JPS60133369A - Gas rate gyroscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To elevate the reliability while simplifying the construction of a gas rate gyroscope by having a working gas ionized and flying with an electric field to generate a gas flow in a purely electric manner. CONSTITUTION:An a gas is fed from an inflow port 12 into a closed container 2 of a gas rate gyroscope body 1 causing it to exhaust until the average free travel of ion becomes larger than the distance between an ion acceleration electrode 7 and a collector electrode 10 therein 2, the gas is ionized by discharge, accelerated with the electrode 7 to be focused like a beam with a convergence electrode 8 and released to a detection area 3. Then, the gas flies to the collector electrode 10 to reach a detection electrode 11 eccentrically from the center line according to an angular velocity applied on the free axis vertical to the center axis of the container 2 and a gyroscope output proportional to the eccentricity thereof is detected. With such an arrangement of generating the gas flow in a purely electric manner, mechanically mobile parts are eliminated thereby simplifying the construction of the gas rate gyroscope while elevating the reliability.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Technical Field) The present invention relates to a gas rate gyro that utilizes the drift of gas flow due to the influence of angular velocity.

(Prior art) As shown in Fig. 1, the gas rate gyro has a piezo vibrator type pump b installed at one end of a sealed casing a, and a nozzle C installed at the other end. This device measures the angular velocity by detecting the displacement of the gas flow that occurs when an angular velocity is applied using an axis perpendicular to the gas flow as a free axis in a state in which a gas flow d is generated using a flow sensor e.

However, since the gas flow is generated by a pump, there is one mechanically movable part, and there are problems in that the structure is not only complicated but also low in reliability.

(Objective) In view of these problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a gas rate gyro that is simple in structure and highly reliable by generating a gas flow purely electrically.

(Structure) Therefore, details of the present invention will be described below based on illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which reference numeral 1 denotes a gas rate gyro main body, and a center hole 5a is formed at one end of the case 2 forming a closed container on the side of the detection area 3. The ionization source 5 is connected to a discharge power source 4, and a center hole 7a is bored coaxially with the center hole 5a in the front surface of the ionization source 5, and an ion accelerating rod 7 is connected to an acceleration power source 6. A shielding plate 9 with a through hole 9a in the center is provided at the other end, and an ion collector electrode 1 is provided on the downstream side.
The ion detecting electrode 11, which will be described later, is provided on the upstream side of the sensor. Reference numeral 11 denotes the aforementioned ion detection electrode, in which electrode plates 11a and llb are arranged symmetrically about the center line,
It is configured to output a signal proportional to the bias of ions emitted from the accelerating electrode. In the figure, reference numeral 12 indicates a gas inlet hole connected to a gas supply source, and reference numeral 13 indicates a gas outlet port connected to an exhaust pump.

In this embodiment, when gas is supplied to the ionization source 5 while being evacuated to such an extent that the mean free path of the ions is larger than the distance between the ion acceleration chamber ai7 and the collector electrode 10, the gas is ionized by the discharge. , acceleration electrode 7
It is accelerated by the converging electrode 8, focused into a beam shape, and emitted to the detection area 3, and flies on the central axis toward the collector electrode 10. In such a state, when there is no angular velocity effect on the main body 1, the ion beam is transferred to the detection electrode 11.
Since it passes through the center of , no signal is output. On the other hand, when an angular velocity acts on the ion beam (2) with the axis perpendicular to the center axis as a free axis, the ion beam (2) flying in the detection region 3 reaches the collector electrode 11 while being deviated from the center line.

This causes a deviation in the path of the ions passing through the detection electrode 11, and a signal proportional to this deviation is output, making it possible to detect the acting angular velocity.

[Example] When the distance between the focusing electrode and the detection electrode is 1000 mm, the detection area is maintained at a vacuum of 10 Torr, xenon Xe is used as the working gas, and the accelerating voltage is maintained at O, tV, xenon ions are generated at 380 V. Fly at a speed of seconds. As a result, it was possible to detect an angular velocity of 3.8 x 10 rad/sec using a detection electrode with a resolution of lILm.

In this embodiment, the gas supply path is configured as an open system, but the same effect can be obtained even if the exhaust port and the supply port are connected via a pump and the gas is circulated and reused.

Further, in this embodiment, the gas is ionized by direct current glow discharge, but ionization using a high frequency discharge or a thermionic source can also produce similar effects.

(Effects) As mentioned above, according to the present invention, the working gas is ionized and is caused to fly through the detection area by an electric field.
There are no mechanical moving parts, the structure is simple, and reliability can be improved.In addition, the gas flow velocity can be easily changed by adjusting the strength of the electric field that accelerates the gas flow, making it possible to change the measurement range. Switching can be done easily.

Furthermore, since the deviation of the ionized gas is detected as a potential change, it is possible to realize an apparatus with extremely high responsiveness.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a device showing an example of a conventional gas rate gyro, and FIG. 2 is a perspective sectional view of the device showing an embodiment of the present invention. ■...Body 2...Sealed container 3...Detection area 5...Ionization source 7...
Accelerating electrode 10... Collector electrode 11... Detecting electrode Applicant Orient Watch Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Kei Nishikawa Katsuhiko Kimura

Claims (1)

[Claims] a gas ionization means for ionizing gas; an ion acceleration means for accelerating ions from the means; and an ion detection means disposed at a certain distance from the means; A gas rate gyro consisting of a sealed container that forms a vacuum region where the mean free path of ions is greater than the distance.