3-D capaciflector

• US 5,726,581 A
• Filed: 03/08/1996
• Issued: 03/10/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: US Government As Represented By The Director National Security Agency
• Original Assignee: United States Of America As Represented By The Administrator Of The National Aeronautics And Space Administration
• Inventors: Vranish, John M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Karlsen, Ernest F.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Solis, Jose M.
• Application Number:
  US08/613,802
• Time in Patent Office: 732 Days
• Field of Search: 324/688, 324/662, 324/690, 340/870.37
• US Class Current: 324/688
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 5/2417 by varying separation
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 3/088 operating with electric fields G01V3/082 takes precedence

Abstract

A capacitive type proximity sensor having improved range and sensitivity between a surface of arbitrary shape and an intruding object in the vicinity of the surface having one or more outer conductors on the surface which serve as capacitive sensing elements shaped to conform to the underlying surface of a machine. Each sensing element is backed by a reflector driven at the same voltage and in phase with the corresponding capacitive sensing element. Each reflector, in turn, serves to reflect the electric field lines of the capacitive sensing element away from the surface of the machine on which the sensor is mounted so as to enhance the component constituted by the capacitance between the sensing element and an intruding object as a fraction of the total capacitance between the sensing element and ground. Each sensing element and corresponding reflecting element are electrically driven in phase, and the capacitance between the sensing elements individually and the sensed object is determined using circuitry known to the art. The reflector may be shaped to shield the sensor and to shape its field of view, in effect providing an electrostatic lensing effect. Sensors and reflectors may be fabricated using a variety of known techniques such as vapor deposition, sputtering, painting, plating, or deformation of flexible films, to provide conformal coverage of surfaces of arbitrary shape.

Claims

1. An improved capacitive type proximity sensor capable of sensing in three dimensions comprising:

at least one outer electrical conductor spaced from an arbitrary, non-planar surface of a machine forming one electrode of a sensor capacitor, the other electrode comprising an object spaced from said machine, said outer electrical conductor including a first conducting layer which is shaped to conform to the arbitrary, non-planar surface of said machine;

at least one intermediate electrical conductor corresponding to each of said outer electrical conductors located between said outer electrical conductor and said machine being of a size substantially larger than said outer electrical conductor to act as a shield for reducing the parasitic capacitance between said outer electrical conductor and said machine, said intermediate electrical conductor including a layer of conductive material of the same arbitrary, non-planar shape as said surface of said machine and geometrically shielding said first conducting layer from said machine;

means for electrically insulating each of said outer electrical conductors from each of said intermediate electrical conductors;

means for electrically insulating each of said intermediate electrical conductors from said surface of said machine;

first circuit means for coupling in phase the instantaneous voltage at each of said outer electrical conductors to its corresponding said intermediate electrical conductor; and

second circuit means coupled to each of said outer electrical conductors and being responsive to the capacitance of each said sensor capacitor for generating a control signal to said machine.

2. The capacitive type proximity sensor of claim 1 wherein said surface of said machine is irregularly shaped in at least one of three dimensions.

3. The capacitive type proximity sensor of claim 1 wherein said intermediate electrical conductor envelops said outer electrical conductor in all directions but those specifically chosen to provide directional sensitivity of said capacitive type proximity sensor.

4. The capacitive type proximity sensor of claim 1 wherein said intermediate electrical conductor lines a recess in said surface of said machine and wherein said outer electrical conductor lies along an interior wall of said recess.

5. The capacitive type proximity sensor of claim 4 wherein said outer electrical conductor is is disposed parallel to a bottom surface of said recess.

6. The capacitive type proximity sensor of claim 1 wherein said intermediate electrical conductor and said outer electrical conductor are thin layers of a film shaped to conform to an arbitrary shape of said surface of said machine.

7. The capacitive type proximity sensor of claim 6 wherein said thin layers of film are flexible.