Electro-mechanical component and method for producing the same
AssigneeHahn-Schickard-Gesellschaft fuer angewandte Forschung e.V.
InventorsHeinz Kueck, Metin Giousouf
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Abstract
An electromechanical component consists of a polymeric body comprising a mechanically active part with a spring and a frame, and of a metal layer which encompasses the spring substantially completely so as to mechanically stabilize the same. The electromechanical component can be an acceleration sensor, a rotary speed sensor, a microvalve, a micropump, a pressure sensor, or a force sensor. Production of said electromechanical component incurs drastically reduced costs compared to electromechanical components produced using silicon-based technology because simple injection-moulding and/or embossing processes, instead of the complicated silicon-based technology, can be used for producing said electromechanical component.
Claims36
An electromechanical component comprising:
- a polymeric body including a mechanically active part and a frame;
- and
- a metal layer which covers the mechanically active part at least partially so as to mechanically stabilize the same,
- said mechanically active part including a spring beam connecting the frame to a mass which moves when said spring beam bends;
- and
- said metal layer encompassing the spring beam substantially completely, with the exception of the locations where said spring beam is connected to the frame and the mass, so as to mechanically reinforce said spring beam.
An electromechanical component according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the areas of the polymeric body, which have the metal layer and the further metal layer provided thereon, consist of a first polymer material which is adapted to be metallized in a wet-chemical process, and wherein the areas, which do not have a metal layer provided thereon, consist of a second polymer material which is not metallized in a wet-chemical process.
A method for producing an electromechanical component comprising the steps of:
- forming a polymeric body including a mechanically active part and a frame, said mechanically active part including a spring beam connecting the frame to a mass which moves when said spring beam bends;
- and forming a metal layer covering the mechanically active part at least partially so as to mechanically stabilize the same, in such a way that the metal layer encompasses the spring beam substantially completely, with the exception of the locations where said spring beam is connected to the frame and the mass, so as to mechanically reinforce said spring beam.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.