# US 2017/0254672 A1 · Method for Determining the Position of a Magnet Relative to a Row of Sensors > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2017/0254672 A1 - Document ID: US20170254672A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/448,084 - Filed: 2017-03-02 - Published: 2017-09-07 - Earliest claimed: 2016-03-02 - Assignees: TE Connectivity Sensors Germany GmbH - Applicants: TE Connectivity Sensors Germany GmbH - Inventors: Andreas Voss; Oliver Borges; Armin Meisenberg; Axel Bartos - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20170254672A1 ## CPC - G01D 5/2033: {controlling the saturation of a magnetic circuit by means of a movable element, e.g. a magnet} - G01D 5/145: {influenced by the relative movement between the Hall device and magnetic fields (see G01R33/06)} - G01D: MEASURING NOT SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR A SPECIFIC VARIABLE; ARRANGEMENTS FOR MEASURING TWO OR MORE VARIABLES NOT COVERED IN A SINGLE OTHER SUBCLASS; TARIFF METERING APPARATUS; MEASURING OR TESTING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR ## Abstract The invention relates to a method for determining the position that a magnet has at a time of measurement relative to a row of sensors extending in a row direction, wherein the position of the magnet relative to the row of sensors can be changed in the direction of the row direction or in the direction parallel to the row direction, wherein the row of sensors has a first magnetic-field-sensitive sensor and a second magnetic-field-sensitive sensor, which is arranged spaced apart from the first sensor in the row direction, wherein a first sensor signal is generated by the first sensor, the value of which, at the time of measurement, depends on the position of the magnet relative to the first sensor at the time of measurement, and a second sensor signal is generated by the second sensor, the value of which, at a time of measurement, depends on the position of the magnet relative to the second sensor at the time of measurement, wherein, in a first examination, the value that the first sensor signal has generated at the time of measurement is compared with a first reference value and/or is checked as to whether it belongs to a first value range, in a second examination, the value that the second sensor signal has generated at the time of measurement is compared with a second reference value and/or is checked as to whether it belongs to a second value range, a relative value is formed from the value that the first sensor signal has generated at the time of measurement and the value that the second sensor signal has generated at the time of measurement, and, in a third examination, this relative value is compared with a third reference value and/or is checked as to whether it belongs to a third value range, and from the result of the first examination and the result of the second examination and the result of the third examination, a determination is carried out as to which of the sensor signals should be regarded as the leading signal for the time of measurement, wherein the position of the magnet relative to the row of sensors at the time of measurement is determined by evaluating the leading signal determined in this manner. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for determining the position of a magnet at a time of measurement relative to a row of sensors comprising the steps of: generating a first sensor signal, the value of which, at the time of measurement, depends on the position of the magnet relative to a first sensor; generating a second sensor signal, the value of which, at the time of measurement, depends on the position of the magnet relative to a second sensor; comparing, in a first examination, a value that the first sensor signal has generated at the time of measurement with a first reference value and/or checking whether the value belongs to a first value range; comparing, in a second examination, a value that the second sensor signal has generated at the time of measurement with a second reference value and/or checking whether the value belongs to a second value range; either forming a relative value from the value that the first sensor signal has generated at the time of measurement and the value that the second sensor signal has generated at the time of measurement, or forming a relative value from the value of a first intermediate signal of the first sensor at the time of measurement, and from the value of a second intermediate signal of the first sensor at the time of measurement, and from the value of a first intermediate signal of the second sensor at the time of measurement, and from the value of a second intermediate signal of the second sensor at the time of measurement; and comparing, in a third examination, the relative value with a third reference value and/or is checking as to whether it belongs to a third value range, and from the result of the first comparison and the result of the second comparison and the result of the third comparison, determining which of the sensor signals should be regarded as the leading signal for the time of measurement, wherein the position of the magnet relative to the row of sensors at the time of measurement is determined by evaluating the leading signal determined in this manner. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1 wherein the relative value is generated by forming a ratio of the value that the first sensor signal has generated at the time of measurement to the value that the second sensor signal has generated at the time of measurement. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the relative value is generated by forming a ratio of a first amplitude, which is formed from the value of the first intermediate signal of the first sensor at the time of measurement and the value of the second intermediate signal of the first sensor at the time of measurement, to a second amplitude, which is formed from the value of the first intermediate signal of the second sensor at the time of measurement and the value of the second intermediate signal of the second sensor at the time of measurement. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein a binary value is generated as a result of the first examination and a binary value is generated as a result of the second examination and a binary value is generated as a result of the third examination and, by comparing the value combination of the examinations with value combinations in a lookup table, a determination is carried out as to which of the sensor signals should be regarded as the leading signal for the time of measurement. