MEMS device having distance stops

A micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) device comprising:

• a bottom capacitive plate;
• a top capacitive plate, such that a capacitor is definable between the bottom and the top capacitive plates;
• a mechanism electrostatically movably disposed between the bottom and the top capacitive plates;
• a plurality of flexures movably disposed between the bottom capacitive plate and the mechanism and having distance stops between the bottom capacitive plate and the mechanism corresponding to maximum downward movement;
• and,
• one or more electrodes of the bottom capacitive plate and corresponding to the flexures, such that energizing different of the electrodes causes the flexures to move to different of the distance stops, resultantly causing the mechanism to move to different positions between the bottom and the top capacitive plates,
• wherein the mechanism comprises a plurality of sub-plates having physical stops corresponding to the distance stops of the flexures.

A micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) device comprising:

• a bottom capacitive plate;
• a top capacitive plate, such that a capacitor is definable between the bottom and the top capacitive plates;
• a mechanism electrostatically movably disposed between the bottom and the top capacitive plates;
• a plurality of flexures movably disposed between the bottom capacitive plate and the mechanism and having distance stops between the bottom capacitive plate and the mechanism corresponding to maximum downward movement;
• one or more electrodes of the bottom capacitive plate and corresponding to the flexures, such that energizing different of the electrodes causes the flexures to move to different of the distance stops, resultantly causing the mechanism to move to different positions between the bottom and the top capacitive plates;
• a plurality of physical stops corresponding to the flexures and the distance stops,
• wherein the MEMS device further comprises a rigid frame attached to a first subset of the flexures and corresponding to a first subset of the physical stops and to a first subset of the distance stops, the mechanism attached to a second subset of the flexures and corresponding to a second subset of the physical stops and to a second subset of the distance stops.