Non-contact potentiometer

Abstract

The present invention relates to a non-contact potentiometer. The non-contact potentiometer comprises the following parts: a mechanical housing with through-holes; a rotating shaft comprising a top end and a magnet end on which a permanent magnet is fixed and external torque can be applied to the top end, thus driving the rotating shaft and the permanent magnet to rotate around a rotation axis and relative to the housing; a magnetoresistive sensor assembly fixed inside the housing, comprising one or more sensor chips, the sensitivity axis of the sensor chips lies in a sensing plane that is perpendicular to the axis of the rotating shaft, and separated from the permanent magnet by a predetermined distance in the direction parallel to the axis of the rotating shaft, said sensors are used for sensing the magnetic variation produced as the permanent magnet rotates with the rotating shaft thereby generating sensing signals; and three electrical connection terminals, namely a ground terminal, a power terminal, and a signal output terminal. This non-contact potentiometer has the advantages of high precision, low power consumption, and low cost. Additionally, it converts the complex analog signal from the magnetic sensor into a standard digital format that is easy to use.