SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING THE POSITION OF A PISTON ALONG ITS PATH OF TRAVEL FOR A FLUID-DYNAMIC ACTUATOR
First Claim
1. System for determining the position of a piston (3) along its path of travel (9) in a cylinder (2) for a fluid-dynamic actuator (1), wherein the piston (3) comprises a rod (5) having a longitudinal axis (6) and the path of travel (9) being parallel to said axis (6);
- the system (13) further comprising a first number (N1) of first grooves (14), which are machined on an outer surface of respective sections (15) of the rod (5) so that respective projections of the first grooves (14) onto a first plane parallel to the axis (6) define respective first segments (14a) parallel to one another and arranged obliquely with respect to a projection of the axis (6) onto the first plane;
a second number (N2) of second grooves (17), which are machined on an outer surface of the rod (5) and extend parallel to the axis (6) for respective lengths such that a respective number of second grooves (17) run across the outer surface of each of the sections (15);
optical sensing means (19, 21;
19) to detect the presence of second grooves (17) in correspondence with a second plane (20) transversal to the axis (6) and fixed with respect to the cylinder (2) and a first displacement (32) of the first segments (14a) along a reading line (31) defined by an intersection of the second plane (20) with the first plane, said first displacement (32) being due to a movement of the piston (3) along the path of travel (9); and
processing means (22) to identify the section (15) of rod (5) present in correspondence with the second plane (20) by counting the detected second grooves (17) and to measure the position of the piston (3) along the path of travel (9) as a function of the identified section (15) and of said first displacement (32).
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system (13) for determining the position of a piston (3) along its path of travel (9) in a cylinder (2) of a fluid-dynamic actuator (1), wherein the surface of the rod (5) of the piston (3) is provided with first grooves (14) machined on respective sections (15) of the rod (5), so that projections of the first grooves (14) onto a first plane parallel to the rod axis (6) define segments (14a) arranged obliquely with respect to the axis (6), and second grooves (17) extending parallel to the axis (6) for respective lengths such that a respective number of second grooves (17) run across each section (15), optical sensors (19, 21) detect the presence of second grooves (17) through a second plane (20) transversal to the axis (6) and a displacement (32) of segments (14a) along a line (31) coplanar with the second plane (20) due to a movement of the piston (3), and a processing unit (22) counts the detected second grooves (17) and determines the position of the piston (3) as a function of the count of second grooves (17) and the displacement (32) of segments (14a).
10 Citations
20 Claims
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1. System for determining the position of a piston (3) along its path of travel (9) in a cylinder (2) for a fluid-dynamic actuator (1), wherein the piston (3) comprises a rod (5) having a longitudinal axis (6) and the path of travel (9) being parallel to said axis (6);
- the system (13) further comprising a first number (N1) of first grooves (14), which are machined on an outer surface of respective sections (15) of the rod (5) so that respective projections of the first grooves (14) onto a first plane parallel to the axis (6) define respective first segments (14a) parallel to one another and arranged obliquely with respect to a projection of the axis (6) onto the first plane;
a second number (N2) of second grooves (17), which are machined on an outer surface of the rod (5) and extend parallel to the axis (6) for respective lengths such that a respective number of second grooves (17) run across the outer surface of each of the sections (15);
optical sensing means (19, 21;
19) to detect the presence of second grooves (17) in correspondence with a second plane (20) transversal to the axis (6) and fixed with respect to the cylinder (2) and a first displacement (32) of the first segments (14a) along a reading line (31) defined by an intersection of the second plane (20) with the first plane, said first displacement (32) being due to a movement of the piston (3) along the path of travel (9); and
processing means (22) to identify the section (15) of rod (5) present in correspondence with the second plane (20) by counting the detected second grooves (17) and to measure the position of the piston (3) along the path of travel (9) as a function of the identified section (15) and of said first displacement (32). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20)
- the system (13) further comprising a first number (N1) of first grooves (14), which are machined on an outer surface of respective sections (15) of the rod (5) so that respective projections of the first grooves (14) onto a first plane parallel to the axis (6) define respective first segments (14a) parallel to one another and arranged obliquely with respect to a projection of the axis (6) onto the first plane;
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17. System for determining the position of a piston (3) along its path of travel (9) in a cylinder (2) for a fluid-dynamic actuator (1), wherein the piston (3) comprises a rod (5) having a longitudinal axis (6) and the path of travel (9) being parallel to said axis (6);
- the system (13) further comprising at least a first groove (14), which is machined on an outer surface of the rod (5) so that a projection of said at least a first groove (14) onto a first plane parallel to the axis (6) defines a respective first segment (14a) arranged obliquely with respect to a projection of the axis (6) onto the first plane;
optical sensing means (19, 21;
19) to detect a first displacement (32) of said first segment (14a) along a reading line (31) transversal to the axis (6), said first displacement being due to a movement of the piston (3) along the path of travel (9); and
processing means (22) to determine the position of the piston (3) along the path of travel (9) as a function of the first displacement (32).
- the system (13) further comprising at least a first groove (14), which is machined on an outer surface of the rod (5) so that a projection of said at least a first groove (14) onto a first plane parallel to the axis (6) defines a respective first segment (14a) arranged obliquely with respect to a projection of the axis (6) onto the first plane;
Specification