Systems and methods for plunger movement detection
AssigneeRenesas Electronics America Inc.
InventorJoshua Charles Lawton
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods for detecting a plunger movement condition with respect to a solenoid coil are described. A method may include generating a first derivative signal waveform of a current flowing in the solenoid coil, identifying whether there is at least one zero crossing point in the first derivative signal waveform, and detecting the plunger movement condition according to an identification result indicating whether there is at least one zero crossing point in the first derivative signal waveform.
Claims16
A method for detecting a plunger movement condition with respect to a solenoid coil, the method comprising:
- generating a first derivative signal waveform of a current flowing in the solenoid coil;
- identifying whether there is at least one zero crossing point in the first derivative signal waveform;
- and
- detecting the plunger movement condition according to an identification result indicating whether there is at least one zero crossing point in the first derivative signal waveform,
- wherein when the identification result shows no zero-crossing point, the method further comprises:
- measuring a current value of the current flowing in the solenoid coil;
- and
- comparing the current value to a predetermined threshold value, and
- wherein the detecting the plunger movement condition includes detecting that a plunger is idle when the current value exceeds the predetermined threshold value.
A semiconductor device comprising:
- a controller configured to:
- generate a first derivative signal waveform of a current flowing in a solenoid coil;
- identify whether there is at least one zero crossing point in the first derivative signal waveform;
- and
- detect a plunger movement condition according to an identification result indicating whether there is at least one zero crossing point in the first derivative signal waveform,
- wherein when the identification result shows no zero-crossing point, the controller is further configured to:
- measure a current value of the current flowing in the solenoid coil;
- and
- compare the current value to a predetermined threshold value, and
- wherein to detect the plunger movement condition includes to detect that a plunger is idle when the current value exceeds the predetermined threshold value.
A system comprising:
- a plunger;
- a solenoid coil;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- generate a first derivative signal waveform of a current flowing in the solenoid coil;
- identify whether there is at least one zero crossing point in the first derivative signal waveform;
- and
- detect a plunger movement condition according to an identification result indicating whether there is at least one zero crossing point in the first derivative signal waveform,
- wherein when the identification result shows no zero-crossing point, the controller is further configured to:
- measure a current value of the current flowing in the solenoid coil;
- and
- compare the current value to a predetermined threshold value, and
- wherein to detect the plunger movement condition includes to detect that the plunger is idle when the current value exceeds the predetermined threshold value.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.