Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080218172 | POTENTIAL MEASURING APPARATUS - A potential measuring apparatus has a detection electrode on which an electric charge is induced according to a potential of a detection object, and a modulator for altering the generated quantity of the electric charge. The detection electrode has at least one depressed portion on a surface opposite to the detection object. | 09-11-2008 |
20080264167 | SENSOR - A sensor includes a detecting oscillator supported in such a manner that the detecting oscillator is allowed to oscillate; first and second electrodes; a detecting electrode facing the first and second electrodes; and signal supplying units configured to supply first and second AC signals respectively to the first and second electrodes. Either the first and second electrodes or the detecting electrode is provided on the detecting oscillator. The first and second AC signals respectively supplied to the first and second electrodes by the signal supplying units cause the detecting oscillator to be maintained at a neutral position for detection without being displaced when no physical quantity is input. When the detecting oscillator is displaced, an input physical quantity is detected on the basis of a signal corresponding to charges induced at the detecting electrode by the first and second AC signals supplied respectively to the first and second electrodes. | 10-30-2008 |
20080284445 | POTENTIAL MEASUREMENT APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A potential measurement apparatus is provided which can suitably maintain the oscillation state of an oscillator including a detection electrode and stably measure the potential of a measurement object. The potential measurement apparatus includes a bearing part, an elastic supporting part supported by the bearing part, an oscillator movably supported by the elastic supporting part, detection electrodes installed in the oscillator, a drive mechanism driving the oscillator and a signal detection unit. The signal detection unit is connected to the detection electrodes to detect electrical signals appearing in the detected electrodes. A stress detecting element for generating an electric signal according to the stress of the elastic suspension part | 11-20-2008 |
20080316560 | OPTICAL DEFLECTOR - The optical deflector includes a deflector, a vibration detector, a driving signal generator, a modulation timing signal generator, and a deflection detector. The deflector has a vibrational system having a movable body with a light deflecting member, and deflects light from a light source by the movable body. The vibration detector detects the vibration condition of the vibrational system of the deflector. The driving signal generator generates a driving signal for driving the vibrational system of the deflector. The modulation timing signal generator generates a modulation timing signal as the reference time for regulating the amount of light from the light source. The deflection detector detects the deflection condition of light deflected by the deflector. The driving signal generator generates the driving signal based on information of the vibration condition detected by the vibration detector, and the modulation timing signal generator generates the modulation timing signal based on information of the deflection condition detected by the deflection detector. | 12-25-2008 |
20090061537 | METHOD OF MANUFACTURING OSCILLATOR DEVICE - A method of manufacturing oscillator devices each having an oscillator and a resilient supporting member for supporting the oscillator for oscillatory motion, includes a step of processing one and the same substrate to form oscillators and resilient supporting members of oscillator devices so that oscillators of adjacent oscillator devices are connected to each other, a step of forming or placing a magnetic material so that it extends across the connected oscillators of the adjacent oscillator devices, and a step of simultaneously cutting and separating the connected oscillators and the magnetic material formed or placed to extend across the connected oscillators, whereby oscillator devices such as oscillatory type actuators having good reliability and performance evenness can be manufactured with a good productivity. | 03-05-2009 |
20090193893 | ANGULAR VELOCITY SENSOR - Provided is an angular velocity sensor including: a reference vibrator supported so as to generate reciprocating rotational vibration about a first rotation axis as a center; a detection vibrator supported by the reference vibrator so as to generate reciprocating rotational vibration about a second rotation axis, which is different from the first rotation axis, as a center; a reference vibration generating unit for allowing the reference vibrator to generate reciprocating rotational vibration; and a detection unit for detecting a displacement amount of the detection vibrator with respect to the reference vibrator, which is in association with the reciprocating rotational vibration of the detection vibrator. | 08-06-2009 |
20090205423 | ANGULAR VELOCITY SENSOR - An angular velocity sensor includes a supporting substrate, a detecting portion, a displacement detecting portion, a first driving portion, and a second driving portion. The detecting portion is supported by the supporting substrate movably in at least a free direction. The displacement detecting portion detects a displacement of the detecting portion in the free direction. The first driving portion excites a first reference oscillation of at least a portion of the detecting portion so that a first Coriolis' force in the free direction is generated in response to an angular velocity about a first axis. The second driving portion excites a second reference oscillation of at least a portion of the detecting portion so that a second Coriolis' force in the free direction is generated in response to an angular velocity about a second axis. | 08-20-2009 |
