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US 4,269,073 AGranted
Gyroscope closed-loop speed controller
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorMelville D. McIntyre
Life of this patent
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AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorMelville D. McIntyre
Estimating the term…
A closed-loop controller for controlling the frequency of the power applied to a gyroscope synchronous motor to rotate the seismic mass (wheel) of the gyro so as to compensate for movement of the gyro case about the spin axis of the gyro is disclosed. The controller includes a sensor for sensing fluctuations in the current drawn by the gyro, said fluctuations being directly related to the fluctuations in the load angle of the gyro caused by movement of the gyro case about the spin axis. The current fluctuations create an analog voltage, which is amplified by several orders of magnitude. The result is used to modulate the frequency of the applied power so as to compensate for the load angle fluctuations caused by case movement about the spin axis. In essence, the controller reduces the frequency of the hunting mode of the gyro to a level below which movement of the gyro case about its spin axis has substantially no undesirable effect. In addition, the controller phase shifts the feedback modulation signal so as to damp hunting excursions at the lower hunting mode frequency. Finally, noise signals, particularly noise signals at the motor excitation frequency, are filtered out to prevent such signals from saturating the feedback electronics.
A gyroscope comprising:
A gyroscope comprising:
A closed-loop speed controller for producing a speed control signal suitable for controlling the frequency of the power applied to a synchronous motor of the type used in a gyroscope such that the speed of the rotating element of said synchronous motor is maintained constant with respect to inertial space, said controller comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.