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:
Oct. 31, 2006
Filed:
Nov. 18, 2004
Robert D. Laclair, Richmond, VT (US);
Robert D. LaClair, Richmond, VT (US);
Simmonds Precision Products, Inc., Vergennes, VT (US);
Abstract
A method of non-intrusive, inductive proximity sensing of a target through a conductive barrier comprises the steps of: disposing an inductive proximity sensor on one side of a barrier of conductive material; disposing a target on the other side of the barrier; determining an appropriate drive frequency for operating the proximity sensor based on the conductive material and thickness of the barrier; and operating the proximity sensor with the appropriate drive frequency to non-intrusively sense the proximity of the target through the conductive barrier. The method may include the steps of: varying the gap between the target and proximity sensor over a gap range; measuring the inductive output of the proximity sensor at the appropriate drive frequency and different gaps to obtain inductive output measurements at the different gaps; determining the operating induction bandwidth of the proximity sensor operated at approximately the appropriate drive frequency from the inductive output measurements at the different gaps; and using the determined induction bandwidth for proximity sensing of the target through the conductive barrier. The gap range may be based on a sensor/target gap variation during actuation for a particular application.