Micromechanical capacitive acceleration sensor

US7343801B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Conti Temic microelectronic GmbH · DE

Inventors

• Konrad Kapser · Gräfelfing, DE
• Peter Knittl · Kelheim, DE
• Ulrich Prechtel · Munich, DE
• Helmut Seidel · Starnberg, DE
• Sebastian Toelg · Eltville am Rhein, DE
• Manfred Weinacht · Dettingen unter Teck, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Mar 7, 2002
• Grant date: Mar 18, 2008
• Expiry date: May 3, 2022

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01P2015/086
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A micromechanical capacitive acceleration sensor is described for picking up the acceleration of an object in at least one direction. The sensor includes a frame structure (110), a sensor inertia mass (101) made of a wafer and movably mounted relative to the frame structure (110) about a rotation axis, and a capacitive pick-up unit (120) for producing at least one capacitive output signal representing the position of the sensor mass (101) relative to the frame structure (110). The sensor inertia mass (101) has a center of gravity which offset relative to the rotation axis in a direction perpendicularly to a wafer plane for measuring accelerations laterally to the wafer plane. The sensor mass (101) and the frame structure (110) are made monolithically of one single crystal silicon wafer. A cover section (112) forms a common connector plane (150) for the connection of capacitor electrodes (125,126). Torqueable elements (105) form an electrically conducting bearing device for the sensor mass (101).