Flexible Magnetostrictive Position Sensor Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing magnetostrictive position sensors require movable elements, making them unsuitable for stationary applications and prone to temperature-dependent inaccuracies and wear, limiting their service life and accuracy in determining positions via external pressure.
Innovation Solution
A flexible magnetostrictive position sensor design with a magnetic element and a magnetostrictive element, where the elements are maintained at a predetermined distance with a restoring mechanism, allowing current pulses to generate a mechanical-elastic wave upon pressure, enabling accurate position determination without contact and minimizing temperature effects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a movable position magnet is used in a magnetostrictive sensor, then the sensor can determine position through relative movement, but the sensor becomes unsuitable for stationary applications and suffers from limited service life due to wear
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of moving the magnetic element relative to the magnetostrictive element, the patent inverts the approach by making both elements flexible and maintaining them at a predetermined distance from each other. The flexible magnetic element and flexible magnetostrictive element can both deform together, eliminating relative movement and wear while preserving position determination capability through the magnetostrictive effect.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state of the elements from rigid to flexible, allowing both the magnetic element and magnetostrictive element to be deformable. This parameter change enables the elements to maintain a predetermined distance while deforming together under external forces, eliminating wear from relative movement while preserving measurement functionality.
2Measurement precision
If regular calibration and adjustment is performed for temperature dependence, then measurement accuracy can be maintained, but the device complexity and maintenance requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent addresses temperature dependence by changing the material parameters of both the magnetic element and magnetostrictive element to have matching thermal expansion coefficients. This parameter change ensures that both elements expand or contract equally with temperature changes, maintaining their predetermined distance relationship without requiring calibration or adjustment.
3Reliability
If the magnetic element and magnetostrictive element are kept at a predetermined distance, then no magnetostrictive effect occurs in the non-actuated state, but the sensor structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses flexible thin film structures for both the magnetic element and magnetostrictive element, allowing them to maintain a predetermined distance in the non-actuated state while enabling easy integration. The flexible nature of these thin films allows the elements to deform together under external forces without requiring complex mechanical structures to maintain their relationship.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The sensor achieves high accuracy and extended service life by eliminating the need for calibration and reducing temperature dependencies, allowing for precise position detection with flexible design and non-contact measurement.
Implementation Method 1
The invention is based on the magnetostrictive effect. Magnetostrictive sensors have been known for a long time. A position magnet that is brought close to the waveguide in a contactless manner triggers a mechanical-elastic wave by superimposing magnetic fields
Implementation Method 2
triggers a mechanical-elastic wave by superimposing magnetic fields, for example due to the Wiedemann effect, which propagates in both directions along the waveguide and can be detected at its ends
Data Source
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AI summary
Magnetostrictive position sensor comprising a magnetic element (1, 10), a magnetostrictive element (3, 9), a detector (7), and a pulse generator (7), wherein the magnetic element has a predetermined distance to the magnetostrictive element, wherein the magnetic element and/or the magnetostrictive element are designed to be flexible such that when pressure is applied to a point on one of the elements, the distance between the elements at that point is reduced, and wherein the sensor comprises a reset device (2) which, after pressure has been applied to one of the elements, restores the predetermined distance between the elements.