Micromachined inertial sensor for measuring rotational movements
First Claim
1. A micromachined gyroscope having a plane moving structure anchored to a fixed substrate, the moving structure being symmetrical about a first axis, lying in this plane comprising:
- two moving masses that are attached to flexure arms, the stiffness of which defines the main resonant frequency of the masses;
a structure for exciting the vibration of each mass in the plane of the structure;
a structure for detecting a vibration of the masses transverse to the plane; and
a mechanical coupling structure for connecting the masses together, ensuring that mechanical vibration energy is transferred from one mass to the other;
wherein the flexure arms connected to a moving mass are connected also to a fixed anchoring point, the inter-mass coupling structure being connected directly to the moving masses independently of the flexure arms and this coupling structure having a stiffness that is appreciably different from the stiffness of the flexure arms so that the main resonant frequency of the masses depends only slightly on the stiffness of the coupling structure.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention relates to gyroscopes having a vibrating structure that is micromachined in a silicon substrate. A novel vibrating structure is described, which has two moving masses 14 and 14′, connected by a vibration energy coupling structure (transverse arms 26, 26′, longitudinal arms 22, 22′, and a short transverse link 24 between the longitudinal links 22, 22′). The moving masses are also suspended from U-shaped flexure arms (13), having one branch end connected to the mass and another end connected to a fixed anchoring point 18. The flexure arms are not inserted between the coupling structure and the mass, but are independent of the coupling structure. The masses are excited so as to vibrate in their plane by electrostatic forces applied by interdigitated combs 11. The Coriolis forces make them vibrate perpendicular to the plane, and this vibration is detected by electrodes forming part of the moving masses.
26 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A micromachined gyroscope having a plane moving structure anchored to a fixed substrate, the moving structure being symmetrical about a first axis, lying in this plane comprising:
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two moving masses that are attached to flexure arms, the stiffness of which defines the main resonant frequency of the masses;
a structure for exciting the vibration of each mass in the plane of the structure;
a structure for detecting a vibration of the masses transverse to the plane; and
a mechanical coupling structure for connecting the masses together, ensuring that mechanical vibration energy is transferred from one mass to the other;
wherein the flexure arms connected to a moving mass are connected also to a fixed anchoring point, the inter-mass coupling structure being connected directly to the moving masses independently of the flexure arms and this coupling structure having a stiffness that is appreciably different from the stiffness of the flexure arms so that the main resonant frequency of the masses depends only slightly on the stiffness of the coupling structure. - 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)
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Specification