Nu-tech & Engineering, Inc.

Other

Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Atoma International Corporation

David L Ehle

Michael E Salmon

John A Ayres

Craig A Ayres

Jeffrey G Hovis

Daniel Alexander Crawford

Lisa Marie Unuvar

Susan Jean Lane

Timothy Lee Budzier

A miniature crossed coil gauge is provided having an oriented rare earth magnet fixedly mounted on a rotary shaft for supplying a magnetic flux directed transverse to the shaft axis. The gauge housing provided by an upper and lower bobbin surrounds the magnet and supports the rotary shaft. A first and second coil are wound about the gauge housing in a crossed coil orientation encircling the magnet. A flux ring is disposed around the first and second coils axially aligned with respect to the magnet. The magnet has sufficient strength and the flux ring is mounted in sufficiently close proximity to the first and second coils to redistribute the flux supplied by the magnet so that the magnetic flux measured at the surface of the coils is substantially increased relative to the magnetic flux density measured with the flux ring removed. This gauge construction facilitates the fabrication of gauges so small that they can be directly mounted on printed circuit boards using conventional electronic component mounting equipment.

Miniature crossed coil gauge having an active flux ring

An instrument display method and system for use in a passenger vehicle has a number of advantageous features including particularly novel, compact, inexpensive and inherently stable electric motors. A first motor includes a rotor assembly having a shaft and a cylindrical magnet which is positioned about a stator assembly to rotate thereabout. The shaft extends through a stator of the stator assembly, a vacuum fluorescent display (VFD), and an indicia bearing layer. A mask such as a needle pointer is secured to the shaft of the rotor assembly at the indicia bearing layer to convey the value of instrument data to the passenger. A light emitting panel receives light from the VFD and transmits the light to other positions along the display system where other substantially identical electric motors move their needle pointers to likewise convey additional data to the passenger. The first motor is surface mounted directly on the back of the VFD which has electrical conductors formed therein. The other motors are mounted so that their shafts extend through the optical sheet and the indicia bearing layer. In one embodiment, a light beam projecting mechanism projects light beams modified by the various needle pointers to a reflective surface which, in turn, reflects the modified light beams toward the passenger. In another embodiment, the projecting mechanism includes a combiner which projects the modified light beams into the passenger's field of view.

Instrument display method and system for passenger vehicle

A vehicle speed control system provides adaptive compensation for compliance in a linking mechanism between a throttle control member and a throttle which creates hysteresis in throttle movement. The system has a vehicle speed sensor, an actuator having an output linked to the throttle control member, an actuator position signal generator and a control responsive to the vehicle speed sensor and the actuator position signal generator for positioning the actuator in closed loop control with a major loop in response to vehicle speed and a minor loop in response to actuator position. The control repeatedly determines when vehicle speed is not within a predetermined range and responds (1) deriving a desired actuator position signal, a present actuator position signal and a position error signal from the difference therebetween, (2) deriving an output position signal from the desired actuator position signal when the position error signal is not zero, (3) modifying the output position signal by a compliance compensation value for actuator movement in a first direction, and (4) activating the actuator to a position corresponding to the output position signal. The control further accumulates the second and subsequent position error signals for actuator movement in the first direction as an accumulated difference value and, when actuator movement is initiated in a second direction, updates the compliance compensation value as a predetermined percentage of the sum of the compliance compensation value and the accumulated difference value.

Vehicle speed control with adaptive compliance compensation

A miniature telltale module which combines a plurality of telltale functions into one unit and provides reduced cost per function. The module uses a miniature rotary actuator, a series of interconnected images and a single light source. The actuator allows a wide tolerances at the inputs while still precisely selecting the image positions. The actuator has a unique locking device (or brake) which automatically engages when power is removed. This feature allows the control circuitry to select an image with a momentary pulse and then remove the power from the actuator. Power consumption is thereby minimized since no power is required by the device except when changing the image to be displayed.

Miniature telltale module

Electric motor, controller therefor and methods for controlling and

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Attica, MI, United States of America

David L Ehle