Patent ID: 7201063

Claim:
A shear force sensing transducer for measuring tangential shear forces exerted parallel to a surface, said transducer comprising; a. a first, lower cover sheet made of a thin sheet of flexible material, b. an electrode assembly comprising an insulating substrate sheet having upper and lower surfaces, a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart, electrically isolated planar electrodes affixed to at least one of said upper and lower surfaces, said electrodes radiating from a common center of a circular bore disposed perpendicularly through thickness dimensions of said electrodes and said electrode and said substrate sheet, said bore being coaxial with said common center of said electrodes, said electrodes having inner conductive edges adjacent to said bore, c. an electrically conductive body located with said bore, d. a second, upper cover sheet made of a thin sheet of flexible material, and e. means for coupling relative parallel motion of said lower and upper cover sheets to said electrode assembly and said body in response to a shear force exerted on said transducer to thereby cause radial contacting motion between said body and said conductive edges of said electrode and thereby causing electrical conductance between said body and said electrodes to vary in a predetermined manner with the magnitude and direction of said shear force.