Absolute position sensor using Hall array
US10876863B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 4, 2017 |
| Grant date | Dec 29, 2020 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 26, 2037 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01D5/2454
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A system for determining an absolute position of a device includes a high resolution track (14), a sensor and processing unit (22) associated with the high resolution track (14), a reference track (18) having a plurality of pole pairs arranged to define a single-track Gray code segment, and an array of Hall effect sensors (26) associated with the reference track to output a reference signal to the sensor and processing unit indicative of the coarse absolute position of the device over the single-track Gray code segment. The sensor and processing unit (22) combines the reference signal with the position of the device over the high resolution track to determine an initial, fine absolute position of the device. An up/down hardware counter (34) increments the initial fine absolute position using a signal generated from the high resolution track, and without any further software-based processing, to maintain and continuously update the fine absolute position of the device.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.