Coriolis gyroscope having correction units and method for reducing the quadrature bias
First Claim
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1. Coriolis gyroscope comprisinga mass system above a substrate that can be excited to perform vibrations parallel to a first axis, whereby a deflection of said mass system on account of a Coriolis force along a second axis that is provided perpendicular to the first axis is detectable;
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stationary detection electrodes connected to the substrate and moving detection electrodes being part of the mass-system for detecting motion of the mass system along the second axis; and
at least one first correction unit and one second correction unit, which each comprise a plurality of stationary correction electrodes and moving correction electrodes, whereby the stationary correction electrodes extend in the direction of the first axis and are firmly connected to the substrate by corresponding anchor structures and the moving correction electrodes are a part of the mass system, wherebyeach stationary correction electrode has a moving correction electrode assigned to it, whereby the distance between the respective stationary correction electrode and the moving correction electrode assigned to it is smaller than the distance between the respective stationary correction electrode and another adjacent moving correction electrode;
first stationary correction electrodes of the first correction unit or of the second correction unit extend from the corresponding anchor structure in a first direction along the first axis, and second stationary correction electrodes of the first correction unit or of the second correction unit extend from the corresponding anchor structure in a second direction along the first axis, whereby the second direction is opposite to the first direction;
first moving correction electrodes extend from the mass system in the second direction along the first axis, and second moving correction electrodes extend from the mass system in the first direction along the first axis;
each first stationary correction electrode in the first correction unit is arranged in a third direction along the second axis, as seen from the first moving correction electrode assigned to it, whereas each second stationary correction electrode is arranged in a fourth direction along the second axis, as seen from the second moving correction electrode assigned to it, whereby the fourth direction is opposite to the third direction; and
each first stationary correction electrode in the second correction unit is arranged in the fourth direction along the second axis, as seen from the first moving correction electrode assigned to it, whereas each second stationary correction electrode is arranged in the third direction along the second axis, as seen from the second moving correction electrode assigned to it,characterized in thatthe first and second stationary correction electrodes of the same correction unit each extend from a common anchor structure.
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Abstract
A Coriolis gyroscope comprises a mass system that can be excited to perform vibrations parallel to a first axis, whereby a deflection of the mass system due to a Coriolis force along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis is detectable. At least one first correction unit and at least one second correction unit, which each comprise a plurality of stationary correction electrodes and moving correction electrodes whereby the stationary correction electrodes extend in the direction of the first axis and are firmly connected to the substrate by corresponding anchor structures, and the moving correction electrodes are provided as a part of the mass system. A method for reducing the quadrature bias of a Coriolis gyroscope of this type comprises applying at least temporarily constant corrective voltages to the correction units.
16 Citations
16 Claims
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1. Coriolis gyroscope comprising
a mass system above a substrate that can be excited to perform vibrations parallel to a first axis, whereby a deflection of said mass system on account of a Coriolis force along a second axis that is provided perpendicular to the first axis is detectable; - and
stationary excitation electrodes connected to the substrate and moving excitation electrodes being part of the mass-system for exciting and detecting motion of the mass-system along the first axis; stationary detection electrodes connected to the substrate and moving detection electrodes being part of the mass-system for detecting motion of the mass system along the second axis; and at least one first correction unit and one second correction unit, which each comprise a plurality of stationary correction electrodes and moving correction electrodes, whereby the stationary correction electrodes extend in the direction of the first axis and are firmly connected to the substrate by corresponding anchor structures and the moving correction electrodes are a part of the mass system, whereby each stationary correction electrode has a moving correction electrode assigned to it, whereby the distance between the respective stationary correction electrode and the moving correction electrode assigned to it is smaller than the distance between the respective stationary correction electrode and another adjacent moving correction electrode; first stationary correction electrodes of the first correction unit or of the second correction unit extend from the corresponding anchor structure in a first direction along the first axis, and second stationary correction electrodes of the first correction unit or of the second correction unit extend from the corresponding anchor structure in a second direction along the first axis, whereby the second direction is opposite to the first direction; first moving correction electrodes extend from the mass system in the second direction along the first axis, and second moving correction electrodes extend from the mass system in the first direction along the first axis; each first stationary correction electrode in the first correction unit is arranged in a third direction along the second axis, as seen from the first moving correction electrode assigned to it, whereas each second stationary correction electrode is arranged in a fourth direction along the second axis, as seen from the second moving correction electrode assigned to it, whereby the fourth direction is opposite to the third direction; and each first stationary correction electrode in the second correction unit is arranged in the fourth direction along the second axis, as seen from the first moving correction electrode assigned to it, whereas each second stationary correction electrode is arranged in the third direction along the second axis, as seen from the second moving correction electrode assigned to it, characterized in that the first and second stationary correction electrodes of the same correction unit each extend from a common anchor structure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
characterized in that the magnitude of the corrective voltages is adjusted as a function of a defined change in the resonant frequency of the mass system along the second axis. -
8. Coriolis gyroscope according to claim 1, characterized in that the Coriolis gyroscope comprises multiple first correction units of the same design and/or multiple second correction units of the same design.
