MEMS device having distance stops
First Claim
1. A micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) device comprising:
- a bottom capacitive plate;
a top capacitive plate, such that a capacitor is definable between the bottom and the top capacitive plates;
a mechanism electrostatically movably disposed between the bottom and the top capacitive plates;
one or more flexures movably disposed between the bottom capacitive plate and the mechanism and having distance stops between the bottom capacitive plate and the mechanism corresponding to maximum downward movement; and
,one or more electrodes of the bottom capacitive plate and corresponding to the flexures, such that energizing different of the electrodes causes the flexures to move to different of the distance stops, resultantly causing the mechanism to move to different positions between the bottom and the top capacitive plates.
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Abstract
A micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) device includes bottom and top capacitive plates, such that a capacitor is definable therebetween. A mechanism is electrostatically movably disposed between the bottom and top capacitive plates. One or more flexures are movably disposed between the bottom capacitive plate and the mechanism, and having distance stops between the bottom capacitive plate and the mechanism corresponding to maximum downward movement. The MEMS device includes one or more electrodes of the bottom capacitive plate corresponding to the flexures. Energizing different of the electrodes causes the flexures to move to different of the distance stops, causing the mechanism to move to different positions between the bottom and top capacitive plates.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) device comprising:
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a bottom capacitive plate; a top capacitive plate, such that a capacitor is definable between the bottom and the top capacitive plates; a mechanism electrostatically movably disposed between the bottom and the top capacitive plates; one or more flexures movably disposed between the bottom capacitive plate and the mechanism and having distance stops between the bottom capacitive plate and the mechanism corresponding to maximum downward movement; and
,one or more electrodes of the bottom capacitive plate and corresponding to the flexures, such that energizing different of the electrodes causes the flexures to move to different of the distance stops, resultantly causing the mechanism to move to different positions between the bottom and the top capacitive plates. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A display device comprising:
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a plurality of display elements corresponding to a plurality of pixels of the display device, each display element having a reflective plate electrostatically movable to different positions based on a number of distance stops, wherein visible light enters each display element and is reflected back by the reflective plate differently based on a position of the reflective plate. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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19. A method comprising:
for each display element of a plurality of display elements of a display device, determining a color to be displayed by the display element as one of a discrete number of colors; determining a position of an electrostatically movable reflective plate of the display element corresponding to the color to be displayed by the display element; and
,energizing a plurality of electrodes of the display element to move the reflective plate to the position corresponding to the color to be displayed by the display element, wherein energizing the electrodes causes at least one of a plurality of flexures of the display element to move to one of a plurality of distance stops, resultantly causing the reflective plate to move to the position corresponding to the color to be displayed by the display element. - View Dependent Claims (20)
Specification