The invention relates to switches and in particular to micro-engineered switches. More particularly the invention relates to types of switches that may self-release thereby enabling a circuit breaking functionality to be incorporated within the switch.
Electrical circuits are frequently connected to a source of power in such a way that the connection is broken if the current drawn from the power supply exceeds some previously determined level. The excessive current demand will often be due to a failure in the system, such as a short circuit being formed by the failure of a component. Isolating the circuit in such a case may prevent or limit damage to the circuit itself, the power supply, or associated systems, and reduce the risk of fire or electrical shock. Isolation may be achieved by a fusible link or “fuse”, or by a reusable switch, generally known in this context as a circuit breaker. The fuse will generally be of lower cost, but must be physically replaced in the event of an isolation incident occurring. The circuit breaker can be reset, usually through manual mechanical actuation, and thus a single device can provide protection for a number of incidents.
While solid state devices are the preferred option for many circuit isolation applications, for many others electromechanical switching is more suitable. Electromechanical switches (usually magnetically actuated relays), offer low insertion loss, high current handling for a given size due to reduced heat dissipation, a broader range of current vs. time response characteristics, ability to handle surges, and high open circuit isolation. An example is U.S. Pat. No. 3,849,752. In this device a thermally sensitive longitudinally expandable plunger is enclosed in a conductor casing connected in series with the circuit breaker switch. In one embodiment the conductor casing has a suitable resistance for heating the plunger for tripping the circuit breaker at excessive current levels.
Conventional circuit breakers have also been described which are used to break a current path in the case of a general thermal overload condition, rather than at a designated current load. An example is provided by U.S. Pat. No. 6,154,116, which describes a thermal circuit breaker and switch. In that invention, a bimetallic element is employed to effect the tripping of the switch when an overload condition is reached. Resetting is done for both the aforementioned devices via a manually operated actuator.
Improved manufacturing techniques have allowed traditional relay designs to achieve much lower cost at higher reliability. Never-the-less, both the size and cost of circuit breakers currently manufactured are excessive for some applications, and the sophistication of their operation is limited. Thus there is a need for improved designs of circuit breakers, intended to handle modest current levels, that provide complex functionality, low cost and low overall size. One possibility for achieving such designs is to take advantage of the manufacturing techniques of the semiconductor industry, particularly parallel manufacturing of large numbers of components on single substrates, and the parallel definition of complex structures by photolithography. More specifically, the opportunity exists to use the manufacturing technology of micro-electro-mechanical systems, or “MEMS”. MEMS technology uses manufacturing techniques developed by, or similar to those used in, the semiconductor micro-electronics industry. This approach is naturally suited to sub-miniature relays, offering high functional complexity at low manufacturing cost, and improved integration of electromechanical functions with solid-state electronics.
Electrical MEMS relays and switches are known in the art. For example, patent No. WO9950863 describes a micromachined relay including a springing beam on which a magnetic actuation plate is formed. By the presence or absence of a magnetic field, the springing beam is bent so as to open or close a pair of electrical contacts, so creating an electrical short circuit or open circuit. With this or other similar devices, it would be possible to implement circuit protection using external current sensing and circuitry to obtain a trip signal by which the micromachined relay could be opened. However, protection should not be dependent on the proper working of external circuits, and thus the trip action should be intrinsic to the relay mechanism. Also, a separate current sensing mechanism would be required which did not itself have some undesired effect on the power supply, the load or the system as a whole.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,233 describes a micromachined thermal switch. In this invention a bimetallic plate is provided which bends according to its temperature, such as to make electrical contact between a pair of terminals for a certain temperature range. In that invention, additional electrostatic actuation forces are provided so as to give the switch a snap action and thus reduce arcing when the gap between the fixed and moving parts of the electrical path is small. Here the temperature of the bimetallic plate is not controlled via the switched current.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,211,598, a MEMS thermal actuator is provided, which gives in-plane mechanical motion by the use of a composite member having different degrees of thermal expansion. In that invention the heating of the composite beam may be effected by a mechanism intrinsic to the device. In that invention no means is provided by which the actuator may be employed to break the electrical path of the current by which the actuating heat is provided.
In Xi-Qing Sun, K. R. Farmer, W. N. Carr, Proc. IEEE MEMS Workshop, 1998, a bi-stable MEMS relay is reported in which a cantilever is held in the closed position by a mechanical catch mechanism. Closing and opening of the relay switch is effected by applying voltages in the correct -sequence to each of two thermal actuation structures comprising the cantilever, such that the cantilever deforms so as to achieve both the closing or opening and the latching or unlatching. The intended application is given as switching of high frequency signals, and no provision is made for opening of the switch in response to the switched load current.
A laterally moving thermal MEMS actuator is described in Comtois & Bright, Sensors & Actuators A58(1), 1997, using two element cantilevers in which one element heats preferentially when a current is passed through the device. The applications described are for motors and optical structures.
Micromachined MEMS devices have been described which use electrostatic forces to operate electrical switches and relays. Typically in these devices, cantilever beams separated from the underlying substrate have electrical contacts at their free ends, such that these contacts move as the cantilever deflects, so that electrical connections may be made or broken to additional contacts fixed on the substrate. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,367,136, 5,258,591, and 5,268,696 to Buck et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,001 to Ichiya, et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,278,368 to Kasano, et al. are representative of this class of MEMS switch and relay devices. More specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 6,229,683 describes a high voltage micromachined switch. In that invention, a composite beam is deflected by electrostatic forces, and in this way electrical connection is made or broken between electrical contacts fixed on a substrate. In addition, features are incorporated including the use of multiple contacts, and electrically isolated contacts, so as to reduce the possibility of arc formation when high voltages are applied to the device in its open state. The control of the device, however, remains functionally separate from the electrical path which is switched, and thus an intrinsic circuit protection function is not provided.
A further example of a cantilevered switch device is described in International application WO 02/17339. This specification describes MEMS switches using pairs of cantilevered, thermally driven actuators. The control of this device is functionally separate from the electrical path which is switched. Furthermore, the construction of the switch is such that a sequence of steps requiring an actuation of both cantilevers is required to effect an adoption of one of the two states of the switch.
These and other problems associated with the prior art means that there is a need for an electromechanical switch that can be re-settable in an efficient manner.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a re-settable electromechanical circuit breaker switch, suitable for fabrication by MEMS technology.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a micro-electromechanical switch comprising:
It will be appreciated that the electrical connection formed through the latching of the first and second cantilevers may or may not be a connection between the individual cantilevers but could be a connection through one of the cantilevers and a third component.
Preferably, the switch further comprises a second current path associated with the second cantilever such that the passage of a second threshold electrical current through the second current path causes the second cantilever to flex from its rest position to its latched position. This enables the switch to be reset by the application of an electrical current.
The switch is preferably fabricated by fabricating a base for attachment of the cantilevers on a first level, fabricating moving parts of the cantilevers on a second level and fabricating electrical contacts of the cantilevers on the second level or a third level, wherein each level is formed by the deposition and patterning of a sacrificial layer that is used as a mould for the fabrication of the conductive parts.
In another embodiment, the invention provides an microelectromechanical switch comprising:
Desirably each of the two cantilevers have attached mechanical parts which cause them to be mechanically linked together when one is deformed such as to bring it in contact with the other, and this linkage is such that the cantilevers remain in contact when the actuation force which effected this contact is removed.
When the two cantilevers are in contact, the two contact points (that on the second cantilever and that on the fixed part) are typically held in contact, and consequently a low resistance electrical path is obtained between the first and second primary terminals.
Desirably, the passing of an electrical current between the primary terminals, when the two cantilevers are latched together, causes heating of the first longitudinal segment of the first cantilever in such a way as to induce its deformation, and wherein this deformation is sufficient, on the passing of certain such currents for sufficient time, to cause the latching mechanism to be released, and the two cantilevers to separate, and so causing interruption of the low resistance path between the primary terminals.
Typically, the actuation of the second cantilever to bring it into contact with, and cause it to be latched to, the first cantilever, can be effected by the passing of a current between the two secondary terminals, by the effect of differential thermal expansion associated with heating of the cantilever by the passed current.
An additional electrical path may be provided between the primary terminals through the second longitudinal element of the first cantilever, and wherein the relative amount of current flowing through the two electrical paths may be determined by the connection of a resistor between the two terminals of the first cantilever, and wherein the total current required to release the latch mechanism may so be altered.
The second cantilever desirably includes an additional mechanical structure such that the relative motion of the electrical contact point between the latched and relaxed states of the cantilever is substantially greater than the relative motion of the moving end of the cantilever at the point at which this mechanism is attached.
An additional actuator may be provided which is electrically isolated from the two cantilevers, and wherein this actuator may be used to bring the two cantilevers into contact and to cause them to be latched together, by the mechanical contact of this actuator against one of the cantilevers. The additional actuator is desirably in the form of a third cantilever, having two isolated longitudinal segments, each of which is electrically connected to a terminal, and wherein the passing of a current between the terminals of this third cantilever causes the movement of the actuator as required.
According to a further embodiment of the invention a method of fabrication of an electromechanical switches is also provided in which base parts for the cantilevers are fabricated on one level, the cantilevers on a further level, and the contact points on a further level, each level being formed by the deposition and patterning of a sacrificial polymer layer, for example photoresist, and this layer being used as a mold for the electroplating of the parts in metal, the polymer layers being subsequently removed.