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9. Coriolis gyroscope according to claim 8, characterized in that the Coriolis gyroscope comprises an equal number of first and second correction units.
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10. Method for reducing the quadrature bias of a Coriolis gyroscope according to claim 8, whereby the method comprises a step of applying at least temporarily constant corrective voltages to the correction units, whereby the corrective voltages are selected taking into account the quadrature bias to be reduced,
characterized in that the sum of the corrective voltages that are being applied to correction units of the same design balances out.
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11. System comprising
at least two Coriolis gyroscopes, which each comprise a mass system above a substrate that can be excited to perform vibrations parallel to a first axis, whereby a deflection of the mass system on account of a Coriolis force along a second axis that is provided perpendicular to the first axis is detectable, and which are coupled to each other, and stationary excitation electodes connected to the substrate and moving excitation electrodes being part of the mass-system for exciting and detecting motion of the mass-system along the first axis; -
stationary detection electrodes connected to the substrate and moving detection electrodes being part of the mass-system for detecting motion of the mass system along the second axis; and at least one first correction unit and at least one second correction unit, which each comprise a plurality of stationary correction electrodes and moving correction electrodes, whereby the stationary correction electrodes extend in the direction of the first axis and are firmly connected to the substrate by corresponding anchor structures, and the moving correction electrodes are a part of the mass system of at least one of the at least two Coriolis gyroscopes, whereby each stationary correction electrode has a moving correction electrode assigned to it, whereby the distance between the respective stationary correction electrode and the moving correction electrode assigned to it is smaller than the distance between the respective stationary correction electrode and another adjacent moving correction electrode; first stationary correction electrodes of the first correction unit or of the second correction unit extend from the corresponding anchor structure in a first direction along the first axis, and second stationary correction electrodes of the first correction unit or of the second correction unit extend from the corresponding anchor structure in a second direction along the first axis, whereby the second direction is opposite to the first direction; first moving correction electrodes extend from the mass system in the second direction along the first axis, and second moving correction electrodes extend from the mass system in the first direction along the first axis; each first stationary correction electrode in the first correction unit is arranged in a third direction along the second axis, as seen from the first moving correction electrode assigned to it, whereas each second stationary correction electrode is arranged in a fourth direction along the second axis, as seen from the second moving correction electrode assigned to it, whereby the fourth direction is opposite to the third direction; and each first stationary correction electrode in the second correction unit is arranged in the fourth direction along the second axis, as seen from the first moving correction electrode assigned to it, whereas each second stationary correction electrode is arranged in the third direction along the second axis, as seen from the second moving correction electrode assigned to it, characterized in that the first and second stationary correction electrodes of the same correction unit each extend from a common anchor structure. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
the plurality of moving correction electrodes has, in each case, an equal number of first moving correction electrodes and of second moving correction electrodes.
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13. System according to claim 11, characterized in that
the at least two Coriolis gyroscopes perform coupled movement in response to a detection of the deflection of the mass system on account of the Coriolis force that acts along the second axis; - and
at least one of the Coriolis gyroscopes comprises at least one first correction unit and at least one of the Coriolis gyroscopes comprises at least one second correction unit.
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14. System according to claim 11, further comprising at least one control unit that is electrically connected to the correction units and is well-suited for applying to them at least temporarily constant corrective voltages.
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15. System according to claim 11, characterized in that
the at least two Coriolis gyroscopes perform coupled movement in response to an excitation motion that excites the mass system to perform vibrations parallel to the first axis, and each Coriolis gyroscope comprises at least one first correction unit and at least one second correction unit. -
16. System according to claim 15, characterized in that
at least one first correction unit of a first Coriolis gyroscope is designed to be identical to at least one first correction unit of a second Coriolis gyroscope; - and
at least one second correction unit of the first Coriolis gyroscope is designed to be identical to at least one second correction unit of the second Coriolis gyroscope (200).
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Specification
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Current AssigneeNorthrop Grumman Litef Gmbh (Northrop Grumman Corporation)
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Original AssigneeNorthrop Grumman Litef Gmbh (Northrop Grumman Corporation)
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InventorsGeiger, Wolfram, Leinfelder, Peter
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Primary Examiner(s)Williams, Hezron E
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Assistant Examiner(s)ZHONG, XIN Y
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Application NumberUS13/261,385Publication NumberTime in Patent Office1,589 DaysField of Search735/041.2, 735/041.4, 735/040.2, 735/040.4US Class Current1/1CPC Class CodesG01C 19/5755 the devices having a single...
