Magnetic position sensor
AssigneeInfineon Technologies AG
InventorUdo Ausserlechner
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A device includes a permanent magnetic material extending along a path, a first magnetic angle sensor configured to output at least a first signal and being positioned remotely from the material, and a second magnetic angle sensor configured to output at least one second signal and being positioned remotely from the material and from the first magnetic angle sensor. Based on the at least one first signal and the at least one second signal, a relative positioning of the first magnetic angle sensor and the second magnetic angle sensor with respect to the material in parallel to the path is determined. The magnetization of the material has a periodicity that varies along the path.
Claims25
A device, comprising:
- a permanent magnetic material which extends along a path and comprises a plurality of alternating magnetic poles,
- a first magnetic angle sensor configured to output at least one first signal, the first magnetic angle sensor being positioned remotely from the permanent magnetic material,
- a second magnetic angle sensor configured to output at least one second signal, the second magnetic angle sensor being positioned remotely from the permanent magnetic material and from the first magnetic angle sensor, and
- an evaluation unit comprising hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software, wherein the evaluation unit is configured to determine a relative positioning of the first magnetic angle sensor and the second magnetic angle sensor with respect to the permanent magnetic material parallel to the path based on the at least one first signal and the at least one second signal,
- wherein a magnetization of the permanent magnetic material has a periodicity which varies along the path according to respective increases or decreases monotonically in sizes of the plurality of alternating magnetic poles along the path.
A method, comprising:
- receiving at least one first signal from a first magnetic angle sensor which is positioned remotely from a permanent magnetic material,
- receiving at least one second signal from a second magnetic angle sensor which is positioned remotely from the permanent magnetic material and from the first magnetic angle sensor,
- wherein the permanent magnetic material extends along a path and comprises a plurality of alternating magnetic poles, and
- based on the at least one first signal and on the at least one second signal:
- determining a relative positioning of the first magnetic angle sensor and of the second magnetic angle sensor with respect to the permanent magnetic material parallel to the path,
- wherein the magnetization of the permanent magnetic material has a periodicity which varies along the path according to respective increases or decreases monotonically in sizes of the plurality of alternating magnetic poles along the path.
A method, comprising:
- moving a permanent magnetic material along a path to a measurement position, the permanent magnetic material extending along the path and comprising a plurality of alternating magnetic poles,
- at least in the measurement position:
- creating a stray magnetic field by the permanent magnetic material, wherein the stray magnetic field varies along a further path with a periodicity that varies along the further path according to respective increases or decreases monotonically in sizes of the plurality of alternating magnetic poles along the further path,
- measuring a first observable which is indicative of a first angle of the stray magnetic field at a first position along the further path,
- measuring a second observable which is indicative of a second angle of the stray magnetic field at a second position along the further path, and
- determining the measurement position based on the first observable and the second observable.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.