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US 2020/0264015 A1Published application
Capacitive-sensing rotary encoders and methods
AssigneeTexas Instruments Incorporated
InventorsLichang CHENG, Jun ZHANG, Rujun JI
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Example capacitive-sensing rotary encoders and methods are disclosed herein. An example apparatus includes a rotary encoder structured to be mounted to a motor, the rotary encoder including a plurality of circumferential capacitive sensor arrays, each of the plurality of capacitive sensor arrays having an output representing a binary bit of a rotary encoder output, the rotary encoder output changing as a conductor rotates responsive to a rotatable shaft of the motor relative to the rotary encoder.
Claims16
An apparatus comprising:
- a motor having a rotatable shaft;
- a rotary encoder having:
- an opening adapted to surround a portion of the rotatable shaft of the motor;
- a first capacitive sensor array having an output, the first capacitive sensor array located on a first concentric area of the rotary encoder;
- a second capacitive sensor array having an output, the second capacitor sensor array located on a second concentric area of the rotary encoder, the second concentric area is separate from the first concentric area;
- and
- a controller having a first input, a second input, and a binary word output, the first input is coupled to the output of the first capacitive sensor array, the second input is coupled to the output of the second capacitive sensor array, the controller is configured to generate a binary word at the binary word output, a least significant bit of the binary word represents the output of the second capacitor array and a most significant bit of the binary word represents the output of the first capacitor array.
4 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- an opening adapted to surround a portion of a rotatable shaft of a motor;
- a first capacitive sensor array having an output, the first capacitive sensor array located on a first concentric area of the apparatus;
- a second capacitive sensor array having an output, the second capacitor sensor array located on a second concentric area of the apparatus, the second concentric area is separate from the first concentric area;
- and
- a controller having a first input, a second input, and a binary word output, the first input is coupled to the output of the first capacitive sensor array, the second input is coupled to the output of the second capacitive sensor array, the controller is configured to generate a binary word at the binary word output, a least significant bit of the binary word represents the output of the second capacitor array and a most significant bit of the binary word represents the output of the first capacitor array.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.