Capacitive force sensor
First Claim
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1. A capacitive force sensor comprising:
- a base composed of a conductive material and containing a base electrode face, the base electrode face having a base capacitance electrode, the base capacitance electrode being parallel to the base electrode face and secured thereto by an intermediate base dielectric layer;
a cover composed of a conductive material, containing a cover electrode face disposed parallel to the base electrode face, the cover electrode face having a cover capacitance electrode,the cover capacitance electrode being parallel to the cover electrode face and the base electrode face and secured to the electrode face by an intermediate cover dielectric layer; and
spacers separating said base from said cover.
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Abstract
A capacitive force sensor is comprised of a base (1) containing a capacitance electrode (3), a cover (8) containing a second capacitance electrode (9) and spacers (7) separating these two components. The material thickness of the base (1) and the cover (8) is such that when a force is applied at least one of the materials constituting the base (1), the cover (8) and the spacers (7) will be compressed to such a degree that a decrease in the distance between the capacitance electrodes (3,9) will result but the materials bridging the areas between the spacers (7) will not be deformed.
80 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A capacitive force sensor comprising:
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a base composed of a conductive material and containing a base electrode face, the base electrode face having a base capacitance electrode, the base capacitance electrode being parallel to the base electrode face and secured thereto by an intermediate base dielectric layer; a cover composed of a conductive material, containing a cover electrode face disposed parallel to the base electrode face, the cover electrode face having a cover capacitance electrode,the cover capacitance electrode being parallel to the cover electrode face and the base electrode face and secured to the electrode face by an intermediate cover dielectric layer; and spacers separating said base from said cover. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A capacitive force sensor, comprising:
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a base member including a first capacitance electrode on a surface thereof; a cover member including a second capacitance electrode on a surface thereof, said cover member being disposed opposite said base member such that the first capacitance electrode and the second capacitance electrode are generally parallel and opposed when not under pressure; and spacer means for maintaining an unstressed physical separation of a selected distance between said base member and said cover member and for defining interstices intermediate portions of said spacer means; wherein, said base member and said cover member each have a material thickness that is greater than the selected distance, and at least one of said base member and said cover member is formed of a resilient deformable material such that compressive force applied thereto will result in the separation distance in the interstices being less than said selected distance while the first and second electrode are maintained in a relatively parallel orientation to each other, and the first and second electrode are maintained in a relatively parallel orientation to each other, and the first and second electrodes resiliently return to form when the compressive force is removed, such that such separation distance at the interstices returns to said selected distance. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. In a capacitive force sensor having a first capacitance electrode situated on a surface of a base member and a second capacitance electrode formed on an opposing surface of a cover member, the improvement comprising:
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providing spacer means intermediate the base member and the cover member, said spacer means having an unstressed thickness of a selected distance, and said spacer means providing interstices intermediate positions thereof, opposing portions of the first capacitance electrode and the second capacitance electrode being exposed within the interstices; and forming at least one of the base member, the cover member and said spacer means to be compressibly deformable and resilient such that the exposed electrodes in the interstices are caused to be separated by less than the selected distance when compressive force is applied to the sensor, while said electrodes maintain a substantially parallel orientation to each other;
whereinat least one of the first capacitance electrode and second capacitance electrode is provided with an insulating layer on the opposing surface thereon to prevent shorting on substantial compression. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification