Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to overcome the technical defects and provide a Z-axis accelerometer which is used for solving the problem of measurement errors caused by substrate warpage or anchor point imbalance in the prior art.
In order to achieve the technical purpose, the technical scheme of the invention is as follows: a Z-axis accelerometer, comprising: a substrate, a first proof mass, a second proof mass, and at least one anchor secured to a surface of the substrate, wherein: the first mass block and the second mass block are respectively elastically connected with the at least one anchor, are suspended on the substrate and are configured to be capable of performing resonant motion along a direction perpendicular to the substrate around a boundary line, the boundary line is a straight line where the at least one anchor is located, and a plane where the substrate is located is divided into a first area and a second area; the first mass block comprises a first mass part and a second mass part, wherein the first mass part is positioned in the first area and the second mass part is positioned in the second area, and the movement directions of the first mass part and the second mass part are opposite; the second mass block comprises a third mass part and a fourth mass part, wherein the third mass part and the fourth mass part are divided by the dividing line and located in the first area, and the third mass part and the fourth mass part move in opposite directions; paired electrodes are disposed between the first and second proof masses and the substrate to form a plurality of capacitances between the first proof mass and the substrate and between the second proof mass and the substrate.
Preferably, the first mass portion has a mass m1The mass of the second mass part is m2And m is1>2, the third mass part has a mass m3Said fourth mass portion massIs m4And m is3<4。
Preferably, capacitance structures are respectively provided between the first mass portion, the second mass portion, the third mass portion, and the fourth mass portion and the substrate.
Preferably, each capacitor structure comprises two capacitors, each capacitor comprises a bottom electrode disposed on the substrate and a top electrode disposed on the corresponding mass portion, and the top electrode and the bottom electrode are opposite.
Preferably, each of the capacitor structures comprises two capacitors arranged symmetrically about a first central axis, the first central axis being perpendicular to the dividing line.
Preferably, the two capacitor structures corresponding to the first mass portion and the second mass portion are symmetrically disposed about the dividing line, and the two capacitor structures corresponding to the third mass portion and the fourth mass portion are symmetrically disposed about the dividing line.
Preferably, each pair of said electrodes is equidistant from said dividing line.
Preferably, the first mass block is provided with a caulking hole, and the second mass block is arranged in the caulking hole.
Preferably, the first mass portion has a proximal end close to the boundary line and a distal end distant from the boundary line, the second mass portion has a proximal end close to the boundary line and a distal end distant from the boundary line, the third mass portion has a proximal end close to the boundary line and a distal end distant from the boundary line, the fourth mass portion has a proximal end close to the boundary line and a distal end distant from the boundary line, and the electrodes are disposed at the distal end of the first mass portion, the distal end of the second mass portion, the distal end of the third mass portion, and the distal end of the fourth mass portion, respectively.
Preferably, the facing areas of the plurality of pairs of electrodes are the same.
Compared with the prior art, the invention has the beneficial effects that: by adopting the double-seesaw structure, when the acceleration of the Z-axis accelerometer changes, the heavy side deflects towards the acceleration direction due to the mass asymmetrically distributed on the two sides, and the light side reversely deflects towards the acceleration direction. And the larger the acceleration is, the larger the deflection degree is, because the heavy side of the first mass block and the heavy side of the second mass block are respectively distributed in the first area and the second area, and the deflection directions of the first mass block and the second mass block are opposite, when one side of the mass block warps, the capacitance variation of the capacitance at the corresponding positions of the first mass block and the second mass block is the same, because the difference calculation is adopted by the Z-axis accelerometer, the capacitance variation of the first mass block and the capacitance variation of the second mass block are offset, and therefore the error caused by the warping can be effectively avoided. In addition, it should be noted that when the anchor is unbalanced, the first mass block and the second mass block deflect, and the deflection has the same influence on the two mass blocks, and capacitance changes are generated at both ends of the first mass block and the second mass block, and similarly, the capacitance change can be offset in the differential calculation, so as to avoid an error generated by the unbalance of the anchor.
Detailed Description
Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a typical conventional accelerometer. The flat plate is arranged on the substrate, is connected with the substrate through the anchor and can do seesaw motion around the anchor, the left side and the right side of the flat plate are provided with mass blocks with different masses, and the left side and the right side of the flat plate are respectively provided with electrodes which respectively form capacitors with the electrodes of the substrate.
