US 12,146,742 B2
Inertial navigation sensor with reduced footprint
Giacomo Langfelder, Milan (IT); and Marco Gadola, Oleggio (IT)
Assigned to COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES, Paris (FR); and POLITECNICO DI MILANO, Milan (IT)
Filed by COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES, Paris (FR); and POLITECNICO DI MILANO, Milan (IT)
Filed on Jun. 13, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/806,611.
Prior Publication US 2023/0400303 A1, Dec. 14, 2023
Int. Cl. G01C 19/06 (2006.01); G01C 19/28 (2006.01); G01C 19/5705 (2012.01); G01C 19/5747 (2012.01); G01C 21/18 (2006.01); G01P 15/14 (2013.01)
CPC G01C 19/06 (2013.01) [G01C 19/28 (2013.01); G01C 19/5705 (2013.01); G01C 19/5747 (2013.01); G01C 21/18 (2013.01); G01P 15/14 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An inertial sensor comprising:
a substrate which defines a device plane extending along a drive excitation direction and a detection direction normal to the drive excitation direction, the device plane being perpendicular to a rotation direction,
a first drive frame and a second drive frame,
a first sense frame connected to the first drive frame through at least one first decoupling spring that enables mechanical drive between the first drive frame and the first sense frame in the drive excitation direction and mechanically decouples the first drive frame and the first sense frame in the detection direction,
a second sense frame connected to the second drive frame through at least one second decoupling spring that enables mechanical drive between the second drive frame and the second sense frame in the drive excitation direction and mechanically decouples the second drive frame and the second sense frame in the detection direction,
a sense lever pivotably mounted around a rotation axis directed along the rotation direction,
a sensing system connected to the sense lever and comprising at least one strain gauge mechanically stressed by the sense lever when said sense lever is rotating around the rotation axis, and
an excitation device configured to force the first drive frame and the second drive frame into opposite motions going along the drive excitation direction,
wherein:
the sense lever includes a central portion, a first arm and a second arm, the first arm being joined to a first side of the central portion and the second arm being joined to a second side, opposite the first side, of the central portion,
the first sense frame is connected to the first arm of the sense lever through at least one first sense spring that enables mechanical drive between the first sense frame and the sense lever in the detection direction and mechanically decouples the first sense frame and the sense lever in the drive excitation direction,
the second sense frame is connected to the second arm of the sense lever through at least one second sense spring that enables mechanical drive between the second sense frame and the sense lever in the detection direction and mechanically decouples the second sense frame and the sense lever in the drive excitation direction, and
the central portion of the sense lever having a dimension along the detection direction called central width, the first arm and the second arm of the sense lever having a same dimension along the detection direction called arm width, the central width being at least twice greater than the arm width.