Electronic compass system
First Claim
1. An electronic compass system for use in a vehicle having vehicle equipment consisting of one of a convertible top and sunroof, said electronic compass system comprising:
- a magnetic sensor circuit for sensing at least two components of the Earth'"'"'s magnetic field vector and generating output signals representing the at least two sensed components;
a processing circuit coupled to the magnetic sensor circuit for sampling the output signals from the magnetic sensor circuit, computing a heading of the vehicle as a function of the sensed components, and generating a heading signal representing the computed heading; and
compensating means for compensating for the effect of a change in the opened or closed state of the vehicle equipment on the magnetic field sensed by the magnetic sensor circuit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic compass system includes a magnetic sensor circuit having at least two sensing elements for sensing perpendicular components of the Earth'"'"'s magnetic field vector. A processing circuit is coupled to the sensor circuit to filter, process, and compute a heading. The processing circuit may determine whether too much noise is present in the output signals received from said magnetic sensor circuit as a function of the relative strength of the Earth'"'"'s magnetic field vector. The magnetic sensor circuit may include three magnetic field sensing elements contained in a common integrated package having a plurality of leads extending therefrom for mounting to a circuit board. The sensing elements need not be perpendicular to each other or parallel or perpendicular with the circuit board. The electronic compass system is particularly well suited for implementation in a vehicle rearview mirror assembly.
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Citations
44 Claims
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1. An electronic compass system for use in a vehicle having vehicle equipment consisting of one of a convertible top and sunroof, said electronic compass system comprising:
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a magnetic sensor circuit for sensing at least two components of the Earth'"'"'s magnetic field vector and generating output signals representing the at least two sensed components; a processing circuit coupled to the magnetic sensor circuit for sampling the output signals from the magnetic sensor circuit, computing a heading of the vehicle as a function of the sensed components, and generating a heading signal representing the computed heading; and compensating means for compensating for the effect of a change in the opened or closed state of the vehicle equipment on the magnetic field sensed by the magnetic sensor circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An electronic compass system for use in a vehicle having at least one vehicle accessory capable of adversely effecting the operation of the compass system, said electronic compass system comprising:
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a magnetic sensor circuit for sensing at least two components of the Earth'"'"'s magnetic field vector and generating output signals representing the at least two sensed components; a processing circuit coupled to the magnetic sensor circuit for sampling the output signals from the magnetic sensor circuit, computing a heading of the vehicle as a function of the sensed components, and generating a heading signal representing the computed heading; and wherein said processing circuit immediately compensates for the effect of the vehicle accessory on the magnetic field sensed by the magnetic sensor circuit upon detection of the effect of the vehicle accessory on the magnetic field without requiring a signal from the vehicle accessory. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. In a vehicle having a conductive glass windshield with an electrically conductive material incorporated therein and an electronic compass system having a magnetic sensor circuit located in proximity to the conductive glass windshield, the magnetic sensor circuit senses at least two components of the Earth'"'"'s magnetic field vector and generates output signals representing the at least two sensed components, an improvement comprising:
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a processing circuit coupled to the magnetic sensor circuit for sampling the output signals from the magnetic sensor circuit, computing a heading of the vehicle as a function of the sensed components, and generating a heading signal representing the computed heading; and compensating means for compensating for the effect of an electric field caused by a conductive glass windshield on the magnetic field sensed by the magnetic sensor circuit. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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Specification