US3859617A - Turnable, contactless variable resistor - Google Patents

Turnable, contactless variable resistor Download PDF

Info

Publication number
US3859617A
US3859617A US399150A US39915073A US3859617A US 3859617 A US3859617 A US 3859617A US 399150 A US399150 A US 399150A US 39915073 A US39915073 A US 39915073A US 3859617 A US3859617 A US 3859617A
Authority
US
United States
Prior art keywords
supporting plate
opening
disk
variable resistor
light source
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
US399150A
Inventor
Shunzo Oka
Shunji Minami
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Panasonic Holdings Corp
Original Assignee
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd filed Critical Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US3859617A publication Critical patent/US3859617A/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

Links

Images

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L31/00—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
    • H01L31/12—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof structurally associated with, e.g. formed in or on a common substrate with, one or more electric light sources, e.g. electroluminescent light sources, and electrically or optically coupled thereto
    • H01L31/16—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof structurally associated with, e.g. formed in or on a common substrate with, one or more electric light sources, e.g. electroluminescent light sources, and electrically or optically coupled thereto the semiconductor device sensitive to radiation being controlled by the light source or sources
    • H01L31/161—Semiconductor device sensitive to radiation without a potential-jump or surface barrier, e.g. photoresistors
    • H01L31/164—Optical potentiometers

Definitions

  • ABSTRACT A turnable, contactless variable resistor is provided consisting of a light source and a photoconductive cell, capable of operation without producing noise and wear as distinguished from conventional turnable variable resistors having mechanical contact.
  • This invention relates to a turnable, contactless variable resistor, particularly one having a photoconductive cell disposed opposite the light source, and being provided with a disk having a slit or an opening for varying the amount of light from the source to the pho toconductive cell.
  • a variable resistor has a horse shoe shaped resistance body on which a contact slide is provided; consequently, the life of the resistance body is shortened due to wear by the sliding of the contact on the resistance body.
  • a light source and a photoconductive cell are disposed facing each other, and therebetween is placed a disk having a large comma like opening which controls the amount of light from the light source to the photoconductive cell.
  • the object of this invention is to provide a turnable, contactless variable resistor having a configuration similar to that of a conventional variable resistor.
  • Another object of this invention is to provide a turnable, contactless variable resistor which does not generate any noise as does the conventional variable resistor.
  • Still another object of this invention is to provide a turnable, contactless variable resistor which does not deteriorate due to wear in the course of operation in a manner similar to that of a conventional variable resistor.
  • FIG. 1 is the a cross sectional view of the embodiment of this invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the embodiment of this invention.
  • FIG. 3 is a plan view of the turnable disk of the embodiment of this invention.
  • FIG. 4 is another embodiment of this invention.
  • disk 2 having a rotating shaft 1 on one side of the disk is disposed between an upper supporting plate 3 and a lower supporting plate 4.
  • On the disk is provided a large comma-shaped opening whose center line is equi-distant from the center of the disk and whose width measured radially varies with the angular position of the disk in accordance with the desired output characteristic of the device.
  • the center line of the opening is also between the centers of holes 6 and 8 on the upper supporting plate 3 and on the lower supporting plate 4.
  • the light source 7 is placed on the hole 6 on the upper supporting plate.
  • the leakage of light from the light source is prevented by sealing the contact between the light source 7 and the upper supporting plate by means of like material resin like material (not shown).
  • the photoconductive cell 9 of CdS or CdSe or the like is placed beneath the hole 8 on the lower supporting disk. To prevent light leakage from the contact of the photoconductive cell and the lower supporting plate, the contact is sealed with a resinlike material (not shown).
  • the two supporting plates are also sealed and made as one body.
  • this turnable contactless variable resistor can be used as a variable resistor.
  • FIG. 4 is shown another embodiment of this invention.
  • On the upper supporting plate are disposed two holes 6 and 10. Beneath the hole 10 is another hole 11 on the lower supporting plate.
  • On the upper hole 10 is placed another light source 12 and beneath the hole 11 on the lower supporting plate is another photoconductive cell 13. The contacts between them are sealed as in the first embodiment (Seal is not shown). With the turn of the shaft, the resistances of two photoconductive cells can be varied.
  • this embodiment has the configuration of two contactless variable resistors.
  • a turntable, contactless variable resistor comprismg:
  • an opaque disk having a shaft that is rotatable about a given axis
  • an opaque lower supporting plate having an opening therethrough for transmitting light from the light source disposed coaxially with the hole on said upper supporting plate;
  • said disk having an opening disposed between said upper and lower supporting plates at a radial position corresponding to the radial position of the openings in said supporting plates said supporting plates being joined as one body with said one side on the outside of said body, and the conducting resistance of said photoconductive cell varying by means of a changing amount of light passing through the openings by turning said rotatable shaft.
  • a turnable, contactless variable resistor as defined in claim 1 wherein, a photoconductive cell is attached on the opening of said upper supporting plate and a light source on the opening of said lower supporting plate.
  • a turntable, contactless variable resistor as defined in claim 1 wherein:
  • the lower supporting plate has a second opening lotoconductive cells may be varied at the same time cated coaxially with said corresponding opening on in response to rotation of the shaft. said upper supporting plate; and 5.

