Displacement/force transducers utilizing hall effect sensors
First Claim
1. A displacement measuring apparatus comprising:
- a first mass of material;
a second mass of material linked to the first mass of material via parallel means for allowing displacement between the masses in a direction transverse to the beams and providing return force against said displacement, each of said beams comprising arms displaced relative to each other in the direction transverse to the beams and joined end-to-end; and
a sensor for sensing the displacement of the second mass relative to the first mass.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A device for measuring displacement and force comprises two masses of material linked together by a parallel beam linkage which permits displacement of one mass relative to the other in a single direction. The displacement or force input to be measured is applied to one of the masses in the allowable direction. The displacement of the masses with respect to each other is sensed by a sensor. In a preferred embodiment, the sensor comprises a Hall effect sensor attached to one of the masses positioned between two magnets attached to the other mass. Movement of one mass relative to the other changes the magnetic field around the Hall effect sensor. The change is sensed by the Hall effect sensor.
96 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A displacement measuring apparatus comprising:
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a first mass of material; a second mass of material linked to the first mass of material via parallel means for allowing displacement between the masses in a direction transverse to the beams and providing return force against said displacement, each of said beams comprising arms displaced relative to each other in the direction transverse to the beams and joined end-to-end; and a sensor for sensing the displacement of the second mass relative to the first mass. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A displacement measuring apparatus comprising:
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a first mass of material; a second mass of material enclosed by the first mass of material and linked to the first mass of material via parallel beams, said parallel beams allowing displacement between the masses in a direction transverse to the beams and providing return force against said displacement, each of said beams comprising arms displaced relative to each other in the direction transverse to the beams and joined end-to-end; and a sensor for sensing the displacement to the second mass relative to the first mass. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of measuring displacement comprising:
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providing a first mass of material and a second mass of material, the two masses being linked by parallel beams to allow displacement between the masses in a direction transverse to the beams and to provide return force against said displacement, each of said beams comprising arms displaced relative to each other in the direction transverse to the beams and joined end-to-end; displacing the second mass relative to the first mass; and sensing the displacement of the second mass relative to the first mass.
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12. A method of measuring displacement comprising:
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providing a first mass of material and a second mass of material, the second mass of material being enclosed within the first mass of material and the two masses being linked by parallel beams, said parallel beams allowing displacement between the masses in a direction transverse to the beams and providing return force against said displacement, each of said beams comprising arms displaced relative to each other in the direction transverse to the beams and joined end-to-end; and displacing the second mass relative to the first mass; and sensing the displacement of the second mass relative to the first mass. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A displacement measuring apparatus comprising:
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a block; a mass of material enclosed within the block and linked to the block via parallel beams, the parallel beams allowing displacement between the block and the mass of material in a direction transverse to the beams and providing return force against the displacement, the block, the mass of material and the parallel beams being a single unit formed from a single piece of material; and a sensor for sensing the displacement of the mass of material relative to the block. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A displacement measuring apparatus comprising:
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a first mass of material; a second mass of material enclosed by the first mass and linked to the first mass by parallel beams, said parallel beams allowing displacement between the masses in a direction transverse to the beams and providing return force against the displacement; and a senor for sensing the displacement of the second mass relative to the first mass, the sensor comprising; two magnets fixedly attached to the second mass and separated from each other by a fixed gap, and a Hall effect sensor fixedly attached to the first mass and positioned between the magnets such that the Hall effect sensor senses the displacement of the masses relative to each other and causes to be generated a signal indicative of the amount of the displacement. - View Dependent Claims (26)
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Specification