Multicapacitor force/moment sensor arrays
First Claim
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1. A multicapacitor sensor system, comprising:
- at least one electrically conductive drive plate pattern, each pattern having a center point, at least two orthogonal electrodes and at least one electrode extending radially outwardly from the center point;
an electrically conductive sensor pattern disposed in overlying registration with each drive plate pattern, each sensor pattern including at least one electrode parallel to each of the orthogonal electrodes of the drive plate pattern, and at least two electrodes parallel to each electrode extending radially outwardly from the center point of the drive plate pattern; and
a compressible, elastic dielectric material separating the drive and sensor patterns, whereby the drive and sensor patterns and dielectric define a two-dimensional plane with x and y directions and a z direction perpendicular to the plane, and wherein;
a) forces applied to the system in the x and y directions are detected by changes in the capacitance between the orthogonal electrodes of the drive plate pattern and the electrodes of the sense plate pattern parallel to the orthogonal electrodes, andb) moments applied to the system around the z direction are detected by changes in the capacitance between the electrode extending radially outwardly from the center point of the drive plate pattern and the electrodes of the sense plate pattern parallel to the electrode extending radially outwardly.
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Abstract
A multicapacitor sensor system facilitates the measurement of applied shear and moment forces. In one disclosed configuration, moments may be detectable in x, y and z directions, resulting in a full, 3-axis load cell with 6 degrees of freedom. The system may further include electrical circuitry to generate electrical drive pulses, sense amplify and buffer the voltages induced on the sense plates, and compute applied forces. An array of multicapacitor sensors that can be addressed individually without cross-talk and globally produce a map of forces and moments applied to the whole array. A MEMS implementation enables in vivo application.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A multicapacitor sensor system, comprising:
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at least one electrically conductive drive plate pattern, each pattern having a center point, at least two orthogonal electrodes and at least one electrode extending radially outwardly from the center point; an electrically conductive sensor pattern disposed in overlying registration with each drive plate pattern, each sensor pattern including at least one electrode parallel to each of the orthogonal electrodes of the drive plate pattern, and at least two electrodes parallel to each electrode extending radially outwardly from the center point of the drive plate pattern; and a compressible, elastic dielectric material separating the drive and sensor patterns, whereby the drive and sensor patterns and dielectric define a two-dimensional plane with x and y directions and a z direction perpendicular to the plane, and wherein; a) forces applied to the system in the x and y directions are detected by changes in the capacitance between the orthogonal electrodes of the drive plate pattern and the electrodes of the sense plate pattern parallel to the orthogonal electrodes, and b) moments applied to the system around the z direction are detected by changes in the capacitance between the electrode extending radially outwardly from the center point of the drive plate pattern and the electrodes of the sense plate pattern parallel to the electrode extending radially outwardly. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification