| Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
|---|
| 073862590 | By measuring vibrations (e.g., resonant frequency) | 24 |
| 20090133509 | PIEZOELECTRIC VIBRATING BEAM FORCE SENSOR - A force sensor ( | 05-28-2009 |
| 20090199658 | LOAD DETECTION DEVICE - A load detection device includes a piezoelectric body unit adapted to be deformed by receiving an electric voltage, the piezoelectric body unit generating an electric charge by receiving an external load, a drive portion applying the electric voltage to the piezoelectric body unit for vibrating thereof, a detection portion detecting the electric charge generated at the piezoelectric body unit, and an adjusting member adjusting a pressure applied to at least one pressure sensing surface provided at the piezoelectric body unit to restrain the vibration of the piezoelectric body unit. | 08-13-2009 |
| 20090235761 | Apparatus for monitoring and registering the location and intensity of impacts in sports - This invention relates to impact sports, and to articles of clothing and for detection systems used to monitor and registering the intensity, location and sources of impacts in contact sports such as boxing, martial arts, fencing, and so forth. | 09-24-2009 |
| 20100089176 | CORRELATING PUSH FORCE AND STALK VIBRATION TO A PLANT'S SUSCEPTIBILITY TO ROOT LODGING - The present device enables measurement of the susceptibility of corn plants to root lodging. The device is used to push over a corn stalk and the force used to push over the stalk, and the vibration of the stalk caused by the push are recorded. As material breaks in the stalk, an accelerometer, measures stalk vibration response to the breaking events; the data is then recorded to allow quantitative measurements of the susceptibility of corn plants to root lodging. This allows meaningful comparisons of various hybrids at early stages of hybrid evaluation and advancement. | 04-15-2010 |
| 20110083518 | Correlating Push Force and Stalk Vibration to a Plant's Susceptibility to Root Lodging, Stalk/Stem Lodging and Brittle Snap (Broken Stems or Stalks) - The present device enables measurement of the susceptibility of plants to root lodging, stalk or stem lodging and brittle snap (broken stems or stalks). The device is used to push on a plant stalk or stem and the force used to push over the stalk/stem, and the vibration of the stalk/stem caused by the push are recorded. As material breaks in the stalk/stem, an accelerometer, measures stalk/stem vibration response to the breaking events; the data is then recorded to allow quantitative measurements of the susceptibility of plants to root lodging, stalk or stem lodging and brittle snap (broken stems or stalks). This allows meaningful comparisons of various hybrids or varieties at early stages of evaluation and advancement. | 04-14-2011 |
| 20110083519 | Correlating Push Force and Stalk Vibration to a Plant's Susceptibility to Stalk Lodging and Brittle Snap - The present device enables measurement of the susceptibility of corn plants to stalk lodging and brittle snap. The device is used to push over a corn stalk and the force used to push over the stalk, and the vibration of the stalk caused by the push are recorded. As material breaks in the stalk, an accelerometer, measures stalk vibration response to the breaking events; the data is then recorded to allow quantitative measurements of the susceptibility of corn plants to stalk lodging and brittle snap. This allows meaningful comparisons of various hybrids at early stages of hybrid evaluation and advancement. | 04-14-2011 |
| 20110113898 | PIEZOELECTRIC VIBRATION TYPE FORCE SENSOR - In a piezoelectric vibration type force sensor according to the present invention, vibration is restricted by a friction force between a piezoelectric body and a restricting member, and hence a range of sensing forces can be expanded compared with a case in which the vibration is restricted directly from a direction that is the same as an vibration direction. A conventional structure, in which a lead wire is soldered directly for electrically connecting the piezoelectric body to an external control circuit, causes a restriction of the vibration due to a solder attached to the piezoelectric body, resulting in narrowing the sensing range. Using the piezoelectric vibration type force sensor, the range of sensing forces can be expanded by making a state in which conducting portions of the piezoelectric body and the restricting member are not fixed but contact with each other for keeping electric conductivity. | 05-19-2011 |
| 20110138931 | DETECTION SENSOR - An object of this invention is to detect an external force or acceleration with good sensitivity using a simple configuration. An external force detection sensor comprises a comb electrode including a fixed electrode having a plurality of fixed combtooth portions and a movable electrode having a plurality of movable combtooth portions inserted between the fixed combtooth portions; a power supply connected to the fixed electrode and the movable electrode in order to cause vibration of the movable electrode at a prescribed resonance frequency through an electrostatic force on the fixed electrode; and detection means for detecting an external force based on a change in electrical characteristics between the fixed electrode and the movable electrode when the movable electrode is caused to vibrate. With respect to the fixed combtooth portions that are adjacent to each other and the movable combtooth portion inserted therebetween, the spacing between one of the fixed combtooth portions and the movable combtooth portion is different from the spacing between another of the fixed combtooth portions and the movable combtooth portion. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110232395 | STRAIN MEASUREMENT OF ROTATING COMPONENTS - A strain sensor apparatus for a rotatable shaft including an emitter/receiver, a vibration element attached to the shaft and arranged for receiving and reflecting signals to and from the emitter/receiver wherein the vibration element includes asymmetric stiffness properties between a radial and axial and/or circumferential directions relative to a rotational axis of the shaft. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20120073387 | LOAD DETECTION SENSOR | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120085180 | Measurement arrangement - A measurement arrangement for measuring and/or monitoring a physical property, comprising a measurement device comprising: at least one primary sensing element to be exposed to a product at a measurement site, a remotely located secondary measurement device, and transmission lines connecting said primary sensing elements to said secondary measuring device, suitable for applications wherein the primary sensing elements may be exposed to strong vibrations at the measurement sites, is described, wherein said secondary measurement device is mounted above all primary sensing elements and wherein said transmission lines comprise an inner core, an outer tubular protection conduit enclosing said core, and a vibration absorbing medium filling an interior of said outer protection conduit surrounding said inner core. | 04-12-2012 |
| 20120096955 | Combination Ultrasensitive Force Transducer and Grabbing Device for Force and Strain Measurement from Single Cells - The scientific characterization of cellular contractility and cell movement, such as muscle function in particular is, to a large extent, carried out on intact tissue preparations for example using whole intact muscles from animals. Typical indices of muscle function may include isometric force, contractility under external force (load) and spatio-temporal determination of internal calcium concentration under strictly controlled conditions of length and applied force. The major advance of the described apparatus is that the common characterization of cellular contractility can be performed on a single cell rather than an entire tissue or whole animal. As such the apparatus described improves on and eliminates known limitations of currently considered state-of-the-art approaches. | 04-26-2012 |
| 20120204656 | PIEZOELECTRIC VIBRATION TYPE FORCE SENSOR AND ROBOT APPARATUS - Provided is a piezoelectric vibration type force sensor including a vibration body including a disk-shaped piezoelectric material and a pair of drive electrodes, for vibrating in a radial direction of the piezoelectric material when an AC voltage is applied to the pair of drive electrodes, a substrate to be brought into contact with a surface on one side of the vibration body, an elastic member that is disposed to be brought into contact with a surface on another side of the vibration body, and a holding member including a contact portion and a loose-fit portion that loosely fits in the hollow through hole. The holding member fixes the contact portion and the loose-fit portion to the substrate so that movements of the vibration body in a vibration direction and in a direction orthogonal to the vibration direction are restricted for positioning. | 08-16-2012 |
| 20120260745 | SENSOR DEVICE, FORCE DETECTION DEVICE, AND ROBOT - A sensor device includes a sensor element which is formed by laminating a piezoelectric substance and an electrode, a first case and a second case which house the sensor element therein, and a pressing portion which presses the sensor element in the lamination direction of the piezoelectric substance and the electrode via the first and second cases. | 10-18-2012 |
| 20120279319 | RESONATING FORCE SENSOR SENSITIVE TO MICRO-FORCES - A micro-force sensor comprising a one-piece plate including a first area defining a first recess, which must be held in position relative to a mounting, a second area connected to the first area defining the first recess and a second recess, a measuring beam across the first recess having a first end embedded in the first area and a second end connected to the second area, an excitation beam across the second recess having two ends embedded in the second area and being provided with at least one excitation element, a third area connected to the first area and an effector beam having one free end for receiving the force being measured and one end-embedded in the third area, and a fourth area connecting the embedded end of the effector beam to the second end of the measuring beam, which is provided with a measuring element. | 11-08-2012 |
