YAW-RATE SENSOR
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Abstract
A yaw-rate sensor having a substrate and a plurality of movable substructures that are mounted over a surface of the substrate, the movable substructures being coupled to a shared, in particular, central spring element, means being provided for exciting the movable substructures into a coupled oscillation in a plane that extends parallel to the surface of the substrate, the movable substructures having Coriolis elements, means being provided for detecting deflections of the Coriolis elements induced by a Coriolis force, a first Coriolis element being provided for detecting a yaw rate about a first axis, a second Coriolis element being provided for detecting a yaw rate about a second axis, the second axis being oriented perpendicularly to the first axis.
13 Citations
29 Claims
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1-19. -19. (canceled)
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20. A micromechanical ladder spring for suspending Coriolis elements, comprising:
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two substantially parallel bars; and a plurality of connecting rungs; wherein; the two bars are joined along their lengths by the plurality of connecting rungs; and interspacing between the plurality of connecting rungs is at least as great as the distance between the bars.
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21. A sensor comprising:
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a substrate; a plurality of substructures that are mounted over a surface of the substrate, wherein the plurality of substructures include; a first Coriolis element arranged such that it is deflected by the occurrence of, and in a same direction as, the detected deflection caused by the Coriolis force generated due to the input motion about the first axis; and a second Coriolis element arranged such that it is deflected by the occurrence of, and in a same direction as, the detected deflection caused by the Coriolis force generated due to the input motion about the second axis; and a driver configured to set the substructures into a driven mode in which the substructures oscillate in a plane that extends parallel to the surface of the substrate; and a plurality of detectors configured to detect deflections of the plurality of substructures, the deflections including (a) deflections caused by a Coriolis force generated due to, and associated by the sensor with, an input motion about a first axis, (b) deflections caused by a Coriolis force generated due to, and associated by the sensor with, an input motion about a second axis that is perpendicular to the first axis, and (c) deflections caused by a Coriolis force generated due to, and associated by the sensor with, an input motion about a third axis that is perpendicular to each of the first and second axes; wherein the first and second Coriolis elements are coupled to a same shared frame. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. A sensor comprising:
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a substrate; a plurality of substructures that are mounted over a surface of the substrate, wherein at least a portion of each of the substructures defines a trapezoidal shape; a driver configured to set the substructures into a driven mode in which the substructures oscillate in a plane that extends parallel to the surface of the substrate; and a plurality of detectors configured to detect deflections of the plurality of substructures, the deflections including (a) deflections caused by a Coriolis force generated due to, and associated by the sensor with, an input motion about a first axis, (b) deflections caused by a Coriolis force generated due to, and associated by the sensor with, an input motion about a second axis that is perpendicular to the first axis, and (c) deflections caused by a Coriolis force generated due to, and associated by the sensor with, an input motion about a third axis that is perpendicular to each of the first and second axes.
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24. A sensor comprising:
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a substrate; a plurality of substructures that are mounted over a surface of the substrate, wherein each of the substructures is separately anchored to the substrate by a respective spring arrangement; a driver configured to set the substructures into a driven mode in which the substructures oscillate in a plane that extends parallel to the surface of the substrate; and a plurality of detectors configured to detect deflections of the plurality of substructures, the deflections including (a) deflections caused by a Coriolis force generated due to, and associated by the sensor with. an input motion about a first axis, (b) deflections caused by a Coriolis force generated due to, and associated by the sensor with, an input motion about a second axis that is perpendicular to the first axis, and (c) deflections caused by a Coriolis force generated due to, and associated by the sensor with, an input motion about a third axis that is perpendicular to each of the first and second axes.
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25. An angular rate sensor comprising:
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a base; four substantially planar masses disposed substantially in a plane parallel to and above the base, the four substantially planar masses configured to move in a driven mode, wherein, in the driven mode, the four substantially planar masses move in the plane simultaneously away or simultaneously towards a point; a X-axis capacitive sensor including an electrode formed on the base; a Y-axis capacitive sensor including an electrode formed on the base; and a Z-axis capacitive sensor including a moveable electrode attached to the at least one of the four substantially planar masses and a fixed electrode fixed to the base; wherein; the Z-axis capacitive sensor senses changes in distance between the moveable electrode and the fixed electrode caused movement of the planar masses about the Z axis; and the X-axis capacitive sensor, Y-axis capacitive sensor, and Z-axis capacitive sensor sense angular velocity of the angular rate sensor about three different input axes of the angular rate sensor. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
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29. An angular rate sensor comprising:
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a base; a plurality of substantially planar masses disposed substantially in a plane parallel to and above the base, wherein the angular rate sensor is configured to operate in a drive mode in Which a first pair of the plurality of planar masses move simultaneously antiparallel to each other away from or towards a point and a second pair of the plurality of planar masses move simultaneously antiparallel to each other away from or towards the point, and wherein the movement of the first pair of planar masses and the movement of the second pair of planar masses are along different respective axes; an X-axis capacitive sensor including an electrode formed on the base; a Y-axis capacitive sensor including an electrode formed on the base; and a Z-axis capacitive sensor including a moveable electrode attached to one of the planar masses and a fixed electrode substantially parallel to the moveable electrode and extending in the plane; wherein the X-axis capacitive sensor, the Y-axis capacitive sensor, and the Z-axis capacitive sensor sense angular velocity of the angular rate sensor about three different input axes of the angular rate sensor.
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Specification