The accelerometer is only influenced by gravity acceleration, so that the flat plate reaches a balanced state, and the distance between the left side and the right side of the flat plate and the substrate is kept unchanged, namely the zero point of the accelerometer.
When the flat plate is subjected to acceleration change, the left and right masses of the flat plate are different, so that the flat plate is stressed differently, the flat plate deflects, the left and right sides of the flat plate respectively move in the same phase direction, the distance between the two opposite electrodes is changed, the corresponding capacitance value is changed, and the larger the change of the acceleration of the flat plate is, the larger the capacitance difference value of the left side and the right side is, so that the acceleration of the external force applied to the flat plate can be represented by the capacitance difference value of the left side and the right side.
However, the inventor finds that when the substrate is deformed due to stress, temperature and other factors or the anchor is unbalanced, the flat plate deflects, so that the distance between the flat plate and the substrate is changed, and the capacitance value is changed, the corresponding zero point of the accelerometer is also changed, otherwise, the measurement result is inaccurate.
In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the present invention is described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention.
Referring to fig. 2 and fig. 3, fig. 2 is a top view of a Z-axis accelerometer provided in the present invention, and fig. 3 is a front view of the Z-axis accelerometer provided in the present invention in a balanced state. The invention provides a Z-axis accelerometer, comprising: a substrate 1, a first mass 2, a second mass 3, an anchor 4 and a spring 5, wherein: the first mass 2 and the second mass 3 are connected to the substrate 1 via anchors 4 and are configured to perform a seesaw-like motion around a dividing line, which is parallel to the substrate 1, and which divides the plane into a first region and a second region, the first mass 2 and the second mass 3 are elastically connected to the anchors 4, respectively, and as a preferred embodiment, the first mass 2 and the second mass 3 are connected to the anchors 4 via springs 5, respectively.
The first mass 2 comprises a first mass part 21 in a first region and a second mass part 22 in a second region divided by a dividing line, the directions of movement of the first mass part 21 and the second mass part 22 being opposite. The second mass block 3 includes a third mass portion 31 located in the first region and a fourth mass portion 32 located in the second region, which are divided by a boundary line, and the third mass portion 31 and the fourth mass portion 32 move in opposite directions to each other and to the first mass portion 21.
Specifically, the first mass block 2 and the second mass block 3 may be configured to have different masses on the left and right sides, so that the first mass block and the second mass block can deflect when the Z-axis accelerometer is subjected to acceleration change, and the first mass block 2 is divided into a first area and a mass m by a boundary line1And a first mass part 21 located in the second region and having a mass m2And m is the second mass part 22 of1>m2The second mass 3 is divided by a dividing line into a first region having a mass m3And a third mass part 31 having a mass m in the second region4And m is the fourth mass part 32, and3<m4. Therefore, the masses of both ends of the first mass portion 21 and the second mass portion 22 are not equal to each other, and the relatively heavy end of the first mass portion 21 and the relatively heavy end of the second mass portion 22 are located on both sides of the boundary line, respectively.
The first mass block 2 and the second mass block 3 are respectively provided with paired electrodes at the sides close to the substrate 1, so as to form a plurality of capacitors between the first mass block 2 and the substrate 1 and between the second mass block 3 and the substrate 1, it should be noted that the rotation angles of the two sides are the same when the first mass block 2 and the second mass block 3 rotate, if the distances from the electrodes to the boundary are different, the change distances of the electrodes are different, so that the capacitance change is different, correction is not performed, acceleration cannot be accurately calculated, and therefore, the distances from the electrodes to the boundary are the same, so as to ensure that the distances from the electrodes to the boundary are the same, and the left capacitor and the right capacitor are ensuredThe capacitance values of the electrodes are corrected, and the ratio of the capacitance values of the electrodes to the distance between the corresponding electrodes and the boundary line is the corrected value. Wherein first capacitors C are formed between the first, second, third and fourth mass portions 21, 22, 31 and 32 and the substrate 1 respectively1A second capacitor C2A third capacitor C3And a fourth capacitance C4。
As a preferred embodiment, Δ Z ═ C1+C3-C2-C4To characterize the magnitude and direction of the Z-axis acceleration of the accelerometer. Specifically, for a single see-saw structure, Δ Z ═ C1-C2Wherein C is1And C2Capacitors on both sides of the mass, respectively, and when one side is warped, Δ Z ═ C1+ΔC-C2Where Δ C is a capacitance change caused by deformation of the mass block due to stress and other factors, and therefore, the single seesaw structure cannot avoid an error caused by warpage.
