CAPACITIVE, PAPER-BASED ACCELEROMETERS AND TOUCH SENSORS

摘要

Accelerometers and capacitive touch sensors fabricated from inexpensive, lightweight, disposable substrate materials, such as paper, are provided. These can be fabricated using simple technologies, such as laser cutting and screen printing. In one embodiment, a touch sensor includes a parallel plate capacitor having a fixed plate formed of a substrate material having a conductive layer and a deflectable plate formed of a paper substrate material having a conductive layer. In a second embodiment, a touch sensor includes a parallel plate capacitor formed of an exterior conductive layer deposited on a paper substrate material and an interior conductive layer deposited on a substrate material. In a third embodiment, a touch sensor includes an active electrode and a grounded electrode patterned on the surface of a paper substrate material.. In another embodiment, an accelerometer includes a parallel plate capacitor containing a fixed plate and a free plate containing a paper substrate. Upon an applied acceleration, the distance between the plate of the parallel plate capacitor in an accelerometer changes, eliciting a change in the capacitance of the sensor. Measurement of capacitance can be correlated to the acceleration or deceleration applied to the accelerometer.