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:
Feb. 02, 1999
Filed:
Aug. 06, 1996
Edwin J Selker, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Barton A Smith, Campbell, CA (US);
Boris Kamentser, Fountain Valley, CA (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A force transducer includes an elongated lever arm attached to a substrate having a central portion and substantially planar tab regions that project outwardly from the central portion along first and second orthogonal force-detecting axes. The substrate undergoes localized strain approximately at the junctions of the tab regions and the central portion when an external force is applied to the free end of the lever arm. A thick film strain gauge material is screen printed directly onto the substrate in at least a first location and a second location and conductive pads on the substrate are electrically coupled to the thick film strain gauge material at each location to define a first strain gauge oriented along the first force detecting axis and a second strain gauge oriented along the second force detecting axis. The lever arm can be of a compliant construction to provide proprioreceptive feedback to a user.