JP2005195509A - Carrier wave type strain measuring method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To precisely detect actual resistance components accompanying changes in resistance values corresponding to stains of a strain gage, by compensating influences of phase shifts due to stray capacitance between connection lines connecting a bridge circuit with a measuring device, while compensating initial unbalance of the bridge circuit including the strain gage which is a resistive type. <P>SOLUTION: An initial unbalance compensating signal is input to an AC amplifier 11 so that an output voltage signal from the AC amplifier 11 inputting an output voltage signal eout from the bridge circuit 5 becomes zero in a non-strain state of the strain gage 1, and then a resistor 7 is connected to the bridge circuit 5. In above state, the amount of phase sift of the output voltage signal from the AC amplifier 11 in relation to AC supply voltage ein applied on the bridge circuit 5 is determined. When carrying out a strain measurement in such a state that the resistor 7 is disconnected from the bridge circuit 5, a signal component is detected as the resistance component, which has a phase difference from the AC supply voltage ein by the amount of phase sift being determined while inputting the initial unbalance compensating signal to the AC amplifier 11. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a carrier-type strain measurement method using an AC power supply voltage as a power supply for a bridge circuit including a resistance strain gauge.

  When measuring strain generated in an object using a resistance-type strain gauge (a strain gauge whose resistance value changes according to the strain), in order to detect a minute resistance value change of the strain gauge attached to the object, A bridge circuit including the strain gauge (specifically a Wheatstone bridge circuit) is used. Then, while applying a power supply voltage to the bridge circuit, a voltage signal corresponding to a change in the resistance value of the strain gauge is output from the bridge circuit, and the strain measurement is performed based on the voltage signal obtained by amplifying the voltage signal. ing.

  In this case, a carrier wave type distortion measuring method using an AC voltage as a power supply voltage of the bridge circuit is generally known. In this carrier-type strain measurement method, the voltage signal output from the bridge circuit, and thus the voltage signal obtained by amplifying the voltage signal with an AC amplifier, uses a carrier having the same frequency as the power supply voltage as a resistance of the strain gauge. The amplitude modulation is performed according to the change in value, and the carrier wave component is removed from this voltage signal (specifically, the resistance component of the voltage signal) to obtain a measurement value signal corresponding to the change in the resistance value of the strain gauge. I am doing so.

  By the way, a strain gauge is usually incorporated in a bridge circuit via a connecting wire such as a lead wire. The bridge circuit is connected to a measuring instrument that applies a power supply voltage to the bridge circuit or processes an output voltage signal of the bridge circuit via a connection line such as a lead wire. In many cases, these connection lines have to be relatively long due to restrictions on the measurement environment and the like. In this case, it is generally known that in the carrier wave type distortion measurement method using the AC voltage, the stray capacitance existing between the connection lines affects the output voltage signal of the bridge circuit and becomes an error factor of the distortion measurement. . Further, it is generally known that the resistance value of the connection line incorporated in the bridge circuit also becomes an error factor in strain measurement. For example, even when the strain gauge is not distorted (unstrained), the bridge circuit is unbalanced (initially unbalanced) due to the resistance value of the connection line incorporated in the bridge circuit, the effect of stray capacitance, or the effect of such changes. The distortion value measured from the output voltage signal of the bridge circuit does not become zero.

  In this case, as a technique for compensating for the influence of the initial imbalance of the bridge circuit due to the stray capacitance or the like, a technique found in the microfilm (Patent Document 1) of Japanese Utility Model Application No. 61-169454 is known. The technique of Patent Document 1 detects a resistance component and a capacitance component from an output voltage signal of an AC amplifier that inputs an output voltage signal of a bridge circuit in a non-strained state of the strain gauge, and sets these components to zero. A simple adjustment signal (an adjustment signal that cancels the resistance component and the capacitance component) is additionally input to the AC amplifier. The resistance component and the capacitance component correspond to a real number component and an imaginary number component, respectively, when the AC voltage signal is expressed in complex numbers, and the capacitance component is a signal component that causes a phase delay of 90 ° from the resistance component. . According to the technique of Patent Document 1, it is possible to compensate for the influence of the initial unbalance of the bridge circuit.

  On the other hand, in the technique for compensating for the effect of the initial imbalance of the bridge circuit as in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, when detecting the resistance component and the capacitance component from the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier circuit, Usually, a component having the same phase as the AC power supply voltage, which is a power source, is detected as a resistance component, and a component having a phase difference (phase lag) of 90 ° with respect to the AC power supply voltage is detected as a capacitive component. Even during actual strain measurement, the resistance component that is the source of the strain measurement signal (the signal corresponding to the change in the resistance value of the strain gauge) in the output voltage signal of the bridge circuit is in-phase with the AC power supply voltage. It is usual to detect.

  However, the inventors of the present application have found that it is difficult to sufficiently eliminate the influence of the stray capacitance at the time of actual strain measurement in the measurement method for detecting the resistance component in this way.

That is, in the technique as seen in Patent Document 1, the apparent output voltage signal of the bridge circuit when the strain gauge is in an unstrained state (the output voltage signal of the bridge circuit grasped from the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier) Although both the component and the capacitive component can be set to 0, the stray capacitance itself is not eliminated. For this reason, during actual strain measurement, the output voltage signal of the bridge circuit, and hence the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier, is bridged due to the stray capacitance between the connection lines between the bridge circuit and the measuring instrument or the effect of the change. A phase shift occurs with respect to the AC power supply voltage applied to the circuit. Due to this phase shift, the component in phase with the AC power supply voltage in the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier causes an error with respect to the true resistance component. Therefore, even if a component having the same phase as the AC power supply voltage is detected as a resistance component, the measured strain value obtained from the resistance component is accompanied by an error due to the effect of stray capacitance.
Microfilm of actual application No. 61-169454

  The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and compensates for the effect of the initial unbalance of the bridge circuit including the resistance type strain gauge, and by the stray capacitance between the connection lines between the bridge circuit and the measuring instrument. It is an object of the present invention to provide a carrier-type strain measurement method that can compensate for the effect of phase shift and accurately detect an actual resistance component accompanying a change in resistance value in accordance with a strain gauge strain.

