Preloaded linear beam vibration sensor
First Claim
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1. A linear beam vibration sensor, comprising:
- a substrate defining a main body containing a pivot support;
a see-saw beam having a mass at at least one end thereof pivotally mounted within said main body;
hinge posts integrally formed on said see-saw beam intermediate the ends thereof, said hinge posts being received in hinge post receivers forming said pivot support to retain said see-saw beam for pivotal rotation;
said mass on said beam and the location of said hinge posts thereon cooperating to pivotally unbalance said beam within said main body;
a stopper disposed beneath a mass at one end of said beam and operative to supportively engage said beam at said one end to control the direction of pivotal rotation thereof;
a cap attached to said main body and covering said see-saw beam, said pivot support and said beam rotation control means;
means forming electrodes carried by said cap and disposed thereon to overlie said mass engaged by said stopper; and
means for measuring changes in capacitance between said electrodes and said stopper-engaged mass occurring in response to pivotal movement of said beam.
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Abstract
An miniaturized accelerometer having a narrow bandwidth and behaving as a switch sensitive only to low frequencies such as contained in earthquakes includes: a unbalanced see-saw beam assembly composed of beams 2 and masses 3 at opposite ends of the beams 2. The beams 2 have their suspension at a location with slightly different distances from the masses 3 along a line parallel to and vertically offset from the line connecting centers of gravity of the masses 3.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A linear beam vibration sensor, comprising:
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a substrate defining a main body containing a pivot support; a see-saw beam having a mass at at least one end thereof pivotally mounted within said main body; hinge posts integrally formed on said see-saw beam intermediate the ends thereof, said hinge posts being received in hinge post receivers forming said pivot support to retain said see-saw beam for pivotal rotation; said mass on said beam and the location of said hinge posts thereon cooperating to pivotally unbalance said beam within said main body; a stopper disposed beneath a mass at one end of said beam and operative to supportively engage said beam at said one end to control the direction of pivotal rotation thereof; a cap attached to said main body and covering said see-saw beam, said pivot support and said beam rotation control means; means forming electrodes carried by said cap and disposed thereon to overlie said mass engaged by said stopper; and means for measuring changes in capacitance between said electrodes and said stopper-engaged mass occurring in response to pivotal movement of said beam. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A linear beam vibration sensor, comprising:
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an unbalanced see-saw beam having a mass at each end thereof, a pivot support disposed intermediate said masses at a location disposed at slightly different distances from said masses along a line parallel to, and vertically offset from, a line connecting centers of gravity of said masses; stopper means disposed beneath a mass at one end of said see-saw beam operative to supportively engage one of said masses for controlling the direction of pivotal rotation of said see-saw beam; a main body providing a housing for said beam, said pivotal support and said stopper means; and a cap bonded to said main body and having electrodes overlying said mass engaged by said stopper means; and
means for measuring changes in capacitance between said electrodes and said stopper-engaged mass produced by said see-saw beam during its rotation. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification