US Patent 7710635 - MEMS hinge memory mitigation

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7710635.html

Hinge memory is a problem for microelectromechanical devices which spend a vast majority of time in a single position resulting in an inability to change position. This patent from Texas Instruments provides movement to hinged MEMS devices during inactive periods to avoid this problem. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for reducing hinge memory in a micromechanical device, the method comprising:

operating each element in the device with a specified duty cycle during an inactive period, wherein the duty cycle specifies a ratio of a number of times that the element is in a first state to a number of times that the element is in a second state.