20100019779 | POTENTIAL MEASUREMENT APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A potential measurement apparatus for measuring a surface potential of an object of measurement detects a change in electric charge induced at a detection electrode due to electrostatic induction by changing a distance between the detection electrode and the object of measurement in accordance with a predetermined period, using a neutral distance as reference, as a signal representing a change in electric current. The potential measurement apparatus includes a first detection unit for detecting a signal representing a fundamental period of the change in electric current and a signal representing a second harmonic period, a second detection unit for detecting information representing a capacitance between the detection electrode at the neutral distance and the object of measurement and an arithmetic unit for computationally obtaining information on the surface potential of the object of measurement, with eliminating an influence of the neutral distance and the capacitance, according to an outcome of detection of the first detection unit and an outcome of detection of the second detection unit. | 01-28-2010 |
20100043546 | SENSOR AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME - Provided is a sensor including a movably supported movable element and an opposing member. The sensor detects a relative positional relationship between the movable element and the opposing member which are provided with a spacing therebetween The opposing member has an impurity-doped portion which is provided to one of an opposing portion which is opposed to the movable element and an adjoining portion which adjoins the opposing portion. At least a part of the impurity-doped portion is formed on an opposite surface opposite to a surface which is opposed to the movable element, from which opposite surface an electrical wiring is led out. | 02-25-2010 |
20100107758 | STRUCTURAL MEMBER HAVING A PLURALITY OF CONDUCTIVE REGIONS - A structural member having a plurality of conductive regions electrically insulated from each other, in which the plurality of conductive regions are electrically insulated from each other by continuous oxidized regions, and the oxidized regions are each formed of an oxide made of a material having a plurality of through holes or trenches formed therein. | 05-06-2010 |
20100213791 | OSCILLATOR DEVICE - An oscillator device that includes a movable body oscillatably supported about a rotation axis, wherein the movable body is separated into plural electrically separated conductive regions in the thickness direction, and at least one of the plural electrically separated conductive regions in the thickness direction further has plural electrically separated conductive regions. | 08-26-2010 |
20110031568 | STRUCTURE HAVING PLURAL CONDUCTIVE REGIONS AND PROCESS FOR PRODUCTION THEREOF - A structure having a plurality of conductive regions insulated electrically from each other comprises a movable piece supported movably above the upper face of the conductive region, the movable piece having an electrode in opposition to the conductive region, the structure being constructed to be capable of emitting and receiving electric signals through the lower face of the conductive region, the plural conductive regions being insulated by sequentially connected oxidized regions formed from an oxide of a material having through-holes or grooves. | 02-10-2011 |
20110169510 | CAPACITIVE DETECTION TYPE ELECTRO-MECHANICAL TRANSDUCER - A capacitive detection type electro-mechanical transducer comprises; a cell formed by a first electrode arranged on a substrate and a second electrode arranged on a vibration film, and a detection circuit for detecting a displacement of the vibration film, based on a capacity change between the first and second electrodes, wherein a plurality of the cells are classified into a plurality of groups, each one includes at least two cells, and the first electrodes or the second electrodes of the cells of the same one group are commonly connected to the same one detection circuit, and an addition circuit for adding, into single information, signals from the plurality of detection circuits corresponding to the plurality of groups, and for outputting the information, and a capacitive load for each one of the detectors are formulated to be dispersedly arranged. | 07-14-2011 |
20110182149 | CAPACITIVE ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCER - Provided is a transducer in which electrodes in a movable region are less likely to affect the mechanical characteristics of the movable region and in which nonuniform electrical potential distribution of the surface of the electrodes in the movable region is suppressed. The transducer includes first electrodes and second electrodes opposing the first electrodes with gaps interposed between therebetween. The resistance per unit area of the first electrodes differs in a movable region relative to the second electrodes and an unmovable region relative to the second electrodes. The first electrodes in the movable region and the first electrodes in the unmovable region have different thicknesses. | 07-28-2011 |
