Torque sensor unit for e-bikes

Abstract

The present invention relates to a torque sensor unit (100) comprising a movably positioned first sensor unit (10) and a fixedly positioned second sensor unit (20) powered by a supply voltage (V_SUP). The first sensor unit (10) and the second sensor unit (20) are electromagnetically coupled. Electromagnetic signal transmission from the first sensor unit (10) to the second sensor unit (20) induces a modulated measurement voltage (V_MOD) at the output (22) of the second sensor unit (20). The torque sensor unit (100) also includes a circuit (30) coupled to the output (22) of the second sensor unit (20) and configured to output an output signal (TORQ) indicating the torque at the first sensor unit (10) based on the modulated measurement voltage (V_MOD). Furthermore, the circuit (30) is also coupled to the supply voltage (V_SUP) and configured to output an output signal (TORQ) based on both the modulated measurement voltage (V_MOD) and the supply voltage (V_SUP).

Claims

1. A first sensor unit (10) is movably positioned, A second, fixedly positioned sensor unit (20) is powered by a supply voltage (V_SUP), A torque sensor unit (100) having, The first sensor unit (10) and the second sensor unit (20) are electromagnetically coupled. The electromagnetic signal transmission from the first sensor unit (10) to the second sensor unit (20) induces a modulated measurement voltage (V_MOD) at the output (22) of the second sensor unit (20), The torque sensor unit (100) has a circuit (30) that is coupled to the output (22) of the second sensor unit (20) and configured to output an output signal (TORQ) indicating the torque at the first sensor unit (10) based on the modulated measurement voltage (V_MOD), The torque sensor unit (100) is characterized in that the circuit (30) is further coupled to the supply voltage (V_SUP) and is configured to output the output signal (TORQ) based on both the modulated measurement voltage (V_MOD) and the supply voltage (V_SUP).

2. The circuit (30) includes a first operational amplifier (31) having a first input (311), a second input (312), and an output (313). The first input (311) is coupled to the supply voltage (V_SUP), The second input (312) is coupled to the modulated measurement voltage (V_MOD), The torque sensor unit (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that the output (313) is feedback-coupled to the first input (311).

3. The torque sensor unit (100) according to claim 2, further comprising a first filter circuit (33), wherein the first input (31) is coupled to the supply voltage (V_SUP) via the first filter circuit (33).

4. The torque sensor unit (100) according to claim 2 or 3, further comprising a second filter circuit (34), wherein the second input (312) is coupled to the modulated measurement voltage (V_MOD) via the second filter circuit (34).

5. The torque sensor unit (100) according to claim 3, characterized in that the first filter circuit (33) is configured as a low-pass filter.

6. The torque sensor unit (100) according to any one of the preceding claims 2 to 5, characterized in that the first operational amplifier (31) is configured as a differential amplifier.

7. A torque sensor unit (100) according to any one of the preceding claims 2 to 6, characterized in that the first input (311) of the first operational amplifier (31) is an inverting input, and the second input (312) of the first operational amplifier (31) is a non-inverting input.

8. The circuit (30) includes a second operational amplifier (32) having a first input (321), a second input (322), and an output (323). The first input (321) and the second input (322) are coupled to the output (313) of the first operational amplifier (31) via a third filter circuit (35). The torque sensor unit (100) according to any one of the preceding claims 2 to 7, characterized in that the output (323) of the second operational amplifier (32) provides the output signal (TORQ).

9. The torque sensor unit (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the circuit (30) is configured to ignore changes in the modulated measurement voltage (V_MOD) induced by fluctuations in the supply voltage (V_SUP) when generating the output signal (TORQ).

10. The torque sensor unit (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the modulated measurement voltage (V_MOD) corresponds to the differential voltage between the supply voltage (V_SUP) and the sensor voltage (V_SENS) that drops in the second sensor unit (20).

11. An electric drive device for a bicycle, comprising a torque sensor unit (100) according to any one of the preceding claims.

12. The electric drive device according to claim 11, characterized in that the first sensor unit (10) is arranged on the drive axle of the electric drive device.

13. The electric drive device according to claim 11 or 12, further comprising a control unit for controlling the electric drive device, wherein the control unit receives the output signal (TORQ) of the torque sensor unit (100) and controls the electric drive device based on the output signal (TORQ).

14. A bicycle equipped with an electric drive device according to any one of claims 11 to 14.

15. A method for measuring torque using a torque sensor unit (100), The torque sensor unit (100) is A first sensor unit (10) is movably positioned, A second, fixedly positioned sensor unit (20) is powered by a supply voltage (V_SUP), It has, The first sensor unit (10) and the second sensor unit (20) are electromagnetically coupled. The electromagnetic signal transmission from the first sensor unit (10) to the second sensor unit (20) induces a modulated measurement voltage (V_MOD) at the output (22) of the second sensor unit (20), The aforementioned method, A method characterized by outputting an output signal (TORQ) indicating torque at the first sensor unit (10) based on both the modulated measurement voltage (V_MOD) and the supply voltage (V_SUP).

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