Electrothermally actuated vibromotor
First Claim
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1. An apparatus to provide impact actuation in a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS), the apparatus comprising:
- an electrothermal linear vibromotor having at least one vibrating thermal element pivotally attached for providing oblique impact actuation between a space opening position and a space closing position; and
a movable guided element slidable in response to the oblique impact actuation of the electrothermal linear vibromotor wherein the movable guided element is directly coupled to the electrothermal linear vibromotor when the vibromotor is in the space closing position.
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Abstract
A vibromotor (10) includes a polysilicon surface-micromachined substrate. A movable guided element is slidably mounted on the substrate. At least one thermal actuator (20) has an impact head (40) and an anchoring end. The anchoring end pivotally disposed on the substrate external to a side of the movable guided element controls the movement of the movable guided element by electrothermally biasing the impact head (40) to tap against the movable guided element.
31 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus to provide impact actuation in a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS), the apparatus comprising:
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an electrothermal linear vibromotor having at least one vibrating thermal element pivotally attached for providing oblique impact actuation between a space opening position and a space closing position; and
a movable guided element slidable in response to the oblique impact actuation of the electrothermal linear vibromotor wherein the movable guided element is directly coupled to the electrothermal linear vibromotor when the vibromotor is in the space closing position. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10)
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7. A vibromotor for a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) sized in the μ
- m2 range, the vibromotor comprising;
a substrate;
a movable guided element slidably mounted on the substrate; and
at least one thermal micro-actuator having an impact head and an anchoring end for the impact head to tap between a space opening position and a space closing position, the anchoring end pivotally disposed on the substrate external to a side of the movable guided element for controlling the movement of the movable guided element by electrothermally biasing the impact head for oblique impact actuation to directly tap against the movable guided element when the impact head is in the space closing position. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
- m2 range, the vibromotor comprising;
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15. A vibromotor comprising:
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a silicon substrate sized suitably small for use in a microelectromechanical system (MEMS);
a movable guided element slidably mounted on the silicon substrate; and
at least one thermal actuator having an impact protrusion and an anchoring end, the anchoring end pivotally disposed on the silicon substrate external to a side of the movable guided element for controlling the movement of the movable guided element by electrothermally biasing the impact protrusion between a space opening position and a space closing position for oblique impact actuation to repeatedly tap against the movable guided element when the impact head is in the space closing for providing a frictional interaction between the impact protrusion and the movable guided element to cause the movable guided element to slide along the silicon substrate. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification