How to Decrease Span of Pressure Gauge?

Suppose a pressure gauge uses a diaphragm as its pressure-sensing element, like this:

Pressure Gauge

This mechanism will work, but what if we desired to make it more sensitive? That is, we wished to decrease its measurement span so that less pressure would drive the pointer to full-scale.

What could we alter in this mechanism to decrease the measurement span?

Answer:

Possible things to change to make this pressure-measuring mechanism more sensitive:

• Increase the area of the diaphragm
• Decrease the spring rate of the diaphragm
• Move the fulcrum towards the linkage, to the left, away from the scale

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Credits: Tony R. Kuphaldt