Thales

Jérôme Inglese

Claude Rougeot

Bertrand Leverrier

Liviu Nicu

Philippe Guichard

Régis Quer

Pierre-Olivier Lefort

Jean-Marie Odermath

Jean-Louis Le Corre

The invention relates to electronic sensors comprising an electromechanical microsensor cell such as a micro-accelerometer, and it more particularly relates to the way in which the microsensor cell per se is mounted in a package that furthermore comprises a printed circuit board carrying the electronic processing circuits associated with the microsensor cell. In order to establish a non-rigid electrical connection between a conductive terminal of the board and a connection pin of the cell, a narrow strip-shaped conductive connection cut by chemical machining from a thin and flexible metal sheet (CuBe) is soldered. The strip comprises at least one circle-arc segment extending over one half-turn or three-fourths of a turn. Its resilience permits very low stiffness in all directions and therefore prevents any transmission of vibrations or shocks to the cell. The manufacture of the connections may be collective for all the connections of a sensor and for successive sensors manufactured serially. Application to accelerometers subjected to large shock and vibration stresses.

Non-rigid conductor link measurement sensor and method for the production thereof

The invention relates to a micromachined gyrometer having a planar moving structure anchored on a fixed substrate by anchoring feet, the fixed substrate being mounted on a support substrate via fasteners, the moving structure comprising at least two moving assemblies that are symmetrical with respect to an axis of symmetry A; the anchoring feet are located outside this axis A. The fixed substrate has etched features for the purpose of partly isolating at least one region from the rest of the fixed substrate, this region having a portion of the fixed substrate that includes at least one anchoring foot, and the fixed substrate is mounted on the support substrate via fasteners applied outside the region.

Inertial micromechanical tuning-fork gyrometer

The invention relates to gyroscopes having a vibrating structure that is micromachined in a silicon substrate. A novel vibrating structure is described, which has two moving massesand, connected by a vibration energy coupling structure (transverse arms, longitudinal arms, and a short transverse linkbetween the longitudinal links). The moving masses are also suspended from U-shaped flexure arms (), having one branch end connected to the mass and another end connected to a fixed anchoring point. The flexure arms are not inserted between the coupling structure and the mass, but are independent of the coupling structure. The masses are excited so as to vibrate in their plane by electrostatic forces applied by interdigitated combs. The Coriolis forces make them vibrate perpendicular to the plane, and this vibration is detected by electrodes forming part of the moving masses.

Micromachined inertial sensor for measuring rotational movements

The invention relates to a microgyroscope, that is to say an inertial micromechanical sensor dedicated to the measurement of angular velocities, which is produced by micromachining techniques on a silicon wafer. The gyroscope comprises two symmetrical moving assemblies coupled via a coupling structure. Each of the two assemblies comprises a moving mass surrounded by a moving intermediate frame. The frame is connected to the coupling structure and can vibrate in two degrees of freedom in orthogonal directions Ox and Oy in the plane of the wafer. The mass is connected on one side to the frame and on the other side to fixed anchoring regions via linking means that allow the vibration movement along the Oy direction to be transmitted to the mass without permitting movement of the mass along the Ox direction. An excitation structure is associated with the frame in order to excite its vibration along Ox. A movement detection structure is associated with the mass in order to detect its vibration along Oy.

Micromachined gyroscopic sensor with detection in the plane of the machined wafer

Accelerometer micromachined in a plane plate comprising a base, and at least one measurement cell including a moveable seismic mass connected to the base and capable of moving translationally along the sensitive y axis of the accelerometer under the effect of an acceleration &#x3b3; along this y axis, a resonator cell that comprises a resonator that can vibrate and be subjected to a tensile or compressive force depending on the direction of the acceleration &#x3b3; and is placed symmetrically with respect to an axis of symmetry S of the structure, this axis S being parallel to the y axis and passing through the center of gravity of the seismic mass, the measurement cell furthermore including amplification means for amplifying the acceleration force, which means comprise at least one anchoring foot for anchoring to the base, two rigid terminations of the resonator cell and two pairs of micromachined arms symmetrical with respect to the axis S, each pair comprising a first arm connecting a termination to the seismic mass, and a second arm connecting the same termination to the anchoring foot, the angle &#x3b1; between the Ox axis and the first arm being small enough for the tensile or compressive force exerted on the resonator to be greater than the acceleration force exerted on the seismic mass.

Vibrating beam accelerometer

The invention relates to a differential accelerometer micromachined in a plane plate, comprising a base and a differential measurement cell which includes a moveable seismic mass and two force sensors that are connected to the mass and to the base. Under the effect of an acceleration along Ox and/or Oy, Ox and Oy being directions orthogonal to the plane of the plate, the seismic mass is capable of undergoing linear displacement along a direction parallel to the acceleration, and has a center of gravity located at the intersection of a plane Aperpendicular to the plane of the plate and passing through Ox and of a plane Aperpendicular to the plane of the plate and passing through Oy; a first force sensor comprises, along Ox, two identical detection systems for a differential measurement of the linear displacement along Ox, and associated with each detection system a filtering system connected to the base, and a second force sensor comprises, along Oy, two other identical detection systems for the differential measurement of the linear displacement along Oy, and associated with each detection system a filtering system connected to the base, each filtering system allowing the associated detection system to move along a direction perpendicular to that of its detection without permitting it to move along its detection direction.

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Guilherand, France

Jérôme Inglese