Capacitive in-plane accelerometer
US5817942A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 28, 1996 |
| Grant date | Oct 6, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 28, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01P2015/0831
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An accelerometer having one or more flexure stops for increasing the stiffness of the flexures when the accelerometer is subjected to relatively high acceleration. A wrap-around proof mass is suspended over a substrate by anchor posts and a plurality of flexures. In one embodiment, the proof mass has a rectangular frame including top and bottom beams extending between left and right beams and a central crossbeam extending between the left and right beams. Proof mass sense electrodes are cantilevered from the top, bottom and central beams and are interleaved with excitation electrodes extending from adjacent excitation electrode supports. Each of the flexure stops includes a pair of members extending along a portion of a respective flexure. Also described is a three axis accelerometer triad device and a dissolved wafer process for fabricating the devices described herein.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.