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Plastic latching accelerometer based on bistable compliant mechanisms

2007; IOP Publishing; Volume: 16; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1088/0964-1726/16/5/055

1361-665X

Brett Hansen, C. Carron, Brian D. Jensen, Aaron R. Hawkins, Stephen M. Schultz,

Tactile and Sensory Interactions

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and testing of a miniature latching accelerometer that does not require electrical power. Latching is attained by using a bistable compliant mechanism that switches from one mechanical position to another when the force on the accelerometer exceeds a threshold value. Accelerometers were fabricated by laser cutting the compliant mechanism switch out of both ABS and Delrin plastic sheets. Packaging consisted of gluing the single compliant layer to a supporting substrate. The switching thresholds of the accelerometers were varied from 10g to 800g by varying the surface area of the free moving section between 100 and 500 mm2.