Proximity switch, which indicates the presence or absence of field changing objects at a defined distance from the proximity switch by a binary signal with the aid of excitation and detection of a field
First Claim
1. A multi-position proximity switch comprising, in combination:
- proximity detecting switch means having a field exciting transducer and a binary output for indicating the presence or absence of a field perturbing object at a preselected distance from the field transducer and an electronic gain control input for adjusting said preselected distance,digital-controlled gain adjusting means having a digital input and an electronic output for generating an electronic gain control signal in response to the digital input, the electronic output being connected to the gain control input of the proximity detecting switch,digital scanning means for generating a digital time-varying scanning signal, the digital signal being applied to the digital-controlled gain adjusting means, thereby adjusting the proximity detecting switch to detect the presence or absence of a field perturbing object at a plurality of difference preselected distances from the field transducer, andcoincidence detecting means for detecting the coincidence between the digital scanning signal and the binary output of the proximity detecting switch, so that the presence or absence of a field perturbing object at each preselected distance from the field transducer is detected.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A multi-position proximity switch having a plurality of binary outputs, each output indicating whether the distance between an object and a field transducer exceeds a corresponding one of a plurality of predefined distances. The sensitivity of a proximity detector having a single binary output is stepped through a plurality of adjustable levels by a digital counter having decoded outputs and the binary output of the proximity switch is sampled after the decoded counter outputs change state so that a plurality of binary outputs, each associated with a detector sensitivity level and a corresponding distance, are provided. The failure of the greatest distance to be detected or the detection of the smallest distance activates an alarm indicating that the object is outside a permissible range of distances.
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Citations
4 Claims
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1. A multi-position proximity switch comprising, in combination:
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proximity detecting switch means having a field exciting transducer and a binary output for indicating the presence or absence of a field perturbing object at a preselected distance from the field transducer and an electronic gain control input for adjusting said preselected distance, digital-controlled gain adjusting means having a digital input and an electronic output for generating an electronic gain control signal in response to the digital input, the electronic output being connected to the gain control input of the proximity detecting switch, digital scanning means for generating a digital time-varying scanning signal, the digital signal being applied to the digital-controlled gain adjusting means, thereby adjusting the proximity detecting switch to detect the presence or absence of a field perturbing object at a plurality of difference preselected distances from the field transducer, and coincidence detecting means for detecting the coincidence between the digital scanning signal and the binary output of the proximity detecting switch, so that the presence or absence of a field perturbing object at each preselected distance from the field transducer is detected. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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Specification