Patent · US Expired

Acceleration sensor

US4825697A · kind A · utility

13Cited by
5References
10Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateNov 13, 1987
Grant dateMay 2, 1989
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 13, 2007

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S73/03
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

The acceleration sensor consists substantially of a leaf spring (12) with an eddy current disk (13), which is arranged at its free end as an inertia mass, and an eddy current brake with magnets which are polarized in opposite directions (16, 17), and a flux conducting piece consisting of low reluctance iron. The latter serves the purpose of oscillation damping of the spring-mass system formed by the leaf spring (12) and eddy current disk (13). By means of a sensor magnet (19) and a Hall element (20), the lift of the inertia mass is transformed into output voltage which is proportional to the acceleration. Such an acceleration sensor is installed in a motor vehicle, for example, and serves to trigger safety devices such as belt tighteners. It has the advantage that the frequency response is only slightly dependent upon temperature and is very simply and compactly constructed.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.