20110227448 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DRIVING CAPACITIVE ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCTION APPARATUS - An apparatus is configured to drive a transduction apparatus including a cell with a first electrode and a second electrode disposed so as to oppose each other via a gap. The apparatus includes a timing detection unit and a control unit. The timing detection unit detects a timing of outputting of an electromagnetic wave from an electromagnetic wave source configured to output the electromagnetic wave to irradiate an object to be measured. The control unit drives and controls the transduction apparatus in synchronization with the detected timing such that the capacitive electromechanical transduction apparatus is put in a receiving state only for a period in which an acoustic wave generated in an inside of the object irradiated with the electromagnetic wave is received. | 09-22-2011 |
20120086307 | CAPACITIVE ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCER - The present invention relates to an electromechanical transducer capable of arbitrarily varying the amount of deflection of a vibrating membrane for every element. | 04-12-2012 |
20120103096 | CAPACITIVE ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCER - A capacitive electromechanical transducer in which a reception characteristic is hardly affected by an elastic wave intruding into a substrate is provided. The capacitive electromechanical transducer includes a first electric connection portion that is connected to a second electrode disposed on a surface of a substrate to draw the second electrode onto a side of a surface of the first substrate on a side opposite from a surface in which a first electrode and the second electrodes are provided. With respect to a thickness direction of a first substrate, a diaphragm with which the first electric connection portion is covered is formed on the side of the surface of the first substrate, in which the first and second electrodes are provided. | 05-03-2012 |
20120194107 | CONTROL APPARATUS FOR CAPACITIVE ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCER, AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE CAPACITIVE ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCER - Provided is a control apparatus and control method for a capacitive electromechanical transducer with small decrease in transmission/reception efficiency, and with sets of transmission/reception characteristics with different frequency ranges. The apparatus has cells each including first and second electrodes facing each other via a gap; includes a driving/detecting unit and an external stress applying unit. The driving/detecting unit performs at least one of causing the second electrode to vibrate and transmit elastic waves by generating an AC electrostatic attractive force between the electrodes, and detecting a change of capacity between the electrodes, the change being caused by the second electrode vibrating upon receipt of elastic waves. The external stress applying unit changes the external stress applied to the second electrode. The driving/detecting unit adjusts frequency characteristics by changing a parameter defining the frequency domain used in a transmitting/receiving operation, corresponding to the change of the external stress. | 08-02-2012 |
20120218867 | ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCER - Provided is an electromechanical transducer which is capable of correcting or compensating a fluctuation in the transmission/reception characteristics of an elastic wave transmitting/receiving unit due to applied pressure. The electromechanical transducer ( | 08-30-2012 |
20120227498 | CONTROL APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCER DEVICE, AND MEASUREMENT SYSTEM - There is a case in which a generated acoustic wave is decreased owing to the attenuation of light, whereby a desired output is not obtained from an electromechanical transducer device that receives the acoustic wave. The control apparatus for controlling an electromechanical transducer device of the present invention includes: a conversion unit that converts a current output from a first electrode of the electromechanical transducer device to a voltage; a DC voltage applying unit that applies a DC voltage to a second electrode arranged with a gap between itself and the first electrode; and a generation unit that generates a control signal which makes at least one of the DC voltage and a conversion ratio for converting the current to the voltage be changed, on the basis of information about an elapsed time from a point in time at which an inspection object was irradiated with light. | 09-13-2012 |
20130064035 | ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCER - An electromechanical transducer according to an embodiment of the present invention is capable of selectively performing a transmitting and receiving operation by using elements of different shapes. The electromechanical transducer has a plurality of cells, each of which has a vibrating film including two electrodes provided with a gap therebetween, two driving and detecting units, a potential difference setter, and a switch. Each of the driving and detecting units implements a transmitting and/or a receiving function. A first or second element includes first or second electrodes which are electrically connected and further connected to the common first or second driving and detecting unit, respectively. The potential difference setter sets a predetermined potential difference between the reference potentials of the first and second driving and detecting units, respectively, and the switch switches between the first and second driving and detecting units to perform the transmitting and receiving operation. | 03-14-2013 |
