Abstract
A micromechanical sensor comprising a substrate (5) and at least one mass (6) which is situated on the substrate (5) and which moves relative to the substrate (5) is used to detect motions of the sensor due to an acceleration force and/or Coriolis force which occur(s). The mass (6) and the substrate (5) and/or two masses (5, 7) which move toward one another are connected by at least one bending spring device (6). The bending spring device (6) has a spring bar (9) and a meander (10), provided thereon, having a circle of curvature (K1; K6; K8; K9; K11) whose midpoint (MP1; MP6; MP8; MP9; MP11) and radius of curvature (r1; r6; r8; r9; r11) are inside the meander (10). For reducing stresses that occur, in addition to the radius of curvature (r1; r6; r8; r9; r11) having the inner midpoint (MP1; MP6; MP8; MP9; MP11), the meander (10) has at least one further radius of curvature (r2; r3; r4; r5; r7; r10) having a midpoint (MP2; MP3; MP4; MP5; MP7; MP10) outside the meander (10). The at least one further radius of curvature (r2; r3; r4; r5; r7; r10) is situated between the meander (10) and the spring bar (9).
Claims
1. A gyroscope comprising: a substrate; a first mass located above the substrate, the first mass adapted to oscillate from a first location on the substrate about at least one of an x-axis and a y-axis of the substrate; and a first bending spring coupled to the first mass to allow the oscillation of the first mass, the first bending spring comprising: a first spring bar coupled to the first mass; a first meander extending essentially at a right angle to the first spring bar, the first meander extending along a first axis in a first direction, wherein the first meander has a linear section between two radii defined by two circles of curvature; and a second meander extending essentially at a right angle to the first spring bar, the second meander extending along the first axis in a second direction.
2. The gyroscope of claim 1 wherein the first spring bar comprises a recess that forms a branch that couples the first bending spring to the first mass.
3. The gyroscope of claim 1 wherein the first meander has a rounded end defined by a circle of curvature.
4. The gyroscope of claim 1 wherein the first meander has a circle of curvature that has an inner midpoint and a radius of curvature inside the first meander.
5. The gyroscope of claim 1 wherein first bending spring has a non-constant radius of curvature.
6. The gyroscope of claim 1 wherein the first meander and the spring bar have a convex curvature.
7. The gyroscope of claim 1 wherein the first meander and the spring bar have an elliptical bend.
8. A gyroscope comprising: a substrate; a first mass located above the substrate, the first mass adapted to oscillate from a first location on the substrate about at least one of an x-axis and a y-axis of the substrate; a second mass adapted to oscillate from the first location on the substrate about a z-axis of the substrate; bending springs coupling the first mass to the second mass, each of the bending springs comprising: a spring bar coupled to the first mass; a first meander extending essentially at a right angle to the spring bar, the first meander extending along a first axis; and a second meander extending essentially at a right angle to the spring bar, the second meander extending along the first axis; wherein each of the first and second meanders has a linear section between two radii defined by two circles of curvature.
9. The gyroscope of claim 8 further comprising a central anchor that is the first location from which the first and second masses oscillate.
10. The gyroscope of claim 8 wherein each of the bending springs couples the first mass to the second mass for oscillation together about the x-axis or y-axis of the substrate and decouples the first mass from oscillation of the second mass about the z-axis of the substrate.
11. The gyroscope of claim 8 wherein the first mass oscillates about the x-axis.
12. The gyroscope of claim 8 wherein the first mass oscillates about the x-axis and the y-axis.
13. The gyroscope of claim 8 wherein each of the first and second meanders has a rounded end defined by a circle of curvature.
14. The gyroscope of claim 8 wherein the first meander has a circle of curvature that has an inner midpoint and a radius of curvature inside the first meander.
15. The gyroscope of claim 13 wherein the bending springs have nonconstant radii of curvatures.
16. The gyroscope of claim 8 wherein each of the spring bars comprises a recess that forms a branch that couples the bending springs to the first and second masses, respectively.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1) Further advantages of the invention are described in the following exemplary embodiments.
