Denso Corporation

Other

Nippon Soken, Inc.

Hirofumi Higuchi

Tetsuo Fujii

Takeshi Ito

Tsuyoshi Fukada

Takashi Katsumata

Makiko Sugiura

Kenichi Ao

Masaki Inoue

Minekazu Sakai

Yukihiro Takeuchi

Kazuhiko Kano

Yasuyuki Okuda

Minoru Murata

Hisanori Yokura

Kazushi Asami

Seiji Fujino

Teruo Oda

Tetsuo Yoshioka

Hiroshi Muto

Akitoshi Yamanaka

Nobuyuki Ohya

Muneo Yorinaga

Takaaki Kawai

Hiroshige Sugito

Kenji Fukumura

Mutsuhito Ogino

Kouji Yamamoto

Tetsuya Morishima

An ultrasonic sensor device includes a substrate, a piezoelectric vibrator, and a Q-factor adjuster. The piezoelectric vibrator includes a pair of detection electrodes that face each other in a thickness direction of the substrate and a piezoelectric body interposed between the electrodes. The piezoelectric vibrator provides a membrane structure which is formed on a surface of the substrate and has rigidity lower than that of a remaining portion of the substrate. An ultrasonic wave is transmitted by the piezoelectric vibrator, and its reflected wave is received by the same piezoelectric vibrator. The Q-factor adjuster adjusts a Q-factor of the piezoelectric vibrator so that the Q-factor can be larger during a transmission period where the piezoelectric vibrator transmits the ultrasonic wave than during a reception period where the piezoelectric vibrator receives the ultrasonic wave.

Ultrasonic sensor device

A complex device includes: a substrate having a thick portion, a cavity and a membrane for bridging the cavity; and multiple piezoelectric elements having a lower electrode, a piezoelectric film and an upper electrode. A part of the piezoelectric elements has a projecting portion arranged on the upper electrode. The part of piezoelectric elements () provides a vertical pressure detection element. The piezoelectric elements further have an ultrasonic element other than the vertical pressure detection element. The ultrasonic element is arranged over at least the cavity of the substrate in a horizontal direction.

Pressure and ultrasonic sensor

An angular velocity sensor includes a vibrator, a support substrate, an anchor section, a connection beam section, a driving section, and a detection section. The vibrator includes an inner vibrator and an outer vibrator, which vibrate in opposite circumferential directions when driven by the driving section. The connection beam section couples the vibrator to the anchor section, and is elastic in a z-direction and a circumferential direction. The connection beam section includes first connection beams, each of which is coupled to the outer vibrator at one end and is coupled to the inner vibrator at the other end, and second connection beams, each of which is coupled to a vibration node of a corresponding first connection beam at one end and is coupled to the anchor section at the other end.

Angular velocity sensor

A concentration sensor device includes a sensor unit, a substrate, and a sedimentation limit unit. The sensor unit detects a concentration of a specific component contained in liquid. The substrate has a face to which the sensor unit is arranged. The sedimentation limit unit is integrally arranged with the sensor unit or arranged at an upstream side of the sensor unit in a flowing direction of the liquid. The sedimentation limit unit is configured to prevent sedimentation of a foreign object on the sensor unit. The sedimentation limit unit includes a piezoelectric element to vibrate when electricity is supplied so as to promote the foreign object to be separated from the sensor unit. The substrate has a recess recessed in a thickness direction of the substrate.

Concentration sensor device and concentration detecting method

A semiconductor dynamic quantity sensor has a substrate including a semiconductor substrate, an insulation layer on a main surface of the semiconductor substrate, and a semiconductor layer on the insulation layer. The main surface has a projection that is trapezoidal or triangular in cross section. The semiconductor layer is divided by a through hole into a movable portion. A tip of the projection is located directly below the movable portion and spaced from the movable portion by a predetermined distance in a thickness direction of the substrate. A width of the tip of the projection is less than a width of the movable portion in a planar direction of the substrate. The distance between the tip of the projection and the movable portion is equal to a thickness of the insulation layer.

Semiconductor dynamic quantity sensor and method of manufacturing the same

An angular velocity sensor includes first and second oscillators and a coupling beam. The coupling beam couples the first and second oscillators together in such a manner that the first and second oscillators vibrate relative to each other in a predetermined direction. The coupling beam includes a first post portion joined to a surface of the first oscillator, a second post portion joined to a surface of the second oscillator, and a spring portion that joins the first post portion to the second post portion. The spring portion is spaced from the first and second oscillators and has elasticity in the predetermined direction.