20130255389 | PROBE AND OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUISITION APPARATUS USING THE SAME - A probe is provided in which penetration of an acoustic medium into a support layer of an optical reflection member through a pinhole or a scratch on an optical reflection layer is suppressed, occurrence of a solvent crack is suppressed, and noise due to photoacoustic waves that occurs on a receiving surface can be suppressed. The probe includes an element having at least one cell in which a vibration film containing one electrode out of two electrodes that are provided so as to interpose a space therebetween is vibratably supported. The probe further includes a support layer disposed on the vibration film, and an optical reflection layer disposed on the support layer. A protection layer against an acoustic medium is formed on the optical reflection layer. | 10-03-2013 |
20140251017 | DETECTION CIRCUIT, DRIVING METHOD, PROBE, AND SUBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING APPARATUS - A detection circuit detects a signal output from an element that receives an acoustic wave. The detection circuit is configured so as not to conduct a detection operation during a period in which the element does not receive the acoustic wave. | 09-11-2014 |
20140285219 | CAPACITIVE DETECTION TYPE ELECTRO-MECHANICAL TRANSDUCER - A capacitive detection type electro-mechanical transducer comprises; a cell formed by a first electrode arranged on a substrate and a second electrode arranged on a vibration film, and a detection circuit for detecting a displacement of the vibration film, based on a capacity change between the first and second electrodes, wherein a plurality of the cells are classified into a plurality of groups, each one includes at least two cells, and the first electrodes or the second electrodes of the cells of the same one group are commonly connected to the same one detection circuit, and an addition circuit for adding, into single information, signals from the plurality of detection circuits corresponding to the plurality of groups, and for outputting the information, and a capacitive load for each one of the detectors are formulated to be dispersedly arranged. | 09-25-2014 |
20140301167 | ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCER - An electromechanical transducer according to an embodiment of the present invention is capable of selectively performing a transmitting and receiving operation by using elements of different shapes. The electromechanical transducer has a plurality of cells, each of which has a vibrating film including two electrodes provided with a gap therebetween, two driving and detecting units, a potential difference setter, and a switch. Each of the driving and detecting units implements a transmitting and/or a receiving function. A first or second element includes first or second electrodes which are electrically connected and further connected to the common first or second driving and detecting unit, respectively. The potential difference setter sets a predetermined potential difference between the reference potentials of the first and second driving and detecting units, respectively, and the switch switches between the first and second driving and detecting units to perform the transmitting and receiving operation. | 10-09-2014 |
20140360272 | CAPACITIVE TRANSDUCER DRIVE DEVICE AND OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING DEVICE - Provided is a capacitive transducer drive device capable of adjusting a potential difference applied between electrodes of a cell with a simple configuration. A capacitive transducer to be driven by the drive device includes a cell including: a first electrode included in a vibrating membrane; and a second electrode formed to oppose the first electrode through intermediation of a gap. One of the first electrode and the second electrode of the cell is electrically connected to a first DC voltage applying unit, and the other of the first electrode and the second electrode of the cell is electrically connected to a second DC voltage applying unit. A voltage to be applied by the second DC voltage applying unit is set to be lower than a voltage to be applied by the first DC voltage applying unit. The voltage to be applied by the second DC voltage applying unit is variable. | 12-11-2014 |
20150016222 | ELECTROSTATIC CAPACITANCE TRANSDUCER, PROBE, AND SUBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING DEVICE - An electrostatic capacitance transducer includes: multiple elements each having a cell including a first electrode, and a vibrating film including a second electrode, formed across a gap from the first electrode; a first flexible printed circuit having multiple first lines; and a second flexible printed circuit having multiple second lines. Part of the multiple elements are grouped into a first element group, each one thereof being electrically connected to a different one of the first lines. Part of the multiple elements other than the first element group are grouped into a second element group, each one thereof being electrically connected to a different one of the second lines. The intervals between adjacent lines in at least part of the plurality of first and second lines are wider at an opposite side from a connection side where the lines have been connected to the multiple elements, than at the connection side. | 01-15-2015 |