Did You Know...
...that after Parker Brothers executives turned down the game of Monopoly because it had "52 fundamental errors" (including taking too long to play), a copy of the game wound up in the home of the company president who stayed up until 1 a.m. to finish playing it? He was so impressed by the game that the next day he wrote to inventor Charles Darrow and offered to buy it!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7365275 | Electromagnetic-force-balancing-type electronic balance Disclosed is an electromagnetic-force-balancing-type electronic balance having a magnetic circuit which includes a yoke 4, a first permanent magnet 1, a pole piece 3, a second permanent magnet 2 and a cover 5. A connection member | 04/29/2008 |
| 7347096 | Digital accelerometer A force-balance accelerometer having a pick-off coil responsive to displacement of a seismic mass from a balance position for providing an output corresponding to the displacement, includes a digital signal processor including tow pulse width modulation generators f... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7340948 | System for sealing variable gaps for scale models tested in an aerodynamic tunnel The System for sealing for variable spaces comprising sealing means (3) for at least partially packing a space (4) between two pieces (1, 2) of a model, characterised in that at least a first piece (1) of the model presents, on its side f... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7334474 | Force balanced instrument system and method for mitigating errors A force balanced instrument system and method for mitigating errors is provided. The system and method mitigate errors in measurement readings caused by charge buildup in force balanced instruments that employ charge pulses to generate an electrostatic force to null... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7275452 | Stop assembly for a beam type load cell A beam load cell transducer is positioned between a stationary member and moveable member. The stationary member, as well as the moveable member are surrounded by a collar, which collar has an inner surface means to limit the movement of the moveable member of the t... | 10/02/2007 |
| 7190278 | Asset tag with event detection capabilities Described herein are a transient event detector comprising electrical circuitry suitable to detect a transient event, and a container having a wall with at least two electrically conductive contacts that are electrically connected to the electrical circuitry, each o... | 03/13/2007 |
| 7114366 | Sensor A system for acquiring environmental information measurements. The 5 system (100) utilize a sensor, (205) a front-end circuit, (310) a loop filter (315), a switch controller (206), and a reduced-order loop control circuit to provid... | 10/03/2006 |
| 7093498 | Microelectromechanical strain gauge with frequency detector A microelectromechanical system (MEMS) strain gauge includes at least one flexible arm that can be caused to oscillate. Transverse strain on the arm changes the resonant frequency of the arm. A detector communicating with the flexible arm may detect the frequency of... | 08/22/2006 |
| 7078916 | Linearity enhancement for capacitive sensors A method for enhancing the linearity of a differential capacitive sensor as a function of beam displacement. An ac-modulated feedback connection from a sensor output terminal to a movable beam electrode is provided through a fix-up capacitor. The output terminal sig... | 07/18/2006 |
| 7055387 | Apparatus for and method of sensing a measured input Apparatus is used in sensing a measured input. The apparatus includes a capacitor with a capacitance that varies non-linearly in response to the measured input, and a circuitry that derives, from the capacitance, a signal that varies substantially linearly with the ... | 06/06/2006 |
| 7013706 | Friction force measurement apparatus A friction force measurement apparatus which measure friction force between a fixed member fixed on a main body of a magnetic tape drive and a magnetic tape abrading the fixed member is characterized by being equipped with a vibration detector which is joined with t... | 03/21/2006 |
| 6960945 | High-performance drive circuitry for capacitive transducers Drive circuitry for capacitive displacement transducers includes an oscillator, a precision low noise voltage reference with added noise reduction circuitry, a synchronous demodulator consisting of a single pole double throw analog switch, one or more transducer ele... | 11/01/2005 |
