Gimballed vibrating wheel gyroscope having strain relief features

A gyroscope comprising:

• a support oriented in a first plane;
• a wheel assembly disposed over said support and parallel to said first plane, said wheel assembly adapted for vibrating rotationally in said first plane about a drive axis and being responsive to a rotational rate about an input axis coplanar to said first plane for providing an output torque about an output axis coplanar to said first plane, said wheel assembly comprising an inner hub, an outer wheel, and a plurality of spoke flexures extending between said inner hub and said outer wheel, wherein at least one of said plurality of spoke flexures includes a protruding portion for providing strain relief due to said wheel assembly rotational vibration;
• and
• a post assembly between said support and said wheel assembly for flexibly supporting said wheel assembly and said support.

A micromechanical device comprising:

• a substrate;
• a proof mass suspended over said substrate and adapted for being displaced in response to a stimulus;
• and
• a support supporting said proof mass over said substrate, said support having a plurality of flexures and at least one protruding portion positioned along respective one of said plurality of flexures and adapted for elongating in response to said displacement of said proof mass so as to absorb a non-linear stiffening force incident on said plurality of flexures as a result of displacement of said proof mass.

A micromechanical device comprising:

• a substrate;
• a wheel assembly disposed over said substrate comprising an inner hub, an outer wheel and a plurality of spoke flexures extending between said inner hub and said outer wheel, wherein a first of said plurality of spoke flexures defines a concave surface and a convex surface and a second of said plurality of spoke flexures defines a concave surface and a convex surface, wherein said concave surface of said first of said plurality of spoke flexures opposes said concave surface of said second of said plurality of spoke flexures, and wherein said plurality of spoke flexures are relatively flexible about a drive axis and are relatively stiff about an input axis and an output axis;
• and
• a post assembly disposed between said substrate and said wheel assembly for flexibly supporting said wheel assembly over said substrate.