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US 12,276,498 B2Granted
Angular position sensor system
AssigneeMelexis Technologies SA
InventorLionel Tombez
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An angular position sensor system includes a two-pole magnet rotatable about a rotation axis; a magnetic sensor device having a plurality of horizontal Hall elements including at least a first, second and third horizontal Hall element located on a virtual circle having a centre located on the rotation axis. The Hall elements are spaced by multiples of 90. The magnetic sensor device has a processing unit connected to the horizontal Hall elements for obtaining a first, second and third signal, and for determining a first pairwise difference between the first and second sensor signal, and for determining a second pairwise difference between the second and third sensor signal, and for determining an angular position of the magnet relative to the sensor device based on a ratio of these pairwise differences.
Claims12
An angular position sensor system, comprising:
- a two-pole magnet rotatable about a rotation axis;
- a magnetic sensor device comprising a plurality of horizontal Hall elements including at least a first, a second and a third horizontal Hall element located on a virtual circle, the circle having a centre located on the rotation axis;
- wherein the first and the second horizontal Hall element are angularly spaced by 90°, and wherein the first and the third horizontal Hall element are angularly spaced by 180°;
- wherein the magnetic sensor device further comprises a processing unit connected to the first, second and third horizontal Hall element for obtaining a first, second and third signal, and configured for determining a first pairwise difference between the first and second sensor signal, and for determining a second pairwise difference between the second and third sensor signal, and for determining an angular position of the magnetic sensor device relative to the magnet based on a ratio of the first and the second pairwise difference;
- wherein the plurality of horizontal Hall elements further comprises a fourth horizontal Hall element situated on said virtual circle, and spaced 180° from the second horizontal Hall element, and wherein the processing unit is further connected to the fourth horizontal Hall element for receiving a fourth sensor signal;
- and
- wherein the processing unit is further configured for one or more or all of the following:
- i) determining a third pairwise difference between the third sensor signal and the fourth sensor signal, and for determining a second angle of the magnetic sensor device based on a ratio of the second pairwise difference and the third pairwise difference;
- ii) determining a third pairwise difference between the third sensor signal and the fourth sensor signal, and determining a fourth pairwise difference between the first sensor signal and the fourth sensor signal, and for determining a third angle of the magnetic sensor device based on a ratio of the third pairwise difference and the fourth pairwise difference, or
- iii) determining a fourth pairwise difference between the first sensor signal and the fourth sensor signal, and for determining a fourth angle of the magnetic sensor device based on a ratio of the fourth pairwise difference and the first pairwise difference.
7 more elements
An angular position sensor system, comprising:
- a two-pole magnet rotatable about a rotation axis;
- a magnetic sensor device comprising a plurality of horizontal Hall elements including at least a first, a second and a third horizontal Hall element located on a virtual circle, the circle having a centre located on the rotation axis;
- wherein the first and the second horizontal Hall element are angularly spaced by 90°, and wherein the first and the third horizontal Hall element are angularly spaced by 180°;
- wherein the magnetic sensor device further comprises a processing unit connected to the first, second and third horizontal Hall element for obtaining a first, second and third signal, and configured for determining a first pairwise difference between the first and second sensor signal, and for determining a second pairwise difference between the second and third sensor signal, and for determining an angular position of the magnetic sensor device relative to the magnet based on a ratio of the first and the second pairwise difference;
- wherein the plurality of horizontal Hall elements further comprises a fourth horizontal Hall element situated on said virtual circle, and spaced 180° from the second horizontal Hall element, and
- wherein the processing unit is further connected to the fourth horizontal Hall element for receiving a fourth sensor signal;
- and
- wherein the processing unit is further configured for determining a first diagonal difference as a difference between the first signal and the third signal, and for determining a second diagonal difference as a difference between the second signal and the fourth signal, and optionally for determining a second angle of the magnetic sensor device based on a ratio of these diagonal differences;
- and
- wherein the sensor device is further configured for outputting said angular position derived from the first, second and third horizontal Hall element as a first angle, and for outputting at least one of said first and said second diagonal difference and said second angle.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.