  In order to achieve this object, the carrier-type strain measurement method of the present invention amplifies the bridge circuit including a resistance strain gauge by applying an output voltage signal to the AC amplifier while applying an AC power supply voltage to the bridge circuit. And detecting a signal component having a predetermined phase relationship with respect to the AC power supply voltage from the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier as a resistance component corresponding to a change in the resistance value of the bridge circuit, and from the detected resistance component In the carrier-type strain measurement method that generates a strain measurement signal according to the strain value of the strain gauge, while inputting the output voltage signal of the bridge circuit in the unstrained state of the strain gauge to the AC amplifier, The AC component is such that the resistance component of the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier and the capacitance component having a phase difference of 90 ° with respect to the resistance component become zero. An initial unbalance adjustment step for determining an initial unbalance compensation signal to be additionally input to the width device; and after the initial unbalance compensation signal is determined, a resistor having a fixed resistance value is connected to the bridge circuit, A phase shift determination step for determining a phase shift amount of the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier with respect to the AC power supply voltage while inputting the output voltage signal of the circuit and the initial unbalance compensation signal to the AC amplifier; After the phase shift is determined, when the distortion is measured by separating the resistor having the fixed resistance value from the bridge circuit, the AC voltage is output by the shift amount determined in the phase shift determination step in the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier. A signal component having a phase difference with respect to a power supply voltage is detected as a resistance component according to a change in the resistance value of the bridge circuit. is there.

  According to the present invention, in the state where the initial unbalance compensation signal determined in the initial unbalance adjustment step is input to the AC amplifier together with the output voltage signal of the bridge circuit in an unstrained state of the strain gauge, the output of the AC amplifier is output. Since the voltage signal becomes zero, the influence of the stray capacitance between the lead wires for incorporating the strain gauge into the bridge circuit and the resistance value of the lead wire is compensated, and the initial equilibrium of the bridge circuit is achieved. In this state, when a resistor is connected to the bridge circuit in the phase shift determination step, only the resistance value of the bridge circuit changes. Therefore, the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier when the resistor is connected is The signal corresponds to the net resistance value change of the bridge circuit. In this case, the signal generally has a phase shift with respect to the AC power supply voltage of the bridge circuit due to the influence of the stray capacitance such as a signal line connecting the bridge circuit and the AC amplifier, and the phase shift amount is a phase shift step. To be determined.

  At the time of strain measurement, the output voltage signal of the bridge circuit from which the resistor is disconnected is input to the AC power supply voltage of the bridge circuit by the shift amount determined in the phase shift determination step. A signal component having a phase difference is detected. In this case, the signal component to be detected is the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier in the phase shift step, that is, the signal component in phase with the signal corresponding to the net resistance value change of the bridge circuit (the bridge circuit and the AC component). The influence of stray capacitance such as a signal line connecting the amplifier is compensated), and the signal component becomes an actual resistance component corresponding to the resistance value change of the bridge circuit (resistance value change of the strain gauge).

  Therefore, according to the carrier-type strain measurement method of the present invention, it is possible to compensate for the effect of the initial unbalance of the bridge circuit including the resistance type strain gauge, while depending on the stray capacitance between the connection lines between the bridge circuit and the measuring instrument. The effect of the phase shift can be compensated, and the actual resistance component accompanying the change in the resistance value corresponding to the strain of the strain gauge can be detected with high accuracy. As a result, accurate strain measurement can be performed based on the strain measurement signal generated from the detected resistance component.

  In the present invention, when the signal component having a phase difference with respect to the AC power supply voltage is detected from the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier in the phase shift determination step, the phase difference is changed. When the phase difference substantially matches the phase difference between the AC power supply voltage and the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier, the DC component of the detected signal component is substantially maximized. Alternatively, when the phase difference to be changed substantially matches the phase difference between an arbitrary signal having a phase difference (phase lag) of 90 ° with respect to the AC power supply voltage and the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier, the detected signal component The DC component becomes almost zero.

  Therefore, in the present invention, the phase shift determination step changes the predetermined phase difference while detecting a signal component having a predetermined phase difference with respect to the AC power supply voltage in the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier. And a variable phase detection step. The predetermined phase difference when the DC component of the signal component detected in the variable phase detection step is substantially maximized is preferably determined as the phase shift amount. Alternatively, it is preferable that the difference between the predetermined phase difference and the 90 ° phase difference when the DC component of the signal component detected in the variable phase detection step is substantially 0 is determined as the phase shift amount.

  By determining the phase shift amount in this way, the phase shift amount can be easily determined. Further, by determining the amount of phase shift based on the DC component of the signal component detected in the variable phase detection step, the influence of noise components that may be included in the output voltage signal of the bridge circuit is reduced, The reliability of the phase shift amount to be determined can be improved.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that in the phase shift determination step, the resistor is connected in parallel to a side of the bridge circuit other than the side including the strain gauge. According to this, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the resistance value of the switch necessary for connecting or disconnecting the resistor to the bridge circuit affects the output voltage signal of the bridge circuit during strain measurement. Therefore, it is not necessary to consider the resistance value of the switch, and a relatively inexpensive switch can be used.

  A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a strain measurement system in the present embodiment, in which 1 is a resistance strain gauge that causes a change in resistance value according to strain, 2 is a bridge box that connects the strain gauge 1, Reference numeral 3 denotes a strain measuring device that transmits and receives a power supply voltage and an electric signal to and from a circuit accommodated in the bridge box 2.

  The bridge box 2 contains a resistance circuit formed by connecting resistors 4a, 4b, 4c having fixed resistance values in series, and a lead wire 1a, a strain wire 1 connected beforehand to the resistance circuit. By connecting via 1b, the bridge circuit 5 which comprises this strain gauge 1 in one side is comprised. In this case, each resistance value of the resistors 4a, 4b, and 4c is set to the same resistance value as the nominal resistance value of the strain gauge 1 (resistance value in a state where no strain is generated). The casing of the bridge box 2 takes out a pair of power input terminals 6a and 6b for inputting the power supply voltage ein (alternating voltage) of the bridge circuit 5 from the outside and the output voltage signal eout of the bridge circuit 5 to the outside. A pair of output terminals 6 c and 6 d are provided, and these terminals 6 a to 6 d are connected to the bridge circuit 5 in the bridge box 2.

  Further, inside the bridge box 2, a resistor 8 having a fixed resistance value is connected in parallel via a switch 7 to one side of the bridge circuit 5, for example, a side constituted by the resistor 4 b. In this embodiment, the switch 7 is a contact switch of a latch relay (self-holding type relay), and a relay drive circuit 9 that opens and closes the switch 7 via a solenoid 9a is built in the bridge box 2. . A pair of control terminals 6 e and 6 f for controlling the operation of the relay drive circuit 8 from the outside are provided in the casing of the switch box 2, and these control terminals 6 e and 6 f are electrically connected to the relay drive circuit 9. The switch 7 is opened in the initial state.