(2) FIG. 1 shows a top view of a gyroscope,
(3) FIG. 2 shows a detail from FIG. 1,
(4) FIG. 3a shows a schematic illustration of the design of a bending spring according to the prior art,
(5) FIG. 3b shows a schematic illustration of the design of a bending spring according to the invention, and
(6) FIG. 4-10 show examples of bending spring devices according to the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
(7) FIG. 1 shows a top view of a sensor 1 according to the invention, in the present case, a yaw rate sensor for detecting rotations of the sensor 1 about an axis. An anchoring 3 is situated on a substrate 2 of the sensor 1, and a sensor mass 5 is rotatably fastened to the anchoring by means of four springs 4. The sensor mass 5 is connected to the drive mass 7 by means of a bending spring device 6. Four of the bending spring devices 6 are uniformly distributed at the periphery of the sensor mass 5. The drive mass 7, by means of electrodes 8 attached thereto, is to be set in a primary motion in which it vibrates in an oscillating manner about the z axis which projects out of the plane of the drawing. This primary motion is completed almost exclusively by the drive mass 7, and does not continue on the sensor mass 5. Thus, the sensor mass 5 does not take part in the primary motion of the drive mass 7. If the substrate 2, i.e., the sensor 1, then rotates about an x or y axis situated in the plane of the drawing, Coriolis forces result which attempt to tilt the drive mass 7 about the y or x axis. As the result of an appropriate controlled stiffness of the springs 4 and bending spring devices 6, the drive mass 7 together with the sensor mass 5 allows this motion. For this purpose, the bending spring devices 6 are designed in such a way that on the one hand they allow decoupling of the oscillation of the drive mass 7 from the sensor mass 5 in the primary oscillation, i.e., have a relatively soft design in the circumferential direction with regard to the reaction motion, namely, the secondary oscillation about the y or x axis, and on the other hand they have a relatively stiff design, so that the deflecting drive mass 7 allows the sensor mass 5 to take part in this motion.
(8) Due to the necessary bending of the bending spring device 6 in the circumferential direction, and on the other hand because of the stiffness with regard to an oscillation about the y or x axis, very different requirements are imposed on the bending spring devices 6 which sometimes result in high bending stresses. The design according to the invention of the sensor has bending spring devices 6 which, due to a targeted design, prevent these excessive bending stresses on the bending spring device 6.
(9) FIG. 2 shows the bending spring device 6 in an enlarged illustration. The bending spring device 6 is composed of a spring bar 9 and two meanders 10 situated thereon. The meanders 10 are located on a type of fork or branch of the spring bar 9. The meanders extend essentially at right angles to the length of the spring bar 9, on both sides of the spring bar 9.
(10) At its first end having a rounded transition 11, the spring bar 9 is situated on the sensor mass 5. The other end of the spring bar 9, likewise having a rounded transition 11, is situated on the drive mass 7. To avoid an unfavorable mass accumulation and to improve the strength at the connecting points, in the region of the transitions 11 a recess 12 is provided in each case which forms a branch of the spring bar 9. The transitions may, for example, be circular or also elliptical.
(11) The meander 10 is rounded, and has radii of curvature which on the one hand have an inner midpoint and on the other hand have outer midpoints. Starting at the spring bar 9, the meander 10 is composed of a first rounded subregion whose center of curvature is outside the meander 10. This first curvature results in a concave curvature of the meander 10. This first section is adjoined by a curve having a radius of curvature whose midpoint is inside the meander 10. This second curvature extends around an inflection point of the meander. In the present exemplary embodiment, this second curved section conforms to its circle of curvature by greater than 180° in order to compensate for the first inwardly directed concave curvature. This is followed by a third section which once again has a concave curvature of the meander 10. The midpoint of the present circle of curvature is once again outside the meander 10. The meander 10 then bends back into the spring bar 9. This curvature with the spring bar is also gradual, and has a rounded transition. The two meanders 10 are mirror images of one another. However, depending on the requirements for the bending spring device 6, the meanders may also be asymmetrical; i.e., only one meander 10 might be present, or the two meanders 10 could have different designs. This design principle avoids a situation in which a region having a high degree of curvature, i.e., a small radius of curvature, is formed at the outer end of the meander, at its inflection region. In regions of high curvature, during load on the bending spring device 6 high stress peaks usually form which may adversely exceed the breaking point of the material.
