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:
Dec. 17, 1985
Filed:
May. 13, 1983
Shih-Ying Lee, Lincoln, MA (US);
Setra Systems, Inc., Acton, MA (US);
Abstract
A force transducer has (1) a pair of opposed rigid-body force summing members that each include a sensor member and (2) a pair of beam members that each extend between and couple the force summing members. These sensor members have opposing sensing portions which are mutually offset. A force-to-be-measured is applied to a summing member, either directly or through a rigid input force member. The force deforms the beams so that the sensing members are displaced with respect to each other while maintaining their parallel relationship. In one form the entire force transducer is formed from a single piece of material. A conductive material coated on a pair of small ceramic inserts that are bonded to the sensor portions form an accurate capacitor to measure the applied force. In another form, the sensor members are secured to the flexible beams. When the length of the force summing members exceeds the length of the flexible beam members, a deflection of the transducer in response to the applied force produces an amplification of this deflection at the opposed sensor portions. In yet another form, the transducer has a 'sandwich' construction where the beams are each an integral, monolithic member with a thin, central portion that is flexible about only one axis and a pair of end pieces that have a much larger cross-sectional area than the thin central portions. A thin layer of bonding material couples these large end pieces to an interposed force summing member.