JP2003185438A - Method for driving rotation-vibration gyro and vibrator structure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To vibrate a vibrator while electromagnetically reciprocating and rotating it by supplying the vibrator arranged in magnetic fields different from each other with a current while switching its polarity. <P>SOLUTION: In the method for driving a rotation-vibration gyro and a vibrator structure, the magnetic fields (5) difference from each other are generated on both sides of a casing (1). The vibrator (4) is provided in the magnetic fields (5). By supplying a current for cross-shaped conductors (13) and conducting pieces for connection (20) provided for both surfaces of the vibrator (4) while switching its polarity, the vibrator (4) is reciprocated from side to side, rotated, and vibrated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of driving a rotary vibration gyroscope and a vibrator structure, and more particularly, the vibrator is reciprocally rotated by switching the direction of a current supplied to the vibrator in a magnetic field at a required speed. The present invention relates to a new improvement for facilitating the manufacture by vibrating the device by making the gap between the vibrator and the casing larger than that of the conventional electrostatic structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vibrating gyro that uses a Coriolis force generated in a vibrating body to measure the angular velocity when the angular velocity is applied to the vibrating body has been a tuning fork type vibrator, a cantilever beam. Configuration using reciprocating linear vibration of the die vibrator,
There are configurations that use expansion and contraction vibration of a ring-type vibrator and configurations that use rotational vibration of a thin plate such as a disk. As a method of generating a force used for driving these, a configuration using electrostatic force and a piezoelectric phenomenon of a piezoelectric element are used A configuration and a configuration using an electromagnetic force are well known, and an electrostatic force is generally used as a method for exciting rotational vibration.

[0003]

Since the conventional vibrating gyro is configured as described above, the following problems exist. In other words, when driving using electrostatic force, it is necessary to make the gap between the vibrator and the electrodes that sandwich it very small (on the order of a few microns), so extremely high precision is required for its manufacture, It was a big obstacle to mass production.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and in particular, the oscillator is reciprocally rotated by switching the direction of the current supplied to the oscillator in a magnetic field at a required speed. An object of the present invention is to provide a method of driving a rotary vibration gyro and a vibrator structure that vibrate to make a gap between the vibrator and the casing larger than that of a conventional electrostatic structure to facilitate manufacturing.

[0005]

A method of driving a rotary vibration gyroscope according to the present invention comprises a fixed shaft fixedly provided in a casing, a ring-shaped disc provided on the outer periphery of the fixed shaft, and the ring-shaped circle. A cross-shaped cross-shaped conductive body formed on a plate and conducting with the fixed shaft and having the fixed shaft as an intersection, and a connecting conductive piece formed between a pair of opposite ends of the cross-shaped conductive body. A pair of magnetic field generators that are provided on the outer surface of the casing so as to face each other around the fixed shaft and generate magnetic fields in which the directions of the magnetic fields passing through the annular disc are reversed; A current source connected to both ends of the fixed shaft and capable of switching the polarity of the current supplied to the both ends at a required speed, and by switching the polarity from the current source, the cross conductor and the connecting conduction Flowing pieces A method in which the direction of the electric current is switched in synchronization with the switching of the polarities, and the annular disk is reciprocally rotated and vibrated by switching the rotation direction in synchronization with the switching of the polarity, Further, the vibrator structure according to the present invention, a ring-shaped disc provided on the outer periphery of the fixed shaft,
A cross-shaped cross-shaped conductor that is formed on the ring-shaped disc and that conducts to the fixed shaft and has the fixed shaft as an intersection, and a connection formed between a pair of opposite ends of the cross-shaped conductor. A conducting piece, and the ring-shaped disc is connected to the fixed shaft only by the cross-shaped conducting body.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of a method for driving a rotary vibration gyro and a vibrator structure according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a casing whose overall shape is a box shape. The casing 1 has an outer surface, an upper surface 1a and a lower surface 1b, on which the first and second magnetic field generating portions 2 are separated from each other. 3 are provided.

