Transducer
First Claim
1. A transducer comprising a deflectable seismic mass supported on a frame by support structure, said seismic mass having a surface, a plane of said surface being disposed in a first orientation when said seismic mass is disposed in a rest position wherein the support structure comprises a plurality of parallel beams each extending at an angle α
- relative to said plane of said surface whereby when the seismic mass is deflected by a force, irrespective of a direction of the force, the plane of said surface will be disposed in an orientation substantially parallel to said first orientation.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A force transducer in which a deflectable seismic mass is supported on a frame by support means is disclosed. The seismic mass at rest includes a plane and when the seismic mass is deflected by any force the mass always retains the plane parallel to the rest position. Any deflection of the seismic mass is purely topographically translational movement with no rotational movement allowed. The invention allows three identical structures to be etched onto a flat semiconductor wafer and yet can be used to determine accelerations in three perpendicular directions. As the structures deflect, the surfaces of their seismic masses always remain parallel to the wafer surface. This enables measurement of the deflection to be made easily, for example by depositing electrodes on the surfaces of the seismic masses and fixed surfaces (such as deflection stops) and measuring the change in capacitance between the electrodes. Cross coupling effects will be negligible since each transducer is stiff in all directions except the sensitive direction.
27 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A transducer comprising a deflectable seismic mass supported on a frame by support structure, said seismic mass having a surface, a plane of said surface being disposed in a first orientation when said seismic mass is disposed in a rest position wherein the support structure comprises a plurality of parallel beams each extending at an angle α
- relative to said plane of said surface whereby when the seismic mass is deflected by a force, irrespective of a direction of the force, the plane of said surface will be disposed in an orientation substantially parallel to said first orientation.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A multi-directional transducer comprising at least two transducers, each said transducer comprising:
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a deflectable seismic mass supported on a frame by support structure, said seismic mass having a surface, a plane of said surface being disposed in a first orientation when said seismic mass is disposed in a rest position, wherein the support structure comprises a plurality of parallel beams each extending at an angle α
relative to said plane of said surface whereby when the seismic mass is deflected by a force, irrespective of a direction of the force, the plane of said surface will be disposed in an orientation substantially parallel to said first orientation,wherein the seismic mass of each said transducer deflects along a single axis, and wherein the transducers are arranged such that said axes of deflection are not parallel to one another. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of manufacturing a transducer comprising:
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providing a substrate for defining a frame; forming a deflectable seismic mass and a support structure for supporting said seismic mass on said frame, said seismic mass having a surface, a plane of said surface being disposed in a first orientation when said seismic mass is disposed in a rest position, said step of forming a support structure comprising forming a plurality of parallel beams to extend between said seismic mass and said frame, each said parallel beam extending at an angle α
relative to said plane of said surface,whereby when the seismic mass is deflected by a force, irrespective of a direction of the force, the plane of said surface will be disposed in an orientation substantially parallel to said first orientation. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. A single axis accelerometer including a force transducer comprising:
a deflectable seismic mass supported on a frame by support structure, said seismic mass having a surface, a plane of said surface being disposed in a first orientation when said seismic mass is disposed in a rest position, wherein the support structure comprises a plurality of parallel beams each extending at an angle α
relative to said plane of said surface whereby when the seismic mass is deflected by a force, irrespective of a direction of the force, the plane of said surface will be disposed in an orientation substantially parallel to said first orientation.
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17. A three dimensional accelerometer including three force transducers each comprising:
a deflect able seismic mass supported on a frame by support structure, said seismic mass having a surface, a plane of said surface being disposed in a first orientation when said seismic mass is disposed in a rest position, wherein the support structure comprises a plurality of parallel beams each extending at an angle α
relative to said plane of said surface whereby when the seismic mass is deflected by a force, irrespective of a direction of the force, the plane of said surface will be disposed in an orientation substantially parallel to said first orientation.
Specification