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. 03, 2012
Filed:
Apr. 16, 2008
Timothy J. Grai, Oxford, MI (US);
Nathan W. John, Flower Mound, TX (US);
Timothy J. Grai, Oxford, MI (US);
Nathan W. John, Flower Mound, TX (US);
Renesas Electronics America Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for determining speed of a stepper motor. In one embodiment of the method, a first terminal of a first coil of the stepper motor is coupled to an input of a multibit digital-to-analog (A/D) convertor. The stepper motor's a rotor is rotated about an axis while the first terminal is coupled to the multibit A/D convertor. An analog signal is induced at the first terminal generating while the rotor is rotating about the axis. The multibit A/D convertor receives the analog signal induced at the first terminal. The multibit A/D convertor generates a plurality of multibit digital signals in response to receiving the analog signal. The multibit digital signals can be processed to determine the rotational speed at which the rotor was rotating when the A/D convertor generated the plurality of multibit digital signals.