Rotary position sensor with circular magnet
AssigneeDurakool Incorporated
InventorRonald J. Wolf
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A rotary position sensor for sensing the angular position of a pivotally mounted device, such as a throttle valve. The rotary position sensor includes a generally circular magnet with a central aperture. A magnetic sensing element, such as a Hall effect integrated circuit (IC) is disposed within the aperture to reduce the overall size of the sensor. In order to improve performance of the sensor, one or more flux concentrators are disposed adjacent the magnetic sensing element within the central aperture of the magnet, while keeping the overall size of the sensor to a minimum to enable the sensor to be utilized in applications where space requirements are generally critical, such as automotive applications.
Claims14
An angular position sensor for sensing the angular position of a pivotally mounted device disposed in a predetermined housing about a predetermined pivot axis, comprising:
- a sensor housing, said sensor housing adapted to be mechanically coupled to said predetermined housing;
- means for providing a mechanical coupling to said pivotally mounted device, rotatably mounted relative to said sensor housing;
- a single generally circular magnet with a central generally circular aperture, said magnet having north and south magnetic poles and having a predetermined axial length;
- and
- means responsive said providing means for generating an electrical signal representative of the angular position of said pivotally mounted device, said generating means including a magnetic flux responsive device, said magnetic flux responsive device being at least partially disposed in said central aperture of said magnet, said predetermined axial length being selected to be substantially the same size as a single magnetic flux responsive element.
A contactless angular position sensor for sensing the angular position of a pivotally mounted device about a predetermined pivot axis, said angular position sensor comprising:
- a housing;
- a generally circular magnet having north and south magnetic poles, said magnet having a central generally circular aperture and coaxially arranged relative to said pivot axis defining predetermined arcuate portions, said magnet having a predetermined axial length;
- means for mechanically coupling said magnet to said pivotally mounted device;
- a magnetic sensing device for sensing magnetic flux and generating an electrical signal representative of the angular position of said pivotally mounted device, said magnetic sensing element being disposed in said central aperture of said magnet, said predetermined axial length being selected to be substantially the same size as a single magnetic flux responsive device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.