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US 2012/0056616 A1Published application
Distance sensor
AssigneePolyResearch AG
InventorLutz MAY
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A sensor device for height measurement, air spring comprising a sensor device for height measuring and a corresponding method allowing determining the height also under rough conditions like noisy, dusty or vibrating environments.
Claims26
A sensor device for a height measurement, comprising:
- a transceiving coil arrangement including at least one transceiving coil;
- a transmitting drive unit;
- a receiver unit;
- a reference coil arrangement;
- and
- a reference control unit,
- wherein the transceiving coil arrangement is coupled to both the transmitting drive circuit and the receiver unit,
- wherein the reference control unit is coupled to the reference coil arrangement,
- wherein the reference coil arrangement is movably positioned with respect to the transceiving coil arrangement,
- wherein the drive unit is adapted to drive the transceiving coil arrangement with an AC power signal of a predetermined duration for generating a magnetic field,
- wherein the reference control unit is adapted for accumulating energy out of the generated magnetic field and for generating a reference signal based on an amount of the accumulated energy, and
- wherein the receiver unit is adapted for receiving the reference signal and for outputting a signal for determining a distance between the transceiving coil arrangement and the reference coil arrangement based on at least one out of a group, the group consisting of the reference signal and the duration of the AC power signal.
9 more elements
An air spring for a vehicle, comprising:
- a fixed part;
- a movable part;
- and
- a sensor device including a transceiving coil arrangement comprising at least one transceiving coil;
- a transmitting drive unit;
- a receiver unit;
- a reference coil arrangement;
- and a reference control unit,
- wherein the transceiving coil arrangement is coupled to both, the transmitting drive circuit and the receiver unit,
- wherein the reference control unit is coupled to the reference coil arrangement,
- wherein the reference coil arrangement is movably positioned with respect to the transceiving coil arrangement,
- wherein the drive unit is adapted to drive the transceiving coil arrangement with an AC power signal of a predetermined duration for generating a magnetic field,
- wherein the reference control unit is adapted for accumulating energy out of the generated magnetic field and for generating a reference signal based on an amount of the accumulated energy,
- wherein the receiver unit is adapted for receiving the reference signal and for outputting a signal for determining a distance between the transceiving coil arrangement and the reference coil arrangement based on at least one out of a group, the group consisting of the reference signal and the duration of the AC power signal, and
- wherein the transceiving coil arrangement, the transmitting drive unit and the receiver unit are arranged at the fixed part of the air spring and the reference coil arrangement and the reference control unit are arranged at the moveable part.
12 more elements
A method for a height measurement, comprising:
- driving a transceiving coil arrangement with an AC power signal of a predetermined duration for generating a magnetic field;
- accumulating energy by a reference coil arrangement out of the generated magnetic field;
- generating a reference signal and supplying the reference signal to the reference coil arrangement based on an amount of the accumulated energy;
- and
- receiving the reference signal and outputting a height signal for determining a distance between the transceiving coil arrangement and the reference coil arrangement based on at least one out of a group, the group consisting of the reference signal and the duration of the AC power signal.
2 more elements
A sensor device for a distance measurement, comprising:
- a magnetic field transmitting arrangement;
- a first magnetic field sensing arrangement providing a first magnetic field signal;
- a second magnetic field sensing arrangement providing a second magnetic field signal;
- and
- a computation unit,
- wherein the first magnetic field sensing arrangement and the second magnetic field sensing arrangement are orientated to each other in a fixed predetermined manner to form a magnetic field sensing unit,
- wherein the magnetic field transmitting arrangement is movable with respect to the magnetic field sensing unit,
- wherein the first magnetic field sensing arrangement and the second magnetic field sensing arrangement are coupled to the computation unit for providing the first magnetic field signal and the second magnetic field signal, respectively, with the computation unit,
- wherein the computation unit is adapted to determine a relation between the first magnetic field signal and the second magnetic field signal, and
- wherein the relation is an indicative of the distance between the magnetic field transmission arrangement and the magnetic field sensing unit.
7 more elements
A sensor device for a distance measurement, comprising:
- a first magnetic field transmitting arrangement adapted for providing a first magnetic field;
- a second magnetic field transmitting arrangement adapted for providing a second magnetic field;
- a magnetic field sensing arrangement adapted for providing a first magnetic field signal according to the first magnetic field and a second magnetic field signal according to the second magnetic field;
- and
- a computation unit,
- wherein the first magnetic field transmitting arrangement and the second magnetic field transmitting arrangement are orientated to each other in a fixed predetermined manner to form a magnetic field transmitting unit,
- wherein the magnetic field transmitting unit is movable with respect to the magnetic field sensing arrangement,
- wherein the magnetic field sensing arrangement is coupled to the computation unit for providing the first magnetic field signal and the second magnetic field signal with the computation unit,
- wherein the computation unit is adapted to determine a relation between the first magnetic field signal and the second magnetic field signal, and
- wherein the relation is an indicative of the distance between the magnetic field transmission unit and the magnetic field sensing arrangement.