Each of the magnetic field generations 2 and 3 is composed of a magnet (or an electromagnetic magnet is also possible), and the upper surface 1a of the casing 1
The magnetic poles generated on the lower surface 1b are different from each other, and the directions of the magnetic fields 5 passing through the vibrator 4 in the casing 1 are opposite to each other.

The vibrator 4 includes a fixed shaft 6 disposed in the center of the casing 1 (in the case where the fixed shaft 6 is a conductor,
In the case of a non-conductor having a conductor attached to the surface, it may be a semiconductor) and is elastically supported about this fixed shaft 6 via a cross-shaped conductor 13 which is a spring described later. The vibrator 4 is configured to reciprocate forward and backward through the spring portion 13c of the cross-shaped conductor 13 as a center. That is, the cross-shaped conductor 13 has a structure similar to that shown in FIGS.
A portion of the spring portion 13c corresponding to the circular space 12 indicated by is joined to the ring-shaped disc 11 and has a spring property. A current source configured to switch the polarity of the output current at the upper and lower ends of the fixed shaft 6 at a required speed (that is, to excite vibration at a resonance frequency determined by the structure of the vibrator 4). 1
0 is connected.

The vibrator 4 is specifically constructed as shown in FIG. That is, the ring-shaped disc 11 that constitutes the vibrator 4 is located on the outer periphery of the fixed shaft 6, and the fixed shaft 6 is located at the center of the circular space 12 located in the center of the ring-shaped disc 11.

On both surfaces of the ring-shaped disc 11, cross-shaped conductors 13 are formed of metal formed by vapor deposition etching or the like, and the cross-shaped conductors 13 are formed. The intersections 14 of the cross-shaped conductors 13 are fixed shafts 6. Are connected to each other by welding or slightly soldering, and the circular gap 12 has only the spring portion 13c of the cross-shaped conducting body 13 formed of a pair of elastic bodies, and the ring-shaped disc 11 is fixed to the fixed shaft 6. The spring portion 13
It is configured such that reciprocal rotation (that is, deformation such as rotational vibration and inclination) is possible only by c.

Between the pair of opposed end portions 13a, 13b of each cross-shaped conductor 13, an arc-shaped (or straight-lined) connecting conductive piece 20 along the outer circumference of the annular disc 11 is electrically connected. And is connected to each other (note that both surfaces of the ring-shaped disc 11 are formed in the same manner), and the position of the fixed shaft 6, that is, the intersection 1
It is formed in a figure of 8 with 4 as the center.

Next, the operation will be described. First, before explaining the operation of the present invention, the operation principle of a general rotary vibration gyro will be described. A disk shape is adopted as a model, and it is assumed that the vibrator 4 is supported on the fixed shaft 6 by a cross spring 13A having four spring portions 13c.
In the above-mentioned state, if rotational speed Ω is applied around the y-axis in the state where rotational vibration is excited on the x-axis around the fixed axis 6, the outer product of the direction v of the excited rotational vibration velocity vector and the rotational angular velocity vector Ω. A well-known Coriolis force Fc defined by the equation (1) is generated by using, and vibration is generated around the z axis. The angular velocity can be measured by detecting the vibration around the z-axis using an electrostatic type or an optical displacement detection type. However, the arrow mark above the reference numeral is omitted here.

[0013]

[Equation 1]

Next, a case where the vibrator 4 according to the present invention shown in FIG. 2 is oscillated by reciprocating left and right at high speed will be described. When the current source 10 is switched between positive and negative at high speed and a current is supplied to both ends of the fixed shaft 6, the electric current is supplied to both ends of the fixed shaft 6 in the circumferential direction via the cross-shaped conductors 13 and the connecting conductor pieces 20 on both sides of the vibrator 4. The directions A, B, C, in which the current i is radially indicated by arrows,
It flows like D and a current loop is formed.

