Abstract: A pressure sensor is claimed for measuring the pressure of a fluid. The pressure sensor comprises two or more half bridges, an analog-to-digital converter, a microcontroller, an output generator, and one or more redundancy circuits. Each half bridge comprises two resistive pressure sensing elements (RSPE) electrically coupled to the analog-to-digital converter. Each redundancy circuit comprises a switch and resistor electrically in series. A redundancy circuit may be disposed electrically in parallel with any or all of the RSPEs of the half bridges such that when an RSPE fails open, its corresponding redundancy circuit may be activated in order to permit the resistor of the redundancy circuit to take the place of the RSPE. This permits the analog-to-digital converter to continue to operate normally, even with a failed RSPE. The pressure sensor may then base its calculated pressure on the remaining half bridges which do not have a failed RSPE.

Abstract: A pressure sensor is disclosed for measuring the pressure of a fluid, the pressure sensor comprising an atmospheric pressure sensing element, a fluid pressure sensing element, a processing unit, and a switch. The atmospheric pressure sensing element measures atmospheric pressure and the fluid pressure sensing element measures relative pressure of the fluid with respect to the atmospheric pressure. The switch is electrically coupled to the processing unit and comprises a first state and a second state, wherein: when the switch is set to the first state, the processing unit determines the absolute pressure of the fluid, and the processing unit generates an output corresponding to the absolute pressure of the fluid; and when the switch is set to the second state, the processing unit determines the relative pressure of the fluid, and the processing unit generates an output corresponding to the relative of the fluid.

Abstract: An atmospheric pressure sensor is disclosed which comprises an atmospheric pressure sensing element, a processing unit, and an interface unit. The atmospheric pressure sensing element is operable to measure the atmospheric pressure, and the processing unit is electrically coupled to the atmospheric pressure sensing element and is operable to read the measured atmospheric pressure from the atmospheric pressure sensing element. The processing unit is operable to generate a message if the measured atmospheric pressure meets one or more criteria. And the interface unit is electrically coupled to the processing unit and is operable to electrically receive the message from the processing unit and transmit the message to a receiving device.

Abstract: A pressure sensor is claimed for measuring the pressure of a fluid. The pressure sensor comprises two or more half bridges, an analog-to-digital converter, a microcontroller, an output generator, and one or more redundancy circuits. Each half bridge comprises two resistive pressure sensing elements (RSPE) electrically coupled to the analog-to-digital converter. Each redundancy circuit comprises a switch and resistor electrically in series. A redundancy circuit may be disposed electrically in parallel with any or all of the RSPEs of the half bridges such that when an RSPE fails open, its corresponding redundancy circuit may be activated in order to permit the resistor of the redundancy circuit to take the place of the RSPE. This permits the analog-to-digital converter to continue to operate normally, even with a failed RSPE. The pressure sensor may then base its calculated pressure on the remaining half bridges which do not have a failed RSPE.

Abstract: A melt pressure sensor comprises a housing, a stem, a pressure sensing element, a time-to-digital converter, a processor, a digital-to-analog converter, and a first input. The stem comprises a pressure sensing surface fluidly coupled to a molten material. The pressure sensing surface is mechanically or fluidly coupled to the pressure sensing element, and the pressure sensing element is electrically coupled to the time-to-digital converter, which determines the melt pressure by measuring an electrical characteristic of the pressure sensing element. The processor reads the pressure from the time-to-digital converter and outputs an analog output value from the digital-to-analog converter representative of the melt pressure. When the first input is activated, the processor causes the analog output signal to have a predetermined value.