Referring to fig. 4 and 5, for a seesaw structure, fig. 4 is a front view of a Z-axis accelerometer provided by the present invention when the acceleration changes and the accelerometer deflects, and fig. 5 is a front view of a Z-axis accelerometer provided by the present invention when one side of the acceleration warps. Δ Z ═ C1+C4-C2-C3When the mass block on one side receives stress and warps, the mass parts of the two mass blocks on the same side can deform to the same extent, for example: the first mass part and the third mass part deform to the same degree, so that the first capacitor and the third capacitor on the same side generate the same variation Δ C, and at the moment, Δ Z ═ C1+ΔC+C4-(C3+ΔC)-C2=C1+D4-C2-C3I.e. the capacitance variation is cancelled out.
When the two sides are warped, the corresponding first quality part and the corresponding third quality part deform to the same degree, so that the first capacitor and the third capacitor on the same side generate the same variation delta C1And the second mass part and the fourth mass part deform to the same degree, so that the second mass part and the fourth mass part deform to the same degreeThe capacitor and the fourth capacitor on the same side generate the same variable quantity delta C2When Δ Z is equal to C1+ΔC1+(C4+ΔC2)-(C3+ΔC1)-(C2+ΔC2)=C1+C4-C2-C3I.e. the capacitance variation is cancelled out.
Therefore, by adopting the double-see-saw structure in the embodiment, an error caused by warping can be effectively avoided, and the error can be offset when the warping occurs on any one side or both sides, which needs to be further explained.
As a preferred embodiment, the first capacitor comprises two pairs of electrodes and the capacitance is C11And a capacitance of C12And C is a second electrode 62, and1=C11+C12the second capacitor comprises two pairs of electrodes and has a capacitance of C21And a third electrode 63 and a capacitance of C22And C is a fourth electrode 64, and2=C21+C22. Further preferably, the Z-axis accelerometer has a first central axis, the first electrode 61 and the second electrode 62 are axisymmetric with respect to the first central axis, the third electrode 63 and the fourth electrode 64 are axisymmetric with respect to the first central axis, and the distances from the first electrode 61 and the third electrode 63 to the first central axis are equal, so that the first electrode 61, the second electrode 62, the third electrode 63, and the fourth electrode 64 are exactly located at four corners of a rectangle, and the two central axes of the rectangle are the first central axis and a boundary line, and the stability of the first mass block 2 of the accelerometer can be ensured by adopting the symmetric arrangement.
Similarly, as a preferred embodiment, the third capacitor comprises two pairs of electrodes, and the capacitance is C31And a capacitance of C32And C is a sixth electrode 66, and3=C31+C32the fourth capacitor comprises two pairs of electrodes and has a capacitance of C41And a seventh electrode 67 and a capacitance of C42And C is an eighth electrode 68 of4=C41+C42. Go toPreferably, the Z-axis accelerometer has a second central axis, the fifth electrode 65 and the sixth electrode 66 are axially symmetric with respect to the second central axis, the seventh electrode 67 and the eighth electrode 68 are axially symmetric with respect to the second central axis, and the distances from the fifth electrode 65 and the seventh electrode 67 to the second central axis are equal, so that the fifth electrode 65, the sixth electrode 66, the seventh electrode 67 and the eighth electrode 68 are exactly located at four corners of a rectangle, and the two central axes of the rectangle are the second central axis and a boundary line, and the stability of the second mass block 3 can be ensured by adopting the symmetric arrangement.
It should be noted that each capacitor includes two electrodes, one electrode is disposed on the substrate, the other electrode is disposed on the corresponding mass block, and the electrodes in the pair are disposed oppositely or partially oppositely. If the facing areas of different pairs of electrodes are different, the capacitance value changes differently when the electrode distance between two pairs of electrodes on two sides of the same mass block is changed, so that the capacitance value also needs to be corrected, and the ratio of the capacitance value to the facing area of the corresponding electrode can be used as a correction value.
