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US4772815A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Variable refluctance position transducer

Assignee: EASTERN AIR DEVICES Inc 1 PROGRESS DRIVE DOVER NEW HAMPSHIRE 03820 A CORP OF DE
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Filing: 1987-09-15
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Granted: 1988-09-20
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Expires: 2007-09-15
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Abstract

Abstract A rotational position transducer comprising a rotor having annularly spaced teeth and a stator with a pole face configuration comprising annularly spaced teeth opposing the rotor teeth. One or more pole windings are energized by an alternate current source, and one or more output voltages induced in pole windings are produced with components having a characteristic which varies as a function of the angular position of the rotor relative to the stator. The output voltages may be either amplitude or phase modulated as a function of rotor position. The transducer may be combined with a stepping motor having an identical pole configuration.

Inventors

  • 👤 Timothy J. Harned
  • 👤 Steven R. Huard
  • 👤 David M. Lancisi
  • 👤 Joseph S. Pavlat
  • 👤 Charles K. Taft

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-02 13:09
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01D; G01D5/00; G01D5/12; G01D5/14; G01D5/20; G01D5/204; G01D5/2046; H; H02; H02K; H02K24/00; H02K29/00; H02K29/06; H02K29/12; H02K37/00

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim 138 words
A rotational position transducer comprising, in combination, a rotor of magnetic material having annularly spaced teeth and means for attachment to a rotating driver, a stator having at least first and second annularly spaced stator poles and a third stator pole between said first and second poles, each pole having a winding thereon and a face comprising a plurality of annularly spaced teeth opposing the rotor teeth, means for connection of a first phase of an alternating voltage source to the winding on the first pole, means for connection of a second phase of the voltage source displaced from the first phase to the winding on the second pole, and a position detection circuit connected with the winding on the third stator pole and responsive to the phase displacement between a voltage induced therein and the voltage source.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 138 words
A rotational position transducer comprising, in combination, a rotor of magnetic material having annularly spaced teeth and means for attachment to a rotating driver, a stator having at least first and second annularly spaced stator poles and a third stator pole between said first and second poles, each pole having a winding thereon and a face comprising a plurality of annularly spaced teeth opposing the rotor teeth, means for connection of a first phase of an alternating voltage source to the winding on the first pole, means for connection of a second phase of the voltage source displaced from the first phase to the winding on the second pole, and a position detection circuit connected with the winding on the third stator pole and responsive to the phase displacement between a voltage induced therein and the voltage source.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 167 words
A rotational position transducer comprising, in combination, a rotor of magnetic material having annularly spaced teeth and means for attachment to a rotating driver, a stator having at least first and second annularly spaced stator poles and a third stator pole between said first and second poles, each pole having a winding thereon and a face comprising a plurality of annularly spaced teeth opposing the rotor teeth, the teeth of adjacent poles progressively advancing in annular displacement relative to the rotor teeth opposed thereto, means for connection of a first phase of an alternating voltage source to the winding on the first pole, means for connection of a second phase of the voltage source displaced from the first phase to the winding on the second pole, and a position detection circuit connected with the winding on the third stator pole and responsive to a voltage component induced therein having a characteristic which varies as a function of the angular position of the rotor relative to the stator.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 167 words
A rotational position transducer comprising, in combination, a rotor of magnetic material having annularly spaced teeth and means for attachment to a rotating driver, a stator having at least first and second annularly spaced stator poles and a third stator pole between said first and second poles, each pole having a winding thereon and a face comprising a plurality of annularly spaced teeth opposing the rotor teeth, the teeth of adjacent poles progressively advancing in annular displacement relative to the rotor teeth opposed thereto, means for connection of a first phase of an alternating voltage source to the winding on the first pole, means for connection of a second phase of the voltage source displaced from the first phase to the winding on the second pole, and a position detection circuit connected with the winding on the third stator pole and responsive to a voltage component induced therein having a characteristic which varies as a function of the angular position of the rotor relative to the stator.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 133 words
