Digital compass
First Claim
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1. A magnetically responsive sensor for use in a compass system for a vehicle comprising:
- a base;
a light source mounted to said base;
a cup-shaped opaque encoder disc including a permanent magnet, said disc freely and rotatably mounted to said base so as to move with respect thereto permitting alignment with a magnetic field, said disc including a plurality of slots permitting the selective transmission of light through said disc as a function of the position of said disc with respect to said base;
an opaque diffusion cover including a hemispherical recess for enclosing said encoder disc, said diffusion cover mounted to said base and including a plurality of recessed apertures defining receptacles for receiving a plurality of light detectors, said receptacles positioned opposite one side of said encoder disc and said light source positioned opposite the other side of said encoder disc;
circuit means coupled to said light detectors for providing direction indicating signals in response to the sensing of light by said light detectors; and
display means coupled to said circuit means and responsive to signals therefrom for displaying the direction of orientation of said disc with respect to said base.
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Abstract
A digital magnetic compass provides an octant display of magnetic bearing in alphabetic characters and incorporates a magnetic sensor for providing signals representative of the orientation of the sensor with respect to the earth'"'"'s magnetic field, a microprocessor for processing the signals from the sensor and for providing output signals applied to an alphabetic-type display. In the preferred embodiment of the invention the system is incorporated in a vehicle such as an automobile with the sensor remotely positioned with respect to the display.
40 Citations
7 Claims
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1. A magnetically responsive sensor for use in a compass system for a vehicle comprising:
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a base; a light source mounted to said base; a cup-shaped opaque encoder disc including a permanent magnet, said disc freely and rotatably mounted to said base so as to move with respect thereto permitting alignment with a magnetic field, said disc including a plurality of slots permitting the selective transmission of light through said disc as a function of the position of said disc with respect to said base; an opaque diffusion cover including a hemispherical recess for enclosing said encoder disc, said diffusion cover mounted to said base and including a plurality of recessed apertures defining receptacles for receiving a plurality of light detectors, said receptacles positioned opposite one side of said encoder disc and said light source positioned opposite the other side of said encoder disc; circuit means coupled to said light detectors for providing direction indicating signals in response to the sensing of light by said light detectors; and display means coupled to said circuit means and responsive to signals therefrom for displaying the direction of orientation of said disc with respect to said base. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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Specification