Half-cycle saturable-core magnetometer circuit
US6084406A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 1, 1997 |
| Grant date | Jul 4, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 1, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01R33/02
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A magnetic field sensor element comprises an elongated core of high-magnetic permeability material having a coil of electrically-conductive wire wound around and along a central axis of the core. The sensor, due to inductance of the core which changes with application of a local magnetic field, exhibits a characteristic of delaying an electrical input as a function of the strength of a magnetic field in the direction of the axis of the core, and the delay is measured as a function of the strength of the magnetic field. Appropriate circuitry provides at least one step-function voltage input to the coil such that the resulting delay in current charge-up into the coil creates a voltage across the coil which decays to a known reference value. The time delay for the voltage decaying to the reference value varies as a monotonic function with the strength of the applied magnetic field to be measured.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.