Flux brush torque sensor

A torque sensing device adapted to measure the relative torque between two shafts and to send a corresponding signal comprising:

• a housing;
• an input shaft rotatably supported within said housing;
• a pinion shaft rotatably supported within said housing;
• a torsion bar positioned between and interconnecting said input shaft and said pinion shaft and adapted to allow rotational movement of said input shaft and said pinion shaft relative to one another, said input shaft and said pinion shaft being supported within said housing to allow limited axial movement of said input shaft and said pinion shaft within said housing;
• a plurality of magnets fixedly mounted to and spaced radially about one of said input shaft and said pinion shaft;
• a stator assembly having a first stator ring defining a first pole and a second stator ring defining a second pole fixedly mounted to the other of said input shaft and said pinion shaft and extending axially over said magnets, each of said first and second stator rings having an annular hub with a plurality of axially extending fingers spaced radially thereabout, said fingers of said first and second stator rings being interlaced with one another;
• a pair of flux rings fixedly supported within said housing, said flux rings extending annularly around said stator assembly and being spaced from said stator assembly by a radial distance, each of said flux rings being axially aligned with said hub of one of said stator rings;
• a pair of flux brushes supported by said housing, each of said flux brushes being proximal to one of said flux rings, said flux brushes being spaced apart from one another by an axial distance, thereby defining a gap therebetween;
• a sensing device positioned within said gap adapted to measure the direction and magnitude of a magnetic flux passing between said flux brushes.