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:
May. 03, 2016
Filed:
May. 31, 2012
Andrea Foletto, Annecy, FR;
Michael Morris, Deerfield, NH (US);
Mathew Drouin, Hooksett, NH (US);
Devon Fernandez, Londonderry, NH (US);
Andreas P. Friedrich, Metz-Tessy, FR;
P. Karl Scheller, Bow, NH (US);
Andrea Foletto, Annecy, FR;
Michael Morris, Deerfield, NH (US);
Mathew Drouin, Hooksett, NH (US);
Devon Fernandez, Londonderry, NH (US);
Andreas P. Friedrich, Metz-Tessy, FR;
P. Karl Scheller, Bow, NH (US);
Allegro Microsystems, LLC, Worcester, MA (US);
Abstract
Presented herein is a magnetic field sensor architecture that uses outputs of a peak detector and threshold detector operating in parallel to detect magnetic anomalies that may be associated with the target being sensed, e.g., a rotational ferromagnetic object such as a toothed gear, and use such detection to prevent sensor malfunction. The sensor includes an edge detection circuit and an error detection circuit. In one embodiment, the edge detection circuit includes circuits to detect edges (or transitions) of the threshold and peak detector output signals and the error detection circuit includes circuits, responsive to the edge detection circuit, to indicate an error when a 'missed transition' occurs or a peak-to-peak value of an input signal as detected by the peak detector for a current cycle differs from an expected peak-to-peak value by a predetermined amount.