Patents by Inventor Thomas Luber

Thomas Luber has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 9970787
    Abstract: A sine wave oscillator for an inductive sensor system is disclosed. The sine wave oscillator comprises a decoupler and a low-pass filter, wherein the decoupler is configured to provide a pulse width modulated signal as a decoupled signal at one output of the decoupler. One input of the low-pass filter is connected to the output of the decoupler. The low-pass filter is configured to provide a sinusoidal signal for the inductive sensor system by using the inverted signal at an output of the low-pass filter. The sine wave oscillator further comprises a microcontroller that is designed to provide the pulse width modulated signal with a predetermined frequency and a predetermined duty cycle at one pin of the microcontroller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignee: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
    Inventors: Hans-Ludwig Götz, Thomas Luber
  • Publication number: 20160223359
    Abstract: A sine wave oscillator for an inductive sensor system is disclosed. The sine wave oscillator comprises a decoupler and a low-pass filter, wherein the decoupler is configured to provide a pulse width modulated signal as a decoupled signal at one output of the decoupler. One input of the low-pass filter is connected to the output of the decoupler. The low-pass filter is configured to provide a sinusoidal signal for the inductive sensor system by using the inverted signal at an output of the low-pass filter. The sine wave oscillator further comprises a microcontroller that is designed to provide the pulse width modulated signal with a predetermined frequency and a predetermined duty cycle at one pin of the microcontroller.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 4, 2014
    Publication date: August 4, 2016
    Applicant: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
    Inventors: Hans-Ludwig Götz, Thomas Luber
  • Publication number: 20160187161
    Abstract: Sensor for detecting a position in two spatial directions (x, y), wherein the sensor comprises a sensor array and an actuator. The sensor array has a first row and at least a second row. The rows have in a first spatial direction (x) adjacently arranged sensor elements. The rows are arranged side by side in a second spatial direction (y) transverse to the first spatial direction (x). The actuator is arranged in a third spatial direction (z) transverse to the first spatial direction (x) and the second spatial direction (y) spaced apart from the sensor array. The actuator is designed movable in the first spatial direction (x) and the second spatial direction (y) relative to the sensor array. The actuator is adapted to influence a measurement variable of the sensor elements, wherein a signal of a sensor element represents a degree of overlap of the sensor element by the actuator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 14, 2014
    Publication date: June 30, 2016
    Applicant: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
    Inventors: Thomas LUBER, Hans-Ludwig GÖTZ
  • Publication number: 20160139197
    Abstract: A circuitry comprises at least one oscillating circuit section, wherein the circuit section comprises a circuit component, which can be affected by the external influence such that an oscillation behavior of the circuit section can be altered by the external influence. The circuitry is furthermore designed thereby to determine the oscillation behavior of the circuit section by a sampling at numerous defined frequencies. As a result, it may be possible to improve a compromise regarding the production and implementation of such a circuitry.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 26, 2014
    Publication date: May 19, 2016
    Inventor: Thomas LUBER
  • Publication number: 20160003688
    Abstract: The invention relates to an assembly and a method for testing a device in order to protect an electronic component against overheating, wherein the device comprises a temperature sensor that is in thermal connection with the electronic component, and a first control circuit for the electronic component (6), wherein the temperature sensor is electrically connected to the first control circuit. The assembly has a heating element that is thermally connected to the temperature sensor, which heating element can be activated by means of a second control circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 12, 2014
    Publication date: January 7, 2016
    Inventor: Thomas Luber
  • Patent number: 7701201
    Abstract: The invention relates to an inductive sensor unit having one or several coils, which are mounted on a printed circuit board in a planar manner. According to the invention, a change in the inductance of a sensor coil due to leakage currents in the inductive actuator is correlated with the position of the actuator in two respects i.e., with the distance x to the sensor coils and with the overlapping y of the sensor coils. As a result, an inductive push button switch and an inductive position switching device (a sliding switch) are provided. The invention also relates to the evaluation of the inductance by means of reactance measurement. A relative evaluation of the influence of adjacent sensor coils increases the precision of response in push button switches and, generally, a relative evaluation of the influence of adjacent sensor coils is carried out in position switching devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2010
    Assignee: Cherry GmbH
    Inventors: Martin Zapf, Thomas Luber, Reinhard Pirner
  • Patent number: 7633026
    Abstract: The invention relates to an inductive sensor unit having one or more sensor coils, which have been mounted on a printed circuit board in a planar manner. According to the invention, a change in the inductance of the sensor coils caused by leakage currents in the conductive actuator is correlated with the position of the actuator with regard to the distance from the sensor coil and with the overlapping of the sensor (at a fixed distance). This provides the basis for an inductive momentary contact switch and an inductive position switching device. The invention also relates to the evaluation of the inductance, e.g. of the momentary contact switch such as in inductive proximity switches by incorporating the inductive sensors in an oscillating circuit. Alternatively, the change in inductance can also be detected by a reactance measurement. A relative evaluation of the influence of adjacent sensor coils is carried out in position switching devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2003
