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. 19, 2016
Filed:
Oct. 29, 2013
Alps Electric Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Shinji Murata, Niigata-ken, JP;
ALPS ELECTRIC CO., LTD., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A variable capacitor includes a plurality of variable capacitor elements connected in parallel with one another, the variable capacitor elements each including a fixed electrode and a movable electrode facing each other, a beam supporting the movable electrode displaceably, and a drive electrode supplied with a drive voltage to change spacing between the fixed electrode and the movable electrode. The variable capacitor further includes a drive control unit configured to sequentially apply an AC drive voltage to the drive electrodes of the variable capacitor elements with a predetermined phase difference for each element. The sum of capacitances of the variable capacitor elements is an output capacitance.