| 6949937 | Differential capacitance measurement A circuit and method are given, which realizes a stable yet sensitive differential capacitance measuring device with good RF-suppression and with very acceptable noise features for use in capacitive sensor evaluation systems. By evaluating the difference of capacito... | 09/27/2005 |
| 6761069 | Feedback circuit for micromachined accelerometer An accelerometer had a movable electrode between two fixed electrodes to form a differential capacitor. Drivers provide AC drive signals to the fixed electrodes. The movable electrode is coupled through reading circuitry to an output terminal. In response to a sense... | 07/13/2004 |
| 6744264 | Testing circuit and method for MEMS sensor packaged with an integrated circuit A MEMS sensor packaged with an integrated circuit includes switches and control circuitry. In a test mode, the control circuitry causes the switches to turn off and on such that the first and second capacitance of the MEMS sensor can be monitored individually. Durin... | 06/01/2004 |
| 6718821 | Laser interferometry force-feedback sensor for an interfacial force microscope A scanning force microscope is provided with a force-feedback sensor to increase sensitivity and stability in determining interfacial forces between a probe and a sample. The sensor utilizes an interferometry technique that uses a collimated light beam directed onto... | 04/13/2004 |
| 6691572 | Acceleration measuring device with pulse width modulation resetting An accelerometer having a micromechanical pendulum, a capacitive pick off and a control loop reset by electrostatic forces and, in a time sequence, applies a resetting voltage between the pendulum and two electrodes spaced apart on opposite sides of the p... | 02/17/2004 |
| 6684165 | Apparatus and method for monitoring force, especially force in labor and delivery An apparatus for monitoring a force applied to an object by a person includes a support upon which the person stands, and one or more force sensors for detecting the reaction force applied through the person to the support resulting from the application o... | 01/27/2004 |
| 6637274 | Stand with a parallelogram carrier and balancing mechanism The invention relates to a stand having a parallelogram carrier (2b) and a balancing device, in which, between a support arm (60) that runs substantially horizontally and a basic part (62) that can be braked with respect to a basic body (12), there is arr... | 10/28/2003 |
| 6571631 | Displacement sensor and movement information collecting device comprising the same There is provided a displacement sensor including a moving member composed of a magnetic body; a pair of stators each composed of a magnetic body and arranged opposed to each other with respect to the moving member, the stators including driving coils and... | 06/03/2003 |
| 5991990 | Method for fabricating a tunneling sensor with linear force rebalance A tunneling sensor has a pair of force rebalance capacitors that are used in a push-pull relationship so as to provide a rebalance force that is a linear function of applied rebalance voltages, which leads to an output voltage that is linearly related to ... | 11/30/1999 |
| 5752410 | Tunneling sensor with linear force rebalance and method for fabricating the same A tunneling sensor is disclosed having a pair of force rebalance capacitors that are used in a push-pull relationship so as to provide a rebalance force that is a linear function of applied rebalance voltages, which leads to an output voltage that is line... | 05/19/1998 |
| 5621178 | Piezoelectric sensor system A piezoelectric sensor system according to the invention employs a piezoelectric actuator relay (20) having a piezoelectric element displaceable in response to an actuation voltage and contacts (23, 24) which open or close in accordance with the displacem... | 04/15/1997 |
| 5600066 | Capacitive accelerometer with a circuit for correcting stray capacitance perturbations An accelerometer includes a silicon capacitive detector and an electronic device for measuring the capacitive unbalance of the detector, providing an output voltage representative of the acceleration. To avoid the perturbations caused by the stray capacit... | 02/04/1997 |
| 5596144 | Piezoresistive force rebalance accelerometer A motion sensor is provided for sensing motion or acceleration of a body, such as an accelerometer for use in an on-board automotive safety control system or navigational system. The motion sensor is a piezoresistive motion sensor that operates in a close... | 01/21/1997 |
| 5583290 | Micromechanical apparatus with limited actuation bandwidth A micromechanical sensing apparatus includes a micromechanical sensor having a stationary element and a movable element which are electrically conductive, and a sensing circuit responsive to the micromechanical sensor for generating an output indicative o... | 12/10/1996 |
