Inductive position sensor
AssigneeSemiconductor Components Industries, LLC
InventorJacques Jean Bertin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems, devices, and methods for determining a torque on a target using an inductive torque sensor are described. The inductive torque sensor may include an excitation coil, two rotors, and two or more receive coils. Each of the receive coils and the rotors may be inductively coupled. The two or more receive coils may be configured to generate a received voltage which can be approximated by a sine waveform function based on the angular changes of the coils on each rotor, the distance of the receive coils from the rotors and the distance between the receive coils. An integrated circuit may be configured to determine the torque generated on the target based on calculated differences between the angular rotation of the first rotor versus the second rotor over a given period.
Claims20
An inductive torque sensor, comprising:
- a first rotor attached to a first member of a target;
- a second rotor attached to a second member of the target;
- a stator, aligned relative to the first rotor and the second rotor, comprising:
- at least one magnetic field excitation element;
- a first receiver comprising a first phased loop with a first geometry configured to output a first received signal (ST);
- and
- a second receiver comprising a second phased loop with the first geometry configured to output a second received signal (SB);
- a processor coupled to the stator and configured to:
- receive the first received signal (ST) and the second received signal (SB);
- and
- based on the received signals, determine a torque exerted on the target as a function of a delta angle ΔΘ.
A method for determining a torque exerted on a target, comprising:
- receiving a first received signal;
- wherein the first received signal is induced in a first receiver coil by an excitation element of a stator and influenced by the rotational positions of each of a first rotor and a second rotor;
- wherein the first receiver coil comprises a first phased loop with a first geometry;
- receiving a second received signal;
- wherein the second received signal is induced in second receiver coil by the excitation element and influenced by the rotational positions of each of the first rotor and the second rotor;
- wherein the second receiver comprises a second phased loop with the first geometry;
- and
- determining, based on the first received signal and the second received signal, the torque as a function of a delta angle (ΔΘ) arising in view of the relative rotational positions of each of the first rotor and the second rotor.
A stator for use in an inductive torque sensor, comprising:
- at least one excitation coil;
- a first receiver;
- and
- a second receiver;
- wherein the first receiver includes at least two coils drawn as phased loops on a first layer and a second layer;
- wherein the phased loops on the first layer and the second layer form a first resulting average receiving stator;
- wherein the second receiver includes at least two coils drawn as phased loops on a third layer and a fourth layer;
- wherein the phased loops of the third layer and the fourth layer form a second resulting average receiving stator;
- wherein the first resulting average receiving stator is a fixed distance DO from the second resulting average receiving stator.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.