US 7274118 - MEMS accelerometer battery switch

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7274118.html

This patent teaches a fairly interesting application of MEMS accelerometers. For a variety of portable devices it can be a hassle to turn the device on (or even find the ON button). In order to solve this problem a cantilevered accelerometer is incorporated as a switch to turn on the portable device by providing a sufficient jerk. Claim 1 reads:

1. A system comprising: a substrate; a circuit connected to the substrate; a thin-film battery formed on the substrate and connected to the circuit, the thin-film battery operable to power the circuit; and an acceleration-enabled switch connected to the substrate and operably coupled to electrically activate the circuit, wherein the acceleration-enabled switch is a cantilevered-beam MEMS device.