Micro-machined accelerometer with improved transfer characteristics
US6386032B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 1, 2000 |
| Grant date | May 14, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 19, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01P2015/0814
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A micromechanical, dithered device comprising a substrate, a movable mass connected to the substrate by a suspension, a position sensor, a dither signal generator, a dither force transducer connected between the substrate and the movable mass, the input of the dither force transducer being connected to the output of the dither signal generator and a calculator taking as inputs at least the position sensor output and the dither signal generator output.In one embodiment of the invention, the dithered device includes an electrostatic force transducer for applying feedback. In this embodiment, dither force may be directly applied to the mechanical proof-mass utilizing electrostatic structures similar to electrostatic structures used for feedback. The electrostatic dithering structures provide good matching between the feedback and dither electrodes, enabling the use of simple logic for subtraction of the dither signal from the accelerometer output.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.