
3064
HALL-EFFECT
GEAR-TOOTH SENSOR
—AC COUPLED
www.allegromicro.com
5
Figure 2
B = +15 G
B – B
GEAR
4300 G
4150 G
150 G
0 G
-150 G
B = 0 G
V
OUT(SAT)
V
OUT
B & B
OUTPUT DUTY CYCLE
≈
50%
Dwg. WH-003-3
DIRECTION
OF ROTATION
LEADING
EDGE
TRAILING
EDGE
NORTH
SOUTH
E2
E1
(a)
(b)
(c)
low) when B
E1
- B
E2
< B
RP
. The difference between B
OP
and
B
RP
is the hysteresis of the device.
Note that powering up in the absence of a differential
magnetic field (less than the device B
OP
and higher than the
device B
RP
) will allow an indeterminate output state. The
correct output state is warranted after the first excursion beyond
B
OP
or B
RP
.
Figure 2 relates the output state of a back-biased sensor IC,
with switching characteristics shown in Figure 1, to the target
gear profile and position. Assume a north pole back-bias
configuration (equivalent to a south pole at the face of the
device). The motion of the gear produces a phase-shifted field
at E1 and E2 (Figure 2(a)); internal conditioning circuitry
subtracts the fields at the two elements (Figure 2(b)); this
differential field is band-pass filtered to remove dc offset
components and then fed into a Schmitt trigger; the Schmitt
trigger switches the output transistor at the thresholds B
OP
and
B
RP
. As shown (Figure 2(c)), the IC output is low whenever
sensor E2 faces a (ferrous) gear tooth and sensor E1 faces air.
The output is high when sensor E1 faces air and sensor E2 faces
a ferrous target.
AC-Coupled Operation.
Steady-state magnet and
system offsets are eliminated using an on-chip differential band-
pass filter. The lower frequency cut-off of this patented filter is
set using an external capacitor, the value of which can range
from 0.01
μ
F to 10
μ
F. The high-frequency cut-off of this filter
is set at 30 kHz by an internal integrated capacitor.
The differential structure of this filter improves the ability
of the IC to reject single-ended noise on the ground or supply
line and, as a result, makes it more resistant to radio-frequency
and electromagnetic interference typically seen in hostile
remote-sensing environments. This filter configuration also
increases system tolerance to capacitor degradation at high
temperatures, allowing the use of an inexpensive external
ceramic capacitor.
Low-Frequency Operation.
Low-frequency operation
of the sensor is set by the value of an external capacitor.
Ideally, the differential flux density range (determined by the
applied target) vs. air gap assumes a perfect sinusoidal input.
Figure 3 provides the low-frequency cut-off (-3 dB point) of the
filter as a function of capacitance value. This information
should be used with care. In reality, when used with gear teeth,
Figure 3
0.1
1.0
10
1.0
10
CAPACITANCE IN
μ
F
100
0.1
0.01
Dwg. GH-025
L
1 k
APPLICATIONS INFORMATION (cont’d)