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:
Mar. 16, 1999
Filed:
Mar. 24, 1997
Michael W Malesko, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
James R Moss, Satellite Beach, FL (US);
Steven J Anderson, Willis, MI (US);
Automotive Systems Laboratory, Inc., Farmington Hills, MI (US);
Abstract
An accelerometer (10) features a housing (12) having an passage (14) of rectangular cross-section formed therein, and one embodiment the width dimension gradually increases with increasing displacement along a central longitudinal axis (16) away from a first end (24) of the passage. A puck-shaped magnetic sensing mass (26) is located within the passage and oriented so that its magnetic axis extends in a direction normal to a basal surface (18) of the passage. A pair of magnetically-permeable pole pieces (22) extend from a coil (21) parallel to the passage (14) to magnetically-interact with the sensing mass so as to bias the sensing mass towards a first position within the passage. A pair of electrically-conductive nonmagnetic plates (32) on the housing magnetically interact with the sensing mass to damp the movement thereof within the passage. The coil (21) provides both test and reconfiguration functions.