Digital Sensor

• US 20140350896A1
• Filed: 11/30/2012
• Published: 11/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Continental Automotive GmbH (Continental AG)
• Original Assignee: Continental Automotive GmbH (Continental AG)
• Inventors: Knittel, Thorsten
• Application Number:
  US14/361,518
• Publication Number:
  US 20140350896A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/189
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 3/08 with provision for safeguarding the apparatus, e.g. against abnormal operation, against breakdown
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 5/24447 by energy backup
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 9/02 Producing one or more recordings of the values of a single variable

Abstract

A digital sensor has a sensor element, a digital section, a sample-and-hold stage and an output stage, and storage storing electrical energy, each of which are supplied with electrical energy by a power supply. In the event of a failure of the power supply, the sample-and-hold stage and the output stage are provided with power by the storage storing electrical energy, such that the measurement value most recently stored in the sample-and-hold stage is provided in the signal line by the output stage until the failure of the power source has ended and a new measurement value is stored in the sample-and-hold stage. No electric power is supplied to the sensor element by the storage storing electrical energy in the event of a failure of the power supply.

Claims

1-10. -10. (canceled)

11. A digital sensor (2) comprising:

a sensor element (3) configured to determine a measured value of a downstream electronic circuit;

a digital part (10) configured to digitize and/or evaluate the measure value;

a sample-and-hold stage (11) configured to store the measured value;

an output stage (12) configured to make available the stored measure value from the sample-and-hold stage (11) to a signal line (7);

at least one storage element (5, 8) configured to store electrical energy; and

a power supply (19) configured to supply electrical energy, via a power supply line (4), to the sensor element (3), the digital part (10), the sample-and-hold stage (11), the output stage (12) and the at least one storage element (5),

wherein the sensor (2) is configured to make available, in digital form, the measured value of the downstream electronic circuit, such that, in the event of a failure of the power supply (19), current is supplied to the sample-and-hold stage (11) and the output stage (12) by the at least one storage element (5) such that the measured value last stored in the sample-and-hold stage (11) is made available by the output stage (12) in the signal line (7) until the failure of the power supply (19) has come to an end and a new measured value is stored in the sample-and-hold stage (11), and wherein, in the event of a failure of the power supply (19), no electric current is supplied to the sensor element (3) from the at least one storage element (5).

12. The digital sensor (2) as claimed in claim 11, wherein the sensor element (3) is a mass flow sensor element (13).

13. The digital sensor (2) as claimed in claim 11, wherein the sensor element (3) is a gas sensor element (14).

14. The digital sensor (2) as claimed in claim 11, wherein the sensor element (3) is a pressure sensor element (15).

15. The digital sensor (2) as claimed in claim 11, wherein the sensor element (3) is a temperature sensor element (16).

16. The digital sensor (2) as claimed in claim 11, wherein the sensor element (3) is a position sensor element (17).

17. The digital sensor (2) as claimed in claim 11, wherein the sensor element (3) is a rotation speed sensor element (18).

18. The digital sensor (2) as claimed in claim 11, wherein the at least one storage element (5) is arranged in or on the power supply line (4).

19. The digital sensor (2) as claimed in claim 11, wherein the at least one storage element (5) comprises at least one capacitor.

20. The digital sensor (2) as claimed in claim 18, further comprising a switch (9), arranged in the power supply line (4), configured to, in the event of a failure of the power supply (19), connect exclusively the sample-and-hold stage (11) and the output stage (12) to the at least one storage element (5).