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:
Jul. 11, 2000
Filed:
Sep. 04, 1998
Roman C Gutierrez, Glendale, CA (US);
Christopher B Stell, Valencia, CA (US);
Tony K Tang, Glendale, CA (US);
Vatche Vorperian, Irvine, CA (US);
Jaroslava Wilcox, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Kirill Shcheglov, Pasadena, CA (US);
William J Kaiser, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Abstract
A pressure sensor has a high degree of accuracy over a wide range of pressures. Using a pressure sensor relying upon resonant oscillations to determine pressure, a driving circuit drives such a pressure sensor at resonance and tracks resonant frequency and amplitude shifts with changes in pressure. Pressure changes affect the Q-factor of the resonating portion of the pressure sensor. Such Q-factor changes are detected by the driving/sensing circuit which in turn tracks the changes in resonant frequency to maintain the pressure sensor at resonance. Changes in the Q-factor are reflected in changes of amplitude of the resonating pressure sensor. In response, upon sensing the changes in the amplitude, the driving circuit changes the force or strength of the electrostatic driving signal to maintain the resonator at constant amplitude. The amplitude of the driving signals become a direct measure of the changes in pressure as the operating characteristics of the resonator give rise to a linear response curve for the amplitude of the driving signal. Pressure change resolution is on the order of 10.sup.-6 torr over a range spanning from 7,600 torr to 10.sup.-6 torr. No temperature compensation for the pressure sensor of the present invention is foreseen. Power requirements for the pressure sensor are generally minimal due to the low-loss mechanical design of the resonating pressure sensor and the simple control electronics.