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:
Jan. 18, 2005
Filed:
Feb. 15, 2002
Richard Alsobrooks, Livingston, MI (US);
Richard Graham, Jr., Oakland, MI (US);
Thomas Wand, Wayne, MI (US);
Roland Ruegenberg, Bad Sobernheim, DE;
Vladimir Karasik, Walled Lake, MI (US);
Michael Shahan, Allen Park, MI (US);
Richard Alsobrooks, Livingston, MI (US);
Richard Graham, Jr., Oakland, MI (US);
Thomas Wand, Wayne, MI (US);
Roland Ruegenberg, Bad Sobernheim, DE;
Vladimir Karasik, Walled Lake, MI (US);
Michael Shahan, Allen Park, MI (US);
Methode Electronics, Inc., Chicago, IL (US);
Abstract
A position sensor for determining the angular position of a steering wheel. The shaft of the steering wheel is connected to a code disk and turn ring of the sensor so that when steering wheel is rotated, the coded disk and turn ring are also rotated. The code disk is a flat circular disk having a series of cut-outs or bits around its perimeter. A light emitting diode shines a light through the cut-outs and is read by a photo detector which determines the angular position of the code disk. The turn ring is fitted on the outside of the code disk and rotates in a hypocycloidic circle so that for every full revolution of the code disk, the turn ring rotates through a smaller angle. The turn ring is placed over a series of Hall sensors to determine the number of revolutions of the code disk.