According to a further embodiment a device consisting of a package containing a single die cut from a substrate on which electromechanical switches have been fabricated is provided, wherein more than one such switch is included on the die, and is thus accessible from the terminals of the package.
The invention may also provide an application wherein a electromechanical switch or array of switches connected between one or more circuits requiring protection and one or more voltage sources is provided, such that the connection between any of the circuits requiring protection and any voltage source is disconnected if the current between them exceeds a certain level for a certain duration of time. Such an application may also include a control circuit which monitors the state of the protected terminals, and possibly also monitors aspects of the state of the protected circuits, and according to the its programming applies voltages to the switch or switches at the appropriate terminals so as to reset the corresponding switch and thus reestablish electrical connection of the relevant protected circuit and voltage source.
The substrate of the switching device may includes an electronic circuit which is electrically connected to the switching device and wherein this electronic circuit provides or contributes to some control function of the switch or some related function.
The present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring in detail to the drawings where similar parts are identified by like reference numbers, there is seen in
A first cantilever 200a has two parallel members, 110a and 120a, which are mechanically and electrically connected to anchors 150D and 150C respectively at their proximal ends. The parallel members 110a and 120a are connected to each other mechanically and electrically at some distal point, which may be the distal end of one or both of them, although one or both may extend beyond this connection point. The cantilever includes or comprises an electrically conductive layer such that a low resistance electrical path is provided, running sequentially through members 110a and 120a, from anchor 150D to 150C.
A second cantilever 200b includes two parallel members 110b and 120b, which are connected to, and provide an electrical path between, anchors 150A and 150B in the manner of the equivalent members of the first cantilever. Anchors 150A and 150B are connected to external terminals 160a and 160b respectively, in the manner of the connection of anchors 150a and 150b to their corresponding terminals. The second cantilever includes a flexible member 170 connected at its distal end which provides a low resistance electrical path from the connection point of members 110b and 120b to an electrical contact, 180a. A second electrical contact 180b is attached to a further anchor 150E which is itself connected to a terminal 160e in the manner previously described.
Both cantilevers 200a and 200b have attached latch parts, 130a and 130b respectively. In the open position of the switch, as illustrated in
A current may be passed through cantilever 200b by the application of a suitable voltage between terminals 160a and 160b. As a result of the electrical resistance of members 110b and 120b, such a current causes heating of these members. This heating causes the members to increase in length. The members are fabricated in such a way that the increase in length experienced by member 110b is greater than that experienced by 120b. This may be achieved by member 110b being narrower than 120b, so that its resistance is greater. The difference in length increase will cause the cantilever 200b to bend, such that the two contacts 180a and 180b come into contact with each other, and the catch mechanisms contact each other. With application of the correct current for sufficient time, the cantilever 200b will bend past the point where the contacts 180a and 180b meet, such that member 170 bends, and the catch parts 130a and 130b engage with each other.
Upon engagement of the catch parts, the cantilevers 200a and 200b remain mechanically locked together even after the current between terminals 160a and 160b ceases, such that the contacts also remain held together by a force resulting from the bending of member 170. A low resistance electrical path is now provided between the primary terminals 160d and 160e. This path passes through member 110a, through the catch parts 130a and 130b, through member 170 and through the contacts 180a and 180b. Current flowing through this path (the “load” current) causes heating of member 110a, which consequently expands in length and causes cantilever 200a to bend. This bending causes the catch parts 130a and 130b to begin to separate, such that when the desired trip current is reached for sufficient time, the catch releases, and cantilever 200b returns to its relaxed position. As a consequence of this movement, the electrical path between the primary terminals is broken.
With reference to
Referring now to
Referring now to
The cantilevers, anchors and contacts may be fabricated on a substrate using sacrificial layer processing, as is well known in the art. An example is given in
The process of seed layer deposition, polymer patterning and electroplating is repeated in a further layer, at which level the main parts of the cantilevers 200, catch parts and other parts are fabricated. This layer will also be of a suitable metal, for example copper. The electrical contacts 180a and 180b may be fabricated on a third layer by a similar set of process steps, so as to be attached to the associated parts 170 and 150E respectively with some overlap in the desired area of contact. This layer may be fabricated by two sequences of polymer mold patterning and electroplating, so that the contacts may be of two different compositions, for example two gold alloys, in order to reduce the likelihood of the contacts fusing together during operation. All polymer layers are removed, leaving only the metal parts attached to the insulating layer on the substrate. The processes described above would be carried out on a whole wafer on which a number of devices would be fabricated in parallel. The wafer would then be diced into a number of individual components, which would then be packaged using packaging techniques and formats as known in the art for packaging of integrated circuits and other electrical and electronic components, particularly for mounting on circuit boards. Mounting of the individual dies could also be onto multi-chip modules, by bump bonding or other suitable techniques known in the art.
