Patent ID: 8453504

Claim:
An angular rate sensor comprising: first and second generally planar masses disposed along a first axis in the plane of the masses; a supporting frame in the plane of the masses and mounted for torsional movement about a second axis which is perpendicular to the first axis; flexures suspending the masses from the frame and constraining the masses for linear movement along the first axis relative to the frame; a pair of anti-phase couplers suspended from the frame and connected to the masses for constraining the masses for anti-phase linear movement along the first axis, wherein said couplers are spaced apart in a direction substantially perpendicular to the first axis, and each coupler comprising: a supporting beam which extends in a direction substantially parallel to the first axis and is mounted to the frame at its two ends; first and second link springs which extend from the first and second masses respectively to the beam and join one another to form a common joint at substantially the midpoint of the supporting beam; actuation means for driving the masses to oscillate along or about a preselected drive axis in drive-mode; detection means responsive to the sense-mode movement of the frame and/or the masses in response to Coriolis forces produced by the rotation of the masses about a predetermined input axis which is perpendicular to the velocities of the masses in drive-mode for monitoring rate of rotation about the input axis.