Angle-to-current converter

Abstract

An angle-to-current converter for generating an electrical current output in direct proportion to the degree of angular displacement of an input shaft. The converter includes a differential-inductance transducer constituted by a variable reluctance disc mounted on the input shaft, the profiled edge of the disc passing through diametrically-opposed air gaps defined by the cores of a pair of inductors. The profile of the disc edge is so contoured that as the disc rotates, the region of the edge lying within one gap increases while that lying within the other gap decreases, thereby varying the inductance ratio of the pair as a function of input angle. The transducer inductors are connected to the input of an astable multivibrator in a transmitter wherein the multivibrator generates a square wave whose duty cycle is varied in accordance with the varying inductance ratio and the square wave is integrated to produce a voltage whose magnitude is proportional to the input angle. This voltage is converted into a corresponding output current.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.