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Angular position sensor with inductive attenuating coupler

  • US 6,304,076 B1
  • Filed: 09/07/1999
  • Issued: 10/16/2001
  • Est. Priority Date: 09/07/1999
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. An angular position sensor for sensing rotation about an axis comprising:

  • a pair of spaced substantially circular transmit and receive disks juxtaposed on said axis facing each other with a coupler disk between them, said coupler disk being rotatable about said axis, said receive disk carrying a predetermined number of independent inductive coils segmentally arranged in a circular pattern around said receive disk, said transmit disk carrying coil means driven by a signal source at a predetermined radio frequency for inductive coupling to said coils of said receive disk;

    said coupler disk carrying a symmetrical conductive pattern for attenuating said inductive coupling, said pattern having rotary angular positions of maximum and minimum attenuation with respect to any one of said plurality of inductive coils carried by said receive disk, intermediate positions of said pattern between said maximum and minimum providing substantially linearly proportionate attenuations;

    means connected to said coils carried by said receive disk for demodulating and summing induced transmitted signals from said signal source for each angular position of said coupler, said summation producing a substantially sinusoidal waveform whose phase shift varies in proportion to said coupler rotation;

    and means for sensing said phase shift.

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