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Single ended tuning fork inertial sensor and method

  • US 5,343,749 A
  • Filed: 11/15/1993
  • Issued: 09/06/1994
  • Est. Priority Date: 03/12/1991
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. In a single ended tuning fork inertial rate sensor, a housing, a single ended tuning fork of a piezoelectric material of a predetermined thickness having first and second tines lying in a plane and having an axis of symmetry serving as an input axis and a body formed integral with said first and second tines and having a width, means mounting said body in said housing for rigidly securing said single-ended tuning fork to said housing, said tines having a rectangular cross section, said body having a stem formed therein which has a width less than that of the body, drive electrodes and pickup electrodes secured to the tines, drive oscillator means for supplying an oscillatory frequency to the drive electrodes to drive them in a drive mode and electronic means connected to the pickup electrodes and operating in a pickup mode for supplying an angular rate signal in response to rotation about said input axis, said times having a width which is different from the thickness so that the pickup mode is separated in frequency from the drive mode, said stem having a length and width to cause a reduction in the frequency separation between the pickup mode and the drive mode to provide means for independently adjusting the frequency of the pickoff mode.

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