Vibration-type gyro apparatus

• US 4,694,696 A
• Filed: 10/23/1985
• Issued: 09/22/1987
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/1984
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kabushikikaisha Tokyo Keiki
• Original Assignee: Kabushikikaisha Tokyo Keiki
• Inventors: Saito, Masahiko, Hane, Fuyuki, Okamura, Youji, Hojo, Takeshi, Fukano, Michio, Yamamoto, Kanshi, Sato, Kazuteru, Kawada, Shin-Ichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Chapman, John
• Application Number:
  US06/790,527
• Time in Patent Office: 699 Days
• Field of Search: 73/497, 73/505, 310/315, 310/329, 310/370, 331/156
• US Class Current: 73/497
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 19/5607 using vibrating tuning forks double-ended tuning forks using planar vibrating masses suspended at opposite ends G01C19/5719
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 1/006 used for thermal compensation

Abstract

A vibration-type gyro apparatus is disclosed, which includes a vibration mass portion, a piezo-electric element for detecting the displacement of the apparatus and a preamplifier having an input resistance R and supplied with the output from the piezo-electric element, wherein the input resistance R is selected to have a value substantially expressed as R≈1/Cω (where C is an electrostatic capacity of the piezo-electric element and ω is a vibration angular velocity of the mass portion) so that the gyro apparatus will be substantially free of variations due to temperature changes.

Claims

1. A vibration-type gyro apparatus comprising:

a vibrating tuning fork-type vibrator having at least a vibration mass portion and a pair of leg portions;

a drive apparatus for continuously vibrating said vibrator;

a displacement detector formed of a first piezo-electric element for detecting a vibration of said vibrator;

a first pre-amplifier having a first input resistance R1 and supplied with an output from said first piezo-electric element;

a control apparatus connected to said first pre-amplifier for controlling said drive apparatus so as to continuously and stably vibrate said vibrator;

a second piezo-electric element for detecting an angular vibration of said vibrator around an input axis passing through the center of said vibrator and in parallel to said leg portions of said vibrator;

a second pre-amplifier having a second input resistance R2 and supplied with an output from said second piezo-electric element; and

a demodulator for synchronously rectifying an output from said second piezo-electric element with respect to the output from said first piezoelectric element;

wherein said input resistance R1 of first pre-amplifier is selected to be a value substantially expressed as R1≈

1/C1ω

where C1 is an electrostatic capacitance of said first piezo-electric element and ω

is an angular frequency of said vibrator, and said second input resistance R2 is selected to be a value substantially expressed as R2≈

1/C2ω

where C2 is an electrostatic capacity of said second piezo-electric element.

2. A vibration-type gyro apparatus according to claim 1, in which said control apparatus produces a signal corresponding to a differentiated value of the output signal from said displacement detector and changes said signal corresponding to said differentiated value in response to a difference between said corresponding signal and a predetermined voltage, whereby said vibrator is vibrated at a frequency of said tuning fork-type vibrator and with a constant amplitude.

3. A vibration-type gyro apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein an output from said control apparatus is used as a reference voltage for said demodulator.