Two-axis angular rate gyroscope

A two-axis angular rate gyroscopic apparatus comprising:

• an electrically conductive rotatable disk, said disk having a central hub portion and a plurality of flexible members, each of which extends from said hub portion and comprises an annular outer portion and a pair of radially extending leg members, said leg members extending from said hub portion;
• means for connecting said disk to a source of reference potential;
• a plurality of pairs of electrically conductive spaced plate members which are mounted end-to-end in a circle on an insulating plate adjacent to said disk such that one of said plate members in a pair of said plate members is mounted opposite to the other of said plate members in said pair;
• means for rotating said electrically conductive disk adjacent to said plate members about an axis of rotation;
• and
• electrical circuit means coupled between said plate members and said electrically conductive flexible members of said disk for measuring a change in the capacitance between each of said plate members and said electrically conductive flexible members of said disk when said electrically conductive flexible members of said rotatable disk undergo precession as said rotatable disk is rotated about an axis perpendicular to said axis of rotation, said change in capacitance being a function of said rate of rotation of said axis of rotation about said axis perpendicular to said axis of rotation, said electrical circuit means including a pair of current sources for charging opposite ones of said plate members relative to said disk, means for periodically switching said current sources between each of said opposite plate members to compensate for variations in said current sources, means for periodically discharging said opposite plate members relative to said disk, said charging and said discharging producing a pair of sawtooth voltages, and means for filtering and differentially amplifying said sawtooth voltages for providing an output signal which is proportional to the inverse of the differential capacitance between said opposite plates and said disk.

A two-axis angular rate gyroscopic apparatus comprising:

• an electrically conductive rotatable disk, said disk having a central hub portion and a plurality of flexible members, each of which extends from said hub portion and comprises an annular outer portion and a pair of radially extending leg members, said leg members extending from said hub portion;
• means for connecting said disk to a source of reference potential;
• a plurality of electrically conductive plate members which are mounted on an insulating plate adjacent to said disk;
• means for rotating said electrically conductive disk adjacent to said plate members about an axis of rotation;
• and
• electrical circuit means coupled between said plate members and said electrically conductive flexible members of said disk for measuring a change in the capacitance between each of said plate members and said electrically conductive flexible members of said disk when said electrically conductive flexible members of said rotatable disk undergo precession as said rotatable disk is rotated about an axis perpendicular to said axis of rotation, said change in capacitance being a function of said rate of rotation of said axis of rotation about said axis perpendicular to said axis of rotation, said electrical circuit means including a voltage-to-pulse rate converter having a sawtooth voltage generator and a comparator, capacitor means for coupling said sawtooth voltage generator to a first input of said comparator, a source of reference potential, means for coupling said source of reference potential to said first input, and means for coupling said change of capacitance as an input signal to a second input of said comparator.