Nested magnetic controls for industrial enclosures

A system comprising:

• an industrial enclosure having a cover with an outer surface and an inner surface;
• a first rotatable magnetic control configured to emit a first magnetic flux density;
• a second rotatable magnetic control configured to emit a second magnetic flux density, the second rotatable magnetic control nested within the first magnetic control, wherein the first and second rotatable magnetic controls are secured to the outer surface of the cover without penetrating the inner surface;
• and
• a plurality of sensors contained within the industrial enclosure and configured to sense the first and second magnetic flux densities, wherein the sensed first and second magnetic flux densities are representative of a position of the first rotatable magnetic control, the second rotatable magnetic control, or of both the first and second rotatable magnetic controls;
• and
• wherein the first and second rotatable magnetic controls respectively include first and second dials which respectively emit the first and second magnetic flux densities, the first and second dials being independently rotatable relative to one another about a central axis of rotation, and wherein the first and second dials can be independently rotated to selected rotational positions relative to one another to allow a desired control setting to be selected.

A system comprising:

• an industrial enclosure having a cover, the cover having an outer surface and an inner surface opposite the outer surface;
• a single-magnet control nested within a dual-magnet control, each of the magnets configured to emit a magnetic flux density, the nested magnetic controls secured to the outer surface of the cover without penetrating the inner surface, the single-magnet control being rotatable about a central axis of rotation relative to the dual-magnet control to change a setting of the system, and the dual-magnet control being rotatable about the central axis of rotation relative to the single-magnet control to change the setting of the system, wherein the single-magnet control and the dual-magnet control are secured to the outer surface of the cover without penetrating the inner surface of the cover;
• and
• a sensor to sense the magnetic flux density emitted by the magnet of the single-magnet control and to sense the magnetic flux density emitted by one or both of the magnets of the dual-magnet control, wherein the sensor is contained within the enclosure and is configured to produce an output representative of the sensed magnetic flux density;
• a programmable controller configured to operate on the output of the sensor to determine a position of at least one of the single-magnet control or the dual-magnet control and configured to initiate a control operation based on the determined position.

A system comprising:

• a first magnetized dial that is rotatable about a central axis of rotation;
• a second magnetized dial that is rotatable about the central axis of rotation, the first and second magnetized dials being independently rotatable relative to each other about the axis of rotation, the second magnetic dial being nested within the first magnetic dial;
• and
• an arrangement of magnetic flux density sensors for sensing rotational positioning of the first and second magnetized dials;
• a controller that interfaces with the magnetic flux density sensors for determining the rotational positioning based on magnetic flux density readings received from the magnetic flux density sensors, wherein the first and second magnetized dials can be independently rotated to selected rotational positions relative to one another to allow a desired control setting to be selected;
• and
• an industrial enclosure, wherein the magnetic flux density sensors and the controller are positioned inside the industrial enclosure and the first and second magnetized dials are positioned outside the industrial enclosure.

A system comprising:

• a first magnetized control;
• a second magnetized control that is nested within the first magnetic control, the first and second magnetized controls being independently moveable relative to each other such that the first magnetized control is moveable relative to the second magnetized control between a plurality of first control positions and the second magnetized control is moveable relative to the first magnetized control between a plurality of second control positions;
• and
• an arrangement of magnetic flux density sensors for sensing positioning of the first and second magnetized controls;
• a controller that interfaces with the magnetic flux density sensors for determining the positioning of the first and second magnetized controls based on magnetic flux density readings received from the magnetic flux density sensors, wherein the first and second magnetized controls can be independently moved relative to one another to selected ones of the first and second control positions to allow a desired control setting to be selected;
• and
• an industrial enclosure, wherein the magnetic flux density sensors and the controller are positioned inside the industrial enclosure and the first and second magnetized controls are positioned outside the industrial enclosure.