Force detector and acceleration detector and method of manufacturing the same
First Claim
1. A force detector comprising:
- a flexible substrate including a fixed portion fixed to a detector casing, a working portion to which a force to be detected is transmitted, and a flexible portion having flexibility formed between said fixed portion and said working portion, a fixed substrate fixed on said detector casing so as to face such flexible substrate, a working body to receive a force to be detected and to transmit said force to said working portion of said flexible substrate, a displacement electrode formed on a surface, which faces to said fixed substrate, and a fixed electrode formed on a surface, which faces to said flexible substrate, of said fixed substrate, wherein any one or both of said displacement electrode and said fixed electrode are constituted by four localized electrodes to form four capacitance elements by using said four localized electrodes, respectively, a first localized electrode to form a first capacitance element being located in a positive area with respect to a first axis of coordinates, a second localized electrode to form a second capacitance element being located in a negative area with respect to said first axis, a third localized electrode to form a third capacitance element being located in a positive area with respect to a second axis of coordinates, a fourth localized electrode to form a fourth capacitance element being located in a negative area with respect to said second axis, said first axis and said second axis being perpendicular to each other on a surface where said localized electrodes are formed, a first force component which makes an electrode distance of said first capacitance element smaller than an electrode distance of said second capacitance element and a second force component which makes said electrode distance of said second capacitance element smaller than said electrode distance of said first capacitance element being detected by a difference between electrostatic capacitance values of said first and second capacitance elements.
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Abstract
An electrode layer is formed on the upper surface of a first substrate, and a processing for partially removing the substrate is carried out in order to allow the substrate to have flexibility. To the lower surface of the first substrate, a second substrate is connected. Then, by cutting the second substrate, a working body and a pedestal are formed. On the other hand, a groove is formed on a third substrate. An electrode layer is formed on the bottom surface of the groove. The third substrate is connected to the first substrate so that both the electrodes face to each other with a predetermined spacing therebetween. Finally, the first, second and third substrates are cut off every respective unit regions to form independent sensors, respectively. When an acceleration is exerted on the working body, the first substrate bends. As a result, the distance between both the electrodes changes. Thus, an acceleration exerted is detected by changes in an electrostatic capacitance between both the electrodes.
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Citations
6 Claims
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1. A force detector comprising:
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a flexible substrate including a fixed portion fixed to a detector casing, a working portion to which a force to be detected is transmitted, and a flexible portion having flexibility formed between said fixed portion and said working portion, a fixed substrate fixed on said detector casing so as to face such flexible substrate, a working body to receive a force to be detected and to transmit said force to said working portion of said flexible substrate, a displacement electrode formed on a surface, which faces to said fixed substrate, and a fixed electrode formed on a surface, which faces to said flexible substrate, of said fixed substrate, wherein any one or both of said displacement electrode and said fixed electrode are constituted by four localized electrodes to form four capacitance elements by using said four localized electrodes, respectively, a first localized electrode to form a first capacitance element being located in a positive area with respect to a first axis of coordinates, a second localized electrode to form a second capacitance element being located in a negative area with respect to said first axis, a third localized electrode to form a third capacitance element being located in a positive area with respect to a second axis of coordinates, a fourth localized electrode to form a fourth capacitance element being located in a negative area with respect to said second axis, said first axis and said second axis being perpendicular to each other on a surface where said localized electrodes are formed, a first force component which makes an electrode distance of said first capacitance element smaller than an electrode distance of said second capacitance element and a second force component which makes said electrode distance of said second capacitance element smaller than said electrode distance of said first capacitance element being detected by a difference between electrostatic capacitance values of said first and second capacitance elements. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
wherein a perpendicular force component perpendicular to the fixed substrate is detected by a sum of electrostatic capacitance values of said first to fourth capacitance elements.
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3. A force detector as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a fifth capacitance element including an additional displacement electrode and an additional fixed electrode, said additional displacement electrode being formed on a surface, which faces to the fixed substrate, of the flexible substrate and said additional fixed electrode formed on a surface, which faces to the flexible substrate, of the fixed substrate, and a perpendicular force component perpendicular to the fixed substrate being detected by an electrostatic capacitance value of said fifth capacitance element.
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4. A force detector as set forth in claim 1, wherein a working body receives a force caused by acceleration so that the detector functions as an acceleration sensor.
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5. A force detector as set forth in claim 2, wherein a working body receives a force caused by acceleration so that the detector functions as an acceleration sensor.
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6. A force detector as set forth in claim 3, wherein a working body receives a force caused by acceleration so that the detector functions as an acceleration sensor.
Specification