Inductive angle sensor with a plurality of receiving coils and an evaluation circuit

US6366078B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• Hella KGaA Hueck & Co. · DE

Inventors

• Henning Irle · Lippstadt, DE
• Norbert Kost · Geseke, DE
• Franz Schmidt · Mannheim, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Sep 4, 1998
• Grant date: Apr 2, 2002
• Expiry date: Sep 4, 2018

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01D5/204
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

An inductive angle sensor with an exciting coil and several receiving coils displaced with respect to each other by a predetermined angle. A rotor element, a position of which is to be determined by the angle sensor, has an inductive coupling element that couples signals into the receiving coils which are essentially sinusoidally affected by the position of the rotor element. Output signals of various receiving coils are phase-shifted with respect to each other. In order to establish a linear interrelationship between the position of the rotor element and the sensor output signals, on the one hand, and to achieve a greatest possible measurement accuracy, on the other hand, the angle sensor has a selection device that selects to evaluate a respective output signal whose nearly linear part of its sine function is in a vicinity of its zero crossing.