  The strain measuring instrument 3 is connected to the terminals 6a to 6f via a connection cable 10. The connection cable 10 includes a pair of signal lines 10a and 10b connected to the power input terminals 6a and 6b of the bridge box 2, a pair of power lines 10c and 10d connected to the output terminals 6c and 6d, and the control. A pair of control signal lines 10e and 10f connected to the terminals 6e and 6f is included, and the conducting wires 10a to 10f are bundled by a tube or a band (not shown).

  The strain measuring device 3 includes an AC amplifier 11 for inputting the output voltage signal eout of the bridge circuit 5 and generates an sine wave signal having the same frequency as the frequency of the power supply voltage ein (AC voltage) of the bridge circuit 5. A circuit 12 and a bridge power supply output circuit 13 that outputs a power supply voltage ein of the bridge circuit 5 (hereinafter referred to as a bridge power supply voltage ein) obtained by amplifying the sine wave signal are provided. Although the detailed illustration is omitted in FIG. 2, the AC amplifier 11 has an input side connected to the bridge circuit 5 via a pair of signal lines 10 c and 10 d (see FIG. 1) of the connection cable 10. The output voltage signal eout of the bridge circuit 5 is input via 10c and 10d. The output side of the bridge power supply output circuit 13 is connected to the bridge circuit 5 via a pair of power supply lines 10a and 10b (see FIG. 1) of the connection cable 10, and bridged via the power supply lines 10a and 10b. A power supply voltage ein is applied to the bridge circuit 5.

  In addition, the distortion measuring instrument 3 includes a 0 ° phase detection circuit 14 that detects a signal component in phase with a later-described 0 ° reference phase signal from the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 as a resistance component (0 ° phase component), and the 0 A 90 ° phase detection circuit 15 that detects a signal component in phase with the 90 ° reference phase signal having a 90 ° phase difference (phase lag) with respect to the reference phase signal as a capacitive component (90 ° phase component), and these Low-pass filters 16 and 17 for removing high-frequency components including the same frequency as the bridge power supply voltage from the signal components detected by the phase detection circuits 14 and 15 (extracting DC components), and the 0 ° phase detection circuit 14 side A DC amplifier 18 that amplifies the output (DC component) of the low-pass filter 16, and the output of the DC amplifier 18 is the strain value of the strain gauge 1 (measurement object to which the strain gauge 1 is attached). An output circuit 19 that outputs to the outside as a strain measurement signal indicating a strain value), a phase adjustment circuit 20 that generates the 0 ° reference phase signal based on the output of the bridge power supply output circuit 13 (bridge power supply voltage ein), And a phase shift circuit 21 that generates the 90 ° reference phase signal by shifting the phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal generated by the phase adjustment circuit 20 by 90 ° (delaying by 90 °).

  Here, the 0 ° reference phase signal generated by the phase adjustment circuit 20 and the 90 ° reference phase signal generated by the phase shift circuit 21 are rectangular waves as shown in the second and third graphs of FIG. 3, respectively. The frequency is the same as the bridge power supply voltage ein. The 0 ° phase detection circuit 14 outputs the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 as it is while the level of the 0 ° reference phase signal is a positive level, and the level of the 0 ° reference phase signal is a negative level. In a certain period, the polarity of the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 is inverted and output. Similarly, the 90 ° phase detection circuit 15 outputs the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 as it is while the level of the 90 ° reference phase signal is positive, and the level of the 0 ° reference phase signal is negative. During this period, the polarity of the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 is inverted and output.

  For example, the output voltage signal (in this example, a sine wave) of the AC amplifier 11 illustrated in the graph of the first stage (uppermost stage) in FIG. 3 has a phase relationship as illustrated with the 0 ° reference phase signal and the 90 ° reference phase signal. 3 (in the example of FIG. 3, the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 and the 0 ° reference phase signal are in phase), the output of the 0 ° phase detection circuit 14 and the output of the 90 ° phase detection circuit 15 are respectively shown in FIG. 3 is a signal having a waveform as shown in the fourth and fifth graphs. Further, for example, the output voltage signal (sinusoidal wave in this example) of the AC amplifier 11 illustrated in the graph of the first stage (uppermost stage) in FIG. 4 has a phase as shown in FIG. When there is a relationship (in the example of FIG. 4, the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 has a phase delay of an angle α ° with respect to the 0 ° reference phase signal), the output of the 0 ° phase detection circuit 14, 90 The output of the phase detection circuit 15 is a signal having a waveform as shown in the fourth and fifth graphs of FIG.

  In general, the phase of the periodic signal is obtained by adding the initial phase at time 0 to the product of the angular frequency of the signal and time (elapsed time from an arbitrary time 0). It is an axis representing the value of the horizontal axis phase and also a time axis.

  Supplementally, when it is assumed that the entire circuit from the strain measuring device 3 to the bridge circuit 5 is configured only by the resistance component, or the capacitance component of the entire circuit is sufficiently smaller than the resistance component, the AC amplifier 11, the output voltage signal eout of the bridge circuit 5 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the bridge output eout) and the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 are substantially in phase with the bridge power supply voltage ein generated by the bridge power supply output circuit 13. Signal. Therefore, if a 0 ° reference phase signal having the same phase as the bridge power supply voltage ein is generated from the phase adjustment circuit 20, the output of the 0 ° phase detection circuit 14 is a resistance component corresponding to the resistance value change of the bridge circuit 5. Become. However, especially when the lead wires 1a and 1b between the strain gauge 1 and the bridge box 2 are long, the stray capacitance between the lead wires 1a and 1b is substantially incorporated in the bridge circuit 5. . Further, when the connection cable 10 between the bridge box 2 and the strain measuring instrument 3 is long, stray capacitance is also incorporated between the signal lines 10c and 10d of the connection cable 10 and between the power supply lines 10a and 10b. It will be. Due to the influence of these stray capacitances, the resistance component corresponding to the change in the resistance value of the bridge circuit 5 out of the bridge output eout and the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 is shifted in phase with respect to the bridge power supply voltage ein. Produce. Therefore, in order to extract from the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 the true resistance component (or resistance component substantially equivalent thereto) caused by only the resistance value change of the bridge circuit 5 by the 0 ° phase detection circuit 14, It is necessary to appropriately shift the phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal with respect to the phase of the bridge power supply voltage ein. Therefore, the phase adjustment circuit 20 can adjust the phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal with respect to the bridge power supply voltage ein in response to a command signal from a phase control circuit 28 described later.