| 5511420 | Electric field attraction minimization circuit A circuit for minimizing electrostatic forces in capacitance-based sensor circuits. A sensor includes a movable mass that forms the center electrode of two differential capacitors, a sensing differential capacitor and an actuator differential capacitor. T... | 04/30/1996 |
| 5497660 | Digital force balanced instrument A digital force balanced instrument such as an accelerometer that incorporates a directly digital electrostatic forcer with servo loop plates charged by a digital feedback loop is disclosed. The accelerometer has a proofmass electrode suspended in a canti... | 03/12/1996 |
| 5485748 | Magnetically levitated force/weight measurement system A magnetically levitated force/weight measurement apparatus includes a system core with a plurality of layered circular segments having apertures that define an internal chamber. The segments include, inter alia, upper and lower magnetic bearing segments,... | 01/23/1996 |
| 5440939 | Servo-controlled pendular micro-sensor An electrostatically servo-controlled pendular micro-sensor includes a pendular element disposed so as to respond to a force representative of a physical quantity to be measured. To avoid the drifts affecting the stability of the micro-sensor, generated b... | 08/15/1995 |
| 5419204 | Force measuring instrument A force measuring instrument for determining the strength of an applied force by measuring the strength of an electromagnetic force developed so as to counterbalance the applied force, the instrument including a force coil, a displacement sensor for detec... | 05/30/1995 |
| 5343766 | Switched capacitor transducer A micromachined accelerometer includes two capacitors comprising a pair of fixed capacitor electrodes and an intermediate movable proof mass serving as a common electrode which is displaced under acceleration to differentially vary the capacitances. A cir... | 09/06/1994 |
| 5331852 | Electromagnetic rebalanced micromechanical transducer A method and apparatus for electromagnetically rebalancing a micromechanical transducer via a plurality of current carrying electrodes disposed beneath or above the transducer interacting with a current carrying conductor disposed on the transducer. In a ... | 07/26/1994 |
| 5329822 | Yarn tension sensor for a textile machine The invention to a yarn tension sensor, in particular for yarns traveling at high speed, to accurately ascertain even short-term yarn tension fluctuations. According to the invention, a yarn guide element is mounted on one head end of a plunger coil dispo... | 07/19/1994 |
| 5103682 | Ultra-sensitive force detector employing servo-stabilized tunneling junction A highly sensitive force detector using a tunneling junction as a strain gauge is disclosed. The tunneling junction is connected to a deflection member which receives the force to be measured. The junction is connected in a nulling circuit to a magnetic f... | 04/14/1992 |
| 5079958 | Sensor having a cantilever A sensor comprises a tiny cantilever of a thin film having a detection region at its free end portion, a detector for detecting a displacement of the cantilever caused by material acting on the detecting region, and calculation unit for calculating an amo... | 01/14/1992 |
| 5009111 | Differential force balance apparatus A force measurement apparatus that provides means to compensate for thermal or other disturbances. The apparatus utilizes non-contact electron transfer mechanisms to provide indications of force sensed on a test mass. A plurality of electrodes are used in... | 04/23/1991 |
| 4998441 | Force and torque measurement system A system for measuring a force applied to a mass so that the magnitude and direction of the force can be determined as well as the torque about three orthogonal axes. The system comprises an electromagnetic bearing support system for electromagnetically s... | 03/12/1991 |
| 4939458 | Method and apparatus for quantifying superconductivity The invention relates to a novel apparatus for detecting as well as quantifying superconductivity characterized by a rigid-stemmed pendulum used to support the superconductive sample for free-swinging movement about a low-friction fulcrum in a magnetic fi... | 07/03/1990 |
| 4836035 | Skin friction balance A skin friction balance uses a parallel linkage mechanism to avoid inaccuracies in skin friction measurement attributable to off-center normal forces. The parallel linkage mechanism includes a stationary plate mounted in a cage, and an upper and lower mov... | 06/06/1989 |
