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US 5,156,056 AGranted
Gyroscope having a specifically restrained piezoelectric crystal
AssigneeCondor Pacific Industries, Inc.
InventorsRoland Pittman, Michael A. Napolitano
Life of this patent
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AssigneeCondor Pacific Industries, Inc.
InventorsRoland Pittman, Michael A. Napolitano
Estimating the term…
A gyroscope which comprises a gyroscopic element mounted to a base which is mounted coaxially to a spin motor. Preferably at least one hinge is between the gyroscopic element and the base. There is at least one piezoelectric crystal, preferably a bender element, having a base end, an outer end. A bender element provides an electrical signal as a function of bending. The base end of the crystal can be connected to the base and the crystal extends from the base with the crystal having a major plane transverse to the spin axis. The outer end of the crystal is connected to the gyroscopic element via a crystal restraint having a degree of freedom of movement parallel to the spin axis. Preferably, the crystal restraint is a wire connected on one end to the crystal and on the opposite end to the gyroscopic element. The restraint wire is preferably parallel to the spin axis.
A gyroscope comprising:
A gyroscope comprising:
An improved gyroscope of the type having a gyroscopic base having a spring axis, a gyroscopic element in a coaxial relation with the base, a means for sensing changes between the base and the gyroscopic element, and a flexible hinge between the base and the gyroscopic element wherein the improvement comprises the flexible hinge being a torsion wire comprising a pivot section extending between two wire restraints, with both wire restraints located in either the base or in the gyroscopic element, and a pivot means having a fulcrum, the pivot means being located in the base or in the gyroscopic element opposite the location of the torsion wire, the pivot section being secured at location at the fulcrum where the gyroscopic element is aligned.
A method of aligning a gyroscope comprising a base having a spin axis, a gyroscopic element in a coaxial relation with the base, a means for sensing changes between the base and the gyroscopic element, and a flexible hinge comprising a torsion wire having a pivot section extending between two wire restraints located in the base or in the gyroscopic element, with both wire restraints located in the base or in the gyroscopic element, and a pivot means having a fulcrum, the pivot means being located in the base or in the gyroscopic element opposite the location of the torsion wire, comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.