Non-contacting electrical rotary position and rotation transducer

Claim 2

Non-contacting rotary position-rotation electrical signal transducer comprising a rotor (1) and a stator (10), the position and rotation of the rotor with respect to the stator being detectable by output signals derived from the stator; an energizing winding (22) located on the stator; an output winding (11, 12, 13, 14) located on the stator; and a short circuited rotor winding (3, 4; 33, 34; 35, 36) located on the rotor; wherein the output winding on the stator and the short-circuited winding on the rotor have radially undulating or crenelating or crenelated appearance and configuration (f1, f2) and said windings are located on the stator, and rotor, respectively, in inductively coupled position; and wherein the energizing winding has an appearance or configuration which has a smooth outline and located on the stator to be inductively coupled with the short circuited winding on the rotor, to provide, upon energization of the energizing winding with an a-c signal, output signals from said output windings on the stator due to transfer of power from the energizing winding on the stator to the short circuited winding on the rotor and power transfer to the output winding on the stator, upon match of at least some of the undulations, or crenelations, of the short-circuited winding on the rotor with the output winding on the stator.

Claim 3

Transducer according to claim 1, wherein the configuration of the short-circuited winding and the output winding are shaped to provide signals adapted for decoding by correlation analysis.

Claim 4

Transducer according to claim 1, wherein the short circuited winding and the output winding each comprise concentric winding sections (3, 4, 34, 36; 11, 12, 13, 14) of different undulating characteristics in different radially positioned sections, and wherein matching sections of the short circuited winding and the oUtput windings are essentially similar at least for a predetermined circumferential portion.

Claim 5

Transducer according to claim 1, further comprising a galvanic connection between the energizing winding and the output winding.

Claim 6

Transducer according to claim 4, further comprising rectifier means (G) connected to the output windings and differential amplifiers (29, 30, 31, 32) connected to the rectifier means.

Claim 7

Transducer according to claim 5, further comprising decoding means (301) connected to the differential amplifier.

Claim 8

Transducer according to claim 1, wherein the rotor and stator elements are opposed, flat disks (6, 21), the rotor (1, 6) being rotatable about a central axis (2) transverse to the plane of the disk.

Claim 9

Transducer according to claim 7, wherein the energizing winding is formed as a loop, concentric with the axis (2).

Claim 10

Transducer according to claim 7, wherein the energizing winding comprises a flat spiral winding surrounding the central axis; and the power supply means comprises an oscillator, the spiral winding forming the tank coil for the oscillator.

Claim 11

Transducer according to claim 7, wherein the short circuited and the output windings are essentially congruent and have a repetition sequence of undulations defined by 2 pi /a, wherein a is a whole number of the set of a 1, 2, 3 . . . n; and at least one of the windings is sub-divided into circumferentially separate sections, one of the windings sections being offset to the other winding section by a circumferential distance of pi /2a.

Claim 12

Transducer according to claim 7, wherein the shortcircuited and the output windings are essentially congruent and have a repetition frequency of undulation defined by 2 pi /a, wherein a is a whole number of the set of a 1, 2, 3 . . . n; and wherein the windings are sub-divided into at least two winding sub-sections which are concentrically located, and wherein the number a of the winding of one subsection differs from the number a of the subsection of the other winding.

Claim 13

Transducer according to claim 11, wherein the number a of the outermost winding subsection is 360 k, wherein k is a whole number of at least one.

Claim 14

Transducer according to claim 1, wherein the configuration of the short-circuited winding and the output winding are essentially congruent and shaped to provide signals adapted for decoding by auto-correlation techniques.

Claim 15

Transducer according to claim 13, wherein said windings are crenelated to provide output signal sequences having the relationship 2 pi /a, wherein a is a whole number of the set of 1, 2, 3 . . . n.

Claim 16

Transducer according to claim 13, wherein the configuration is in accordance with a pseudo-stochastic square wave pulse oscillation of base period 2 pi /a, wherein a is a whole number of the set of 1, 2, 3 . . . n.

Claim 17

In a non-contacting rotary position-electrical signal transducer system having a disk rotor and a disk stator, the rotor being rotatable about an axis of rotation, the position and rotation of rotor and stator with respect to each other being detectable by output signals derived from the stator; an energizing winding (22) forming a flat loop of smooth outline, concentric with the axis of rotation located on the stator (10); means (23) supplying a-c power to said energizing winding; a flat, short-circuited winding (3, 4; 33, 34; 35, 36) located on the rotor (1) concentric with the axis of rotation and inductively coupled to the energizing winding loop (22) on the stator (10) so that current will be induced in the short-circuited winding on the rotor from said energizing winding on the stator; a flat output winding (11, 12, 13, 14) located on the stator (10) concentric with the axis of rotation and inductively coupled to the short-circuited rotor winding (3, 4; 33, 34; 35, 36), the shoRt-circuited rotor winding and the output stator winding having similar, essentially congruent winding configuration (f1, f2) of radially undulating or crenelated appearance and providing output signals determined by the respective position of the rotor (1) and the stator (10) on which the short-circuited winding and the output winding, respectively, are located, and permitting correlation of currents flowing in the output winding with respect to the short-circuit current flowing in the short-circuited winding; and means (29, 30, 31, 32) connected to said output windings sensing the output current derived from said winding, said output current being representative of the relative position of said rotor (1) and said stator (10).

Claim 18

In a non-contacting rotary position-electrical signal transducer system having a disk rotor and a disk stator, the rotor being rotatable about an axis of rotation, the position and rotation of rotor and stator with respect to each other being detectable by output signals derived from the stator; an energizing winding (22) forming a flat loop of smooth outline, concentric with the axis of rotation located on the stator (10); means (23) supplying a-c power to said energizing winding; a flat, short-circuited winding (3, 4; 33, 34; 35, 36) located on the rotor (1) concentric with the axis of rotation and inductively coupled to the energizing winding loop (22) on the stator (10) so that current will be induced in the short-circuited winding on the rotor from said energizing winding on the stator; a flat output winding (11, 12, 13, 14) located on the stator (10) concentric with the axis of rotation and inductively coupled to the short-circuited rotor winding (3, 4; 33, 34; 35, 36), the shoRt-circuited rotor winding and the output stator winding having similar, essentially congruent winding configuration (f1, f2) of radially undulating or crenelated appearance and providing output signals determined by the respective position of the rotor (1) and the stator (10) on which the short-circuited winding and the output winding, respectively, are located, and permitting correlation of currents flowing in the output winding with respect to the short-circuit current flowing in the short-circuited winding; and means (29, 30, 31, 32) connected to said output windings sensing the output current derived from said winding, said output current being representative of the relative position of said rotor (1) and said stator (10).

Claim 19

System according to claim 16, wherein the a-c power supply is an oscillator (23) and the energizing winding loop (22) forms the tank coil for the oscillator.

Claim 20

System according to claim 16, wherein the shape of the undulations or crenelations of the short-circuited winding (33, 34; 35, 36) on the rotor (1) and hence of the output winding (11, 12, 13, 14) on the stator (10) is defined by an aperiodic function (f''1; f1a) having a linear rate of change of width, or repetition, per unit of arc angle, of undulations or crenelations.

Claim 21

System according to claim 16, wherein the shape of the undulations or crenelations comprises a symmetrical wave (33, 35) of increasing frequency and essentially constant amplitude extending in a circular ring, with the axis of rotation as the center up to about one half of the circumference of the ring, the remaining circumference of the ring (34, 36) being a circular segment with said axis of rotation as the center and located at about the null or center line of said wave.