A rotational position transducer comprising, in combination, a rotor of magnetic material having annularly spaced teeth and means for attachment to a rotating driver, a stator having an integral multiple of four uniformly annularly spaced poles each having a face comprising a plurality of annularly spaced teeth opposing the rotor teeth, the teeth of adjacent poles progressively advancing in annular displacement relative to the rotor teeth opposed thereto, the stator having at least two pole windings, means for connection of an alternating voltage source to at least one of the pole windings, and a position detector circuit connected with at least one of the pole windings and responsive to a voltage component induced therein having a characteristic which varies as a function of the angular position of the rotor relative to the stator.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 133 words
A rotational position transducer comprising, in combination, a rotor of magnetic material having annularly spaced teeth and means for attachment to a rotating driver, a stator having an integral multiple of four uniformly annularly spaced poles each having a face comprising a plurality of annularly spaced teeth opposing the rotor teeth, the teeth of adjacent poles progressively advancing in annular displacement relative to the rotor teeth opposed thereto, the stator having at least two pole windings, means for connection of an alternating voltage source to at least one of the pole windings, and a position detector circuit connected with at least one of the pole windings and responsive to a voltage component induced therein having a characteristic which varies as a function of the angular position of the rotor relative to the stator.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 171 words
A rotational position transducer having, in combination, a rotor of magnetic material having annularly spaced teeth and means for attachment to a rotating driver, a stator having at least four poles spaced 90° apart, each having a pole winding and a face comprising a plurality of annularly spaced teeth opposing the rotor teeth, the teeth of adjacent poles progressively advancing in annular displacement relative to the rotor teeth opposed thereto, the teeth of each pole having the same annular displacement relative to the rotor teeth as the teeth of the diametrically opposite pole, means for connection of an alternating voltage source to at least one of the pole windings, and a position detection circuit comprising a pair of circuit branches connected to the voltage source in parallel, each comprising the series connected windings of two poles spaced 90° apart, said branches forming a bridge circuit responsive to a voltage component induced therein having a characteristic which varies as a function of the angular position of the rotor relative to the stator.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 171 words
A rotational position transducer having, in combination, a rotor of magnetic material having annularly spaced teeth and means for attachment to a rotating driver, a stator having at least four poles spaced 90° apart, each having a pole winding and a face comprising a plurality of annularly spaced teeth opposing the rotor teeth, the teeth of adjacent poles progressively advancing in annular displacement relative to the rotor teeth opposed thereto, the teeth of each pole having the same annular displacement relative to the rotor teeth as the teeth of the diametrically opposite pole, means for connection of an alternating voltage source to at least one of the pole windings, and a position detection circuit comprising a pair of circuit branches connected to the voltage source in parallel, each comprising the series connected windings of two poles spaced 90° apart, said branches forming a bridge circuit responsive to a voltage component induced therein having a characteristic which varies as a function of the angular position of the rotor relative to the stator.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 25 words
A transducer according to claim 4, in which the detection circuit is responsive to the amplitude modulation of the output voltage across the bridge circuit.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 45 words
A transducer according to claim 4, having eight poles, the detection circuit comprising two pairs of circuit branches forming two bridge circuits, the windings of adjacent poles being connected in different bridge circuits whereby the output voltages across the bridge circuits are in phase quadrature.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 72 words
A transducer according to claim 6, in which the detection circuit comprises means to convert the analog output of each bridge circuit to a digital form, and an addressable memory having its address bits connected to the converting means and including as many cells as there are combinations of simultaneous outputs of said converting means, each cell having digital information stored therein corresponding to the angular displacement represented by said simultaneous outputs.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US2589999A Cited
US2982872A Cited
US3535604A Cited
US4267497A Cited
US4489266A Cited
US4551708A Cited
US4687961A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1991-09-20 1992-03-21 1992-09-20 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1995-09-20 1996-03-21 1996-09-20 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 1999-09-20 2000-03-21 2000-09-20 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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