RESISTIVE FORCE SENSING DEVICE AND METHOD WITH AN ADVANCED COMMUNICATION INTERFACE

• US 20090234592A1
• Filed: 06/04/2009
• Published: 09/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ypoint Capital, Inc,
• Original Assignee: Loadstar Sensors Incorporated (Ypoint Capital, Inc,)
• Inventors: Harish, Divyasimha
• Granted Patent: US 7,644,628 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/41
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 1/20 by measuring variations in ohmic resistance of solid materials or of electrically-conductive fluids of piezo-resistive materials G01L1/18; by making use of electrokinetic cells, i.e. liquid-containing cells wherein an electrical potential is produced or varied upon the application of stress
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 1/2231 the supports being disc- or ring-shaped, adapted for measuring a force along a single direction
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 1/2243 the supports being parallelogram-shaped

Abstract

Several methods and a system of a resistive force sensing device and method with an advanced communication interface are disclosed. An exemplary embodiment provides a force measuring device. The force measuring device includes a resistive sensor having a fixed surface and a movable surface. A spring assembly is positioned between the fixed surface and the movable surface. The spring assembly alters in height in response to a force applied perpendicular to the movable surface and causes a change in a resistance of the resistive sensor. A circuit generates a measurement of the force based on an algorithm that considers a change in the resistance of the resistive sensor. A universal serial bus (USB) interface of the circuit provides digital output of the measurement to a computing device.

Claims

1. A force measuring device comprising:

a fixed surface and a movable surface;

a member positioned between the fixed surface and the movable surface, the member caused to deflect in response to a force applied to the movable surface and to cause a change in an electrical property of the force measuring device;

a circuit to measure the force based on an algorithm that considers the change in the electrical property of the force measuring device; and

a data processing module of the force measuring device to communicate a measurement through an advanced communication interface.

2. The force measuring device of claim 1, wherein the advanced communication interface is at least one of a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, a Bluetooth interface, a Zigbee interface, a WiFi interface, a WiMax interface, a Wibree interface, a RS-232 interface, a RS-422 interface, a RS-485 interface, an Ethernet interface and a Power over Ethernet interface.

3. The force measuring device of claim 1, wherein the algorithm is applied to convert a change in the electrical property to at least one of a voltage response and a frequency response to automatically generate the measurement, wherein the electrical property is at least one of a capacitance, a resistance, and an inductance.

4. The force measuring device of claim 1, wherein a contact zone cavity is formed in a ring-like fashion around a periphery of the movable surface, and wherein the force measuring device is a pancake sensor.

5. The force measuring device of claim 1, wherein the force measuring device is a S-Beam load cell that provides the measurement when under at least one of a tension and a compression mode.

6. A method of a resistive sensor comprising:

causing a change in an electrical property responsive to a deflection of a surface;

generating a measurement of a force through a circuit based on an algorithm that considers the change in the electrical property of the resistive sensor; and

communicating the measurement through an advanced communication interface through a data processing module of the resistive sensor, wherein the advanced communication interface is at least one of a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, a Bluetooth interface, a Zigbee interface, a WiFi interface, a WiMax interface, a Wibree interface, a RS-232 interface, a RS-422 interface, a RS-485 interface, an Ethernet interface and a Power over Ethernet interface.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

storing power in a battery of the resistive sensor, wherein the battery is at least one of a rechargeable battery, a lead acid battery, a nickel-cadmium battery, a lithium-ion battery, a wind power chargeable battery, and a solar power battery;

displaying the measurement to a user through the data processing module communicatively coupled to the resistive sensor; and

wirelessly communicating between the resistive sensor and the data processing system through a network.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the resistive sensor is at least one of a pancake sensor and an S-Beam load cell sensor.