Microelectromechanical system with non-collinear force compensation
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A microelectromechanical system, comprising:
- a substrate;
a first load microstructure movably interconnected with said substrate for movement at least substantially along a first path;
a second load microstructure movably interconnected with said substrate;
a coupling assembly microstructure interconnecting said first and second load microstructures and that comprises means for transmitting a force that is exerted on said coupling assembly microstructure by at least one of said first and second load microstructures to achieve both first and second conditions, wherein said first condition is that said force is transmitted to said first load microstructure at least generally along said first path, and wherein said second condition is that no portion of said coupling assembly microstructure is deflected into contact with any other portion of said microelectromechanical system.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A microelectromechanical system is disclosed that constrains the direction of a force acting on a first load, where the force originates from the interaction of the first load and a second load. In particular, the direction of a force acting on the first load is caused to be substantially parallel with a motion of the first load. This force direction constraint is achieved by a force isolator microstructure that contains no rubbing or contacting surfaces. Various embodiments of structures/methods to achieve this force direction constraint using a force isolator microstructure are disclosed.
59 Citations
74 Claims
-
1. A microelectromechanical system, comprising:
-
a substrate;
a first load microstructure movably interconnected with said substrate for movement at least substantially along a first path;
a second load microstructure movably interconnected with said substrate;
a coupling assembly microstructure interconnecting said first and second load microstructures and that comprises means for transmitting a force that is exerted on said coupling assembly microstructure by at least one of said first and second load microstructures to achieve both first and second conditions, wherein said first condition is that said force is transmitted to said first load microstructure at least generally along said first path, and wherein said second condition is that no portion of said coupling assembly microstructure is deflected into contact with any other portion of said microelectromechanical system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
-
-
49. A microelectromechanical system, comprising:
-
a substrate;
a first load microstructure movably interconnected with said substrate for movement along a first path that is at least generally parallel with said substrate;
a second load microstructure movably interconnected with said substrate;
a force isolator microstructure interconnected with said substrate;
a first coupling microstructure allowing a first force to be transmitted between said force isolator microstructure and said first load microstructure, wherein said first force is in a direction that is at least generally collinear with a motion of said first load microstructure along said first path; and
a second coupling microstructure allowing a second force to be transmitted between said force isolator microstructure and said second load microstructure, wherein said first and second forces are non-collinear, wherein a third force exerted on said force isolator microstructure is a resultant of said first and second forces, wherein said force isolator microstructure is configured such that no surfaces of said force isolator microstructure are deflected into contact with any other portion of said microelectromechanical system during normal operation of said microelectromechanical system and including upon exposure to said third force. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52)
-
-
53. A method for operating a microelectromechanical system that comprises first and second load microstructures and a coupling assembly microstructure that is disposed between and that interconnects said first and second load microstructures, said method comprising the steps of:
-
moving said first load microstructure relative to said substrate at least generally along a first path;
moving said second load microstructure relative to said substrate at least substantially along a second path, wherein said moving said second load microstructure step exerts a force on said coupling microstructure having a vector that is disposed in non-collinear relation to said first path;
configuring said microelectromechanical system to preclude any portion of said coupling microstructure from deflecting into contact with any other portion of said microelectromechanical system due to said moving said second load microstructure step; and
redirecting said force prior to reaching said first load microstructure so as be at least substantially directed along said first path. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74)
-
Specification