Method and apparatus for correcting for attenuation in an optical torque sensor
First Claim
1. A torque sensor for determining the torque acting upon a shaft, the torque sensor comprising:
- a radiation source emitting radiation of at least one wavelength;
at least one sensor sensing the emitted radiation generating thereby at least one intensity signal indicative of the intensity of the emitted radiation;
at least one signal conditioner receptive of the emitted radiation and positioned on a shaft between the radiation source and the at least one sensor thereby conditioning the emitted radiation; and
a circuit receptive of the at least one intensity signal determining thereby the torque acting upon the shaft and compensating for the attenuation of the emitted radiation.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An optical torque sensor comprises a radiation source emitting radiation of at least one wavelength. At least one sensor senses the emitted radiation and generates at least one intensity signal indicative of the intensity of the emitted radiation. At least one signal conditioner is receptive of the emitted radiation and is positioned on a shaft between the radiation source and the at least one sensor thereby conditioning the emitted radiation. A circuit is receptive of the at least one intensity signal and determines the torque acting upon the shaft and compensates for the attenuation of the emitted radiation. A method of compensating for signal attenuation in the sensor comprises generating radiation of at least one wavelength, conditioning the radiation and sensing the radiation. Responsive to the sensed radiation, at least one intensity signal indicative of the intensity of the radiation is generated. The intensity of the radiation due to a combination of the torque acting upon the shaft and the contamination of the sensor is determined. The intensity of the radiation due to the contamination of the sensor only is determined and the difference between the intensity of the radiation due to a combination of the torque acting upon the shaft and the contamination of the sensor and the intensity of the radiation due to the contamination of the sensor only is calculated to generate a compensated signal indicative only of the torque acting upon the shaft.
16 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A torque sensor for determining the torque acting upon a shaft, the torque sensor comprising:
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a radiation source emitting radiation of at least one wavelength;
at least one sensor sensing the emitted radiation generating thereby at least one intensity signal indicative of the intensity of the emitted radiation;
at least one signal conditioner receptive of the emitted radiation and positioned on a shaft between the radiation source and the at least one sensor thereby conditioning the emitted radiation; and
a circuit receptive of the at least one intensity signal determining thereby the torque acting upon the shaft and compensating for the attenuation of the emitted radiation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 30, 31, 32)
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21. A method of compensating for signal attenuation in a sensorsensing the torque acting upon a shaft, the method comprising:
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generating radiation of at least one wavelength;
conditioning the radiation;
sensing the radiation;
responsive to the sensed radiation, generating at least one intensity signal indicative of the intensity of the radiation;
determining the intensity of the radiation due to a combination of the torque acting upon the shaft and the contamination of the sensor;
determining the intensity of the radiation due to the contamination of the sensor only; and
calculating the difference between the intensity of the radiation due to a combination of the torque acting upon the shaft and the contamination of the sensor and the intensity of the radiation due to the contamination of the sensor only to generate a compensated signal indicative only of the torque acting upon the shaft. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. The method as set forth in claim 29 wherein alternately generating radiation at the first wavelength and at the second wavelength comprises alternately generating radiation having a wavelength in the visible spectrum and radiation having a wavelength in the infrared spectrum.
Specification