Landscapes

  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
  • Electromagnetism (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
  • Power Engineering (AREA)
  • Adjustable Resistors (AREA)

Abstract

A turnable, contactless variable resistor is provided consisting of a light source and a photoconductive cell, capable of operation without producing noise and wear as distinguished from conventional turnable variable resistors having mechanical contact.

Description

Jan. 7, 1975 TURNABLE, CONTACTLESS VARIABLE RESISTOR Inventors: Shunzo Oka; Shunji Minami, both of Osaka, Japan Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial (10., Ltd., Kadoma-shi, Osaka-fu, Japan Filed: Sept. 20, 1973 Appl. No.: 399,150
Foreign Application Priority Data Sept 26, 1972 Japan 47-112689 [U] US. Cl. 338/15, 250/211 K Int. Cl HOlc 7/08 Field of Search 338/15, 18; 250/211 K,
Primary Examiner C. L. Albritton Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Burgess, Ryan & Wayne 5 7] ABSTRACT A turnable, contactless variable resistor is provided consisting of a light source and a photoconductive cell, capable of operation without producing noise and wear as distinguished from conventional turnable variable resistors having mechanical contact.
5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTED JAN 71975 FIG 2 FIG.
FIG. 4
TURNABLE, CONTACTLESS VARIABLE RESISTOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:
This invention relates to a turnable, contactless variable resistor, particularly one having a photoconductive cell disposed opposite the light source, and being provided with a disk having a slit or an opening for varying the amount of light from the source to the pho toconductive cell.
In general, a variable resistor has a horse shoe shaped resistance body on which a contact slide is provided; consequently, the life of the resistance body is shortened due to wear by the sliding of the contact on the resistance body.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION:
In accordance with the invention, a light source and a photoconductive cell are disposed facing each other, and therebetween is placed a disk having a large comma like opening which controls the amount of light from the light source to the photoconductive cell.
The object of this invention is to provide a turnable, contactless variable resistor having a configuration similar to that of a conventional variable resistor.
Another object of this invention is to provide a turnable, contactless variable resistor which does not generate any noise as does the conventional variable resistor.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a turnable, contactless variable resistor which does not deteriorate due to wear in the course of operation in a manner similar to that of a conventional variable resistor.
Further objects and the features of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as the description thereof proceeds.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention may be more readily described by reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is the a cross sectional view of the embodiment of this invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the embodiment of this invention.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the turnable disk of the embodiment of this invention.
FIG. 4 is another embodiment of this invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to figures, disk 2 having a rotating shaft 1 on one side of the disk is disposed between an upper supporting plate 3 and a lower supporting plate 4. On the disk is provided a large comma-shaped opening whose center line is equi-distant from the center of the disk and whose width measured radially varies with the angular position of the disk in accordance with the desired output characteristic of the device. The center line of the opening is also between the centers of holes 6 and 8 on the upper supporting plate 3 and on the lower supporting plate 4. The light source 7 is placed on the hole 6 on the upper supporting plate. The leakage of light from the light source is prevented by sealing the contact between the light source 7 and the upper supporting plate by means of like material resin like material (not shown). The photoconductive cell 9 of CdS or CdSe or the like is placed beneath the hole 8 on the lower supporting disk. To prevent light leakage from the contact of the photoconductive cell and the lower supporting plate, the contact is sealed with a resinlike material (not shown). The two supporting plates are also sealed and made as one body.