An alternative embodiment is also possible in which the mechanical parts are defined in a layer of silicon, for example a single crystal silicon layer bonded to a silicon wafer with an intervening oxide layer, a structure known in the art as bonded silicon on insulator (BSOI). The oxide layer would then provide the functions of an anchor, electrical isolation of the switch parts from the substrate, and a sacrificial layer for release of the moving parts from the substrate. A process of this type for forming MEMS devices from BSOI is described in Syms R. R. A., et al, Sensors and Actuators, vol. 88/3, pp. 273-283. The silicon layer could be heavily doped to provide high conductance, or additional metal layers could be deposited to provide a low resistance current path. Additional metal layers could also be deposited to form the contacts 180.
The device of the present invention is also suitable for fabrication in array form. In this case each die would include more than one switch, and would be packaged as a single package.
According to the state of the sensed lines, and according to the logic in its design or programming, control circuit 420 will apply voltages to reset lines 160a1 and 160a2 as appropriate to reset the switches. The application circuit may also have additional connections 440 to other circuits, components or terminals on or off the circuit board. In addition, the switch parts could be fabricated on a substrate having electronic circuitry on it, and this circuitry could include all or part of the control circuit function, thus providing a monolithic device with both the electromechanical and the control circuit functions on a single chip.
With reference to
In this embodiment, in the state in which the first and second cantilevers are latched together, the moving contact 180a makes electrical contact with both parts 180b and 180c of the split contact. As illustrated, an electrical connection can also be provided between terminals 160d and 160f. This connection may be within the device as packaged, or provided by external circuitry. With such a connection effected, terminals 160c and 160e act as the primary terminals of the device, and the load current passes sequentially through the first cantilever and through the two contact parts 180b and 180c via contact 180a.
Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which this invention pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limiting the scope of the present invention in any way.
It will be appreciated that the present invention provides a switch that opens, or “trips”, when the load current exceeds a desired value for more than a desired time, as a result of a mechanism intrinsic to the switch device of the present invention. It will be further understood that the switch device of the present invention may be closed, or “reset”, by the application of an electrical current. These and other features of the present invention have been described with reference to preferred micromechanical devices that include a substrate onto which are attached conductive parts which, when in contact with each other, provide a low resistance path between two primary terminals. These parts include two or more cantilevered structures which are mechanically fixed to the substrate at one end, but are free to move at the other end when deformed, in a motion primarily parallel to the surface of the substrate. When they are in their relaxed state, these structures are not in electrical contact with each other, and a high resistance obtains between the primary terminals. Deformation is caused by differential thermal expansion, where as a result of a difference in temperature change or thermal expansion coefficient between different parts of a structure, heating causes the structure to bend. The low resistance contact is made by one of the structures being deformed in this way, such that the two structures previously not in electrical contact come into contact, and the two structures are held in contact by a latching mechanism. Passing of a current (the “Load current”) between the primary terminals is possible when (and only when) the two structures are in contact, and the device is constructed such that the load current must pass through one of the cantilevered structures in such a way that deformation by differential thermal expansion is caused as a result of heating due to ohmic resistance. The structures are configured such that when this deformation exceeds an amount corresponding to the desired trip current, the latch is released and the cantilevered structures separate, breaking the low resistance path between the primary terminals.
Resetting of the device of the present invention is desirably effected by the application of a current between two resetting terminals, one of which may be common to one of the primary terminals. This current causes deformation of one of the cantilevered structures by the method previously described, in such a way as to bring the two cantilevered structures into contact, and to latch them together. This resetting function may be provided by a current in one of the load current carrying structures, or it may be applied to an additional structure which is electrically isolated from the load current carrying structures, but which moves one of these by mechanical contact in order to achieve the resetting function. This additional structure provides additional protection, by ensuring that the behaviour (including the failure) of any circuitry connected to the resetting terminals does not provide an alternative current path for the load, or otherwise alter the electrical behaviour of the load current carrying portion of the present invention. As such, it will be appreciated that the present invention is not intended to be limited in any way except as may be deemed necessary in the light of the appended claims.
Xi-Qing Sun, K. R. Farner, W. N. Carr, Proc. IEEE MEMS Workshop, 1998, 154-159 Syms R. R. A., Gomley C., Blackstone S. “Improving yield, accuracy and complexity in surface tension self-assembled MOEMS” Sensors and Actuators, 88/3,273-283 (2001) Comtois J H, Bright V M, “Applications for surface-micromachined polysilicon thermal actuators and arrays”, Sensors & Actuators A58(1), 1997, pp. 19-25
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
0208175.0 | Apr 2002 | GB | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/GB03/01470 | 4/4/2003 | WO |