Angular velocity sensor having drive member coupling beam spaced apart from drive members

An oscillating angular speed sensor includes a detector, a driving portion, and a separating portion. When an angular speed is generated while the detector is driven to oscillate by the driving portion, Coriolis force is applied to the detector. Therefore, the angular speed is detected based on a capacitance variation in accordance with a variation of an interval between a movable electrode and a fixed electrode of the detector. The separating portion is distanced from the detector and the driving portion, and is configured to separate a first space accommodating the detector and a second space accommodating the driving portion.

Oscillating angular speed sensor

In a method of making an electronic apparatus, electronic devices and a mold are placed in a package such that pads of electronic devices are covered with the mold. An electrical insulator is poured into the package, in which the mold is placed, to fill the package. The mold is removed from the electrical insulator to form a space where the pads are exposed. An electrical conductor is placed in the space such that the pads are electrically connected together through the electrical conductor. The electrical conductor is in the form of a liquid or a solid having both fluidity and deformability.

Electronic apparatus with an electrical conductor in the form of a liquid and an electrical insulator with a light-curing property

An antitheft apparatus for a vehicle includes a theft behavior sensing device and a paint injecting device. The theft behavior sensing device senses a theft behavior to the vehicle. The paint injecting device injects paint toward at least one of an exterior and an interior of a cabin of the vehicle when the theft behavior sensing device senses the theft behavior.

Vehicle antitheft apparatus

An angular velocity sensor includes first and second vibrators having a movable portion with driving and detecting purpose movable electrodes and a fixed portion with first and second side driving and detecting purpose fixed electrodes. The driving voltages applied to the first side driving purpose fixed electrode in the first vibrator is a first driving voltage including direct and alternating voltages. The driving voltage applied to the second side driving purpose fixed electrode in the first vibrator is a second driving voltage including direct and alternating voltages. At least one of the direct voltages, one of the alternating voltages, or one of duty ratios of the first and second driving voltages is controlled so that the first vibrator vibrates opposite to the second vibrator.

Angular velocity sensor and method for operating the same

An angular rate sensor includes a base member serving as a base, an angular rate sensing element having a vibrating member, a wiring member having a flexible, electrical insulating tape portion and a electrical wire portion. The wiring member has end portions fixed to the base member and a middle portion positioned between the end portions. The middle portion is separated from the base member and the sensing element is mounted to the middle portion. Thus, due to an elasticity of the wiring member, the sensing element can be isolated from an external vibration.

Angular rate sensor

An oscillator is oscillatable in a predetermined direction. First and second driving electrodes are secured to the base and apply an electrostatic force to the oscillator to make drive oscillation of the oscillator in the predetermined direction. At the time of the drive oscillation of the oscillator, a predetermined electric charge is accumulated in the oscillator, and electric charges of opposite polarities are alternately and periodically accumulated in the first and second driving electrodes, respectively, to exert an attractive force between the oscillator and a corresponding one of the first and second driving electrodes and also to exert a repulsive force between the oscillator and the other one of the first and second driving electrodes, and vice versa.

Electrostatically oscillated device

A vibration-type angular velocity sensor realizing a suitably vibrating state of the vibrators by canceling the displacement of the vibrators caused by the gravity. The angular velocity sensor comprises base portions, vibrators coupled to the base portions, exciting means for driving and vibrating the vibrators in the x-direction, and detection means which, when an angular velocity is applied while the vibrators are being driven and vibrated, detects the angular velocity based on the vibrations of the vibrators in the y-direction at right angles with the x-direction, the angular velocity sensor further comprising position adjusting means for so adjusting the positions of the vibrators as to cancel the amount of displacement by which the vibrators are displaced by the gravity in the direction of the gravity.

A semiconductor device includes gaps formed in a semiconductor substrate to provide an inner portion movable in x and y directions. Drive electrodes vibrate the inner portion in the x direction, and detection electrodes detect movement in the y direction generated when an angular velocity is applied thereto. Monitor electrodes generate monitor signals for monitoring movement of the inner portion in the x direction. Shield wires are provided between the drive and detection electrodes and the monitor electrodes to suppress capacitive coupling. Dummy electrodes adjacent to the output electrodes and capacitively coupled to the drive electrodes generate a dummy signal. Dummy signal wires are respectively connected to the dummy electrodes and to the circuit substrate. The dummy signal includes an induced component of a periodical signal and is supplied to the circuit substrate to cancel another induced component of the periodical signal in the drive and monitor signals.

Growing community of inventors

Okazaki, Japan

Hirofumi Higuchi