Melexis Nv

Melexis Gmbh

William R Betts

Roger Diels

Olivier Charlier

Adrian Hill

Johan Schuurmans

Francois-Xavier Musalem

Elements of a sensor system are encapsulated into a single package. The sensor elements are covered with a flexible gel coat and then inserted into a molding tool cavity. Each element may be individually coated with a gel blob, or all elements may by coated with a single gel blob. One or more retractable pins are incorporated into the molding tool and in their normal position are each in contact with the gel. A molding compound is injected into the cavity so as to encapsulate the device and gel coat. When the pins are extracted and the device ejected from the molding cavity, one or more passageways in the molding are left defined by the pins. The passageways expose the flexible gel covering the device elements to the atmosphere. For pressure sensitive elements, the gel, being flexible, transfers the local air pressure to the pressure sensitive element. For optical elements, the exposed gel is preferably removed to allow for the passage of radiation to and from the device elements. Alternatively, or in addition, an optically transmitting gel is used so as to allow for the passage of radiation at specific wavelengths.

Integrated sensor packages and methods of making the same

An integrated circuit combines micro-machined elements, piezoelectric elements and signal processing components as part of a compensated oscillating gyroscopic sensor for angular motion detection. An oscillating mass is supported on a number of flexible beams micro-machined into an integrated circuit device, such as a silicon CMOS device. Several Piezo-electric elements, deposited on the beams, are provided to excite the mass and to measure the accelerations. Integrated in the device are electronic circuitry that initiates and maintains the oscillation and electronic circuitry that detects and measures the subsequent motion. Additional circuitry is also provided to eliminate the effects of quadrature oscillation and to determine the Coriolis acceleration and thus the magnitude of the external perturbing velocity.

Compensated integrated micro-machined yaw rate sensor with quadrature switching

A self-calibrating infrared (IR) sensing device having the capability to measure the attenuation effects of surface contamination on the transmission window and to adjust the gain of the sensor accordingly so as to counter the attenuation. The IR sensing device includes an IR sensor mounted in a housing having an IR transparent window that allows IR radiation originating from outside the housing to be directed toward the sensor. The IR sensor includes a thermally isolated area of IR-absorbing material coupled to a temperature measuring unit. IR radiation impinging on the sensor is absorbed, thereby raising the temperature of the IR absorbing material. The temperature measuring unit measures the increase in temperature and generates a proportional electronic signal indicative of the temperature. The electronic signal is received and processed by a processor. An IR radiator is also included within the sensing device housing. When activated, the radiator emits IR radiation that passes through the window and is lost to the outside if there is no contamination. If the surface of the window is contaminated, the radiation raises the temperature of the contaminants. This increase in temperature results in a return signal (i.e., IR emissions from the contaminants) that is detected by the sensor. A mirror element is also included within the sensing device. The mirror element focuses radiation from the remote target onto the sensor, and it reflects IR radiation emitted by the IR radiator onto the window. The magnitude of the return signal indicates the amount of contaminant on the surface of the window. The return signal is detected and measured by the IR sensor, and is used to signal a warning and/or determine the amount of gain necessary to compensate for the loss of true signal caused by the presence of the contamination.

IR sensor with reflective calibration

A self-calibrating infrared (IR) sensing device having the capability to measure the attenuation effects of surface contamination on the transmission window and to adjust the gain of the sensor accordingly so as to counter the attenuation. The IR sensing device includes an IR sensor mounted in a housing having an IR transparent window that allows IR radiation originating from outside the housing to be directed toward the sensor. The IR sensor includes a thermally isolated area of IR-absorbing material coupled to a temperature measuring unit. IR radiation impinging on the sensor is absorbed, thereby raising the temperature of the IR absorbing material. The temperature measuring unit measures the increase in temperature and generates a proportional electronic signal indicative of the temperature. The electronic signal is received and processed by a processor. An IR radiator is also included within the sensing device housing. When activated, the radiator emits IR radiation that passes through the window and is reflected by an external mirror onto the IR sensitive element. If the surface of the window is contaminated, a portion of the reflected signal is absorbed and the attenuated signal is detected by the sensor. The relative magnitude of the attenuated signal indicates the amount of contaminant on the surface of the window. The attenuated signal is detected and measured by the IR sensor, and is used to signal a warning and/or determine the amount of gain necessary to compensate for the loss of true signal caused by the presence of the contamination.

A self-calibrating infrared (IR) sensing device having the capability to measure the attenuation effects of surface contamination on the transmission window and to adjust the gain of the sensor accordingly so as to counter the attenuation. The IR sensing device includes an IR sensor mounted in a housing having an IR transparent window that allows IR radiation originating from outside the housing to be directed toward the sensor. The IR sensor includes a thermally isolated area of IR-absorbing material coupled to a temperature measuring unit. IR radiation impinging on the sensor is absorbed, thereby raising the temperature of the IR absorbing material. The temperature measuring unit measures the increase in temperature and generates a proportional electronic signal indicative of the temperature. The electronic signal is received and processed by a processor. An IR radiator is also included within the sensing device housing. When activated, the radiator emits IR radiation that passes through the window and is lost to the outside if there is no contamination. If the surface of the window is contaminated, the radiation raises the temperature of the contaminants. This increase in temperature results in a return signal (i.e., IR emissions from the contaminants) that is detected by the sensor. The magnitude of the return signal indicates the amount of contaminant on the surface of the window. The return signal is detected and measured by the IR sensor, and is used to signal a warning and/or determine the amount of gain necessary to compensate for the loss of true signal caused by the presence of the contamination.

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Burntwood, United Kingdom

William R Betts