Now the operation of the turnable, contactless variable resistor is described. When the rotating shaft 1 is turned, the amount of light from the light source 7 is varied by the opening 5; and the amount of the light from the light source to the photoconductive cell changes according to the area of opening. The resistance of the photoconductive cell changes with the amount of the light received. Thus, with the turn of the shaft 1, this turnable contactless variable resistor can be used as a variable resistor.
In FIG. 4 is shown another embodiment of this invention. On the upper supporting plate are disposed two holes 6 and 10. Beneath the hole 10 is another hole 11 on the lower supporting plate. On the upper hole 10 is placed another light source 12 and beneath the hole 11 on the lower supporting plate is another photoconductive cell 13. The contacts between them are sealed as in the first embodiment (Seal is not shown). With the turn of the shaft, the resistances of two photoconductive cells can be varied. Thus, this embodiment has the configuration of two contactless variable resistors.
What is claimed is:
l. A turntable, contactless variable resistor comprismg:
an opaque disk having a shaft that is rotatable about a given axis;
an opaque upper supporting plate having an opening therethrough for transmitting light and a bearing for the free turning of said disk about the shaft axis;
a light source fixed to the upper supporting plate and completely on one side thereof;
an opaque lower supporting plate having an opening therethrough for transmitting light from the light source disposed coaxially with the hole on said upper supporting plate;
a photoconductive cell fixed to the opening of said lower supporting plate and completely one one side thereof; and
said disk having an opening disposed between said upper and lower supporting plates at a radial position corresponding to the radial position of the openings in said supporting plates said supporting plates being joined as one body with said one side on the outside of said body, and the conducting resistance of said photoconductive cell varying by means of a changing amount of light passing through the openings by turning said rotatable shaft.
2. A turnable, contactless variable resistor as defined in claim 1 wherein, a photoconductive cell is attached on the opening of said upper supporting plate and a light source on the opening of said lower supporting plate.
3. A turnable, contactless variable resistor as defined in claim 1 wherein, the opening of the disk is a large comma like shape, whose radial distance varies with the angular displacement of the disk about the shaft axis.
4. A turntable, contactless variable resistor as defined in claim 1 wherein:
the upper supporting plate has a second opening for transmitting light;
3 4 the lower supporting plate has a second opening lotoconductive cells may be varied at the same time cated coaxially with said corresponding opening on in response to rotation of the shaft. said upper supporting plate; and 5. A turntable, contactless variable resistor as dea second light source and a second photoconductive fined in claim 4 wherein, the opening of the disk is a cell are attached in positions corresponding to 5 large comma-like shape, whose width measured radithose associated with said first light source and ally varies with angular displacement of the disk about photoconductive cell; the shaft axis.
whereby the resistances of the first and second pho- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CRRECTEON Patent 3,859,617 Dated January 7, 1975 Inventor(s) Shunzo et 8-1 It is certified that error appears inthe above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:
Column 1, line 65; cancel "like material".
Column 2, line 61; change "radial distance" to --width measured radially-.
Signed and sealed this 27th day of May 1975.
(SEAL) Attest:
C. MARSHALL DANN RUTH C. MASON Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer and Trademarks UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 318591617 D d January 7, 1975 Inventor(s) Shunzo -r et -1 It is certified that error appears inthe above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:
Column 1, line 65: cancel "like material".
Column 2, line 61: change "radial distance" to --width measured radially-.
line 62: cancel "the" (first occurrence) Signed and sealed this 27th day of May 1975.
($EAL) Attest:
C. MARSHALL DANN RUTH C. MASON Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer and Trademarks

Claims (5)

