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. 11, 1989
Filed:
Mar. 03, 1987
Messerschmitt-Bolkowe-Blohm GmbH, Munich, DE;
Abstract
A device for acceleration measurements and, in particular, for gravitational field measurements in, for example, earth orbits, which has a body arranged movably in a force field, the position of which can be detected by a position location device. The force acting upon the body is anisotropic and, at least in the direction of the acceleration to be determined, is not a linear function of the deflection of the body from its resting position. In a preferred further development the body is suspended by four tension springs, which in the resting position of the body are arranged in a plane perpendicular to the direction of the acceleration to be determined, and which each form right angles with the adjacent spring. With 3 separate optoelectronic position detector receivers plus corresponding illuminators which provides some measurement redundancy, all acceleration planes can be measured with a great dynamic range. In the main direction, forces as small as 10.sup.-12 g will be measurable. With the position detectors, the device is much simpler and more compact than interferometric devices at equal precision. Other embodiments are described.