Portable object comprising a rotating control stem whose actuation is detected by means of two inductive sensors
AssigneeETA SA Manufacture Horlogere Suisse
InventorsVittorio Zanesco, Pascal Lagorgette, Pascal Meyer, Damien Schmutz, Raphael Balmer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A portable object including a control stem, actuation of which in rotation can control at least one electronic or mechanical function of the portable object, a magnetized ring driven in rotation by the control stem, rotation of the magnetized ring and position of the magnetized ring being detected by two inductive sensors configured to be sensitive to a variation in magnetic induction in only two directions in space that are parallel to each other or that converge on a same point, with exception of a case in which these two directions are perpendicular to each other.
Claims17
A portable object comprising:
- a control stem, actuation of which in rotation can control at least one electronic or mechanical function of the portable object;
- a magnetized ring driven in rotation by the control stem;
- and
- two inductive sensors configured to detect a rotation of the control stem and a position of the control stem, the two inductive sensors configured to be sensitive to a variation in magnetic induction produced by rotation of the magnetized ring in only two directions in space, which are parallel to each other,
- wherein the two inductive sensors are arranged at an equal distance from a center of rotation of the magnetized ring, symmetrically with respect to a plane passing through the center of rotation of the magnetized ring.
A method for detecting a position of a control stem, actuation of which in rotation controls at least an electronic or mechanical function of a portable object including the control stein, a magnetized ring driven in rotation by the control stem, the rotation of the control stein and the position of the control stem being detected by two inductive sensors configured to be sensitive to a variation in magnetic induction produced by rotation of the magnetized ring in only one direction in space, the two inductive sensors being arranged at an equal distance from a center of rotation of the magnetized ring, symmetrically with respect to a plane passing through the center of rotation of the magnetized ring, the method comprising:
- calculating an arctangent function of the ratio between signals produced by each of the inductive sensors to determine a direction of rotation and a position of the control stem.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.