Circuit arrangement and method for selectively operating hall elements and memories of a position sensor
AssigneeDr. Johannes Heidenhain GmbH
InventorErich Strasser
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to a position sensor which scans a magnetic graduation having a code structure with several Hall elements. The Hall elements are not simultaneously activated, interrogated and deactivated but rather are sequentially activated, interrogated and deactivated in order to reduce the consumption of power by the position sensor. The position values determined by the Hall elements are stored in intermediate memories. Alternatively, if the rotation of the graduation exceeds a threshold value then an intermediate memory or memories is bypassed and the output signal is directly output. The position sensor according to the present invention can be employed with longitudinal and angular measuring systems.
Claims28
A method for the operation of a position sensor comprising a plurality of Hall elements that scan a graduation and a plurality of memories wherein each of the plurality of Hall element has a memory assigned from the plurality of memories, the method comprising:
- activating the plurality of Hall elements in a predetermined sequence by a control unit;
- deactivating the plurality of Hall elements in a predetermined sequence by the control unit wherein at least one of the plurality of Hall elements is activated by the control unit while a majority of the remaining ones of the plurality of Hall elements are deactivated by the control unit;
- and
- activating the memory assigned to the at least one activated Hall element for storing an output signal of the at least one activated Hall element.
A method for the operation of a position sensor comprising a plurality of Hall elements that scan a graduation and a plurality of memories wherein each of the plurality of Hall element has a memory assigned from the plurality of memories, the method comprising:
- activating the plurality of Hall elements in a predetermined sequence;
- deactivating the plurality of Hall elements in a predetermined sequence wherein at least one of the plurality of Hall elements is activated while a majority of the remaining ones of the plurality of Hall elements are deactivated;
- and
- activating the memory assigned to the at least one activated Hall element for storing an output signal of the at least one activated Hall element, where in the deactivated state no electrical current is drawn by a Hall element or its associated memory.
A method for the operation of a position sensor comprising a plurality of Hall elements that scan a graduation and a plurality of memories wherein each of the plurality of Hall element has a memory assigned from the plurality of memories, the method comprising:
- activating the plurality of Hall elements in a predetermined sequence,
- deactivating the plurality of Hall elements in a predetermined sequence wherein at least one of the plurality of Hall elements is activated while a majority of the remaining ones of the plurality of Hall elements are deactivated;
- activating the memory assigned to the at least one activated Hall element for storing an output signal of the at least one activated Hall element;
- and
- wherein the activating the plurality of Hall elements in a predetermined sequence is determined as a function of the frequency of output signals of the plurality of Hall elements.
A method for the operation of a position sensor comprising a plurality of Hall elements that scan a graduation and a plurality of memories wherein each of the plurality of Hall element has a memory assigned from the plurality of memories, the method comprising:
- activating the plurality of Hall elements in a predetermined sequence;
- deactivating the plurality of Hall elements in a predetermined sequence wherein at least one of the plurality of Hall elements is activated while a majority of the remaining ones of the plurality of Hall elements are deactivated;
- activating the memory assigned to the at least one activated Hall element for storing an output signal of the at least one activated Hall element;
- and
- wherein the activating the memory assigned to the at least one activated Hall element occurs at a time delayed from the activating the Hall element assigned to the activated memory.
A method for the operation of a position sensor comprising a plurality of Hall elements that scan a graduation and a plurality of memories wherein each of the plurality of Hall element has a memory assigned from the plurality of memories, the method comprising:
- activating the plurality of Hall elements in a predetermined sequence;
- deactivating the plurality of Hall elements in a predetermined sequence wherein at least one of the plurality of Hall elements is activated while a majority of the remaining ones of the plurality of Hall elements are deactivated;
- activating the memory assigned to the at least one activated Hall element for storing an output signal of the at least one activated Hall element;
- and
- wherein the activating the plurality of Hall elements in a predetermined sequence and deactivating the plurality of Hall elements comprises activating a Hall element before deactivating at least one Hall element.
A method for the operation of a position sensor comprising a plurality of Hall elements that scan a graduation and a plurality of memories wherein each of the plurality of Hall element has a memory assigned from the plurality of memories, the method comprising:
- activating the plurality of Hall elements in a predetermined sequence;
- deactivating the plurality of Hall elements in a predetermined sequence wherein at least one of the plurality of Hall elements is activated while a majority of the remaining ones of the plurality of Hall elements are deactivated;
- activating the memory assigned to the at least one activated Hall element for storing an output signal of the at least one activated Hall element;
- comparing a threshold for a frequency of output signals of one or several Hall elements to an actual frequency of output signals of the one or several Hall elements;
- and
- deactivating each of the memories assigned to the plurality of Hall elements whose actual frequency exceed the threshold frequency assigned to each of the plurality Hall elements.
