Inductive door position sensor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10030426-B2
Application number	US-201615082648-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 28, 2016
Priority date	Mar 28, 2016
Publication date	Jul 24, 2018
Grant date	Jul 24, 2018

Abstract

One embodiment relates to a door operator including an operator body including a rotatable pinion, an arm connected to the pinion, an inductive sensor mounted adjacent the arm, and a controller in communication with the inductive sensor. The inductive sensor includes an inductor comprising a plurality of nested coils, and each of the coils is curved about the pinion. The controller is configured to provide the inductive sensor with a varying power signal, and the inductive sensor is configured to inductively link the inductor to the arm in response to the varying power signal. The inductive sensor has a characteristic which varies in response to the rotational position of the arm when the inductor is inductively linked with the arm. The controller is further configured receive information relating to the characteristic, and to determine the rotational position of the arm based upon the received information.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A door operator configured for use with a door having a plurality of door positions, the door operator comprising:
an operator body including a pinion, wherein the pinion is rotatable about a rotational axis;
an arm connected to the pinion and extending away from the rotational axis, wherein the arm has a plurality of arm positions, and each of the arm positions corresponds to one of the door positions;
an inductive sensor includes a plurality of coils and is mounted on the closer body and overlapped by the arm so that the inductive sensor is inductively linked with the arm via the plurality of coils and is configured to: generate a characteristic of the inductive sensor that varies in response to the rotation of the arm as a quantity of coils that the arm overlaps as each of the arm positions varies in response to rotation of the arm, wherein a magnitude of the characteristic increases as the quantity of coils that the arm overlaps increases and the magnitude of the characteristic decreases as the quantity of the coils that the arm overlaps decreases; and
a controller configured to determine a current position based upon the magnitude of the characteristic of the inductive sensor that corresponds to the quantity of coils that the arm overlaps, wherein the current position includes at least one of (i) an arm position of the plurality of arm positions or (ii) a door position of the plurality of door positions.

2. The door operator of claim 1 , wherein the characteristic includes at least one of an inductance or an impedance.

3. The door operator of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to select an action based upon the current position, and to issue at least one command related to the action.

4. The door operator of claim 2 , further comprising an actuating mechanism in communication with the controller, wherein the actuating mechanism is configured to adjust a speed of the arm in response to the command.

5. The door operator of claim 1 , wherein sensor includes an opening, at least one of the pinion and the arm extends through the opening, and the coils are curved about the opening.

6. The door operator of claim 1 , wherein each of the coils has a first end and a second end, and wherein each of the coils subtends a unique central angle with respect to the rotational axis.

7. The door operator of claim 6 , wherein the first ends are offset from one another by a first average separation, the second ends are offset from one another by a second average separation, and the second average separation is greater than the first average separation.

8. The door operator of claim 7 , wherein the second average separation is an offset angle, and each of the second ends are offset from one another by the offset angle.

9. The door operator of claim 6 , wherein the inductor comprises a plurality of end segments and a plurality of connector segments, wherein each of the connector segments connects two of the coils, and wherein each of the first ends is defined by one of the end segments and each of the second ends is defined by one of the connector segments.

10. The door operator of claim 1 , further comprising a converter in communication with the controller and the inductive sensor, wherein the converter is structured to generate an output signal indicative of the characteristic, and the controller is structured to determine the current position based upon the output signal.

11. A door operator configured for use with a door having a plurality of door positions, the door operator comprising:
an operator body including a pinion, wherein the pinion is rotatable about a rotational axis;
an arm connected to the pinion and extending away from the rotational axis, wherein the arm has a plurality of arm positions, and each of the arm positions corresponds to one of the door positions;
an inductive sensor mounted on the closer body and overlapped by the arm, the inductive sensor including an inductor comprising plurality of coils, wherein the inductor is operable to be inductively linked with the arm, and wherein the arm overlaps a unique subset of the coils in each of the plurality of arm positions such that a characteristic of the inductive sensor varies in response to rotation of the arm when the arm is inductively linked with the inductor; and
a controller in communication with the inductive sensor, wherein the controller is configured to determine a current position based upon the characteristic of the inductive sensor, wherein the current position includes at least one of (i) an arm position of the plurality of arm positions or (ii) a door position of the plurality of door positions;
wherein each of the coils has a first end and a second end, and wherein each of the coils subtends a unique central angle with respect to the rotational axis;
wherein the first ends are offset from one another by a first average separation, the second ends are offset from one another by a second average separation, and the second average separation is greater than the first average separation; and
wherein a first subset of the second ends are positioned within a first angular range and are offset from one another by a third average separation, and a second subset of the second ends are positioned within a second angular range and are offset from one another by a fourth average separation less than the third average separation.

12. A door operator, comprising:
an operator body including a pinion, wherein the pinion is rotatable about a rotational axis;
an arm connected to the pinion, wherein the min is rotatable through a range of rotational positions and has a current rotational position within the range of rotational positions;
an inductive sensor mounted adjacent the arm, the inductive sensor including an inductor comprising a plurality of nested coils, wherein each of the coils is curved about the pinion and is configured to generate a characteristic of the inductive sensor that varies in response to the rotation of the arm as a quantity of nested coils that the arm overlaps as each of the arm positions varies in response to rotation of the arm, wherein a magnitude of the characteristic increases as the quantity of coils that the arm overlaps increases and the magnitude of the characteristic decreases as the quantity of the coils that the arm overlaps decreases; and
a controller in communication with the inductive sensor, wherein the controller is configured to provide the inductive sensor with a varying power signal, and the inductive sensor is configured to inductively link the inductor to the arm in response to the varying power signal;
and
wherein the controller is further configured to receive information relating to a magnitude of the characteristic that corresponds to the quantity of coils that the arm overlaps, and to determine the current rotational position of the arm based upon the received information.

13. The door operator of claim 12 , wherein each of the coils comprises a first end and a second end, wherein the first and seconds ends of each of the plurality of coils define a central angle of the coil about the pinion, and wherein the central angle of each of the plurality of coils is different from the central angle of each of the other coils.

14. The door operator of claim 12 , wherein each of the coils includes a first segment, a second segment, and an end segment connecting the first segment and the second segment, wherein the first segment and the second segment are curved about the rotational axis;
wherein each of the coils is at least one of an outer coil and an inner coil, and wherein each of the inner

Assignees

• Schlage Lock Co Llc

Inventors

• Langenberg Daniel

Classifications

• E05Y2201/718

  Bevelled pinions · CPC title

• E05F3/10

  with a spring, other than a torsion spring, and a piston, the axes of which are the same or lie in the same direction · CPC title

• E05F15/63

  operated by swinging arms · CPC title

• E05F3/102 Primary

  with rack-and-pinion transmission between driving shaft and piston within the closer housing · CPC title

• E05F15/619

  using flexible or rigid rack-and-pinion arrangements · CPC title