Frame assembly and dither drive for a coriolis rate sensor
First Claim
1. A drive mechanism for a Coriolis rate sensor comprising:
- (a) a support plate including means for attaching the support plate to a supporting structure in a position adjacent the Coriolis rate sensor;
(b) a coil frame in which is mounted an electromagnetic coil, the coil frame being connected to the support plate along a flexure, the flexure having a bending axis about which the coil frame may pivot; and
(c) a core face on the electromagnetic coil being disposed proximate to and facing toward a corresponding pole face that is mounted on the Coriolis rate sensor.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for producing signals indicative of both a Coriolis rate and an acceleration along a preferred axis while decoupling extraneous vibration and motion that would introduce errors into the signals, and a driving mechanism for vibrating the apparatus at a dither frequency. The apparatus includes a parallelogram frame (50) including two accelerometer support surfaces (24, 26) on which are mounted two accelerometers (20 and 22) having their sensitive axes in parallel alignment. A driving mechanism (64) is connected to the parallelogram frame and is operative to drive the accelerometers at a desired frequency, causing them to vibrate back and forth in a direction substantially transverse to their sensitive axes. The driving mechanism includes a mounting plate (72) and a coil frame (66) on which are mounted two electromagnetic coils (70) having a "C" shaped core (80). The driving mechanism is mounted so that the core faces a pole piece (84) attached to the parallelogram frame and its moment of inertia is trimmed to equal that of the parallelogram frame. It is connected to the parallelogram by a link (88) and provides a reactionless driving force.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A drive mechanism for a Coriolis rate sensor comprising:
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(a) a support plate including means for attaching the support plate to a supporting structure in a position adjacent the Coriolis rate sensor; (b) a coil frame in which is mounted an electromagnetic coil, the coil frame being connected to the support plate along a flexure, the flexure having a bending axis about which the coil frame may pivot; and (c) a core face on the electromagnetic coil being disposed proximate to and facing toward a corresponding pole face that is mounted on the Coriolis rate sensor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A driver for a Coriolis rate sensor comprising:
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(a) a frame including a fixed part adapted to mount on a supporting structure at one side of the Coriolis rate sensor, said frame further including a flexible joint permitting a movable part of the frame to pivot about a bending axis relative to the fixed part of the frame; (b) an electromagnetic coil mounted on the movable part of the frame, including a core in close proximity to the Coriolis rate sensor; and
,(c) a pole piece mounted on one side of the Coriolis rate sensor, juxtaposed opposite the core, said electromagnetic coil providing an attractive force that causes the movable part of the frame with the electromagnetic coil mounted on it and said one side of the Coriolis rate sensor to rock toward each other. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A drive mechanism for causing a Coriolis rate sensor to rock back and forth, comprising:
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(a) means for mounting the drive mechanism to a supporting structure adjacent the Coriolis rate sensor; (b) electromagnetic means for providing a magnetic force; and (c) pivot means, for pivotally connecting the electromagnetic means to the means for mounting, enabling the electromagnetic means to move relative to the supporting structure, rocking toward and away from the Corioliss rate sensor in response to the magnetic force. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification