The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 10, 1992
Filed:
May. 13, 1992
Gerald P Esmer, Holly, MI (US);
Peter G Blaney, Danville, CA (US);
Alps Electric Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
An electronic compass for use in a vehicle includes compensation for attaining a high degree of accuracy without operator intervention or the need to drive the vehicle in a deliberate circular path. An automatic method for accurately determining maximum and minimum voltage values from a flux gate sensor having orthogonal sensing windings is provided that operates continuously to adjust for required changes in both the offset and gain compensation factors. The flux gate sensor is further mounted within the vehicle such that the axis of one of the sensing windings is positioned approximately 45.degree. with respect to the vehicle's longitudinal direction. The angled mounting of the sense winding axis results in strong sensing signals when travelling on most roads. The electronic compass further provides visual representation on the outer peripheral segments of an alphanumeric display to prompt the operator to drive in a circle during a manual compensation mode. Furthermore, the same software is used during both the manual and automatic operating modes.