Strain transducer
OwnerNicholas F. D'Antonio, Richard L. Bates +1inventors
InventorsNicholas F. D'Antonio, Richard L. Bates, Richard W. French
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A transducer comprising a balanced bridge, circuit having substantially similar pre-stressed force responsive components, force transmitting means for transmitting input force to a portion of the components and force relieving means for reducing the pre-stress on the remainder of the components in conjunction with the transmission of said input force, to effect a strong output signal of the transducer when an electrical potential is connected across the circuit.
Claims10
A transducer comprising:
- a plurality of impedance devices connected together to form an electrical circuit, the impedances of said devices varying in response to the application of force to said devices, said circuit generating an output signal in response to the application of an electrical potential across said circuit, the value of said output signal depending upon the difference in impedance between said devices;
- pre-stressing means for applying predetermined force to said impedance devices to effect first impedance characteristics in said circuit;
- force transmitting means for transmitting input forces to a portion of said impedance devices to vary the impedances in said portion of said devices;
- and
- force relieving means for reducing the predetermined force on the remainder of said impedance devices in conjunction with the transmission of force by said force transmitting means to said portion of said devices, for increasing the difference between the impedances of said portion of said devices and said remainder of said devices, to effect a strong output signal when an electrical potential is connected across said circuit.
A method for generating electrical signals reflective of the value of applied input forces using a balanced bridge circuit incorporating a set of force responsive resistance devices and having a differential output corresponding to the difference in resistance of the devices;
- said method comprising the steps of:
- pre-stressing the resistance elements;
- applying an electrical potential across the bridge circuit;
- and
- applying said input force to a portion of the resistance elements, while simultaneously relieving the pre-stress on the remainder of the resistance elements to the extent the input force, to obtain the differential in the resistances of said portion of the resistance elements and said remainder of the resistance elements.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.