Electricity: measuring and testing – Magnetic – Magnetometers
Patent
1987-08-25
1992-06-23
Strecker, Gerard R.
Electricity: measuring and testing
Magnetic
Magnetometers
33361, 324225, 331 65, G01R 3304, G01C 1728
Patent
active
051246481
ABSTRACT:
A magnetometer having only a single coil winding for sensing the magnetic field along a single axis. Functionally, the invention comprises an oscillator, an integrator, and a voltage-controlled current source. The oscillator uses a saturating inductor which also serves as the magnetic-field-sensing element. The inductor is driven with a positive voltage and when the current through the inductor exceeds a value which indicates that the core is saturated, the driving voltage switches to an equal-magnitude negative value. This negative drive is maintained until the current again indicates the core to be saturated, at which point the driving voltages switches back to the positive value. With no externally applied field, the inductor current averages to a zero value. An externally applied field helps the core saturate in one direction and hinders it in the other, resulting in a change in average inductor current. An integrator is used in a force-balance feedback arrangement to provide a compensation current to the coil winding. The voltage output of the integrator, which is used to generate this compensation current, directly reflects the strength of the magnetic field causing the imbalance, and is the instrument's output signal.
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Brokaw A. Paul
Webb Spencer L.
Analog Devices Inc.
Strecker Gerard R.
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