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Small, Multipurpose Transducer is Stable and Responsive
Inventor: Gilbert Gianetti
The University of Vermont, Office of Technology Commercialization
Overview
Invention
Transducers that translate forces,
pressures, and displacements into
electrical signals that can be used to
measure such forces, pressures, and
displacements are used in many
applications. A currently popular
transducer is a Kulite Type BG-10,
manufactured by Kulite Semiconductor
Products, Inc. Although these
semiconductor strain gauge transducers
are widely used, they can suffer from a
number of drawbacks, such as being
easily damaged by slight overloads
applied to the force beam, causing the
transducer to be non-functional, or have a
very large offset voltage, that may not be
able to be compensated for in electronic
amplifiers.
Mr. Gianetti’s electrical transducer system
offers small size, stability, high signal
output, and adaptability to numerous
applications that require measurement of
0 – 10 gram forces.
The system incorporates a pair of parallel
circuits tuned at, or near, resonance with a
radio-frequency voltage source. A
capacitive transducer is inductively coupled
to one of the circuits so that forces acting
on the transducer are transformed into
variations in the tuned circuit. As tuning
moves above or below resonance, output
can be measured as a positive or negative
voltage. The signal, typically measured in
hundreds of millivolts, can be used as is or
amplified. Coaxial cable allows linking of
the transducer to a detection circuit across
a relatively long distance without
degrading the system’s performance.
Advantages
• Small, stable, high signal output
• Adaptable to a variety of applications
• Longer lifespan and lower maintenance
for transducer
• Rapid beam flexing allows output of fast
data streams
Applications
• Research universities
• Pharmaceutical companies
• Manufacturers
I.P. Status
US Patent # 8,427,178
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