The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 08, 1980
Filed:
Jan. 25, 1979
Howard S Silvus, Jr, San Antonio, TX (US);
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX (US);
Abstract
An electronically tunable resonant accelerometer is shown wherein the frequency of a resonant peak may be adjusted over a range of frequencies. A piezoelectric element of the accelerometer is used with a seismic mass to generate an output voltage in response to reciprocating motion of the accelerometer. In a compression mode, a feedback loop applies a feedback voltage to a second piezoelectric element mechanically coupled to the first mentioned piezoelectric element. In a cantilever mode, a feedback loop applies a feedback voltage to another location along the first mentioned piezoelectric element which is formed from two bonded piezoelectric elements. By adjusting gain and phase of the feedback loop, first, the resonant frequency of the accelerometer may be varied over a wide range of frequencies to give increased sensitivity to reciprocating motion occurring at a frequency within a narrow band width centered on the resonant frequency, and, second, damping of the resonance may be varied to control the band width of the resonance.