  Further, the distortion measuring device 3 determines whether or not the output (DC component) of the low-pass filter 16 on the 0 ° phase detection circuit 14 side is substantially 0 (more specifically, the output level of the low-pass filter 16 is a predetermined value near 0). Discriminating circuit 22 (hereinafter referred to as “0 ° phase side discriminating circuit 22”), and the output of this 0 ° phase side discriminating circuit 22 and the 0 ° reference generated by the phase adjusting circuit 20 A balance control circuit 24 for controlling a 0 ° phase balance circuit 23 for generating an initial unbalance compensation signal (details will be described later) additionally inputted to the AC amplifier 11 based on the phase signal, and a 90 ° phase detection circuit Whether or not the output (DC component) of the 15th low-pass filter 17 is substantially 0 (more specifically, whether or not the output level of the low-pass filter 17 is within a predetermined range near 0) The AC amplifier 11 is based on a determination circuit 25 for determination (hereinafter, referred to as a 90 ° phase side determination circuit 25), an output of the 90 ° phase side determination circuit 25, and a 90 ° reference phase signal generated by the phase shift circuit 21. A balance control circuit 27 for controlling the 90 ° phase balance circuit 26 for generating an initial unbalance compensation signal (details will be described later) to be additionally input to the phase shifter, and a phase adjustment circuit according to the output of the 90 ° phase side discrimination circuit 25 20 includes a phase control circuit 28 that outputs a command signal for adjusting the phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal. Supplementally, the signals output from the 0 ° phase side discrimination circuit 22 and the 90 ° phase side discrimination circuit 25 to the balance control circuits 24 and 27 include signals indicating the output levels of the low-pass filters 16 and 17, respectively.

  Further, the strain measuring device 3 outputs a control signal for the relay drive circuit 9 of the bridge box 2 to the relay drive circuit 9 via the control signal lines 10e and 10f (see FIG. 1) of the connection cable 10. A circuit 29 and a power supply circuit 30 that supplies power for operation to each circuit in the strain measuring instrument 3 are provided. The power supply circuit 30 generates an operation power supply for each circuit from an external AC power supply or a battery.

  Next, the operation of the apparatus of the embodiment will be described. First, when starting strain measurement, processing for compensating for the initial unbalance of the bridge circuit 5 (hereinafter referred to as initial unbalance compensation processing) is performed by a required operation of the strain measuring device 3. Even if the strain gauge 1 before starting the strain measurement is in an unstrained state, the bridge circuit 5 is generally affected by the resistance value of the lead wires 1a and 1b and the stray capacitance between these lead wires 1a and 1b. Is in an unbalanced state, and the bridge output eout generally does not become zero when the bridge power supply voltage ein is applied to the bridge circuit 5. In this case, the level of the DC voltage obtained from the bridge output eout through the AC amplifier 11, the 0 ° phase detection circuit 14 and the low-pass filter 16 from the bridge output eout is 0 even when the strain gauge 1 is in an unstrained state. Therefore, an error occurs in the measured strain value obtained from the DC voltage. The process for eliminating such a problem is the initial unbalance compensation process, and this process corresponds to the initial unbalance adjustment step in the present invention.

  The initial unbalance compensation process will be described in detail below. First, in the unstrained state of the strain gauge 1 when the strain measurement is to be started, the bridge is operated by a predetermined operation such as an operation panel (not shown) of the strain measuring instrument 3. A bridge power supply voltage eout is output from the power supply output circuit 13 and applied to the bridge circuit 5. Then, after the bridge output eout at this time (hereinafter sometimes referred to as initial unbalanced bridge output eout) is amplified by the AC amplifier 11 of the strain measuring device 3, the 0 ° phase detection circuit 14 and the 90 ° phase detection are performed. Input to the circuit 15. In this case, the 0 ° phase detection circuit 14 is provided with a 0 ° reference phase signal in phase with the bridge power supply voltage ein output from the bridge power supply output circuit 13 from the phase adjustment circuit 20, and the 90 ° phase detection circuit. 15, a 90 ° reference phase signal having a phase difference (phase lag) of 90 ° with respect to the 0 ° reference phase signal, that is, a phase lag of 90 ° with respect to the bridge power supply voltage ein is output from the phase shift circuit 21. Given. Therefore, the 0 ° phase detection circuit 14 detects a signal component in phase with the bridge power supply voltage ein from the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 corresponding (proportional) to the initial unbalanced bridge output eout, and the 90 ° phase detection circuit. 15 detects a signal component having a phase lag of 90 ° with respect to the bridge power supply voltage ein in the AC amplifier 11.

  This operation will be described with reference to a vector diagram on the complex plane in FIG. 6. A vector when the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 corresponding to the initial unbalanced bridge output eout is expressed in a complex manner is represented by V0 in the figure, for example. Here, the real axis 1 (real axis 1) in the figure is an axis in phase with the bridge power supply voltage ein, and the imaginary axis 1 (imaginary axis 1) has a phase difference of 90 ° with respect to the bridge power supply voltage ein. It is an axis that has. The magnitude (length) of the vector V0 corresponds to the amplitude of the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 corresponding to the initial unbalanced bridge output eout, and the angle α of the vector V0 with respect to the real axis 1 is the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11. This corresponds to a phase difference (phase delay) with respect to the bridge power supply voltage ein. The phase difference α is mainly a capacitance such as a stray capacitance between the lead wires 1a and 1b, a stray capacitance between the signal lines 10c and 10d of the connection cable 10, and a stray capacitance between the power supply lines 10a and 10b. It is a phase difference generated by a component. The real axis 2 and imaginary axis 2 in the figure will be described later.

  In this case, since the 0 ° phase reference signal is in phase with the bridge power supply voltage ein, the signal detected by the 0 ° phase detection circuit 14 out of the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 corresponding to the initial unbalanced bridge output eout. The component is the component vector V0x of the vector V0 in the real axis 1 direction, and the signal component detected by the 90 ° phase detection circuit 15 is the component vector V0y of the vector V0 in the imaginary axis 1 direction.

