Panasonic Corporation

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Hiroyuki Aizawa

Satoshi Ohuchi

Jiro Terada

Hideo Ohkoshi

Takami Ishida

Ichirou Satou

Yohei Ashimori

Toshiyuki Nozoe

Takeshi Yamamoto

Takashi Imanaka

Soichiro Hiraoka

Yuichi Miyoshi

Shinichi Kishimoto

Takanori Aoyagi

Shoichi Taji

Atsuhiro Fujii

Chunzhi Dong

Hiroki Umehara

Takeshi c/o Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd Yamamoto

An anchor member supports a frame-shaped member. A first input electrode is located outside the frame-shaped member and separate from the frame-shaped member and fixed to a substrate. A second input electrode includes an electrode portion located outside the frame-shaped member and connected to the frame-shaped member. The second input electrode is displaceable in a prescribed direction. A first reference electrode is inside the frame-shaped member and fixed to the substrate. A second reference electrode includes an electrode portion located inside of the frame-shaped member and connected to the frame-shaped member. The second reference electrode is displaceable in the prescribed direction. In the structural component, the first input electrode and the electrode portion of the second input electrode are located between the frame-shaped member and a weight member in the prescribed direction in plan view in a thickness direction defined with respect to the substrate.

Angular velocity sensor

A physical quantity sensor includes a substrate, an anchor portion, a surrounding portion, a detecting element, a moving portion, and a beam portion. The anchor portion is formed on the same side as a principal surface of the substrate and fixed to the substrate. The surrounding portion is formed on the same side as the principal surface of the substrate and surrounds the anchor portion. The detecting element detects a physical quantity as a target of detection. The moving portion is provided with at least a part of the detecting element, formed on the same side as the principal surface of the substrate, and connected to the surrounding portion. The beam portion is formed on the same side as the principal surface of the substrate and connects the anchor portion and the surrounding portion together.

Physical quantity sensor

An inertial force sensor includes a detecting device which detects an inertial force, the detecting device having a first orthogonal arm and a supporting portion, the first orthogonal arm having a first arm and a second arm fixed in a substantially orthogonal direction, and the supporting portion supporting the first arm. The second arm has a folding portion. In this configuration, there is provided a small inertial force sensor which realizes detection of a plurality of different inertial forces and detection of inertial forces of a plurality of detection axes.

An acceleration sensor includes a detection device, an opposed electrode, and a top lid. The detection device includes an active layer, a base layer, an oxide layer disposed between the active layer and the base layer, a first insulating layer, a contact portion, and a self-check electrode. The first insulating layer is disposed on the active layer at a side opposite to the oxide layer and provided with a first opening. The contact portion is disposed on a part of the first insulating layer at a side opposite to the active layer and includes a first metal layer connected to the active layer through the first opening. The opposed electrode is disposed at a location opposing the self-check electrode, and the top lid supports the opposed electrode.

Acceleration sensor

Inertial force sensor

An angular velocity sensor includes a support body, a retaining portion connected to the support body, first to fourth weights, first to fourth arms, a drive unit for driving the first to fourth arms, and a monitor unit for detecting displacements of the first to fourth arms. An X-axis, a Y-axis, and a Z-axis that are perpendicular to each other are defined. The detector unit is symmetrical with respect to both an axis parallel to the X-axis and an axis parallel to the Y-axis. This angular velocity sensor can cancel an undesired signal caused by external disturbances, such as acceleration or impact, thus detecting an angular velocity accurately.

An inertial force sensor is composed of a plurality of arms and an oscillator having a base for linking the arms, in which a trimming slit is formed on a part of the arm except for a ridge portion, thus controlling damage to a tuning fork arm to be caused by the trimming.

An angular velocity sensor comprising a fixed part, a weight coupled with the fixed part via a flexible part having a bending part, a first electrode disposed outside the bending part, and a second electrode disposed inside the bending part, in which the first electrode and the second electrode have an upper electrode and a lower electrode interposed by a piezoelectric layer, respectively, and the width of the first electrode is smaller than the width of the second electrode, and the difference of the amounts of electric charges generated at the first electrode and the second electrode can be suppressed thereby improving the accuracy of detection.

A sensor includes detecting element () with an acceleration sensor, which is formed of weight () coupled to rigid section () via flexible section (), substrate () confronting weight (), and an electrode section including opposed electrodes () placed on respective opposed faces of weight () and substrate (). This structure prevents weight () from moving along Z-axis, so that a detection accuracy of acceleration occurring along X-axis or Y-axis can be improved.

Sensor

Inertial force sensor includes detecting element that detects inertial force. Detecting element includes: two first orthogonal arms each having first arm and second arm that are connected to each other in a substantially orthogonal direction; support portion that supports two first arms; fixing arms; and weights. Second arms include: bent portions; facing portions that are bent at bent portions so as to face second arms; driving electrodes that are formed in two facing portions facing each other, and drive and vibrate facing portions; and detection electrodes that are formed in the other two facing portions facing each other, and detect the distortion of facing portions. According to this structure, it is possible to achieve small inertial force sensor capable of detecting a plurality of different inertial forces and inertial forces acting on a plurality of detection axes.

Inertia force sensor

An inertia force sensor includes a detection element having an acceleration detection section (). This detection element () has: two orthogonal arms obtained by connecting first arms () to second arms () so as to be orthogonal to each other, a support section () for supporting one ends of the two first arm (), a fixation section () connected to the other ends of the two first arms (), and weight sections () fixed to tip ends of the second arms (). The first arm () has a thickness thinner than thicknesses of the second arm () and weight section () to thereby provide an increased detection sensitivity.

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Osaka, Japan

Hiroyuki Aizawa