Patent ID: 8966990
Filing Date: 2015-03-03
Classification: G01P,H01G

Abstract:
1. A microfabricated variable capacitor, comprising: a stationary stator portion including a plurality of electrically conductive plates each spaced apart from one another, each said pair of adjacent plates forming a channel therebetween, each of said plates being in a first common electrical communication; a movable rotor portion including a plurality of electrically conductive blades each of said plurality of blades being in a second common electrical communication; a stub in contact with the movable rotor portion; and wherein said movable rotor portion is suspended relative to said stationary stator portion by flexible support portions that bias each of said blades vertically within a corresponding one of said channels, the stub displaces the movable rotor portion relative to the stationary stator portion against the bias of the flexible support portion, a portion of each said blade coacts with an adjacent said plate to store electrical charge, and the capacitance between the first electrical communication and the second electrical communication varies as said blades are displaced in a vertical direction.