Long-stroke multi-turn counter and multi-turn absolute encoder

Abstract

A long-stroke multi-turn counter including a magnet, a first multi-turn counter, a second multi-turn counter, and a signal processor is provided. The magnet is coupled to a shaft and rotates through the shaft. The first multi-turn counter has a first turn period and is configured to generate first turn information by detecting a magnetic field change of the magnet. The second multi-turn counter has a second turn period and is configured to generate second turn information by detecting a magnetic field change of the magnet. The signal processor is configured to generate long-stroke turn information by performing a signal processing procedure based on the first turn period, the second turn period, the first turn information, and the second turn information.

Claims

1. A long-stroke, multi-turn counter, comprising: A magnet is coupled to a rotating shaft and rotates through that shaft; A first multi-turn counter, having a first rotation period, is configured to detect changes in the magnetic field as the magnet rotates, thereby generating first rotation information; a second multi-turn counter, having a second rotation period, is configured to detect changes in the magnetic field as the magnet rotates, thereby generating second rotation information; a signal processor is configured to perform a signal processing procedure based on the first rotation period, the second rotation period, the first rotation information, and the second rotation information to generate corresponding long-stroke rotation information; and an incremental position sensor is configured to detect an incremental position encoder to generate incremental position information, wherein the incremental position encoder rotates via the shaft; wherein the signal processor further performs the signal processing procedure based on the incremental position information to generate corresponding long-stroke high-precision rotation information, and the accuracy of the long-stroke high-precision rotation information is greater than the accuracy of the long-stroke rotation information.

2. The long-stroke multi-turn counter as described in claim 1, wherein the signal processing procedure includes: A relationship table is generated using the least common multiple method, utilizing the first cycle number and the second cycle number; And by looking up the relation table, the long journey lap information corresponding to the first lap information and the second lap information is generated.

3. The long-stroke multi-turn counter as described in claim 1, further comprising: A third multi-turn counter, having a third revolution period, is configured to detect changes in the magnetic field as the magnet rotates, thereby generating third revolution information. The signal processing procedure includes: generating a relation table using the first revolution period, the second revolution period, and the third revolution period through the least common multiple method; and generating long-stroke revolution information corresponding to the first revolution information, the second revolution information, and the third revolution information by looking up the relation table.

4. The long-stroke multi-turn counter as described in claim 3, wherein the first multi-turn counter, the second multi-turn counter, and the third multi-turn counter are domain wall type multi-turn counters.

5. A long-stroke multi-turn counter as described in claim 1, wherein: The first multi-turn counter includes a first turn count sensor and a first turn count decoder. The first turn count sensor is configured to detect changes in the magnetic field when the magnet rotates to generate a first sense turn count signal. The first turn count decoder decodes the first sense turn count signal to output the first turn count information. The second multi-turn counter includes a second turn count sensor and a second turn count decoder. The second turn count sensor is configured to detect changes in the magnetic field when the magnet rotates to generate a second sense turn count signal. The second turn count decoder decodes the second sense turn count signal to output the second turn count information.

6. The long-stroke multi-turn counter as described in claim 5, wherein at least one of the first multi-turn counter, the second multi-turn counter, the first turn count sensor, and the second turn count sensor is a magnetic element.

7. A multi-turn absolute encoder, comprising: A magnet is coupled to a rotating shaft and rotates through that shaft; A first rotation count sensor, having a first rotation count period, is configured to detect changes in the magnetic field as the magnet rotates, thereby generating a first rotation count signal; a second rotation count sensor, having a second rotation count period, is configured to detect changes in the magnetic field as the magnet rotates, thereby generating a second rotation count signal; a single-rotation absolute position sensor is configured to detect an absolute position encoder, thereby generating single-rotation absolute position information; a signal processor is configured to perform a signal processing procedure based on the first rotation count period, the second rotation count period, the first rotation count signal, the second rotation count signal, and the single-rotation absolute position information to generate corresponding long-stroke absolute position information, wherein the absolute position encoder rotates via the shaft; and an incremental position sensor is configured to detect an incremental position encoder to generate incremental position information. The incremental position encoder rotates via the shaft; and the signal processor performs a signal processing procedure based on the incremental position information to generate a corresponding long-stroke high-precision absolute position information, wherein the resolution of the long-stroke high-precision absolute position information is greater than the resolution of the long-stroke absolute position information.

8. The multi-turn absolute encoder as described in claim 7, wherein the signal processing procedure includes: A relationship table is generated using the least common multiple method, utilizing the first cycle number and the second cycle number; And corresponding to the first sensing cycle number signal, the second sensing cycle number signal, and the single-cycle absolute position information, the relationship table is looked up to generate the corresponding long-stroke absolute position information.

9. The multi-turn absolute encoder as described in claim 7, further comprising: A complex rotation decoder is configured to decode the first sensing rotation signal and the second sensing rotation signal to generate a first rotation information and a second rotation information. The signal processor performs the signal processing procedure based on the first rotation period, the second rotation period, the first rotation information, the second rotation information, and the single-rotation absolute position information to generate the corresponding long-stroke absolute position information.

10. A multi-turn absolute encoder, comprising: A magnet is coupled to a rotating shaft and rotates through that shaft; A first rotation count sensor, having a first rotation count period, is configured to detect changes in the magnetic field as the magnet rotates, thereby generating a first rotation count signal; a second rotation count sensor, having a second rotation count period, is configured to detect changes in the magnetic field as the magnet rotates, thereby generating a second rotation count signal; a single-turn absolute position sensor is configured to detect an absolute position encoder, thereby generating single-turn absolute position information; a signal processor is configured to perform a signal processing procedure based on the first rotation count period, the second rotation count period, the first rotation count signal, the second rotation count signal, and the single-turn absolute position information to generate corresponding long-stroke absolute position information, wherein the absolute position encoder rotates via the shaft; and an incremental position sensor is configured to detect an incremental position encoder to generate incremental position information, wherein the incremental position encoder rotates via the shaft. The signal processor further performs a signal processing procedure based on the incremental position information to generate a corresponding long-stroke high-precision absolute position information, wherein the resolution of the long-stroke high-precision absolute position information is greater than the resolution of the long-stroke absolute position information; and the signal processing procedure includes: generating a relation table using the first revolution period and the second revolution period through the least common multiple method; and performing a lookup on the relation table corresponding to the first sensing revolution signal and the second sensing revolution signal, and the single-stroke absolute position information or the incremental position information to generate the corresponding long-stroke absolute position information.

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