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. 07, 2000
Filed:
Jun. 22, 1998
Thomas Warnick, Wilmington, MA (US);
Boris Oreper, Newton, MA (US);
Tekscan, Inc., South Boston, MA (US);
Abstract
A pressure sensitive element or array is provided which includes at least one first conductor on a first substrate and at least one second conductor on a second substrate, with a first conductor and a second conductor intersecting adjacent to each other at a sensor point and a pressure sensitive material being between the first and second conductors at each such sensor point. A mechanism is also provided which applies a predetermined prepressure to the substrates at least at selected ones of the sensor points. The prepressure for a preferred embodiment is provided by joining the substrates with an air-tight seal around a periphery of at least the pressure point to which prepressure is to be applied and by creating a reduced pressure area between the substrates within the sealed periphery. For preferred embodiments, the reduced pressure is a substantial vacuum, causing substantially atmospheric pressure to be applied to the sensor points.