Patent ID: 6199874
Filing Date: 2001-03-13
Classification: B81B,B81C,G01P

Abstract:
A micromechanical automotive suspension system in a vehicle comprising:an accelerometer for producing a continuous output signal in response to sensed acceleration vectors, said accelerometer including at least two capacitively-coupled fingers, at least one of said fingers moves relative to another finger in response to said acceleration vectors to produce a change in capacitance, wherein at least one of said fingers is characterized by an aspect ratio greater than about 4 to 1, said fingers being fabricated from a single silicon substrate by etching the substrate at least partially by reactive ion etching;means for applying a potential across adjacent capacitively-coupled fingers to generate said output signal upon a change in the capacitance between said adjacent fingers upon relative motion of said adjacent fingers;a vehicle suspension; anda suspension positioning unit for receiving the output signal from the accelerometer and for positioning the vehicle suspension in response to said acceleration vectors.