Sensor device

• US 7,730,782 B2
• Filed: 06/17/2009
• Issued: 06/08/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Uemura, Takeshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Williams; Hezron
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shah; Samir M
• Application Number:
  US12/486,227
• Publication Number:
  US 20090249876A1
• Time in Patent Office: 356 Days
• Field of Search: 735/041.2, 735/140.1, 734/88, 385/18, 310/365
• US Class Current: 73/504.12
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 19/56 Turn-sensitive devices using vibrating masses, e.g. vibratory angular rate sensors based on Coriolis forces
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/166 Mechanical, construction or arrangement details of inertial navigation systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 21/00 Testing or calibrating of apparatus or devices covered by the preceding groups

Abstract

A sensor device includes a time determining part that determines time point information, and adds the time point information to the output supplied from a part subjected to failure diagnosis and related to generation of a failure detection signal, and to the output related to generation of a sense signal. With this structure, the failure detection signal is correlated with the sense signal by the time point information. Alternatively, the sensor device includes an output circuit that correlates the failure detection signal with the sense signal supplied at the same time point as the failure detection signal, and outputs both signals using a time division method.

Claims

1. A sensor device comprising:

a first driving circuit configured to output a first drive signal;

a first sensing element to which the first drive signal from the first driving circuit is supplied;

a first detecting circuit configured to extract a response signal from the first sensing element;

a first processing circuit configured to extract a first sense signal from the response signal from the first detecting circuit;

a first failure diagnosing circuit electrically coupled to a first part subjected to failure diagnosis which is at least one of the first driving circuit, the first detecting circuit, and the first processing circuit, the first failure diagnosing circuit being configured to determine whether the first part subjected to failure diagnosis is normal or abnormal, and to output a first failure detection signal based on results of the determination; and

an output circuit configured to digitally output, using a time division method, the first failure detection signal from the first failure diagnosing circuit, and the first sense signal from the first processing circuit supplied at an identical time point with the first failure detection signal, so that the first sense signal is determined to be results in a normal state or results in an abnormal state.

2. The sensor device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a second failure diagnosing circuit electrically coupled to a second part subjected to failure diagnosis which is at least one of the first driving circuit, the first detecting circuit, and the first processing circuit, the second failure diagnosing circuit being configured to determine whether the second part subjected to failure diagnosis is normal or abnormal, and to output a second failure detection signal based on results of the determination,

wherein

the output circuit digitally outputs the first failure detection signal from the first failure diagnosing circuit, the second failure detection signal from the second failure diagnosing circuit, and the first sense signal from the first processing circuit, using the time division method.

3. The sensor device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a second driving circuit configured to output a second drive signal;

a second sensing element to which the second drive signal from the second driving circuit is supplied;

a second detecting circuit configured to extract a second response signal from the second sensing element;

a second processing circuit to which the second response signal from the second detecting circuit is supplied, the second processing circuit being configured to extract a second sense signal from the second response signal; and

a second failure diagnosing circuit electrically coupled to a second part subjected to failure diagnosis which is at least one of the second driving circuit, the second detecting circuit, and the second processing circuit, the second failure diagnosing circuit being configured to determine whether the second part subjected to failure diagnosis is normal or abnormal, and to output a second failure detection signal based on results of the determination,

wherein the output circuit digitally outputs, using the time division method, the first failure detection signal from the first failure diagnosing circuit, the second failure detection signal from the second failure diagnosing circuit, the first sense signal from the first processing circuit, and the second sense signal from the second processing circuit.

4. An inertial sensor comprising:

a first driving circuit configured to output a first drive signal;

a second driving circuit configured to output a second drive signal;

an angular velocity sensing element to which the first drive signal from the first driving circuit is supplied;

an acceleration sensing element to which the second drive signal from the second driving circuit is supplied;

a first detecting circuit configured to extract a first response signal from the angular velocity sensing element;

a second detecting circuit configured to extract a second response signal from the acceleration sensing element;

a first processing circuit to which the first response signal from the first detecting circuit is supplied, the first processing circuit being configured to extract a first sense signal from the first response signal;

a second processing circuit to which the second response signal from the second detecting circuit is supplied, the second processing circuit being configured to extract a second sense signal from the second response signal;

a failure diagnosing circuit electrically coupled to at least one of the first driving circuit, the first detecting circuit, and the first processing circuit, and electrically coupled to at least one of the second driving circuit, the second detecting circuit, and the second processing circuit; and

an output circuit configured to digitally output, using a time division method, a failure detection signal from the failure diagnosing circuit, the first sense signal from the first processing circuit, and the second sense signal from the second processing circuit,

wherein the output circuit is configured to correlate the failure detection signal with the first sense signal and the second sense signal supplied at an identical time point with the failure detection signal, and output the failure detection signal, the first sense signal and the second sense signal using a time division method, so that whether the first sense signal and the second sense signal are results in a normal state or results in an abnormal state can be determined.

5. The inertial sensor according to claim 4, wherein

the failure diagnosing circuit includes a plurality of failure diagnosing circuits,

each of the plurality of failure diagnosing circuits is electrically coupled to at least one of the first driving circuit, the second driving circuit, the first detecting circuit, the second detecting circuit, the first processing circuit, and the second processing circuit, and

the output circuit is configured to digitally output, using the time division method, a plurality of failure detection signals from the plurality of failure diagnosing circuits, the first sense signal from the first processing circuit, and the second sense signal from the second processing circuit.

6. A sensor device comprising:

a first driving circuit configured to output a first drive signal;

a first sensing element to which the first drive signal from the first driving circuit is supplied;

a first detecting circuit configured to extract a response signal from the first sensing element;

a first processing circuit configured to extract a first sense signal from the response signal from the first detecting circuit;

a second driving circuit configured to output a second drive signal;

a second sensing element to which the second drive signal from the second driving circuit is supplied;

a second detecting circuit configured to extract a second response signal from the second sensing element;

a second processing circuit to which the second response signal from the second detecting circuit is supplied, the second processing circuit being configured to extract a second sense signal from the second response signal;

a failure diagnosing circuit electrically coupled to a first part subjected to failure diagnosis which is at least one of the first driving circuit, the first detecting circuit, and the first processing circuit, and a second part subjected to failure diagnosis which is at least one of the second driving circuit, the second detecting circuit, and the second processing circuit, the failure diagnosing circuit being configured to determine whether both of the first part subjected to failure diagnosis and the second part subjected to failure diagnosis are normal, or at least one of the first part subjected to failure diagnosis and the second part subjected to failure diagnosis is abnormal, and to output a failure detection signal based on results of the determination; and

an output circuit configured to digitally output, using a time division method, the failure detection signal from the failure diagnosing circuit, and the first sense signal from the first processing circuit and the second sense signal from the second processing circuit both supplied at an identical time point with the failure detection signal, so that the first sense signal and the second sense signal are determined to be results in a normal state or results in an abnormal state.