  In the initial unbalance compensation processing, the initial unbalanced bridge output eout is input to the AC amplifier 11 as described above, and the balance control circuit 24 outputs the output (DC) of the 0 ° phase side low-pass filter 16 determined by the determination circuit 22. In other words, in the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11, the signal component in phase with the bridge power supply voltage ein (0 ° phase component), and thus the output of the 0 ° phase detection circuit 14 is set so that the level of the component) becomes 0. , The initial unbalance compensation signal (hereinafter referred to as the 0 ° phase initial unbalance compensation signal) is additionally inputted to the AC amplifier 11 from the 0 ° phase balance circuit 23 so that the signal becomes a zero level signal. This operation is performed as follows. The component vector V0x in the direction of the real axis 1 of the vector V0 in FIG. 6 as the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 corresponding to the initial unbalanced bridge output eout is a vector Vb0x that is 180 degrees out of phase, that is, the component vector V0x. A signal for generating an output voltage signal of the vector Vb0x on the output side of the AC amplifier 11 that cancels the component vector V0x when superimposed on (added) is added to the AC amplifier 11 as a 0 ° phase initial unbalance compensation signal. Means to enter. In this case, the magnitude (amplitude) of the 0 ° phase initial unbalance compensation signal is determined in accordance with the output level of the 0 ° phase side low-pass filter 16 provided from the discrimination circuit 22 to the balance control circuit 24, and The phase is determined to have a phase difference of 180 ° with respect to the 0 ° reference phase signal. More specifically, when the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 corresponding to the initial unbalanced bridge output eout has a phase delay of an angle α with respect to the 0 ° reference phase signal as illustrated in FIG. The 0 ° phase component of the output voltage signal 11 (the component having the same phase as the bridge power supply voltage ein) has a waveform as shown by the solid line in the fourth graph of FIG. At this time, the 0 ° phase initial unbalance compensation signal is a signal having a waveform having a phase difference of 180 ° with the waveform of the solid line, as indicated by a two-dot chain line in the graph of the fourth step surface of FIG.

  In the present embodiment, in the initial unbalance compensation process, the output of the 0 ° phase side low-pass filter 16 is input only to the discrimination circuit 22 and is not input to the DC amplifier 18. The same applies to the phase shift compensation process described later.

  In parallel with the above-described control process of the balance control circuit 24 being executed, the same control process is also executed in the balance control circuit 27. That is, the balance control circuit 27 is set so that the level of the output (DC component) of the 90 ° phase side low pass filter 17 determined by the determination circuit 25 becomes 0, in other words, out of the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11. 90 ° phase balance so that the signal component (90 ° phase component) having a phase lag of 90 ° with respect to the bridge power supply voltage ein, and thus the output of the 90 ° phase detection circuit 15 steadily becomes a 0 level signal. An initial unbalance compensation signal (hereinafter referred to as a 90 ° phase initial unbalance compensation signal) is additionally input from the circuit 26 to the AC amplifier 11. This operation is the same as the vector Vb0y in the imaginary axis 1 direction of the vector V0 in FIG. 6 as the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 corresponding to the initial unbalanced bridge output eout, that is, the vector Vb0y that is 180 ° out of phase, ie, the component vector V0y. A signal for generating an output voltage signal of the vector Vb0y on the output side of the AC amplifier 11 that cancels the component vector V0y when it is superimposed (added) to the AC amplifier 11 as a 90 ° phase initial unbalance compensation signal. Means to enter. In this case, the magnitude (amplitude) of the 90 ° phase initial unbalance compensation signal is determined according to the output level of the 0 ° phase side low-pass filter 17 given from the discrimination circuit 25 to the balance control circuit 27, and The phase is determined to have a phase difference of 180 ° with respect to the 90 ° reference phase signal. More specifically, when the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 corresponding to the initial unbalanced bridge output eout has a phase delay of an angle α with respect to the 0 ° reference phase signal as illustrated in FIG. The 90 ° phase component of the output voltage signal 11 (the component having a phase lag of 90 ° with respect to the bridge power supply voltage ein) has a waveform as indicated by the solid line in the fifth graph of FIG. At this time, the 0 ° phase initial unbalance compensation signal is a signal having a phase difference of 180 ° with respect to the solid waveform as indicated by a two-dot chain line in the graph of the fifth step surface of FIG.

  When the 0 ° phase initial unbalance compensation signal and the 90 ° phase initial unbalance compensation signal are additionally input to the AC amplifier 11 as described above, the vector in FIG. 6 corresponding to the 0 ° phase initial unbalance compensation signal is obtained. This is equivalent to additionally generating an output voltage signal of the vector Vb0 formed by combining Vb0x and the vector Vb0y of FIG. 6 corresponding to the 90 ° phase initial unbalance compensation signal on the output side of the AC amplifier 11. In this case, the vector Vb0 has the same magnitude and a 180 ° phase difference as the vector V0 representing the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 corresponding to the initial unbalanced bridge output eout. By superimposing the voltage signal on the output voltage signal of the vector V0, the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 becomes a signal of 0 level constantly.

  Thereby, the 0 ° phase and 90 ° phase initial unbalance compensation signals are determined so that the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 in the unstrained state of the strain gauge 1 becomes 0, and the influence of the initial unbalance of the bridge circuit 5 is determined. Will be compensated. Thereafter, the balance control circuits 24 and 27 operate the balance circuits 23 and 26 so as to continuously input the determined initial unbalance compensation signals from the balance circuits 23 and 26 to the AC amplifier 11.

  When the AC amplifier 11 includes a plurality of stages of amplifiers, the 0 ° phase initial unbalance compensation signal and the 90 ° phase initial unbalance compensation signal do not necessarily need to be input to the first stage amplifier. You may make it input into the amplifier after eyes.

  Supplementally, in the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11, the actual resistance component according to the deviation of the resistance value of the bridge circuit 5 from the equilibrium state is caused by the influence of the stray capacitance in the connection cable 10, in particular. 13 causes a phase delay with respect to the bridge power supply voltage ein generated. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, in the output voltage signal vector V0 of the AC amplifier 11 corresponding to the initial unbalanced bridge output eout, the actual resistance component has an angle θ with respect to the real axis 1 in phase with the bridge power supply voltage ein. It is represented by a component vector V0r having a phase delay. Similarly, in the vector V0, the actual capacitance component (a component having a phase difference of 90 ° from the resistance component) has a phase delay of an angle θ with respect to the imaginary axis 1 having a phase difference of 90 ° from the bridge power supply voltage ein. It is represented by a component vector V0c. The real axis 2 shown in FIG. 6 indicates an axis in phase with the actual resistance component in the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11, and the imaginary axis 2 has a phase difference of 90 ° with respect to the real axis 2. It shows the axis (the axis in phase with the actual capacitive component).

