Electro Corporation

Michael A Wilson

Gordon E Gee

Fred J Momparler

Kenneth J Coleman

Dennis L Brown

A transformerless triac control circuit provides direct on/off control of loads including loads requiring a high current. An on/off decision is made twice each period of the source voltage, and the on/off decision results from the happening or the nonhappening of an event such as the detection of a conductive body.

Circuit for controllably providing power from an AC source to a load

An electronic limit switch assembly including a sensor and a switching circuit controlled thereby contained in separate molded plastic housings. The sensor housing and the switching circuit housing are secured together with respective mating walls thereof in abutment and electrically coupled by leads protruding through the mating walls and protectively contained in a cavity in the mating wall of the sensor housing. A sensing coil is mountable for side sensing between a side wall of the sensor housing and an interior wall spaced therefrom defining a part of the cavity for side sensing and is also mountable for end sensing against an end wall opposite the mating wall and underlying the interior wall. Elements of the switching circuit are mounted on a printed circuit board and elongate conductive members secured to the board and connected with elements of the circuit protrude through mating holes in the top of the switching housing which function as terminal posts, heat sinks and circuit board mounts. A bulb of an indicator lamp is supported above the circuit board and adjacent a viewing port in the housing top by elongate rigid leads wave-soldered to the board with the other circuit elements. A cover overlying the top is removed for access to screw connectors at the ends of the conductive members. A guide wall overlying the circuit board and underlying the cover extends between a lead passageway at the end of the housing connectable with standard wiring conduit. The guide wall, upon being engaged by the end of a lead inserted through the passageway, guides it to the connectors.

Housing and control circuit assembly with sensing element

A linear oscillator circuit has a resonant circuit which develops an oscillating voltage V.sub.R having an amplitude proportional to a distance between a conducting body and the resonant circuit located within a probe. A control power drive circuit coupled to the output of the resonant circuit switches a current through the resonant circuit during each period of oscillation of the voltage V.sub.R. A reference current source is coupled to the control power drive circuit for drawing a current through the control power drive circuit and the resonant circuit. The magnitude of the current is equal to the magnitude of an independently established reference current. A detector circuit responsive to the value of the amplitude of oscillation may be provided to indicate the distance of the conductive body from the resonant circuit-containing probe.

Linear oscillator for proximity sensor

A detector for a dynamic phenomenon with a cyclically varying condition, as motion of a rotating part. At least three digital sensors are separated in phase with respect to the cyclic condition. The instantaneous outputs of the sensors have a plurality of repeating sequential states so long as the dynamic phenomenon exists. The instantaneous outputs of the sensors have at least one state which does not occur during existence of the dynamic phenomenon but which does occur in the absence thereof. Logic circuits respond to the digital sensor outputs and detect information about the dynamic phenomenon. Detection of the repetition rate of an instantaneous output state of the sensors provides a measure of speed. An absence of rotation is indicated by the occurrence of another output state. In another disclosed embodiment, the detector monitors a three phase power system and detects a phase outage by the occurrence of an abnormal sensor output state.

Digital detector

A proximity sensor oscillator, having a resonant circuit in which the power loss is inversely related to the distance of a conductive body from a probe containing a part of the resonant circuit, produces an oscillating output signal in the resonant circuit with a peak amplitude that varies with power loss and distance. A power source provides either the current or the voltage component of electrical power at a substantially constant value independent of changes of resonant circuit power loss and is periodically switched to the resonant circuit to provide an average input power thereto. The power loss of the resonant circuit loads the source, and thus the other component of power oscillates within the resonant circuit at a peak amplitude linearly related to the inverse of the power loss. A control circuit is responsive to the phase of the oscillating component to maximize power input to the resonant circuit by applying the fixed power component substantially only throughout each alternate half wave of the oscillating component having the same polarity sense as the one component. Over the operating range where the inverse of the power loss has a linear variation with distance, the peak amplitude of the oscillating component varies linearly with distance. A detector circuit responsive to the amplitude of the oscillating component provides an indication of distance.

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Sarasota, FL, United States of America

Michael A Wilson