(12) FIGS. 3a, 3b illustrate the design principle of the bending spring device 6 according to the invention. FIG. 3a shows a meander 10 as it would appear without the modified geometry within the meaning of the present invention. The turn of the meander conforms to a circle of curvature K having a radius r and midpoint MP. Due to the small distance between the spring bars, the radius of curvature r is small, and the curvature is correspondingly high. If this structure is subjected to load by forces situated within the plane of the drawing, a deformed state results which likewise is within the plane of the drawing. The peak stresses which occur are always located in the region of the smallest radii of curvature, thus, in the present case, in the region of the circle of curvature K.
(13) In FIG. 3b this peak stress region has been mitigated by reducing the curvature, i.e., enlarging the radius of curvature r1 compared to r. As a result, the inflection region of the meander now conforms to the circle of curvature K1 by greater than 180°. To also achieve a small distance between the inner quasi-parallel meander bars, which is desirable from a design standpoint, the spring must be bent back in such a way that it conforms to circles of curvature K2 and K3, whose midpoints—in contrast to the inner circle of curvature K1—are situated outside the meander. Here as well, it is ensured that the radii of curvature r2 and r3 are kept as large as possible in order to avoid regions of high curvature, and therefore high peak stresses, to the greatest extent possible.
(14) As a result of this curved design of the meander 10, stress peaks during a deflection of the bending spring device 6, i.e., the meander 10, are kept so low that in normal operation of the sensor, damage to the bending spring device 6 or meander 10 is avoided, even under extreme operating conditions such as shock situations, for example. The bending stresses are much lower than for bending spring devices of the prior art according to FIG. 3a, which are designed without such interrelated radii of curvature.
(15) FIGS. 4-10 illustrate various designs of meanders according to the present invention. These exemplary embodiments are not all-inclusive. A number of other bending spring devices are possible which are designed according to the inventive principle.
(16) FIG. 4 shows a bending spring device 6 according to the invention, having a meander 10 which in its first section has two bending radii in the outer region. Starting from a linear progression of the bending spring device 6, the meander 10 having a circle of curvature K4 is introduced. The meander 10 extends essentially at a right angle away from the first linear progression, starting at a first component. A further, smaller circle of curvature K5 is subsequently provided, by means of which the bending spring extends practically in the opposite direction. In the region of the inflection point of the meander 10, on the inside of the meander 10, a third circle of curvature K6 is provided, to which the bending spring conforms. After a short linear section, the bending spring leads back, with the same bending radii K6, K5, and K4, to the last linear section and opens into the second elastically supported component. Thus, the two components situated to the left and right of the bending spring device 6, which may be the sensor mass 5 and the drive mass 7, or also an anchoring 3 and the sensor mass 5 or the drive mass 7, for example, are elastically connected to one another by means of the bending spring device 6. As a result of the corresponding radii of the circles of curvature, which are as large as possible, to which the bending spring device 6, i.e., the bending spring, conforms, a much softer and more flexible transition of the individual sections is achieved, thus allowing stress peaks to be kept low.
(17) FIG. 4a shows a bending spring device 6 which is optimized compared to the design in FIG. 4. The circles of curvature K4 and K5 have been combined into a single circle of curvature K4,5. The larger radius of the circle of curvature K4,5 compared to the radii of the circles of curvature K4 and K5 results in a smaller curvature (curvature=1/radius) of the circle of curvature K4,5. The stress on the bending spring is therefore lower, and the risk of damage is thus reduced.
