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:
Dec. 15, 1992
Filed:
Sep. 16, 1991
Alan R Owens, Longmont, CO (US);
Staodyn, Inc., Longmont, CO (US);
Abstract
A device utilizing capacitive coupling to provide an output indicative of angular relationship. Relatively rotatable units have paired electrical signal paths on closely adjacent portions to establish capacitive coupling therebetween. A high frequency AC signal is conducted through the electrical signal paths, which paths are preferbaly shielded, with the capacitance of one of the paired electrical signal paths being dependent upon the angular relationship between the closely adjacent portions of the units and with the capacitance of others of the paired electrical signal paths being substantially independent of the angular relationship between the closely adjacent portions of the units. A three unit configuration is utilized for determining angular displacement or torque and torque direction with respect to the two rotatable elements rotatable relative to a stator element, and a two unit configuration, which may be combined with the three unit configuration, is utilized for determining angular position between a rotatable element and a stationary element. The output is coupled, for example, to an electrical power unit to provide power assisted steering of a vehicle.