Patent ID: 7500395

Claim:
An acceleration sensor, comprising: a frame section definable relative to a three dimensional coordinate system with having X, Y and Z orthogonal axes such that the X axis and Y axis define a plane in which the frame section generally extends; a mass section disposed inside the frame section; a plurality of X-direction beam elements extending in an X axis direction for flexibly connecting the mass section to the frame section; a plurality of X-axis acceleration sensor elements provided in the plurality of X-direction beam elements, respectively, for detecting acceleration of the mass section in the X-axis direction, each said X-axis acceleration sensor element having a first length; and a plurality of Z-axis acceleration sensor elements provided in the plurality of X-direction beam elements, respectively, for detecting acceleration of the mass section in the Z-axis direction, each said Z-axis acceleration sensor element having a second length, the second length being greater than the first length, wherein each said X-axis acceleration sensor element extends in areas of largest distortion of the associated X-direction beam element, and wherein at least one of the Z-axis acceleration sensor elements extends onto the frame section.