Sumitomo Precision Products Co., Ltd.

Atlantic Inertial Systems, Inc.

Sumitomo Precision Products

Osamu Torayashiki

Ryuta Araki

Takashi Ikeda

Hiroshi Nishida

Takafumi Moriguchi

Yasuyuki Hirata

Mitsuhiko Takemura

Tsuyoshi Fujimura

Nobutaka Teshima

Ryohei Uchino

Tsuyoshi Takemoto

Kevin Townsend

Christopher Paul Fell

Ian Michael Sturland

Koji Nakamura

Tokiko Misaki

Akio Mugishima

Toru Kitamura

Hiroshi Kawasaki

A mirror devicedisclosed herein includes a base, a mirror, an actuator, a fixed comb electrode, and a movable comb electrode. The movable comb electrodeincludes: a beam portion; a hingeconfigured to couple the beam portionto the actuatorand having lower rigidity than the beam portion; a hingeconfigured to couple the beam portionto the baseand having lower rigidity than the beam portion; and electrode fingers, . . . provided for the beam portionand facing electrode fingers, . . . of the fixed comb electrode. The movable comb electrodeis configured to tilt around a tilt axis Bthat passes through the hinge

Drive apparatus

A mirror device includes a mirror, an actuator tilting the mirror, a first hinge coupling the mirror to the actuator, a base, a second hinge coupling the mirror to the base, a movable comb electrode coupled to the mirror, and a fixed comb electrode fixed to the base. The actuator is controlled based on a capacitance between the movable comb electrode and the fixed comb electrode. The movable comb electrode is disposed on a portion of the mirror closer to the second hinge than to the first hinge.

Mirror device including actuator controlled based on capacitance

A vibrating gyroscope according to this invention includes a ring-shaped vibrating bodyhaving a uniform plane, a leg portionflexibly supporting the ring-shaped vibrating body and having a fixed end, a fixed potential electrode, and a plurality of electrodesformed on the plane with a piezoelectric film sandwiched between an upper-layer metallic film and a lower-layer metallic film in a thickness direction thereof. In this case, in a representative example shown in FIG., when one of driving electrodesfor exciting a primary vibration of the ring-shaped vibrating bodyin a vibration mode of cos N&#x3b8; is set as a reference driving electrode, the plurality of remaining electrodesare disposed at specific positions. Such disposition allows this vibrating gyroscope to detect a uniaxial to triaxial angular velocity by adopting a secondary vibration detector inclusive of an out-of-plane vibration mode.

Vibratory gyroscope using piezoelectric film

A vibrating gyroscope comprises a ring-shaped vibrating body () a leg portion () flexibly supporting the body () and having a fixed end, a fixed potential electrode (), and a plurality of electrodes (-) with a piezoelectric film sandwiched between an upper and a lower-layer metallic film in a thickness direction thereof. When N is a natural number of 2 or more, the plurality of electrodes (-) include driving electrodes () for a primary vibration in a vibration mode of cosN&#x3b8;, which are each disposed (360/N)&#xb0; apart from each other in a circumferential direction, first detection electrodes () and second detection electrodes () for detecting a secondary vibration generated when an angular velocity is applied to the body (), which are each disposed in a certain region related to the driving electrode () Each of the electrodes is also disposed in a certain region of the body ().

Vibrating gyroscope using piezoelectric film and method for manufacturing same

A vibrating gyroscope according to this invention includes a ring-shaped vibrating bodyhaving a uniform plane, a leg portionflexibly supporting the ring-shaped vibrating body and having a fixed end, a fixed potential electrode, and a plurality of electrodesformed on the plane with a piezoelectric film sandwiched between an upper-layer metallic film and a lower-layer metallic film in a thickness direction thereof. In this case, in a representative example shown in FIG., when one of driving electrodesfor exciting a primary vibration of the ring-shaped vibrating bodyin a vibration mode of cos N&#x3b8; is set as a reference driving electrode, the plurality of remaining electrodesare disposed at specific positions. Such disposition allows this vibrating gyroscope to excite a primary vibration in an out-of-plane vibration mode of cos 2&#x3b8; as well as detect a uniaxial or biaxial angular velocity by adopting a secondary vibration detector in an in-plane vibration mode of cos 3&#x3b8;.

A MEMS device including a getter film formed inside a hermetic chamber provides stable performance of the MEMS device by electrically stabilizing the getter film. The MEMS device includes a movable portion and a fixed portion formed inside the hermetic chamber. The hermetic chamber is formed by a base material of the MEMS device and glass substrates and having a cavity and cavities made therein. A part of any continuous getter film formed inside the hermetic chamber connects to only one of any one or a plurality of predetermined electrical potentials of the fixed portion and a ground potential of the fixed portion through the base material of the MEMS device.

MEMS device formed inside hermetic chamber having getter film

A vibrator, which is formed in a silicon waferby means of MEMS technique, has eight beam portions (beams)supported at a central portionand extending in the radial direction while mutually keeping the same angle and has a ring portionconnected to the eight beam portions. Outside the ring portion, eight electrodestofor electrostatic actuation, capacitance detection, or the like are spaced uniformly with a gapcreated between the ring portionand the electrodesto. Inside the ring portion, sixteen electrodesfor frequency adjustment are spaced uniformly with a gapcreated between the ring portionand the electrodes

Angular velocity sensor with vibrator having ring portion and electrodes positioned inside and outside the ring portion

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Akashi, Japan

Osamu Torayashiki