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Digital capacitive accelerometer

  • US 5,353,641 A
  • Filed: 08/07/1992
  • Issued: 10/11/1994
  • Est. Priority Date: 08/07/1992
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A digital capacitive accelerometer comprising:

  • a support member;

    a fixed plate mounted on said support member;

    a sprung plate;

    resilient means for resiliently supporting said sprung plate to said support member at a rest position in spaced relationship to said fixed plate, and biasing said sprung plate for resisting an externally applied acceleration force;

    a source for applying voltage across said fixed and sprung plates;

    incrementing means for incrementally increasing the voltage applied across said fixed and sprung plates to incrementally increase the electrostatic force thereacross until a pull-in voltage is reached that is capable of producing an electrostatic force strong enough to overcome the resilient bias of said resilient means and pull said sprung plate against said fixed plate resulting in the generation of a current pulse;

    sensing means for sensing the current pulse as a pull-in detection signal;

    wherein said incrementing means includes means for generating a representative signal for the voltage level applied across said fixed and sprung plates as said pulse is generated.

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