Electromagnetic damped inertia sensor
First Claim
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1. A sensor comprising:
- a housing;
an inertial mass that moves within said housing from a first position to a second position in response to an acceleration or deceleration signal of predetermined amplitude and duration in a sense urging said inertial mass toward the second position;
first means for indicating that the inertial mass has moved to the second position; and
second means, comprising a magnet and an electrical conductor, said magnet serving to hold said inertial mass in the first position until occurrence of such a signal, and said magnet and said conductor serving for generating an electro-magnetic force which is in response to motion of said inertial mass toward the second position and acts to dampen the motion of the inertial mass, one of said magnet and said electrical conductor being movable with said inertial mass and the other of said magnet and said electrical conductor being affixed to said housing.
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Abstract
A sensor comprising: an inertial mass movable from a first position to a second position in response to a acceleration (deceleration) signal of predetermined amplitude and duration; electrical contacts and a conductor on the inertial mass for indicating that the inertial mass has moved to the second position; an electrical conductor, reactive with other elements of the sensor for generating an electro-magnetic force tending to dampen the motion of the inertial mass; and a magnetically attractive element or magnet for biasing the inertial mass towards the first position.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A sensor comprising:
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a housing; an inertial mass that moves within said housing from a first position to a second position in response to an acceleration or deceleration signal of predetermined amplitude and duration in a sense urging said inertial mass toward the second position; first means for indicating that the inertial mass has moved to the second position; and second means, comprising a magnet and an electrical conductor, said magnet serving to hold said inertial mass in the first position until occurrence of such a signal, and said magnet and said conductor serving for generating an electro-magnetic force which is in response to motion of said inertial mass toward the second position and acts to dampen the motion of the inertial mass, one of said magnet and said electrical conductor being movable with said inertial mass and the other of said magnet and said electrical conductor being affixed to said housing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A sensor comprising;
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a non-magnetic, hollow housing including a wall; a ferrous plate secured proximate one end of the housing; an electrical contact assembly disposed at an opposite end of the housing; a non-magnetic motion stop positioned at the one end of the housing; a permanent magnet assembly, slidably disposed within the housing and movable between a first position in contact with the stop to a second position in electrical contact with the electrical contact assembly;
including a permanent magnet having its north and south poles axially aligned, and a ferrous shell secured to one of the magnetic poles, the ferrous shell comprising a cylindrical member extending rearwardly, circumferentially spaced from the permanent magnet and terminating proximate a plane containing the other magnetic pole, magnetic field from the magnet passing across the space between said other pole and said cylindrical member;electrical conductor means located within the circumferential space between the cylindrical member and the permanent magnet to cut the magnetic field of the permanent magnet passing across the space between said other pole and said cylindrical member, for generating an electro-magnetic force, to oppose the motion of the permanent magnet assembly toward the second position. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An electromagnetically damped acceleration or deceleration sensor comprising:
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a housing having a longitudinal axis; a magnet whose poles are at opposite axial ends thereof and that is disposed coaxially within said housing; a space which lies adjacent said magnet within said housing and across which the magnetic field issued by said magnet radially passes; electrical conductor means disposed in said space; said electrical conductor means and said magnet being arranged for relative axial movement, one of said electrical conductor means and said magnet fixedly mounted on said housing and the other of said electrical conductor means and said magnet being axially movable with respect to said housing; an inertial mass which includes said other of said magnet and said electrical conductor means, which is magnetically held in a first position by the magnetic force of said magnet, and which moves axially of said housing from the first position to a second position in response to an acceleration or deceleration signal of predetermined amplitude and duration applied to the sensor along said longitudinal axis in a sense urging said inertial mass toward the second position; said electrical conductor means, upon movement relative to said magnet resulting from movement of said inertial mass to said second position, having an interaction with the magnetic field in said space such that there is created an electromagnetic force that acts to dampen the motion of said inertial mass toward the second position; and an electric circuit device for indicating that said inertial mass has moved to the second position. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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Specification