(18) FIG. 5 illustrates a meander 10 according to the invention, having two outer circles of curvature and one inner circle of curvature. The return back to the second component is symmetrical, once again having two outer circles of curvature. The transition 11 into the components, each of which is to be elastically supported, is made via a type of fork of the bending spring. The transition 11 of the bending spring device 6 into the components to be connected is thus also made in a particularly suitable manner. The two outer radii of curvature are such that they have an osculating line of greater than 90° overall at the circles of curvature, so that the bending spring is deflected by greater than 90°. In contrast to the design in FIG. 4, in the present case only a single inner circle of curvature is provided. The contact of the bending spring is greater than 180°.
(19) FIG. 5a shows a design which is improved over that in FIG. 5. The two outer circles of curvature in each case have been combined into one large circle of curvature having a small curvature of the bending spring which conforms thereto. Since according to the invention a strong curvature of the bending spring is less favorable than a weak curvature, this embodiment also has advantages compared to the embodiments in FIGS. 4 and 4a, since the inner circle of curvature is as large as possible, and the inflection is not divided into two or more smaller circles of curvature.
(20) In FIG. 6 an outer circle of curvature K7 and three inner circles of curvature K8 (twice) and K9 are provided. The bending spring of the bending spring device 6 conforms to these circles K7, K8, and K9, resulting in a particularly gentle transition. The sum of the contacts of the inner circles of curvature K8 and K9 is greater than 180°, and the contact of the respective outer circle of curvature K7 is greater than 90°. The respective circles of curvature may be connected by means of straight or curved spring sections.
(21) The bending spring device 6 in FIG. 7 is optimized compared to the design according to FIG. 6. This bending spring device conforms to two outer circles of curvature K10 and a large inner circle of curvature K11. The outer circles of curvature K10 are situated inside the projection of the inner circle of curvature K11, resulting in a convex curvature of the bending spring. Particularly high elasticity and a low-stress design of the bending spring device 6 are achieved in this manner. The circles of curvature K10 are smaller than the circle of curvature K11; in another embodiment this may also be reversed. In the ideal case, all of the circles of curvature in question are approximately the same size, since an attempt is generally made to maximize all radii of curvature.
(22) FIG. 8 shows a bending spring device 6 having a double meander 10. The two meanders 10 are symmetrical to one another, and in each case approximately correspond to the meander 10 in FIG. 7. A bending characteristic which is essentially the same in both directions of the bending spring device 6 is ensured by the symmetrical design.
(23) In FIG. 9, the bending spring device 6 from FIG. 8 is provided twice, one behind the other. The total of four meanders 10 form a particularly elastic bending spring device 6 which keeps stress peaks particularly low and provides a stable, durable bending spring device 6.
(24) FIG. 10 shows a modification of the bending spring device 6 from FIG. 9. The spring bars 9 have a two-part design in the region of the interconnected components and between the meander pairs 10. The elasticity and load capacity of such a bending spring device is increased even more.
(25) The illustrated exemplary embodiments represent only a few of the designs of bending spring devices for micromechanical sensors which are possible according to the invention. Various types and sizes of circles of curvature, as well as different numbers of circles of curvature which are formed by the bending spring devices and the meanders, are possible. In addition, the term “circle” is to be construed in a very general manner. Freely configured curves are also possible. It is important that the center of curvature is on the particular described side of the bending spring. Circular arcs which merge into one another may also be used. Also important are the circles of curvature of the meander, situated inside as well as outside the meanders, which in one particularly advantageous embodiment result in convex curvatures, and thus, regions of weaker curvature and therefore reduced peak stresses. Uniform, gradually transitioning changes in the direction vector of the bending springs are achieved in this manner, thus keeping stress peaks low, in particular under extreme loads on the bending spring device, and therefore largely avoiding damage to the bending spring device.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS/CHARACTERS
(26) 1 Sensor 2 Substrate 3 Anchoring 4 Spring 5 Sensor mass 6 Bending spring device 7 Drive mass 8 Electrodes 9 Spring bar 10 Meander 11 Transition K Circle of curvature MP Midpoint R Radius