A method for the operation of a position sensor comprising a plurality of Hall elements that scan a graduation, the method comprising:
- activating the plurality of Hall elements in a predetermined sequence by a control unit so as to scan the graduation;
- and
- deactivating the plurality of Hall elements in a predetermined sequence by the control unit wherein at least one of the plurality of Hall elements is activated by the control unit while a majority of the remaining ones of the plurality of Hall elements are deactivated by the control unit.
A position sensor comprising:
- a plurality of Hall elements;
- a control unit for the selective activation and deactivation of the plurality of Hall elements, wherein each of the plurality of Hall elements is coupled to the control unit by a first control line;
- and
- a plurality of memories, wherein each one of said plurality of memories is assigned to different ones of the plurality of Hall elements wherein each of the plurality of memories and their assigned one of the plurality of Hall elements are coupled by a data line and the memory is coupled to the control unit by a second control line.
A position sensor comprising:
- a plurality of Hall elements;
- a control unit for the selective activation and deactivation of the plurality of Hall elements, wherein each of the plurality of Hall elements is coupled to the control unit by a first control line;
- a plurality of memories, wherein each one of said plurality of memories is assigned to different ones of the plurality of Hall elements wherein each of the plurality of memories and their assigned one of the plurality of Hall elements are coupled by a data line and the memory is coupled to the control unit by a second control line;
- and
- wherein the control unit is programmed to activate individual Hall elements in a sequence determined as a function of the frequency of output signals of the individual Hall elements.
A position sensor comprising:
- a plurality of Hall elements;
- a control unit for the selective activation and deactivation of the plurality of Hall elements, wherein each of the plurality of Hall elements is coupled to the control unit by a first control line;
- a plurality of memories, wherein each one of said plurality of memories is assigned to different ones of the plurality of Hall elements wherein each of the plurality of memories and their assigned one of the plurality of Hall elements are coupled by a data line and the memory is coupled to the control unit by a second control line;
- and
- wherein a single data line couples each of the plurality Hall elements with the their assigned one of the plurality of memories.
A position sensor comprising:
- a plurality of Hall elements;
- a control unit for the selective activation and deactivation of the plurality of Hall elements, wherein each of the plurality of Hall elements is coupled to the control unit by a first control line;
- a plurality of memories, wherein each one of said plurality of memories is assigned to different ones of the plurality of Hall elements wherein each of the plurality of memories and their assigned one of the plurality of Hall elements are coupled by a data line and the memory is coupled to the control unit by a second control line;
- and
- wherein the control unit determines a velocity of a graduation change based on a frequency of one of the output signals of the Hall elements.
A position sensor comprising:
- a plurality of Hall elements;
- a control unit for the selective activation and deactivation of the plurality of Hall elements, wherein each of the plurality of Hall elements is coupled to the control unit by a first control line;
- a plurality of memories, wherein each one of said plurality of memories is assigned to different ones of the plurality of Hall elements wherein each of the plurality of memories and their assigned one of the plurality of Hall elements are coupled by a data line and the memory is coupled to the control unit by a second control line;
- and
- wherein the control signal line coupling the control unit with each of the plurality of Hall elements is also coupled to the memory through a time delay unit.
A position sensor comprising:
- a plurality of Hall elements;
- a control unit for the selective activation and deactivation of one or more of the plurality of Hall elements, wherein each of the plurality of Hall elements is coupled to the control unit;
- a plurality of memories, wherein each one of said plurality of memories is assigned to different ones of the plurality of Hall elements wherein each of the plurality of memories and their assigned one of the plurality of Hall elements are coupled by a data line;
- a switch assigned to the corresponding one of the plurality of Hall elements and the switch comprises a first position which allows an output transmission from the corresponding Hall element to the corresponding memory and comprises a second position which allows output transmission from the corresponding Hall element to the control unit while bypassing the corresponding memory.
A position sensor comprising:
- a first Hall element that has a first output signal frequency based on a first magnetic field;
- a second Hall element that has a second output signal frequency based on a second magnetic field that is less than the first output signal frequency of the first Hall element;
- a control unit that is coupled to said first Hall element and said second Hall element by a control line, wherein said control unit selectively activates and deactivates the first and second Hall elements and activates the first Hall element more frequently than the second Hall element.
A method for the operation of a position sensor comprising a first Hall element and a second Hall element, the method comprising:
- activating and deactivating the first Hall element;
- activating and deactivating the second Hall element less frequently than activating and deactivating the first Hall element;
- wherein the first order time derivative of the change in a magnetic field at the first Hall element is higher than the first order time derivative of the change in a magnetic field at the second Hall element.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.