Patent ID: 7717858

Claim:
Apparatus for measuring mechanical deformation, comprising: a housing; a base electrode; a deformable electrode, mechanically coupled to the base electrode and to the housing, the base electrode and the deformable electrode defining a capacitor having capacitance, such that the capacitance is varied responsive to deformation of the deformable electrode; and at least one deformable-electrode supporter, wherein when no force is applied to the deformable electrode, a shortest distance between the base electrode and the deformable electrode varies along a length of the deformable electrode, the base electrode and the deformable electrode converging, at a fixed-region along the length of the base electrode, to a closest possible distance from each other, which is fixed by structure of the apparatus, and wherein the deformable-electrode supporter is configured to support the deformable electrode at a support region that is remote from the fixed region.