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:
Dec. 04, 2007
Filed:
Sep. 24, 2004
Kevin Walsh, Louisville, KY (US);
Mark Crain, Georgetown, IN (US);
William Hnat, Floyd Knobs, IN (US);
Douglas Jackson, New Albany, IN (US);
Ji-tzuoh Lin, Louisville, KY (US);
John Naber, Prospect, KY (US);
Kevin Walsh, Louisville, KY (US);
Mark Crain, Georgetown, IN (US);
William Hnat, Floyd Knobs, IN (US);
Douglas Jackson, New Albany, IN (US);
Ji-Tzuoh Lin, Louisville, KY (US);
John Naber, Prospect, KY (US);
Other;
Abstract
An embodiment of the invention provides a MEMS cantilever strain sensor. Capacitor plates in a MEMS device of the invention are carried on cantilevered opposing micro-scale plates separated by a micro-scale gap under an unstrained condition. At least one of the micro-scale plates may be attached to a substrate or forms a substrate, which may be part of a monitored system. When a load is applied to the substrate, distal ends of the opposing cantilevered micro-scale plates become further separated, resulting in a change of capacitance. The change of capacitance is proportional to a load and therefore is an indication of the strain. Electrodes may be integrated into the strain sensor to provide a connection to measurement circuitry, for example. Sensors of the invention also provide for telemetric communication using radio frequency (RF) energy and can be interrogated without a power supply to the sensor.