In a preferred embodiment, the facing areas of the electrodes of the plurality of pairs are the same, the facing areas of the electrodes are the same, and the variation of the corresponding capacitance is the same under the same displacement, so that the measured capacitance value does not need to be compensated and corrected.
Further preferably, the first central axis is collinear with the second central axis, i.e. the first electrode 61 and the third electrode 63 are symmetrical, so that the electrodes of the first mass block 2 and the second mass block 3 are symmetrically arranged, and the stability of the whole accelerometer can be ensured.
In a preferred embodiment, the first mass block 2 is provided with a recessed hole, and the second mass block 3 is disposed in the recessed hole, so that the first mass block 2 and the second mass block 3 can be prevented from moving and interfering. The structures are nested with each other, and the outer mass block is a closed ring, so that the upper side and the lower side can synchronously move, and the instability of the structure is reduced.
As a preferred embodiment, the first mass portion 21 has a proximal end close to the boundary and a distal end far from the boundary, the second mass portion 22 has a proximal end close to the boundary and a distal end far from the boundary, the third mass portion 31 has a proximal end close to the boundary and a distal end far from the boundary, the fourth mass portion 32 has a proximal end close to the boundary and a distal end far from the boundary, electrodes are respectively provided at the distal end of the first mass portion 21, the distal end of the second mass portion 22, the distal end of the third mass portion 31, and the distal end of the fourth mass portion 32, and when the first proof mass 2 and the second proof mass 3 are rotated, the displacement of the distal end is larger than that of the proximal end, so that the electrodes are provided at the distal end, and the capacitance variation can be increased and the sensitivity can be improved.
In summary, the present invention provides a Z-axis accelerometer, which employs a dual-seesaw structure, when the acceleration of the Z-axis accelerometer changes, due to the mass asymmetrically distributed on both sides, the heavy side deflects toward the acceleration direction, and the light side deflects toward the acceleration direction in the opposite direction. And, the larger the acceleration is, the larger the deflection degree is, because the heavy side of the first mass block 2 and the heavy side of the second mass block 3 are respectively distributed in the first area and the second area, and the deflection directions of the first mass block 2 and the second mass block 3 are opposite, when one side is warped, the capacitance variation of the same size is generated by the capacitance of the corresponding positions of the first mass block 2 and the second mass block 3, and because the difference calculation is adopted by the Z-axis accelerometer, the capacitance variation of the corresponding positions of the first mass block 2 and the second mass block 3 is offset, so that the error generated by warping can be effectively avoided. In addition, it should be noted that when the anchor 4 is unbalanced, the first mass block 2 and the second mass block 3 are deflected, and the deflection has the same effect on the two mass blocks, so that capacitance changes are generated at both ends of the first mass block 2 and the second mass block 3, and similarly, the capacitance changes can be cancelled in the differential calculation.
Although the application has been shown and described with respect to one or more implementations, equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art based upon a reading and understanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. This application is intended to embrace all such modifications and variations and is limited only by the scope of the appended claims. In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described components, the terms used to describe such components are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any component which performs the specified function of the component (e.g., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the herein illustrated exemplary implementations of the specification.
That is, the above embodiments are only examples of the present application, and not intended to limit the scope of the present application, and all equivalent structures or equivalent flow transformations made by the contents of the specification and drawings of the present application, such as mutual combination of technical features between the embodiments, or direct or indirect application to other related technical fields, are included in the scope of the present application.
In addition, in the description of the present application, it is to be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on those shown in the drawings, and are only for convenience of description and simplicity of description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element being referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed in a particular orientation, and be operated, and thus, should not be considered as limiting the present application. In addition, structural elements having the same or similar characteristics may be identified by the same or different reference numerals. Furthermore, the terms "first", "second" and "first" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more features. In the description of the present application, "a plurality" means two or more unless specifically limited otherwise. In this application, the word "exemplary" is used to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the present application. In the foregoing description, various details have been set forth for the purpose of explanation. It will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the present application may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and processes are not shown in detail to avoid obscuring the description of the present application with unnecessary detail. Thus, the present application is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.