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US 12,600,620 B2Granted
Low-impact out-of-plane motion limiter MEMS device
AssigneeMurata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
InventorMikko Partanen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A microelectromechanical device is provided that includes a mobile rotor and a fixed stator in a device plane. Moreover, a fixed wall defines a wall plane that is adjacent to the device plane and a motion limiter is provided to prevent the rotor from coming into direct physical contact with the fixed wall. The motion limiter includes a shock absorber that extends from the rotor to the stator and a fixed stopper structure that protrudes from the fixed wall toward the shock absorber.
Claims22
A microelectromechanical device comprising:
- a mobile rotor that lies in a horizontal device plane in a rest position;
- a fixed stator adjacent to the mobile rotor, such that an edge of the mobile rotor is separated from an edge of the stator by a rotor-stator gap;
- a fixed wall that defines a wall plane that is adjacent to the horizontal device plane and separated from the horizontal device plane in a vertical direction by a rotor-wall gap, with the vertical direction being perpendicular to the horizontal device plane;
- and
- a motion limiter that is configured to prevent the mobile rotor from coming into direct physical contact with the fixed wall across the rotor-wall gap, with the motion limiter including:
- a shock absorber that extends from the mobile rotor to the fixed stator across the rotor-stator gap, and
- a fixed stopper structure that protrudes from the fixed wall in the vertical direction towards the shock absorber, so that fixed stopper structure is vertically aligned with the shock absorber in an impact region, and the shock absorber is separated from the fixed stopper structure in the vertical direction by a stopper gap,
- wherein the fixed stopper structure is dimensioned so that when the mobile rotor undergoes motion in the vertical direction towards the fixed wall, the shock absorber is configured to contact the fixed stopper structure in the impact region before the mobile rotor contacts the fixed wall across the rotor-wall gap, and
- wherein the shock absorber includes an impact part that is aligned with the fixed stopper structure in the vertical direction, one or more first shock absorber springs extending from the mobile rotor to the impact part, and one or more second shock absorber springs extending from the impact part to the fixed stator.
6 more elements
A microelectromechanical device comprising:
- a mobile rotor having a planar surface that extends in a horizontal device plane in a rest position;
- a fixed stator having an edge that faces an edge of the mobile rotor with a rotor-stator gap separating the respective edges;
- a fixed wall that is adjacent to the horizontal device plane and separated from the planar surface of the mobile rotor in a vertical direction by a rotor-wall gap, with the vertical direction being perpendicular to the horizontal device plane;
- and
- a motion limiter configured to prevent the mobile rotor from directly physical contacting the fixed wall across the rotor-wall gap, the motion limiter including:
- a shock absorber that extends from the mobile rotor to the fixed stator across the rotor-stator gap, and
- a fixed stopper structure that protrudes from the fixed wall towards the shock absorber, so that fixed stopper structure is vertically aligned with the shock absorber in an impact region,
- wherein the fixed stopper structure is dimensioned so that when the mobile rotor undergoes motion in the vertical direction towards the fixed wall, the shock absorber is configured to contact the fixed stopper structure in the impact region before the mobile rotor contacts the fixed wall across the rotor-wall gap.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.