GRA MEMS ACCELEROMETER
First Claim
1. An accelerometer that lies generally in a plane, for detecting acceleration along an input axis that is orthogonal to the plane of the accelerometer, comprising:
- a substrate defining a surface;
spaced bonding pads coupled to the substrate and projecting from the surface of the substrate;
a generally planar Servo Member (SM) spaced from and essentially parallel to the surface of the substrate and flexibly coupled to the bonding pads by servo member flexures such that the servo member is capable of oscillatory motion relative to the substrate about a servo axis that is in the plane of the servo member;
a generally planar plate Torque Summing Member (TSM) located within, coplanar with, and flexibly coupled to the SM such that the TSM is capable of rotational motion relative to the substrate about an output axis that is in the plane of the TSM and orthogonal to the servo axis, the TSM being mass-imbalanced relative to the output axis;
a generally planar plate rotor located within coplanar with, and flexibly coupled to the TSM such that the rotor is capable of rotary oscillatory motion relative to the TSM about a rotor axis that is orthogonal to the plane of the rotor, the torque summing member and the servo member;
one or more rotor drives for directly oscillating the rotor about the rotor axis at a rotor oscillation frequency and amplitude;
one or more SM drives for oscillating the SM about the servo axis at a servo member oscillation frequency and amplitude, and thereby also oscillating the rotor and torque summing member about the servo axis at the servo member oscillation frequency;
one or more rotor motion sensors that detect oscillation of the rotor relative to the substrate about the rotor axis;
one or more SM motion sensors that detect oscillation of the SM relative to the substrate about the servo axis; and
one or more TSM motion sensors that detect rotation of the TSM relative to the substrate about the output axis.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An accelerometer that lies generally in a plane, for detecting acceleration along an input axis. There is a substrate, a generally planar Servo Member (SM) flexibly coupled to the substrate such that it is capable of oscillatory motion about a servo axis that lies in the plane, a generally planar Torque Summing Member (TSM) coplanar with and flexibly coupled to the SM such that the TSM is capable of rotary motion relative to the SM about an output axis that is in the plane and orthogonal to the servo axis, wherein the TSM is mass-imbalanced relative to the output axis, and a generally planar rotor coplanar with and flexibly coupled to the TSM such that it is capable of rotary oscillatory motion relative to the TSM about a rotor axis that is orthogonal to the plane of the members. There are drives for oscillating the rotor about the rotor axis and for oscillating the SM about the servo axis. Output sensors detect oscillation of the rotor about the rotor axis and of the SM about the servo axis. Output sensors detect rotation of the TSM about the output axis.
8 Citations
62 Claims
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1. An accelerometer that lies generally in a plane, for detecting acceleration along an input axis that is orthogonal to the plane of the accelerometer, comprising:
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a substrate defining a surface; spaced bonding pads coupled to the substrate and projecting from the surface of the substrate; a generally planar Servo Member (SM) spaced from and essentially parallel to the surface of the substrate and flexibly coupled to the bonding pads by servo member flexures such that the servo member is capable of oscillatory motion relative to the substrate about a servo axis that is in the plane of the servo member; a generally planar plate Torque Summing Member (TSM) located within, coplanar with, and flexibly coupled to the SM such that the TSM is capable of rotational motion relative to the substrate about an output axis that is in the plane of the TSM and orthogonal to the servo axis, the TSM being mass-imbalanced relative to the output axis; a generally planar plate rotor located within coplanar with, and flexibly coupled to the TSM such that the rotor is capable of rotary oscillatory motion relative to the TSM about a rotor axis that is orthogonal to the plane of the rotor, the torque summing member and the servo member; one or more rotor drives for directly oscillating the rotor about the rotor axis at a rotor oscillation frequency and amplitude; one or more SM drives for oscillating the SM about the servo axis at a servo member oscillation frequency and amplitude, and thereby also oscillating the rotor and torque summing member about the servo axis at the servo member oscillation frequency; one or more rotor motion sensors that detect oscillation of the rotor relative to the substrate about the rotor axis; one or more SM motion sensors that detect oscillation of the SM relative to the substrate about the servo axis; and one or more TSM motion sensors that detect rotation of the TSM relative to the substrate about the output axis. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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2-25. -25. (canceled)
Specification