1. A turntable, contactless variable resistor comprising: an opaque disk having a shaft that is rotatable about a given axis; an opaque upper supporting plate having an opening therethrough for transmitting light and a bearing for the free turning of said disk about the shaft axis; a light source fixed to the upper supporting plate and completely on one side thereof; an opaque lower supporting plate having an opening therethrough for transmitting light from the light source disposed coaxially with the hole on said upper supporting plate; a photoconductive cell fixed to the opening of said lower supporting plate and completely one one side thereof; and said disk having an opening disposed between said upper and lower supporting plates at a radial position corresponding to the radial position of the openings in said supporting plates said supporting plates being joined as one body with said one side on the outside of said body, and the conducting resistance of said photoconductive cell varying by means of a changing amount of light passing through the openings by turning said rotatable shaft.
2. A turnable, contactless variable resistor as defined in claim 1 wherein, a photoconductive cell is attached on the opening of said upper supporting plate and a light source on the opening of said lower supporting plate.
3. A turnable, contactless variable resistor as defined in claim 1 wherein, the opening of the disk is a large comma like shape, whose radial distance varies with the angular displacement of the disk about the shaft axis.
4. A turntable, contactless variable resistor as defined in claim 1 wherein: the upper supporting plate has a second opening for transmitting light; the lower supporting plate has a second opening located coaxially with said corresponding opening on said upper supporting plate; and a second light source and a second photoconductive cell are attached in positions corresponding to those associated with said first light source and photoconductive cell; whereby the resistances of the first and second photoconductive cells may be varied at the same time in response to rotation of the shaft.
5. A turntable, contactless variable resistor as defined in claim 4 wherein, the opening of the disk is a large comma-like shape, whose width measured radially varies with angular displacement of the disk about the shaft axis.
US399150A 1972-09-26 1973-09-20 Turnable, contactless variable resistor Expired - Lifetime US3859617A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP1972112689U JPS4967929U (en) 1972-09-26 1972-09-26

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3859617A true US3859617A (en) 1975-01-07

Family

ID=14593005

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US399150A Expired - Lifetime US3859617A (en) 1972-09-26 1973-09-20 Turnable, contactless variable resistor

Country Status (3)

Country Link
US (1) US3859617A (en)
JP (1) JPS4967929U (en)
CA (1) CA1009325A (en)

Cited By (16)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4227079A (en) * 1978-12-15 1980-10-07 Hewlett-Packard Company Multipath fine positioning beam director
US4271354A (en) * 1979-08-09 1981-06-02 Shs Research Labs, Inc. Manual belt electro-optical control
US4284885A (en) * 1978-05-26 1981-08-18 Honeywell Inc. Optical potentiometer
US4459523A (en) * 1983-03-11 1984-07-10 Tipper Tie, Inc. Motor speed control
US4796000A (en) * 1986-04-28 1989-01-03 David N. Friedland Optical potentiometer
US4859845A (en) * 1986-04-15 1989-08-22 Fanuc Ltd. Optical rotary encoder with sub-code patterns
US4917360A (en) * 1986-08-29 1990-04-17 Kabushiki Kaisha Kito Operating device for electric chain block
US5049827A (en) * 1990-01-12 1991-09-17 Jet Electronics & Technology Inc. Non-contacting potentiometer
US5343186A (en) * 1993-04-29 1994-08-30 Sony Electronics Inc. Variable resistor having the capacity to produce a fader start signal output
US5376785A (en) * 1992-10-02 1994-12-27 Chin; Philip K. Optical displacement sensor utilizing optical diffusion
US5572039A (en) * 1992-02-29 1996-11-05 Rolls-Royce Power Engineering Plc Method and apparatus for observing a gap
US5611731A (en) * 1995-09-08 1997-03-18 Thrustmaster, Inc. Video pinball machine controller having an optical accelerometer for detecting slide and tilt
US6015970A (en) * 1997-12-11 2000-01-18 Motorola, Inc. Switch assembly incorporating optical control function
US6617958B1 (en) * 2002-04-24 2003-09-09 Taiwan Alpha Electronic Co., Ltd. Optical potentiometer
US20050133696A1 (en) * 2003-12-18 2005-06-23 Orrico Mario M. Non-contact rotary and linear sensor devices
US20060266939A1 (en) * 2005-05-26 2006-11-30 Denso Corporation Optical sensor

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS5645157Y2 (en) * 1976-12-24 1981-10-22
JPS5645158Y2 (en) * 1976-12-24 1981-10-22

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3102227A (en) * 1957-03-09 1963-08-27 Philips Corp Arrangement for deriving an adjustable partial voltage from an electric signal voltage
US3171034A (en) * 1961-12-21 1965-02-23 Tomasulo Walter Electro-optical control
US3358150A (en) * 1964-11-27 1967-12-12 Steven E Summer Photoelectric potentiometer with translucent shaft light valve

