Shaft position optical sensor

Number of patents in Portfolio can not be more than 2000

United States of America Patent

PATENT NO 6177997
SERIAL NO

09376000

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ATTORNEY / AGENT: (SPONSORED)

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Abstract

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The present invention is an optical sensor that senses the movement of a shaft. Detection of radial movement is made when a portion of light incident on the shaft sensor-target is blocked. For detection of axial movement, a disk with flat surface is mounted and used to block a portion of light. The variation in the amount of light allowed to pass through is a measure of the position of the shaft. As proposed by this invention, significant improvement is made with respect to sensitivity and linearity of the system when the light is permanently partially blocked. To accomplish this goal this invention adds a boss to the system. To eliminate possible drift of system performance due to LED degradation or temperature variation, a feedback feature is added to the system.

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Patent Owner(s)

  • THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AS REPRESENTED BY THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

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Inventor(s)

Inventor Name Address # of filed Patents Total Citations
Blumenstock, Kenneth A College Park, MD 3 80
Hakun, Claef F Dunkirk, MD 2 22
Johnson, Clarence S West River, MD 2 5

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