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. 02, 2004
Filed:
Apr. 24, 2002
Isaak Baber, Virginia Beach, VA (US);
Mark F. Bocko, Caledonia, NY (US);
Joseph E. Pegg, Virginia Beach, VA (US);
William Simmons, Virginia Beach, VA (US);
Oceana Sensor Technologies, Inc., Virginia Beach, VA (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides an apparatus and method for in-situ testing of transducers, and more particularly to the testing of piezoelectric transducers including piezoelectric accelerometers. Circuits, measurement techniques, and interpretative algorithms to enable in-situ testing of piezoelectric accelerometers are described. Accelerometers that employ a piezoelectric material to convert mechanical strains into electronic signals are reciprocal electromechanical transducers. In such transducers the electrical output impedance of the sensor is dependent upon the electrical and mechanical parameters of the sensor. The procedure described in this disclosure includes methods of measuring the transducer electrical output impedance as a function of frequency and the extraction of the electrical and mechanical transducer parameters from the measured data. The measured values of the transducer parameters may be interpreted to provide an indication of the operational status of the transducer. In addition to allowing verification of correct transducer performance, a range of failure conditions and degradations may be inferred from the transducer parameter values.