7 more elements
An air spring for a vehicle, comprising:
- a fixed part;
- a movable part;
- and
- a sensor device includes
- a first magnetic field transmitting arrangement adapted for providing a first magnetic field;
- a second magnetic field transmitting arrangement adapted for providing a second magnetic field;
- a magnetic field sensing arrangement adapted for providing a first magnetic field signal according to the first magnetic field and a second magnetic field signal according to the second magnetic field;
- a computation unit;
- a transceiving coil arrangement including the first magnetic field sensing arrangement adapted for providing a first magnetic field signal and the second magnetic field sensing arrangement adapted for providing a second magnetic field signal;
- a transmitting drive unit;
- a receiver unit including the computation unit;
- a reference coil arrangement including the magnetic field transmitting arrangement;
- and
- a reference control unit,
- wherein the transceiving coil arrangement is coupled to both, the transmitting drive circuit and the receiver unit,
- wherein the reference control unit is coupled to the reference coil arrangement,
- wherein the reference coil arrangement is movably positioned with respect to the transceiving coil arrangement,
- wherein the drive unit is adapted to drive the transceiving coil arrangement with an AC power signal of a predetermined duration for generating a magnetic field,
- wherein the reference control unit is adapted for accumulating energy out of the generated magnetic field and for generating a reference signal based on an amount of the accumulated energy,
- wherein the receiver unit is adapted for receiving the reference signal and for outputting a signal for determining a distance between the transceiving coil arrangement and the reference coil arrangement based on at least one out of a group, the group consisting of the reference signal and the duration of the AC power signal,
- wherein the first magnetic field transmitting arrangement and the second magnetic field transmitting arrangement are orientated to each other in a fixed predetermined manner to form a magnetic field transmitting unit,
- wherein the magnetic field transmitting unit is movable with respect to the magnetic field sensing arrangement,
- wherein the magnetic field sensing arrangement is coupled to the computation unit for providing the first magnetic field signal and the second magnetic field signal with the computation unit,
- wherein the computation unit is adapted to determine a relation between the first magnetic field signal and the second magnetic field signal,
- wherein the relation is an indicative of the distance between the magnetic field transmission unit and the magnetic field sensing arrangement, and
- wherein the transceiving coil arrangement, the transmitting drive unit and the receiver unit are arranged at the fixed part of the air spring and the reference coil arrangement and the reference control unit are arranged at the moveable part.
23 more elements
An air spring for a vehicle, comprising:
- a fixed part;
- a movable part;
- and
- a sensor device including:
- a first magnetic field transmitting arrangement adapted for providing a first magnetic field;
- a second magnetic field transmitting arrangement adapted for providing a second magnetic field;
- a magnetic field sensing arrangement adapted for providing a first magnetic field signal according to the first magnetic field and a second magnetic field signal according to the second magnetic field;
- a computation unit;
- a transceiving coil arrangement including the magnetic field sensing arrangement for providing the first magnetic field signal according to the first magnetic field and the second magnetic field signal according to the second magnetic field;
- a transmitting drive unit;
- a receiver unit including the computation unit;
- a reference coil arrangement including the first magnetic field transmitting arrangement adapted for providing the first magnetic field and the second magnetic field transmitting arrangement adapted for providing the second magnetic field;
- and
- a reference control unit,
- wherein the transceiving coil arrangement is coupled to both, the transmitting drive circuit and the receiver unit,
- wherein the reference control unit is coupled to the reference coil arrangement,
- wherein the reference coil arrangement is movably positioned with respect to the transceiving coil arrangement,
- wherein the drive unit is adapted to drive the transceiving coil arrangement with an AC power signal of a predetermined duration for generating a magnetic field,
- wherein the reference control unit is adapted for accumulating energy out of the generated magnetic field and for generating a reference signal based on an amount of the accumulated energy,
- wherein the receiver unit is adapted for receiving the reference signal and for outputting a signal for determining a distance between the transceiving coil arrangement and the reference coil arrangement based on at least one out of a group, the group consisting of the reference signal and the duration of the AC power signal,
- wherein the first magnetic field transmitting arrangement and the second magnetic field transmitting arrangement are orientated to each other in a fixed predetermined manner to form a magnetic field transmitting unit,
- wherein the magnetic field transmitting unit is movable with respect to the magnetic field sensing arrangement,
- wherein the magnetic field sensing arrangement is coupled to the computation unit for providing the first magnetic field signal and the second magnetic field signal with the computation unit,
- wherein the computation unit is adapted to determine a relation between the first magnetic field signal and the second magnetic field signal,
- wherein the relation is an indicative of the distance between the magnetic field transmission unit and the magnetic field sensing arrangement, and
- wherein the transceiving coil arrangement, the transmitting drive unit and the receiver unit are arranged at the fixed part of the air spring and the reference coil arrangement and the reference control unit are arranged at the moveable part.
23 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.