Capacitive load cell apparatus having an annealed synthetic woven spring dielectric
First Claim
1. Capacitive load cell apparatus including first and second conductor plates separated by a compressible dielectric such that force applied to the load cell compresses the dielectric to increase a capacitance between the first and second conductor plates, the improvement wherein:
- the compressible dielectric comprises an annealed synthetic knit spacer material including upper and lower fabric layers interconnected by an array of synthetic fibers that deflect in response to said applied force to produce an increase in capacitance between the first and second conductor plates that is indicative of said applied force.
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Abstract
A capacitive load cell apparatus includes upper and lower capacitor plates and an intermediate dielectric in the form of a synthetic knit spacer material having upper and lower fabric layers interconnected by an array of deflectable synthetic fibers. When occupant weight is applied to the seat, the synthetic fibers deflect to locally reduce the separation between the upper and lower capacitor plates, and the consequent change in capacitance is detected as a measure of the applied weight. The load cell or just the dielectric may be encased in a polymeric sheath to prevent intrusion of foreign matter, and a fluid such as silicone may be dispersed in woven dielectric.
47 Citations
6 Claims
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1. Capacitive load cell apparatus including first and second conductor plates separated by a compressible dielectric such that force applied to the load cell compresses the dielectric to increase a capacitance between the first and second conductor plates, the improvement wherein:
the compressible dielectric comprises an annealed synthetic knit spacer material including upper and lower fabric layers interconnected by an array of synthetic fibers that deflect in response to said applied force to produce an increase in capacitance between the first and second conductor plates that is indicative of said applied force. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
Specification