In the above-mentioned case, the direction of the magnetic field 5 is reversed and the polarity of the current is changed on each of the cross-shaped conductors 13 in which the current flows in the directions A, B and C, D as shown in FIG. 2 by alternately switching the directions A → C / B → D and A ← C / B ← D at a high speed, as shown by arrows F, the CW and CCW directions in FIG. The oscillator 4 is switched in synchronism with the switching of the polarities of 10, and the vibrator 4 rotates the spring portion 13 of the cross-shaped conductor 13 about the fixed shaft 6 in a cycle provided for this synchronization.
Left and right reciprocating rotational vibration is generated via c.

When an angular velocity input from the outside occurs while vibrating in the above-mentioned state, the Coriolis force shown in FIG. 3 is generated and the vibrator 4 tilts. Therefore, this tilted state is known. The magnitude of the angular velocity input can be detected by detecting with a detection unit such as the electrostatic method or the optical displacement detection method.

The detection data of the angular velocity input is used for attitude control of vehicles, ships, aircrafts, robots and the like.

[0018]

Since the method of driving the rotary vibration gyro and the structure of the vibrator according to the present invention are configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained. That is, since a vibrator having a cross-shaped conductor that allows current to flow in different magnetic fields is used and the direction of the current supplied to the vibrator is switched at high speed, the vibrator is rotated left and right by an electromagnetic force. It is possible to generate vibration due to movement, and the gap between the casing and the vibrator 4 can be made significantly larger than the gap of the conventional electrostatic type or optical displacement detection method, etc. Therefore, the detection accuracy can be improved. Further, compared with the conventional electrostatic structure, the structure can be made more solid, the handling is easy, and the application field can be expanded.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a method of driving a rotary vibration gyro and a vibrator structure according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a vibrating state of the vibrator of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a detected state of an input angular velocity of a general disc-shaped oscillator.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 casing 1a, 1b Upper surface, lower surface (outer surface) A few magnetic field generators 4 oscillators 5 magnetic field 6 fixed axis 10 current source 11 ring-shaped disc 12 circular void 13 Cross-shaped conductor 13a, 13b both ends 13c Spring part 14 intersection 20 Conductive piece for connection i current A, B, C, D direction

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A fixed shaft (6) fixedly provided in a casing (1), a ring-shaped disc (11) provided on the outer periphery of the fixed shaft (6), and the ring-shaped disc (11). ) Formed on the fixed shaft (6)
Is formed between a cross-shaped cross-shaped conductor (13) having a cross point of the fixed shaft (6) and a pair of end portions (13a, 13b) of the cross-shaped conductor (13) facing each other. The connecting conductive piece (20) and the magnetic field (11) provided on the outer surface of the casing (1) so as to face each other around the fixed shaft (6) and passing through the annular disc (11). A pair of magnetic field generators (2, 3) that generate a magnetic field (5) such that the directions of (5) are reversed, and the polarity of the current supplied to both ends of the fixed shaft (6) are required. Current source that can be switched at any speed (10)
By switching the polarity from the current source (10), the direction of the current (i) flowing through the cross-shaped conductor (13) and the connecting conducting piece (20) (A, B, C, D ) Is switched in synchronism with the switching of the polarity, and the ring-shaped disk (11) reciprocally rotates and vibrates by switching the rotation direction in synchronization with the switching of the polarity. A rotary vibration gyro drive method characterized by the above. 2. A ring-shaped disc provided on the outer periphery of the fixed shaft (6).
(11), a cross-shaped cross-shaped conducting body (13) formed in the annular disc (11) and electrically connected to the fixed shaft (6) and having the fixed shaft (6) as an intersection, and the cross-shaped A conductive piece for connection formed between a pair of opposite end portions (13a, 13b) of the conductive body (13).
(20), and the ring-shaped disc (11) is connected to the fixed shaft (6) only by the cross-shaped conductor (13), the vibrator structure of the rotary vibration gyro. .