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EP0065625A2 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

A capacitive transducer for providing precise angular position information

Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1982-03-04
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2002-03-04
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Abstract

Abstract A capacitive transducer is provided which is capable of sensing precise angular positions. The transducer comprises a rotor (11) having at least one track of spaced conductive segments (19) and a stator (12) having at least one track of space conductive segments (16) respectively facing and spaced from the track on the stator; means are provided for rotating the rotor with respect to the stator whereby the track on the rotor rotates with respect to the track on the stator. Means are provided for applying an alternating electrical signal to the tracks on either the rotor or the stator and means are connected to the other track of conductive segments for sensing the capacitive effect induced in said other track by said electrical signal. At least one of the tracks has a plurality of non-rectangular segments, e.g., triangular segments of shapes selected to produce transducer output waveforms of varied shapes.

Inventors

  • 👤 Errol Ray Williams, Jr.

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-30 10:05
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01D; G01D5/00; G01D5/12; G01D5/14; G01D5/24; G01D5/241; G01D5/2412; G01D5/2415

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim 148 words
A capacitive transducer comprising: a first member (12) having a first track of spaced repetitive conductive segments (16), a second member (11) -having a second track of spaced repetitive conductive segments (19) spaced from and facing said first track, means for moving one of said members with respect to the other whereby the track on said moving member rotates with respect to the track on the other member, means (20, 21) for applying an alternating electrical signal to the first of said tracks of conductive segments, and means (28, 29, 31, 33) connected to the second track of conductive segments for sensing the capacitive effect induced in said second track of conductive segments by said electrical signal, characterized in that : at least one of said tracks having a plurality of non-rectangular segments having less than two sides radial to the axis of rotation of said moving member.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 148 words
A capacitive transducer comprising: a first member (12) having a first track of spaced repetitive conductive segments (16), a second member (11) -having a second track of spaced repetitive conductive segments (19) spaced from and facing said first track, means for moving one of said members with respect to the other whereby the track on said moving member rotates with respect to the track on the other member, means (20, 21) for applying an alternating electrical signal to the first of said tracks of conductive segments, and means (28, 29, 31, 33) connected to the second track of conductive segments for sensing the capacitive effect induced in said second track of conductive segments by said electrical signal, characterized in that : at least one of said tracks having a plurality of non-rectangular segments having less than two sides radial to the axis of rotation of said moving member.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 28 words
The capacitive transducer of claim 1 wherein said first and second tracks of spaced conductive segments are respectively arranged in circular lines concentric with said axis of rotation.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 15 words
The capacitive transducer of claim 2 wherein said non-rectangular segments are substantially triangular in shape.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 24 words
The capacitive transducer of claim 3 wherein one of the sides in each of said triangular segments is radial to said axis of rotation.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 22 words
The capacitive transducer of claim 2 wherein said plurality of non-rectangular segments are contiguous and form a pattern having a sinusoidal form.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 26 words
The capacitive transducer of claim 2 wherein said first member is a stationary stator and said second member is a rotor which rotates about said axis.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 19 words
The capacitive transducer of claim 6 wherein said track having a plurality of non-rectangular segments is on said stator.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 42 words
The capacitive transducer of claim 7 wherein said stator has at least two spaced concentric tracks of non-rectangular conductive segments and said rotor has at least two tracks of conductive segments spaced from and respectively facing said two tracks on said stator.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 46 words
The capacitive transducer of claim 8 wherein the non-rectangular segments in each of the two stator tracks form a pattern in each track having a sinusoidal form and said two concentric sinusoidal stator tracks are positioned so that they are out of phase with each other.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 52 words
The capacitive transducer of claim 9 wherein said means for applying an alternating electrical signal are adapted to apply a first alternating electrical signal to one of said rotor tracks and a second alternating electrical signal out of phase with said first alternating electrical signal to the other of said rotor tracks.

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