| 20120325019 | FORCE SENSING DEVICE AND FORCE SENSING SYSTEM - A force sensing device and a force sensing system are provided. The force sensing device comprises at least one magnetic material layer and a force sensing layer which can move with respect to each other. The force sensing layer comprises two sensing elements. The first sensing element, disposed along a first axis of the magnetic material layer, generates a sensing signal varying with a first lateral force applied on the force sensing device. The first lateral force enables the first sensing element to move relatively with respect to the magnetic material layer along the first axis. The second sensing element, disposed along a second axis of the magnetic material layer, generates a sensing signal varying with a second lateral force applied on the force sensing device. The second lateral force enables the second sensing element to move relatively with respect to the magnetic material layer along the second axis. | 12-27-2012 |
| 20140102217 | SENSOR, ELECTRONIC APPARATUS, ROBOT, AND MOBILE OBJECT - A sensor includes a flexible wafer substrate and an oscillator provided on a principal surface of the wafer substrate, and the oscillator deforms when an external force is applied to the wafer substrate. | 04-17-2014 |
| 20140202260 | PRESSURE SENSOR USING MEMS RESONATOR - A pressure sensor including: a MEMS resonator; a sweeping unit which sweeps a frequency of an excitation signal in a predetermined direction of sweeping, over a predetermined frequency range including a resonance frequency f | 07-24-2014 |
| 20140216172 | DEVICE AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING A BEARING PRELOAD - A device for determining a bearing preload of a rolling-element bearing includes an exciter configured to be attachable to a component of the rolling-element bearing and to excite the component of the rolling-element bearing and cause it to vibrate when the rolling-element bearing is not rotating, at least one vibration sensor configured to be attachable to the component or to a further component of the rolling-element bearing and to record (capture) a mechanical reaction, in response to the excitation, of the component or the further component of the rolling-element bearing, and an evaluating circuit configured to receive the sensor signal and provide an evaluation signal based on the sensor signal, the evaluation signal including information about the bearing preload. An associated method and computer program are also disclosed. | 08-07-2014 |
| 20140338469 | LOAD SENSOR - A load sensor includes a vibrator, a drive electrode provided at the vibrator, a drive circuit that supplies, to the drive electrode, a drive voltage for vibrating the vibrator, a detection electrode that outputs a current in response to a vibration of the vibrator, and an IV converter that converts the current output from the detection electrode into a voltage. The drive circuit includes an operational amplifier that outputs the drive voltage and a resistor connected to the operational amplifier. The drive circuit has a small internal resistance. The IV converter has an inverted input terminal that is virtually grounded and that has the current input thereto. The IV converter may constitute a negative feedback circuit. | 11-20-2014 |
| 20150020609 | DETECTION OF LOAD BY SOUND-PROCESSING - A method for detecting load in a machine, having a loading receptacle, by a load detection system is disclosed. The system includes a sound detection device, a signal-to-data processor with a sound-processing module, a data aggregator, and a data comparator. The method includes recording a continuous rolling audio signal sample corresponding one of an inflow and an outflow event fact. This is monitored for initial indicators. A recorded continuous rolling audio signal sample is recorded for audio pattern recognition. Thereafter, a filtered audio sample is generated. By computing a score for similarity between the filtered audio sample and pre-defined inflow and outflow audio signal templates, a highest scored pattern match is provided. Upon reaching a minimum threshold, the highest scored pattern match is logged. Finally, a data event is outputted based on the highest scored pattern match on at least one of an output port and a user interface. | 01-22-2015 |
| 20150316435 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EVALUATING CLAMP FORCE IN A BOLT BY MEANS OF ULTRA-SONIC MEASUREMENTS - In an apparatus and a method of evaluating a clamp force (F) in a threaded joint between a bolt and a matching threaded piece during a tightening operation, a torque (T) provided to the joint is continuously measured and ultra-sonic pulses are simultaneously induced into the bolt such that a time of flight (TOF) of the pulses in the bolt is measured. In response to an increase of the measured torque (T) an increase rate (dT/dα) of the torque (T) is determined, from which an initial rotation angle (α | 11-05-2015 |
| 20160146680 | PRESSURE SENSOR USING PIEZOELECTRIC BENDING RESONATORS - A pressure sensor including an enclosure and a bending resonator housed in the enclosure. The bending resonator includes a diaphragm connected to the enclosure, a piezoelectric layer on the diaphragm, and an electrode on the piezoelectric layer. The pressure sensor also includes an electrical terminal coupled to the piezoelectric layer and extending out through the enclosure. The electrical terminal applies an input signal to the piezoelectric layer to resonate the bending resonator. A resonance frequency of the bending resonator changes according to a change in an external pressure applied to the pressure sensor and the resonance frequency of the bending resonator corresponds to the external pressure applied to the pressure sensor. | 05-26-2016 |
| 20160191011 | RESONATOR DEVICE - A resonator device | 06-30-2016 |
