Accelerometer without proof mass
US6182509A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 21, 1998 |
| Grant date | Feb 6, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 21, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01P21/00
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An accelerometer having a substrate with a cavity therein, a heater extending over the cavity, a pair of temperature sensitive elements extending over the cavity equidistant from the heater, and an electrical conductor couplable to an external power source and operative to pass electrical current through the heater so as to develop a symmetrical temperature gradient in the fluid extending outwardly from the heater to the two temperature sensors. The fluid may be a liquid or a gas surrounding the heater and temperature sensors. Applied acceleration disturbs this symmetry and produces a differential temperature between the two temperature sensors proportional to the acceleration.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.