72/5449

  not being orthogonal to a side surface of the chip, e.g. fan-out arrangements · CPC title

• H10W70/421 Primary

  Shapes or dispositions · CPC title