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3102227A (en) * 1957-03-09 1963-08-27 Philips Corp Arrangement for deriving an adjustable partial voltage from an electric signal voltage
US3171034A (en) * 1961-12-21 1965-02-23 Tomasulo Walter Electro-optical control
US3358150A (en) * 1964-11-27 1967-12-12 Steven E Summer Photoelectric potentiometer with translucent shaft light valve

Cited By (20)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4284885A (en) * 1978-05-26 1981-08-18 Honeywell Inc. Optical potentiometer
US4227079A (en) * 1978-12-15 1980-10-07 Hewlett-Packard Company Multipath fine positioning beam director
US4271354A (en) * 1979-08-09 1981-06-02 Shs Research Labs, Inc. Manual belt electro-optical control
US4459523A (en) * 1983-03-11 1984-07-10 Tipper Tie, Inc. Motor speed control
US4859845A (en) * 1986-04-15 1989-08-22 Fanuc Ltd. Optical rotary encoder with sub-code patterns
US4796000A (en) * 1986-04-28 1989-01-03 David N. Friedland Optical potentiometer
US4917360A (en) * 1986-08-29 1990-04-17 Kabushiki Kaisha Kito Operating device for electric chain block
US5049827A (en) * 1990-01-12 1991-09-17 Jet Electronics & Technology Inc. Non-contacting potentiometer
US5572039A (en) * 1992-02-29 1996-11-05 Rolls-Royce Power Engineering Plc Method and apparatus for observing a gap
US5376785A (en) * 1992-10-02 1994-12-27 Chin; Philip K. Optical displacement sensor utilizing optical diffusion
US5343186A (en) * 1993-04-29 1994-08-30 Sony Electronics Inc. Variable resistor having the capacity to produce a fader start signal output
US5611731A (en) * 1995-09-08 1997-03-18 Thrustmaster, Inc. Video pinball machine controller having an optical accelerometer for detecting slide and tilt
US6015970A (en) * 1997-12-11 2000-01-18 Motorola, Inc. Switch assembly incorporating optical control function
US6617958B1 (en) * 2002-04-24 2003-09-09 Taiwan Alpha Electronic Co., Ltd. Optical potentiometer
US20050133696A1 (en) * 2003-12-18 2005-06-23 Orrico Mario M. Non-contact rotary and linear sensor devices
US6974949B2 (en) 2003-12-18 2005-12-13 Illinois Tool Works Inc. Position sensor with an optical member of varying thickness
US20060266939A1 (en) * 2005-05-26 2006-11-30 Denso Corporation Optical sensor
US7402792B2 (en) * 2005-05-26 2008-07-22 Denso Corporation Optical sensor with rotary shaft-driven light intercepting member
CN100425951C (en) * 2005-05-26 2008-10-15 株式会社电装 Optical sensor
KR100873422B1 (en) * 2005-05-26 2008-12-11 가부시키가이샤 덴소 Optical sensor

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPS4967929U (en) 1974-06-13
CA1009325A (en) 1977-04-26

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US3859617A (en) Turnable, contactless variable resistor
US2685082A (en) Position indicating device
US3112464A (en) Figure
US3999021A (en) Thumbwheel rotary wafer switch having odd number detent positions and rotary wafer printed circuit pattern
US3848985A (en) Automatic exposure control system
US3965454A (en) Means lowering contact resistance in variable resistance control
US4163964A (en) Pneumatic or hydraulic pressure sensors with several thresholds of response
US3956681A (en) Back gauge position feed back signal generation
US3564476A (en) Electrical component including intrinsically equalized resistances
US4628199A (en) Rotary noiseless detent switch
ES435654A1 (en) Single turn variable resistance device having a split shaft rotor
KR101862140B1 (en) Magnetic knob assembly
US3184696A (en) Variable resistor
US3676823A (en) Miniature variable resistor with guide means for sliding contacts
JPH11305307A (en) Set dial for camera
US2271531A (en) Aircraft flight control
US3626349A (en) Switching arrangement
ES252031U (en) Thick film variable resistor
US2073849A (en) Rheostat or adjustable resistance and potentiometer with contact members
TWI848521B (en) Electronic water meter and sensing disk thereof as well as manufacturing method of the sensing disk
GB1303263A (en)
KR880002579Y1 (en) Two step variable resistor
JPS61132812A (en) Displacement detecting device
CN101345106A (en) Potentiometer circuit
JPS6233367Y2 (en)