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:
Jan. 14, 2014
Filed:
Apr. 30, 2012
Brandon William Pillans, Plano, TX (US);
Cody Blake Moody, Frisco, TX (US);
Francis Joseph Morris, Dallas, TX (US);
Brandon William Pillans, Plano, TX (US);
Cody Blake Moody, Frisco, TX (US);
Francis Joseph Morris, Dallas, TX (US);
Raytheon Company, Waltham, MA (US);
Abstract
An RF MEMS capacitive switch aligns holes in one of its electrodes to dielectric posts to reduce trapped charge without affecting the capacitance ratio of the switch. When actuated, the electrode contacts the posts' one or more contact surfaces around the plurality of holes so that each hole overlaps at least a central portion of the post to which it is aligned. By selecting the hole size such that the top electrode appears to be approximately a continuous conductive sheet at the RF frequency, the alignment of the holes to the posts reduces the amount of trapped charge without lowering switch capacitance. In different embodiments, the post diameter may be smaller than the hole diameter so that the overlap is complete, in which case trapped charge is largely eliminated.