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the row of sensors has a third magnetic-field-sensitive sensor which is arranged spaced apart from the second sensor in the row direction, wherein a third sensor signal is generated by the third sensor, the value of which, at the time of measurement, depends on the position of the magnet relative to the third sensor at the time of measurement, and in a fourth examination, the value that the third sensor signal has generated at the time of measurement is compared with a fourth reference value and/or is checked as to whether it belongs to a fourth value range, and either a second relative value is formed from the value that the second sensor signal has generated at the time of measurement, or the value that the first sensor signal has generated at the time of measurement, and the value that the third sensor signal has generated at the time of measurement, or a second relative value is formed from the value of a first intermediate signal of the second sensor at the time of measurement that has been used to generate the value of the second sensor signal, and from the value of a second intermediate signal of the second sensor at the time of measurement that has been used to generate the value of the second sensor signal, or from the value of a first intermediate signal of the first sensor at the time of measurement that has been used to generate the value of the first sensor signal, and from the value of a second intermediate signal of the first sensor at the time of measurement that has been used to generate the value of the first sensor signal, and from the value of a first intermediate signal of the third sensor at the time of measurement that has been used to generate the value of the third sensor signal, and from the value of a second intermediate signal of the third sensor at the time of measurement that has been used to generate the value of the second sensor signal, and in a fifth examination, the second relative value ascertained in this manner is compared with a fifth reference value and/or is checked as to whether it belongs to a fifth value range, and from the result of the first examination and the result of the second examination and the result of the third examination and the result of the fourth examination and the result of the fifth examination, a determination is carried out as to which of the sensor signals should be regarded as the leading signal for the time of measurement, wherein the position of the magnet relative to the row of sensors at the time of measurement is determined by evaluating the leading signal determined in this manner. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method according to claim 5, wherein the relative value is generated by forming a ratio of the value that the first sensor signal has generated at the time of measurement to the value that the second sensor signal has generated at the time of measurement, and the second relative value is generated by forming a ratio of the value that the third sensor signal has generated at the time of measurement to the value that the second sensor signal has generated at the time of measurement, or to the value that the first sensor signal has generated at the time of measurement. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The method according to claim 5, wherein the relative value is generated by forming a ratio of a first amplitude that is formed from the value of the first intermediate signal of the first sensor at the time of measurement and the value of the second intermediate signal of the first sensor at the time of measurement, to a second amplitude that is formed from the value of the first intermediate signal of the second sensor at the time of measurement and the value of the second intermediate signal of the second sensor at the time of measurement, and the second relative value is generated by forming a ratio of a third amplitude that is formed from the value of the first intermediate signal of the third sensor at the time of measurement and the value of the second intermediate signal of the third sensor at the time of measurement, either to a second amplitude that is formed from the value of the first intermediate signal of the second sensor at the time of measurement and the value of the second intermediate signal of the second sensor at the time of measurement, or to a first amplitude that is formed from the value of the first intermediate signal of the first sensor at the time of measurement and the value of the second intermediate signal of the first sensor at the time of measurement. ### Claim 8 (depends on 5) The method according to claim 5, wherein a binary value is generated as a result of the first examination and a binary value is generated as a result of the second examination and a binary value is generated as a result of the third examination and a binary value is generated as a result of the fourth examination and a binary value is generated as a result of the fifth examination and, by comparing the value combination of the examinations with value combinations in a lookup table, a determination is carried out as to which of the sensor signals should be regarded as the leading signal for the time of measurement. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the first sensor and/or the second sensor and/or the third sensor is a rotation angle sensor. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1 wherein the position of the magnet relative to the row of sensors at the time of measurement is determined in that, to that of the leading signal or regarding a value derived from the value of the leading signal, a position value for determining the position of the magnet relative to the row of sensors is read out from a lookup table. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method according to claim 10 wherein in order to determine the position of the magnet relative to the row of sensors, an offset value is added to the position value, wherein the offset value depends on the position along the row of sensors of the sensor which has generated the guiding signal. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the row of sensors is a plurality of magnetic-field-sensitive sensors.