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. 10, 2002
Filed:
Feb. 06, 2001
Charles Albert Spellman, Auburn, IN (US);
Siemens VDO Automotive Corporation, Auburn Hills, MI (US);
Abstract
A system for determining the absolute position of a multi-turn shaft is disclosed. The shaft is mounted in an elliptically shaped wave generator. The wave generator is coupled to a flex spline which is deformed to match the wave generator. The exterior surface of the flex spline has a number of gear teeth. The flex spline is installed within a cylindrical, circular spline. The circular spline has an interior diameter which is slightly larger than the largest diameter of the flex spline. The interior surface of the circular spline has a number of teeth which interlock with the teeth of the flex spline. In such a manner, the rotation of the shaft will cause an angular displacement of the circular spline. A position sensor is located on the circular spline and serves to track the position of the circular spline which is proportional to the absolute position of the shaft.