Convective accelerometer
First Claim
1. A convective accelerometer comprising:
- a sealed housing;
a liquid agent comprising an electrolyte solution, wherein said liquid agent is contained in said sealed housing;
an installation module secured in said sealed housing;
a sensing element that detects convection of ions in the electrolyte solution,wherein said sensing element is fixed in said installation module and immersed in said liquid agent,wherein said sensing element comprises a plurality of metal plates and a plurality of dielectric spacers, wherein each metal plate and each dielectric spacer comprises a predetermined pattern of holes;
wherein the holes of said dielectric spacers have a diameter between about one and about 300 microns; and
wherein said metal plates and said dielectric spacers are arranged such that (1) adjacent metal plates are separated by a dielectric spacer with no gaps therebetween, (2) the holes of the dielectric spacers and the holes of the metal plates are coincident, such that holes of the dielectric spacers correspond one-to-one with the holes of the metal plates, and (3) the liquid agent flows through said holes of the dielectric spacers and said holes of the metal plates under conditions of forced convection caused by an acceleration applied to the convective accelerometer,and an electric circuit connected to said sensing element, wherein said electric circuit amplifies and processes the output signals generated by said sensing element.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A convective accelerometer capable of measuring linear or angular acceleration, velocity, or angle of inclination is provided. The accelerometer comprises sensing elements that are sensitive to convection located inside a sealed housing containing a liquid agent. Applied external acceleration causes forced convection of the liquid agent, which produces variations in an electric current produced by the sensing elements that are proportional to the applied acceleration or angle of inclination. The accelerometer has a small size, extremely wide frequency and dynamic ranges, high sensitivity, simple design and is suitable for mass production. The device has a wide range of application, such as stabilization and control systems, homeland security, and oil exploration.
41 Citations
37 Claims
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1. A convective accelerometer comprising:
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a sealed housing; a liquid agent comprising an electrolyte solution, wherein said liquid agent is contained in said sealed housing; an installation module secured in said sealed housing; a sensing element that detects convection of ions in the electrolyte solution, wherein said sensing element is fixed in said installation module and immersed in said liquid agent, wherein said sensing element comprises a plurality of metal plates and a plurality of dielectric spacers, wherein each metal plate and each dielectric spacer comprises a predetermined pattern of holes; wherein the holes of said dielectric spacers have a diameter between about one and about 300 microns; and wherein said metal plates and said dielectric spacers are arranged such that (1) adjacent metal plates are separated by a dielectric spacer with no gaps therebetween, (2) the holes of the dielectric spacers and the holes of the metal plates are coincident, such that holes of the dielectric spacers correspond one-to-one with the holes of the metal plates, and (3) the liquid agent flows through said holes of the dielectric spacers and said holes of the metal plates under conditions of forced convection caused by an acceleration applied to the convective accelerometer, and an electric circuit connected to said sensing element, wherein said electric circuit amplifies and processes the output signals generated by said sensing element. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A linear accelerometer comprising a sealed housing comprising a channel;
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a liquid agent comprising an electrolyte solution, wherein said liquid agent partially fills said channel;
an installation module secured in said sealed housing such that said installation module is submersed in said liquid agent;a sensing element that detects convection of ions in the electrolyte solution, wherein said sensing element is fixed in said installation module and immersed in said liquid agent, said sensing element comprising a plurality of metal plates and a plurality of dielectric spacers, wherein each metal plate and each dielectric spacer comprises a predetermined pattern of holes; wherein the holes of said dielectric spacers have a diameter between about one and about 300 microns; and wherein said metal plates and said dielectric spacers are arranged in a stack such that (1) adjacent metal plates are separated by a dielectric spacer with no gaps therebetween, (2) the arrays of regularly spaced holes of the dielectric spacer and the metal plates are coincident, such that holes of the dielectric spacers correspond one-to-one with the holes of the metal plates, and (3) the liquid agent flows through said sensing element under conditions of forced convection caused by a linear acceleration applied to the convective accelerometer, and an electric circuit connected to said sensing element, wherein said electric circuit amplifies and processes output signals generated by said sensing element. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36)
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37. An accelerometer comprising:
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a sealed housing defining a channel therein, said channel being at least partially filled with a liquid agent comprising an electrolyte solution, a sensing element immersed in said liquid agent, said sensing element comprising alternating layers of metal plates and dielectric spacers, said metal plates and dielectric spacers each having a plurality of holes arranged in a predetermined pattern, wherein the holes of said dielectric spacers have a diameter between about one and about 300 microns; the metal plates and dielectric spacers being aligned such that the plurality of holes of the metal plates and plurality of holes of the dielectric spacer coincide, thereby defining a plurality of flow paths through the sensing element capable of allowing laminar flow of said liquid agent therethrough in response to an applied external acceleration; and an electric circuit connected to said sensing element, wherein said electric circuit amplifies and processes output signals generated by said sensing element.
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Specification