JP6171866B2 - Distance sensor - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a distance sensor that detects a distance to an object to be measured by measuring a capacitance.

  An apparatus for measuring a capacitance-type distance has long been known as a proximity sensor or the like, but a proposal for improving accuracy has been made (for example, see Patent Document 1).

In Patent Document 1, an AC signal generated from a transmission circuit is input to a sensor electrode via a resistor. Since a capacitance is formed between the sensor electrode and the object to be detected, the sensor configuration is a first-order low-pass filter based on resistance and capacitance. When the distance between the object to be detected and the sensor electrode changes, the capacitance changes, and the low-pass filter characteristic changes accordingly. A change in capacitance is detected by using the characteristic change of the primary low-pass filter.
However, the measurable distance to the object to be measured is at most several centimeters.

JP 2006-84318 A

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a distance sensor that can detect a small change in capacitance with a long distance to an object to be measured.

The present invention is a distance sensor for detecting the distance to the object to be measured by a change in capacitance between the object to be measured and the detection electrode,
An operational amplifier is provided, a detection electrode and one end of a first resistor are connected to a positive end of the operational amplifier, a negative end of the operational amplifier, an output of the operational amplifier, and one end of a first capacitor are connected, A distance sensor, wherein one end of a second resistor, the other end of the first capacitor, and the other end of the first resistor are connected, and an AC signal source is connected to the other end of the second resistor About.

  The present invention also relates to the distance sensor, characterized in that the output of the operational amplifier is connected to a shield electrode installed so as to surround the detection electrode.

  The distance sensor of the present invention includes a detection electrode in which an electrostatic capacitance formed between the object to be measured functions as a part of a component of the active filter circuit, a shield electrode to which an output voltage of the active filter circuit is applied, And a signal detection unit that detects a value corresponding to the capacitance of the detection electrode, and the signal detection unit has a frequency characteristic according to the capacitance formed by the detection electrode. And an active filter circuit that changes.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to realize a distance sensor using the frequency characteristics of the active filter circuit that changes due to a change in capacitance formed between the detection electrode and the object to be measured. Further, in the first-order low-pass filter characteristic which is the prior art, the stopband attenuation is 6 [dB / oct]. However, since the active filter circuit of the present invention has a second-order lowpass filter characteristic, the stopband attenuation is 12 [dB]. / oct]. Since the attenuation rate is large, even a slight change in capacitance greatly affects the filter characteristics, so that the accuracy is improved. In addition, by connecting the output of the active filter circuit to the shield electrode, the same potential as the detection electrode can be applied to the shield electrode, and the detection electrode and the shield electrode can be separated from each other in terms of impedance. Can be improved.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a distance sensor that can detect a small change in capacitance with a long distance to an object to be measured.

The block diagram of the distance sensor concerning embodiment of this invention. (A) The top view of the electrode arrangement | positioning in the said embodiment, (b) AA sectional view taken on the line of Fig.2 (a). The block diagram of the active filter circuit which detects the electrostatic capacitance concerning embodiment of this invention. Experimental results of measuring capacitance between electrodes AC analysis simulation circuit diagram confirming frequency characteristics change of active filter circuit 04 AC analysis simulation result to confirm frequency characteristics change of active filter circuit 04

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a distance sensor which is one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention. The distance sensor includes an electrode unit 01 that detects an object to be measured and a signal detection unit 11 that processes a detection signal.

  The electrode unit 01 includes a detection electrode 02 and a shield electrode 03.

  The signal detection unit 11 includes an active filter circuit 04, an AC signal generator 05, a detection circuit 06, an integration circuit 07, a phase adjustment circuit 08, an analog / digital conversion circuit 09, and an interface circuit 10.

  The detection electrode 02 is connected to an active filter circuit 04 built in the signal detection unit 11, and the capacitance formed between the object to be measured and the detection electrode 02 is a part of the constituent elements of the active filter circuit 04. Function as. The shield electrode 03 is applied with a voltage output from the active filter circuit 04 and acts as a shield.

  A sine wave generated from the AC signal generator 05 is input to the active filter circuit 04, and the filtered signal is applied to the detection circuit 06 while applying the shield electrode 03. A signal obtained by adjusting the phase of the output signal from the AC signal generator 05 by the phase adjustment circuit 08 is input to the detection circuit 06, and synchronous detection processing is performed on the output signal of the active filter circuit 04. The signal subjected to the synchronous detection process is input to the integration circuit 07, where it is integrated and converted from an AC signal to a DC signal. The integrated signal is input to the analog / digital conversion circuit 09 and converted into a digital signal. The digital signal is transmitted to the external system via the interface circuit 10.

  FIG. 2A shows a top view of the electrode arrangement of the electrode unit 01 of the present embodiment. The detection electrode 02 is arranged in the center, and a shield electrode 03 is installed so as to surround the detection electrode 02 with a certain distance around the detection electrode 02.