  Therefore, in the above-described initial unbalance compensation process, the signal components detected by the 0 ° phase detection circuit 14 and the 90 ° phase detection circuit 15 are generally the actual resistance component and capacitance component of the initial unbalanced bridge output eout. It does not represent.

  However, in the initial unbalance compensation process, the 0 ° phase initial unbalance compensation signal and the 90 ° reference phase signal are in phase with the 0 ° reference phase signal so that the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 becomes 0 as a result. This is a process of determining a 90 ° phase initial unbalance compensation signal and additionally inputting it to the AC amplifier 11, and corresponds to a signal obtained by synthesizing these initial unbalance compensation signals, that is, the vector Vb0 in FIG. The signal is uniquely determined with respect to the initial unbalanced bridge output eout (vector V0 in FIG. 6) regardless of the actual resistance component and capacitance component of the initial unbalanced bridge output eout. More generally speaking, as described above, the output of the 0 ° phase detection circuit 14 is whatever the phase difference between the 0 ° reference phase signal and the 90 ° reference phase signal with respect to the bridge power supply voltage ein. 0 ° phase initial unbalance compensation signal is determined so that becomes 0, and 90 ° phase initial unbalance compensation signal is determined so that the output of the 90 ° phase detection circuit 15 becomes 0, thereby compensating for them. An output voltage signal generated by the AC amplifier 11 by a signal obtained by combining the signals is a vector Vb0 that is uniquely determined as having a phase difference of 180 ° with respect to the vector V0 of FIG. 6 corresponding to the initial unbalanced bridge output eout. Become.

  Therefore, in the initial unbalance compensation process, the phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal is in phase with the bridge power supply voltage ein. However, the 0 ° reference phase signal used in the initial unbalance compensation process is in phase with the bridge power supply voltage ein. It is not necessary to have a phase difference between the bridge power supply voltage ein and the bridge power supply voltage ein.

  The phase of the initial unbalanced bridge output eout with respect to the bridge power supply voltage ein, that is, the angle α in FIG. 6 indicates the stray capacitance between the lead wires 1a and 1b, the stray capacitance of the connection cable 10, and the resistance values of the lead wires 1a and 1b. Thus, the phase difference (angle θ in FIG. 6) of the actual resistance component of the initial unbalanced bridge output eout with respect to the bridge power supply voltage ein is grasped from the initial unbalanced bridge output eout. You can't generally do it.

  After the initial unbalance compensation process is executed as described above, the actual resistance component of the bridge output eout due to the resistance value change of the bridge circuit 5 (resistance value change not accompanied by the change of the capacitance component) is bridged. A process for compensating for the influence of the phase delay generated on the power supply voltage ein (hereinafter referred to as a phase shift compensation process) is performed by a required operation of the distortion measuring device 3. In order to perform accurate strain measurement, it is necessary to detect the actual resistance component accompanying the change in resistance value of the strain gauge 1 from the bridge output eout by the 0 ° phase detection circuit 14. In this case, as described above, the actual resistance component of the bridge output eout corresponding to the change in the resistance value of the bridge circuit 5 is the bridge power supply voltage generated by the bridge power supply output circuit 13 due to the influence of the stray capacitance in the connection cable 10 in particular. Since a phase delay occurs with respect to ein, it is necessary to determine that the phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal is shifted from the bridge power supply voltage ein by the amount of the phase delay. The phase shift compensation process is a process for determining the phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal (specifically, the phase difference with respect to the bridge power supply voltage ein), and corresponds to the phase shift determination process in the present invention.

  The phase shift compensation process will be described in detail below. First, a control signal is given from the relay control circuit 29 to the relay drive circuit 9 of the bridge box 2, and in response to this, the relay drive circuit 9 switches via the solenoid 9a. 7 is closed from the open state. In this embodiment, since a latch relay is used, the switch 7 is closed from the open state only by temporarily energizing the solenoid 9a from the relay drive circuit 9, and the closed state is maintained. Further, the strain gauge 1 is in a no-strain state as in the case of the initial unbalance compensation process.

  As a result, the resistor 8 is connected in parallel via the switch 7 to one side of the bridge circuit 5 (side constituted by the resistor 4b). Accordingly, the resistance value of the bridge circuit 5 is forcibly changed. In this case, the resistance value of the resistor 8 is such that the resistance value change of the bridge circuit 5 (and hence the amplitude change of the bridge output eout) when it is connected to the bridge circuit 5 is the normal strain (for example, strain) of the strain gauge 1. The resistance value may be determined in advance so as to be comparable to the change in the resistance value of the bridge circuit 5 caused by an intermediate strain within a range of strain values measurable by the gauge 1. As long as the resistor 8 functions as a resistor that does not substantially include a capacitance component, the resistance value does not necessarily have to be highly accurate.

  In the state where the resistor 8 is connected to the bridge circuit 5 as described above, the bridge power supply voltage ein is applied from the bridge power supply output circuit 13 of the strain measuring device 3 and the bridge output eout is used as the AC amplifier of the strain measuring device 3. 11 is input. In parallel with this, the AC amplifier 11 receives the 0 ° phase initial unbalance compensation signal and the 90 ° phase initial unbalance compensation signal determined by the initial unbalance compensation processing, respectively, in the balance circuits 23 and 26, respectively. Is additionally input.

  In this case, since the initial unbalance of the bridge circuit 5 is compensated by the initial unbalance compensation process, the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 corresponding to the bridge output eout at this time is the bridge by the connection of the resistor 8. This corresponds to a change in the resistance value of the circuit 5. In other words, the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 corresponding to (proportional to) the bridge output eout at this time (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the bridge output eout during phase shift compensation) is the resistance value of the bridge circuit 5. This corresponds to a resistance component corresponding to the change. However, the resistance component generally has a phase lag with respect to the bridge power supply voltage ein due to the influence of the stray capacitance of the connection cable 10.

  Therefore, in the phase shift compensation process, the phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal is determined so that the 0 ° reference phase signal is in phase with the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 corresponding to the phase shift compensation bridge output eout.

  This processing is performed as follows mainly with the operation of the phase control circuit 28 as a main component. That is, the phase control circuit 28 monitors the output of the determination circuit 25 and changes the phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal from the same phase as the bridge power supply voltage ein continuously or by a minute amount. In addition, the phase adjustment circuit 20 is controlled. Following this, the 90 ° reference phase signal generated by the phase shift circuit 21 also changes while maintaining the phase difference (90 °) from the 0 ° reference phase signal.

