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. 01, 1998
Filed:
May. 31, 1995
Carl Randall Vogt, Raleigh, NC (US);
Borg-Warner Automotive, Inc., Sterling Heights, MI (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides a diagnostic circuit for detecting fault conditions in a Hall effect digital gear tooth sensor in a vehicle's four-wheel drive system. The diagnostic circuit includes a voltage divider circuit connected to a window comparator circuit which is interfaced with a four-wheel drive system controller. Fault conditions, normally difficult to detect in a Hall effect sensor because of the usual open collector configuration, are detected and identified depending on the type and location of the fault. In an alternate embodiment, a safety feature is added to the voltage divider circuit to indicate a fault and prevent gear shifting in the event that the supply voltage and ground wires are inadvertently reversed.