    Date of Patent: December 15, 2009
    Assignee: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
    Inventors: Martin Zapf, Thomas Luber
  • Patent number: 7443159
    Abstract: An inductive sensor for detecting the position of a vehicle seat or for a gate shifting unit of an automatic transmission is described. The inductive sensor unit has a plurality of sensor coils that are disposed in planar fashion on a printed circuit board A conductive actuation element is guided, spaced apart, in a path over the sensor coils and an electrical evaluation circuit detects changes in inductance of the sensor coils in accordance with the path position of the actuation element and converts the changes into electrical signals corresponding to seat position signals on gear shifting signals. The actuation element is guided along the sensor coils with conductive bottom faces that are staggered in the direction of the path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2008
    Assignee: Cherry GmbH
    Inventors: Josef Habenschaden, Hans-Ludwig Götz, Thomas Luber
  • Publication number: 20080142346
    Abstract: The invention relates to an inductive sensor unit having one or several coils, which are mounted on a printed circuit board in a planar manner. According to the invention, a change in the inductance of a sensor coil due to leakage currents in the inductive actuator is correlated with the position of the actuator in two respects i.e., with the distance x to the sensor coils and with the overlapping y of the sensor coils. As a result, an inductive push button switch and an inductive position switching device (a sliding switch) are provided. The invention also relates to the evaluation of the inductance by means of reactance measurement. A relative evaluation of the influence of adjacent sensor coils increases the precision of response in push button switches and, generally, a relative evaluation of the influence of adjacent sensor coils is carried out in position switching devices.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 10, 2004
    Publication date: June 19, 2008
    Applicant: Cherry GmbH
    Inventors: Martin Zapf, Thomas Luber, Reinhard Pirner
  • Patent number: 7161348
    Abstract: An inductive sensor unit for detecting the position of a vehicle seat or for a gate-shifting unit of an automatic transmission, is described. The inductive sensor unit has a plurality of sensor coils that are disposed in planar fashion on a printed circuit board. A conductive actuation element which is guided, spaced apart, on a path over the sensor coils, and an electrical evaluation circuit detects changes in inductance of the sensor coils in accordance with a path position of the actuation element and converts the changes into electrical signals, corresponding to seat position signals or gear shifting signals. The conductive actuation element is guided, spaced apart on both sides, over the sensor coils, and in one aspect of the invention, the electrical evaluation circuit detects the inductances of all the sensor coils (L1, . . . , Li) and converts them by means of an algorithm into a current path position of the actuation element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2007
    Inventors: Thomas Luber, Hans-Ludwig Gotz
  • Publication number: 20060290346
    Abstract: An inductive sensor for detecting the position of a vehicle seat or for a gate shifting unit of an automatic transmission is described. The inductive sensor unit has a plurality of sensor coils that are disposed in planar fashion on a printed circuit board A conductive actuation element is guided, spaced apart, in a path over the sensor coils and an electrical evaluation circuit detects changes in inductance of the sensor coils in accordance with the path position of the actuation element and converts the changes into electrical signals corresponding to seat position signals on gear shifting signals. The actuation element is guided along the sensor coils with conductive bottom faces that are staggered in the direction of the path.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2005
    Publication date: December 28, 2006
    Applicant: Cherry GmbH
    Inventors: Josef Habenschaden, Hans-Ludwig Gotz, Thomas Luber
  • Publication number: 20060132120
    Abstract: An inductive sensor unit for detecting the position of a vehicle seat or for a gate-shifting unit of an automatic transmission, is described. The inductive sensor unit has a plurality of sensor coils that are disposed in planar fashion on a printed circuit board. A conductive actuation element which is guided, spaced apart, on a path over the sensor coils, and an electrical evaluation circuit which detects changes in inductance of the sensor coils in accordance with a path position of the actuation element and converts the changes into electrical signals, corresponding to seat position signals or gear shifting signals. The conductive actuation element is guided, spaced apart on both sides, over the sensor coils, and in one aspect of the invention, the electrical evaluation circuit detects the inductances of all the sensor coils (L1, . . . , Li) and converts them by means of an algorithm into a current path position of the actuation element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2005
    Publication date: June 22, 2006
    Inventors: Thomas Luber, Hans-Ludwig Gotz
  • Publication number: 20050258687
    Abstract: The invention relates to an inductive sensor unit having one or more sensor coils, which have been mounted on a printed circuit board in a planar manner. According to the invention, a change in the inductance of the sensor coils caused by leakage currents in the conductive actuator is correlated with the position of the actuator with regard to the distance from the sensor coil and with the overlapping of the sensor (at a fixed distance). This provides the basis for an inductive momentary contact switch and an inductive position switching device. The invention also relates to the evaluation of the inductance, e.g. of the momentary contact switch such as in inductive proximity switches by incorporating the inductive sensors in an oscillating circuit. Alternatively, the change in inductance can also be detected by a reactance measurement. A relative evaluation of the influence of adjacent sensor coils is carried out in position switching devices.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 11, 2003
    Publication date: November 24, 2005
    Inventors: Martin Zapf, Thomas Luber