  In this case, when the 0 ° reference phase signal is substantially in phase with the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 corresponding to the phase deviation compensation bridge output eout, the output of the 90 ° phase side low-pass filter 17 (of the 90 ° phase detection circuit 15). The DC component of the output becomes almost zero. That is, as illustrated in FIG. 3, when the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 is in phase with the 0 ° reference phase signal, the output of the 90 ° phase detection circuit 15 is symmetrical between the positive side and the negative side. Therefore, the output of the 90 ° phase side low-pass filter 17 becomes almost zero. Therefore, the phase control circuit 28 in the present embodiment has confirmed that the output of the 90 ° phase side low-pass filter 17 has become almost 0 in the process of changing the phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal (more specifically, AC level corresponding to the bridge output eout when compensating for the phase difference of the 0 ° reference phase signal with respect to the bridge power supply voltage ein when the level is within a predetermined range near 0) The phase difference of the output voltage signal of the amplifier 11 with respect to the bridge power supply voltage ein is determined. Then, a 0 ° reference phase signal having a phase difference with respect to the bridge power supply voltage ein by the phase difference is determined as a 0 ° reference phase signal to be output from the phase adjustment circuit 20 to the 0 ° phase detection circuit 14 during distortion measurement. That is, the phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal when the output of the 90 ° phase side low-pass filter 17 becomes approximately 0 is determined as the phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal to be used in the distortion measurement. The 0 ° reference phase signal thus determined is in phase with the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 corresponding to the bridge output eout at the time of phase shift compensation, that is, the resistance component of the bridge output eout.

  This operation will be described with reference to a vector diagram on the complex plane in FIG. 7. A vector Vε in FIG. 7 is a vector representing an output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 corresponding to the phase shift compensation bridge output eout. In this case, when the 0 ° reference phase signal is in phase with the bridge output voltage ein, the signal component detected by the 90 ° phase detection circuit 15 is the component vector Vεy (≠ 0 vector) in the imaginary axis 1 direction. The real axis 1 and the imaginary axis 1 are the same as those in FIG. 6, and the illustrated vector Vε has a phase delay of an angle θ with respect to the real axis 1 in phase with the bridge output voltage ein. In the illustrated example, in the state where the 0 ° reference phase signal is in phase with the bridge output voltage ein, the signal component detected by the 0 ° phase detection circuit 14 is the component vector Vεx in the real axis 1 direction.

  Then, changing the phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal from this state is equivalent to rotating the real axis and the imaginary axis, and the phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal is equal to the bridge power supply voltage ein. As shown by the real axis 2 and the imaginary axis 2 in the figure, the vector Vε corresponding to the phase deviation compensation bridge output eout and the real axis 2 are in phase as shown in the figure. And the imaginary axis 2 has a phase difference of 90 ° from the vector Vε. For this reason, the component vector in the imaginary axis 2 direction of the vector Vε is zero. Therefore, when the signal component detected by the 90 ° phase detection circuit 15 becomes 0, the phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal is in phase with the phase of the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 corresponding to the bridge output eout at the time of phase shift compensation. become.

  In the phase shift compensation process, when the phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal is changed as described above, the 0 ° reference phase signal corresponds to the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11 corresponding to the bridge output eout at the time of phase shift compensation. When the phase becomes the same, the output level of the 0 ° phase side low pass filter 16 becomes maximum, and the output of the 0 ° phase side low pass filter 16 increases as the phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal deviates from the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11. The level becomes smaller. Therefore, when determining the phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal in the phase shift compensation process, the phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal that maximizes the output level of the 0 ° phase side low-pass filter 16 is adjusted during distortion measurement. The phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal generated from the circuit 20 may be determined. In this case, instead of the output of the discriminating circuit 25, the output of the discriminating circuit 22 is input to the phase control circuit 28, and the 0 ° reference when the output level of the 0 ° phase-side low-pass filter 16 is maximized. What is necessary is just to determine the phase of a phase signal as a phase of the 0 degree reference | standard phase signal which should be used at the time of distortion measurement.

  Supplementally, in principle, the phase difference of the bridge output eout at the time of phase deviation compensation with respect to the bridge power supply voltage ein is, for example, the zero cross point of the bridge power supply voltage ein (the phase at which ein becomes 0) and the bridge output eout at the time of phase deviation compensation. It is also possible to directly detect the difference from the zero cross point (phase where eout becomes 0). However, since the bridge output eout generally includes noise components, it is difficult to accurately grasp the zero cross point of the bridge output eout at the time of phase shift compensation. Accordingly, in determining the 0 ° reference phase signal that is in phase with the bridge output eout at the time of phase shift compensation, the output level of the 0 ° phase side low pass filter 16 is maximized as described above, or the 90 ° phase side low pass filter is used. It is preferable to determine a 0 ° reference phase signal in which the output level of 17 is substantially 0 as being in phase with the bridge output eout at the time of phase shift compensation.

  As described above, the phase shift compensation process is completed by determining the phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal.

  In this embodiment, following the phase shift compensation process, a control signal is given from the relay control circuit 29 of the strain measuring device 3 to the relay drive circuit 9 of the bridge box 2 to open the switch 7 from the closed state. In this state, after executing the initial unbalance compensation process again, the strain gauge 1 is attached to the object to be measured (not shown) (the same strain as that of the object is generated in the strain gauge 1). ), The actual strain measurement is started. In this case, the initial initial imbalance compensation process is performed again with the phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal fixed to the phase determined by the phase shift compensation process. In the subsequent distortion measurement, the phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal is maintained at the phase determined by the phase shift compensation process, and the 0 ° phase initial unbalance compensation signal determined by the initial initial unbalance compensation process is repeated. And the 90 ° phase initial unbalance compensation signal are additionally input to the AC amplifier 11 from the balance circuits 23 and 26, respectively, and the bridge output eout is input to the AC amplifier 11. At this time, the output of the 0 ° phase side low-pass filter 16 (which corresponds to the direct current component of the actual resistance component corresponding to the change in the resistance value of the strain gauge 1) is connected to the direct current amplifier 18 and the output circuit 19. The strain measurement value is obtained based on the level of the output signal.

