Inductive position sensor assembly
AssigneeKSR IP Holdings, LLC
InventorLingmin Shao
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure, an inductive sensor assembly includes a shaft and a multilayered printed circuit board (PCB). The shaft includes a first end. The first end has a bottom surface. A target including a flat forming a straight edge is integrally formed into the first end of the shaft. The PCB includes a transmitter coil and a two part receiving coil. The two part receiving coil has a first receiving coil and a second receiving coil. The first receiving coil is on a different layer of the PCB than the second receiving coil in an axial direction. The target is rotated about a central axis of the two part receiving coil. The straight edge of the target and the bottom surface is detected by the two part receiving coil.
Claims20
An inductive sensor assembly comprising:
- a shaft having a first end;
- a target integrally formed from the first end of the shaft, the target having a first planar surface forming a straight edge, a first undercut portion forming a second planar surface integrally formed into the first end of the shaft, the second planar surface spaced apart from the first planar surface;
- and
- a sensor assembly having a transmitter coil and a receiving coil,
- wherein when the target is moved about a shaft axis, the straight edge and the first planar surface of the target is detected by the sensor assembly.
An inductive sensor assembly comprising:
- a shaft having a first end;
- a target integrally formed from the first end of the shaft, the target having a first planar surface forming a straight edge, an undercut portion forming a second planar surface integrally formed into the first end of the shaft, the second planar surface spaced apart from the first planar surface;
- and
- a sensor assembly comprising a printed circuit board (PCB), a transmitter coil and a two part receiving coil, the two part receiving coil comprising:
- a first receiving coil and a second receiving coil, the first receiving coil and the second receiving coil are on a different layer of the PCB in an axial direction,
- wherein when the target is moved about a shaft axis, the straight edge and the first planar surface of the target is detected by the sensor assembly.
A method of determining a position of a movable shaft, the method comprising:
- milling a first end of a shaft to form a target, the target having a first planar surface forming a straight edge and an undercut portion forming a second planar surface, the second planar surface spaced apart from the first planar surface a predetermined distance such that the first planar surface is a coupler;
- moving the target about a shaft axis;
- exciting a transmitter coil;
- obtaining a plurality of receiver signals from a sensor assembly;
- determining the target positon based on the straight edge and the first planar surface;
- and
- transmitting a corrected sinusoidal input signal to a signal processor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.