Patent ID: 7036374

Claim:
A seismometer comprising: at least one fixed capacitive plate; a first capacitive sensor array positioned on a surface of said fixed capacitive plate, said first capacitive sensor array having a periodic pattern of conductive elements; a suspension plate having a proof mass supported by a plurality of flexural elements capable of constraining motion of said proof mass to a single axis with at least one intermediate frame positioned within and between said flexural elements, said intermediate frame eliminating spurious frequencies and providing a wider effective operational bandwidth of said seismometer; a second capacitive sensor array positioned on a surface of said proof mass having a periodic pattern of conductive elements aligned in a common direction of periodicity parallel to said conductive elements in said first capacitive sensor array in separated opposition; an electrical connection to said first capacitive sensor array on said fixed plate allowing a coupling of cyclic excitations from external components through said periodic pattern of said first capacitive sensor array to said periodic pattern of said second capacitive sensor array, said coupling ranging between zero and one hundred percent and being a cycling positional measure of said proof mass with respect to said fixed plate; an electrical connection to said second capacitive sensor array on said proof mass transmitting a signal resulting from said coupling of said first capacitive sensor to said second capacitive sensor array to external electronics, said external electronics determining the percentage of said coupling between the first capacitive sensor array and the second capacitive sensor array in order to transduce the position of said proof mass relative to said fixed plate.