  FIG. 2B shows a cross-sectional view of the electrode part 01. The detection electrode 02 is disposed on the upper surface of the insulating substrate 12. The shield electrode 03 is installed so as to surround a surface other than the upper surface of the insulating substrate 12. The object to be measured 13 needs to be a grounded conductive material or at least partially covered with a grounded conductive material. The detection electrode 02 forms a capacitance Ca between the object to be measured 13. When the distance between the detection electrode 02 and the object to be measured 03 changes, the capacitance Ca changes. The distance to the object to be measured 03 can be detected based on the change in the capacitance Ca.

  FIG. 3 illustrates the configuration of the active filter circuit 04 in the signal detection unit 11. The active filter circuit 04 shown in the figure includes an operational amplifier 14, resistors R1 and R2, a capacitor C1, and a capacitance Ca formed between the detection electrode 02 and the device under test 13. This active filter circuit 04 filters and outputs an input signal from the AC signal generator 05. The filter characteristics are determined by the capacitance Ca formed between the detection electrode 02 and the object 13 to be measured. That is, the filter characteristic changes corresponding to the change in the distance between the detection electrode 02 and the DUT 13. When the filter characteristic changes, a change occurs in the amplitude and phase of the output waveform that is the processing result of the active filter circuit 04. This change is processed by the integration circuit 07 and detected as a voltage value.

   Next, frequency characteristics of the active filter circuit 04 will be described. First, an experiment was performed to obtain the value of the capacitance Ca formed between the detection electrode 02 and the object 13 to be measured. Next, the effectiveness of the present invention is shown by applying the capacitance value obtained from the experiment to the active filter circuit 04 and confirming the frequency characteristics of the filter by simulation.

  An experiment in which the capacitance between the electrodes is measured will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4A shows an outline of measurement of capacitance. The capacitance formed between the electrode A and the electrode B when the electrode A and the electrode B of 10 cm × 10 cm were opposed to each other and the inter-electrode distance d was changed was measured with a capacitance meter. The dielectric region between the electrodes is air. An experimental result graph is shown in FIG.4 (b). It can be confirmed that the capacitance decreases as the inter-electrode distance d increases. The capacitance is derived by the following formula (1).

式（１）中のＣは静電容量、ε0は真空中の誘電率、εrは電極間誘電体の比誘電率、Ｓは電極面積、ｄは電極間距離である。

In the formula (1), C is an electrostatic capacity, ε0 is a dielectric constant in vacuum, εr is a relative dielectric constant of an interelectrode dielectric, S is an electrode area, and d is an interelectrode distance.

  From equation (1), the capacitance decreases as the inter-electrode distance d increases, and in the region where the inter-electrode distance d is small, the change in the electrostatic capacitance with respect to the change in the inter-electrode distance d is large. It can be seen that the change in capacitance is small in the region where is large. Since these characteristics appear in FIG. 4B, it is considered that the capacitance can be accurately measured. In addition, the parasitic capacitance resulting from an experimental environment is added to the electrostatic capacitance value of an experimental result.

  An AC analysis simulation for confirming a change in frequency characteristics of the active filter circuit 04 was performed using the above experimental results. Details will be described with reference to FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 6. FIG. FIG. 5A shows a circuit diagram of the active filter circuit 04 on which simulation is performed. Note that the element constant is not limited and is an example. FIG. (B) shows a circuit diagram of a primary low-pass filter circuit for comparison. In FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b), 41p [F] and 46p [F] obtained from the experimental results are shown as the capacitance value formed between the detection electrode and the object to be measured. ] Note that the element constant is not limited and is an example. FIG. 6 shows an AC analysis simulation result.

From the above experimental results, when the area of the detection electrode 02 is 10 cm × 10 cm, the relationship between the capacitance formed with the object and the proximity distance is 41 p [F] when 2 cm and 46 p when 13 cm. [F] can be assumed. Comparing the wave number characteristics when Ca in the circuit diagram is 41 [pF] and 46 [pF] from FIG. 5 (a), it can be seen that the characteristic change of the active filter circuit 04 is larger than that of the primary low-pass filter circuit. From the above results, the present invention can detect the distance up to 13 cm more accurately than the conventional method by installing the detection electrode 02 of 10 cm × 10 cm.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 01 ... Electrode part 02 ... Detection electrode 03 ... Shield electrode 04 ... Active filter circuit 05 ... AC signal generator 06 ... Detection circuit 07 ... Integration circuit 08 ... Phase Adjustment circuit 09 ... analog / digital conversion circuit 10 ... interface circuit 11 ... signal detection unit 11 ... signal detection unit 12 ... insulating substrate 13 ... measurement object 14 ... operational amplifier
Ca: Capacitance formed between the detection electrode 02 and the object to be measured

Claims (2)

A distance sensor that detects the distance to the object to be measured by changing the capacitance between the object to be measured and the detection electrode,
An operational amplifier is provided, a detection electrode and one end of a first resistor are connected to a positive end of the operational amplifier, a negative end of the operational amplifier, an output of the operational amplifier, and one end of a first capacitor are connected, A distance sensor, wherein one end of a second resistor, the other end of the first capacitor, and the other end of the first resistor are connected, and an AC signal source is connected to the other end of the second resistor . The distance sensor according to claim 1, wherein an output of the operational amplifier is connected to a shield electrode installed so as to surround the detection electrode.

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