Quasi monolithic silicon load cell for loads up to 1000 kg with insensitivity to non-homogeneous load distributions

Author

Wiegerink, R. ; Zwijze, R. ; Krijnen, G. ; Lammerink, T. ; Elwenspoek, M.

Author_Institution

MESA Res. Inst., Twente Univ., Enschede, Netherlands

fYear

1999

fDate

21-21 Jan. 1999

Firstpage

558

Lastpage

563

Abstract

In this paper, a micromachined silicon load cell (force sensor) is presented for measuring loads up to 1000 kg. The sensitive surface of 1 cm/sup 2/ contains an array of sensing elements to make the load cell insensitive to non-homogeneous load distributions resulting in higher accuracy. The load cell has been realized and tested. Measurement results show an accuracy of 0.2% of full scale limited by the measurement electronics. An accuracy of 0.03% or better is expected to be feasible.

Keywords

capacitive sensors; elemental semiconductors; force sensors; microbalances; micromachining; microsensors; silicon; weighing; 1000 kg; Si; array of sensing elements; capacitance change; chip package; force sensor; high accuracy; micromachined silicon load cell; nonhomogeneous load distribution insensitivity; quasi monolithic silicon load cell; weighing equipment; Capacitance; Capacitors; Creep; Electrodes; Fabrication; Force sensors; Hysteresis; Silicon; Steel; Strain measurement;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 1999. MEMS '99. Twelfth IEEE International Conference on

Conference_Location

Orlando, FL, USA

ISSN

1084-6999

Print_ISBN

0-7803-5194-0

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MEMSYS.1999.746889

Filename

746889