Patent ID: 7741751

Claim:
A micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) device comprising: a bottom capacitive plate; a top capacitive plate, such that a capacitor is definable between the bottom and the top capacitive plates; a mechanism electrostatically movably disposed between the bottom and the top capacitive plates; one or more flexures movably disposed between the bottom capacitive plate and the mechanism and having distance stops between the bottom capacitive plate and the mechanism corresponding to maximum downward movement; and, one or more electrodes of the bottom capacitive plate and corresponding to the flexures, such that energizing different of the electrodes causes the flexures to move to different of the distance stops, resultantly causing the mechanism to move to different positions between the bottom and the top capacitive plates, wherein at least one of the flexures move to a first distance stop where the top capacitive plate and all the electrodes are at a first voltage level, such that the mechanism moves to a first position between the bottom and the top capacitive plates, corresponding to a first state of the MEMS device.