  In the present embodiment, the initial unbalance compensation process is executed again after the phase shift compensation process. However, this initial initial imbalance compensation process is a precautionary process and need not be executed. . Therefore, distortion measurement may be started immediately after the phase shift compensation process.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the strain measurement is started, the initial unbalance compensation process and the phase shift compensation process are sequentially executed, so that the gap between the lead wires 1a and 1b is increased. By appropriately compensating for the effects of stray capacitance, stray capacitance between the signal lines 10c and 10d of the connection cable 10 and stray capacitance between the power supply lines 10a and 10b, a strain gauge is obtained from the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier 11. The actual resistance component corresponding to the change in the resistance value of 1 can be detected by the 0 ° phase detection circuit 14, so that accurate distortion measurement can be performed.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The present embodiment is different from the first embodiment only in the construction of the strain gauge incorporated in the bridge circuit, and the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment are used for the same parts as those in the first embodiment. Description is omitted using.

  In the first embodiment, the so-called two-wire measurement method in which the strain gauge 1 is incorporated into the bridge circuit 5 via the two lead wires 1a and 1b connected thereto is described as an example. For example, the present invention can also be applied to a so-called three-wire measurement method in which a strain gauge is incorporated into a bridge circuit via three lead wires. The second embodiment shows this three-wire type embodiment.

  When the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, lead wires 1 a and 1 b are connected to the strain gauge 1. A lead wire 1c is connected to one end, for example, one end on the lead wire 1a side. The strain gauge 1 is connected to the bridge box 2 'via these lead wires 1a to 1c. In this case, in the bridge box 2 ′, the output terminal 6c out of the output terminals 6c and 6d is not directly connected to the resistor 4a, but is connected (conductive) to the lead wire 1c. It has become. The other configuration is exactly the same as that of the first embodiment. When the strain gauge 1 is incorporated into the bridge circuit 5 with the above connection configuration, the lead wires 1 a and 1 b are incorporated into different sides of the bridge circuit 5.

  In the apparatus according to the present embodiment, when the strain measurement is to be started, the initial unbalance compensation process and the phase shift compensation process are executed in the same manner as in the first embodiment, whereby the lead wires 1a to 1c are processed. It is possible to appropriately compensate for the effects of the stray capacitance between them and the stray capacitance of the connection cord 10.

  In each of the above embodiments, in the phase shift compensation process, the resistor 8 is connected to the bridge circuit 5 to generate a change in the resistance value of the bridge circuit 5. By changing the capacitance component, the phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal to be used at the time of strain measurement is determined so as to have a phase difference (phase advance) of 90 ° with respect to the bridge output eout at that time (specifically Specifically, the output level of the 0 ° phase side low-pass filter 16 when the capacitance component of the bridge circuit 5 is changed is substantially zero, or the output level of the 90 ° phase side low pass filter 17 is maximized. The phase of the 0 ° reference phase signal may be determined). However, since a capacitor having a capacitance component generally has a resistance component, even if a capacitor is connected to the bridge circuit 5 in order to change the capacitance component of the bridge circuit 5, only the capacitance component of the bridge circuit 5 is changed. It is difficult to cause the resistance component to change. Therefore, in the phase shift compensation process, it is not practical to change the capacitance component of the bridge circuit 5 by connecting a capacitor to the bridge circuit. For this reason, in the present invention, the resistor is connected to the bridge circuit in the phase shift compensation process.

The block diagram which shows the whole structure of the distortion | strain measurement system in 1st Embodiment of this invention. The block diagram which shows the circuit structure of the strain measuring device of the strain measuring system of FIG. The graph for demonstrating the action | operation of the distortion measuring device of FIG. The graph for demonstrating the action | operation of the distortion measuring device of FIG. The graph for demonstrating the initial imbalance compensation process in the distortion measuring device of FIG. The vector diagram for demonstrating the initial imbalance compensation process in the distortion measuring device of FIG. The vector diagram for demonstrating the phase shift compensation process in the distortion measuring device of FIG. The block diagram which shows the whole structure of the distortion | strain measurement system in 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Strain gauge, 5 ... Bridge circuit, 7 ... Resistor, 11 ... AC amplifier, ein ... AC power supply voltage, eout ... Output voltage signal of a bridge circuit.

Claims (4)

While applying an AC power supply voltage to a bridge circuit including a resistance type strain gauge, the output voltage signal of the bridge circuit is input to an AC amplifier for amplification, and from the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier to the AC power supply voltage. Then, a signal component having a predetermined phase relationship is detected as a resistance component corresponding to a change in the resistance value of the bridge circuit, and a strain measurement signal corresponding to the strain value of the strain gauge is generated from the detected resistance component. In the carrier wave type strain measurement method,
A capacitor having a phase difference of 90 ° with respect to the resistance component of the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier and the resistance component while inputting the output voltage signal of the bridge circuit in an unstrained state of the strain gauge to the AC amplifier. An initial unbalance adjustment step for determining an initial unbalance compensation signal to be additionally input to the AC amplifier so that the component becomes zero;
After determining the initial unbalance compensation signal, connecting a resistor having a fixed resistance value to the bridge circuit, and inputting the output voltage signal of the bridge circuit and the initial unbalance compensation signal to the AC amplifier, A phase shift determination step for determining a phase shift amount of the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier with respect to the AC power supply voltage,
After the phase shift is determined, when the distortion is measured by separating the resistor having the fixed resistance value from the bridge circuit, the AC voltage is output by the shift amount determined in the phase shift determination step in the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier. A carrier-type distortion measuring method, wherein a signal component having a phase difference with respect to a power supply voltage is detected as a resistance component according to a change in resistance value of the bridge circuit.   The phase shift determination step includes a variable phase detection step of changing a predetermined phase difference while detecting a signal component having a predetermined phase difference with respect to the AC power supply voltage in the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier. The carrier-type distortion according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined phase difference when the DC component of the signal component detected in the variable phase detection step is substantially maximum is determined as the phase shift amount. Measuring method.   The phase shift determination step includes a variable phase detection step of changing a predetermined phase difference while detecting a signal component having a predetermined phase difference with respect to the AC power supply voltage in the output voltage signal of the AC amplifier. And the difference between the predetermined phase difference and the 90 ° phase difference when the DC component of the signal component detected in the variable phase detection step is substantially zero is determined as the phase shift amount. The carrier wave type distortion measuring method according to claim 1.   The said phase difference determination step WHEREIN: The said resistor was connected in parallel to sides other than the side containing the said strain gauge among the said bridge circuits, The any one of Claims 1-3 characterized by the above-mentioned. The carrier wave type distortion measuring method as described.

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