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:
Mar. 06, 2001
Filed:
Feb. 23, 1999
David C. Ritmanich, Brookfield, WI (US);
Douglas G. Knutzen, Fon du Lac, WI (US);
William R. Kuckuk, Hubertus, WI (US);
Johnson Controls Technology Co., Plymouth, MI (US);
Abstract
An actuator is operated to move a mechanical device between two extreme positions of travel. While that motion is occurring, the system quantifies the amount of movement that occurs between those positions. The quantification may involve counting the number of steps of a stepper motor. The number of steps may be used directly as a quantification. Alternatively, the number of steps can be multiplied by the time period of each step to derive the time of the movement between the extreme positions. In addition to being used to setup the actuator upon installation, this automatic ranging method can be performed periodically to compensate for effects of wear on the mechanical device.