Patent ID: 7554342
Filing Date: 2009-06-30
Classification: G01D,G01P,G11C,H01H

Abstract:
1. A bistable apparatus sensitive to a positional state thereof, the bistable apparatus comprising: a micromechanical device comprising a plurality of interacting elements formed of a particular piezoresistive material, the micro-mechanical device having substantially identical piezoresistive properties throughout each interacting element of the plurality of interacting elements, the micromechanical device having a first stable state and a second stable state, the micromechanical device configured to maintain either the first stable state or the second stable state without consuming power and without an electrostatic force acting on the plurality of interacting elements; and a sensing circuit configured to sense a bulk piezoresistivity across at least one interacting element of the plurality of interacting elements and thereby sense whether the micromechanical device is in the first stable state or the second stable state.