Abstract:
A method for a quantitative detection of a linear movement or rotary movement. The method includes the steps of emitting radiation from at least two light emitters in a pulsed mode at a same clock frequency or different clock frequencies and detecting the radiation from the two light emitters by a detection device. It furthermore includes the steps of increasingly shadowing the radiations by a movable grid device or separating signals originating from different light emitters by an evaluation circuit coupled to said detection device.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/401,021, filed Sep. 21, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,313,460. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a method for a quantitative detection of a linear and rotary movement. The method uses an optical device that contains a light emission device, a grid device containing translucent areas and opaque areas, a detection device and an evaluation circuit coupled to the detection device. 
     Optical encoders are used to detect the rotation angle or, respectively, a length and a direction of a rotary movement or, respectively, linear movement of moving bodies. The essential components of such a device are the emitter system, a grid plate, normally a grid disk or a grid straight edge, and the detector system. The emitter system normally contains a light-emitting diode. The light beam emitted from the laser diode is modulated by the grid plate. The grid plate is connected to a moving body and has a periodic opening pattern. The detector system detects the transmitter signal (modulated by the grid plate) from the laser diode and, at the output, and supplies information relating to the light beam and the direction of movement. 
     Previous versions of optical encoders contain a light-emitting diode having additional optics, the grid plate and a detector array with evaluation logic. At the emitter end, a light beam is produced, which illuminates the detector array as uniformly as possible. The detector array contains at least two photodiodes, which are disposed in the direction of a linear movement, or tangentially with respect to a rotary movement. The distance between the photodiodes is one quarter of the grid disk period, and the signals from two adjacent photodiodes are phase-shifted through 90° with respect to one another. The output signals from the photodiodes are suitably processed in an evaluation circuit in order to supply the position and direction of movement. 
     Two photodiodes disposed in a line are sufficient to define the position and direction. However, embodiments having four photodiodes disposed in a line are widely used in the prior art, for example as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,525. This configuration and the evaluation circuit which is coupled to the photodiodes additionally allow compensation for light intensity fluctuations in the laser diode. 
     The previous systems are thus limited to a configuration of a plurality of photo receivers on the detector side. Such a limitation may be disadvantageous for several reasons. It is thus of primary importance for an optical encoder to be constructed in a space-saving manner. This requirement is thus difficult to satisfy from the start on the detector side. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a method for a quantitative detection of a linear and rotary movement which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of it the prior art devices of this general type, whose detector side can be manufactured more easily. In particular, an object of the present invention is to specify such a device that can be operated with only one photo receiver. 
     With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, an optical device for quantitative detection of linear or rotary movements. The optical device has a light emission device, a grid device containing translucent areas and opaque areas, and a detection device. An evaluation circuit is provided which is coupled to the detection device. The light emission device has at least two light emitters that are disposed alongside one another in the direction of a linear movement or tangentially with respect to a rotary movement. The light emitters can be actuated in a pulsed mode at the same or different clock frequencies, and in that their radiation strikes the detector alternately. The detection device has a photo receiver that is of such a size and is positioned such that the radiation from all the light emitters can be detected by it and the evaluation circuit is configured for separating the signals which originate from different light emitters. From the detected signals the position and the movement direction can be derived. 
     The photo receiver and the evaluation circuit are preferably integrated in a single semiconductor chip. 
     The clock frequency which is applied to the emitters is much higher than the modulation frequency of the grid plate, that is to say the frequency at which the light beams normally pass through the grid openings when the moving body is moving. 
     In a first embodiment of the invention, a control device is provided for the light emitters, which is configured in such a manner that it actuates the light emitters with control pulses at the same clock frequency, but with a defined phase shift which may be, for example, 90°. 
     In a second embodiment of the invention, a control device is provided for the light emitters, which is configured such that it actuates the light emitters with control impulses at a different clock frequency. 
     Vertical resonator light emission devices, in particular vertical cavity surface emitting lasers are advantageously used as the light emitters, since they are distinguished by particularly low divergence and a high light yield. 
     The optical encoder according to the invention has, in particular, the advantage that it can be operated with a single photo receiver. 
     Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims. 
     Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a method for a quantitative detection of a linear and rotary movement, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims. 
     The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1A is a perspective view of one exemplary embodiment of an optical device according to the invention; 
     FIG. 1B is a plan view of the optical device shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 2 is a diagram of light pulse trains of emitters according to a first embodiment of the invention; and 
     FIG. 3 is a diagram of light pulse trains of the emitters according to a second embodiment of the invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In all the figures of the drawing, sub-features and integral parts that correspond to one another bear the same reference symbol in each case. Referring now to the figures of the drawing in detail and first, particularly, to FIG. 1A thereof, there is shown one exemplary embodiment of an optical encoder according to the invention. An emission device  1  has two light emitters  11  and  12 , which emit light beams  11 A and  12 A. 
     The light emitters  11  and  12  are preferably vertical resonator laser diodes such as vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL)), since these are distinguished by particularly good emission characteristics, in particular low divergence and a high light yield. In this case, there is no need for any other optical elements, such as lenses to focus the laser radiation. 
     The light beams  11 A and  12 A are used to define a length and direction of a rotary or linear movement of a moving body. For this purpose, the light beams  11   a  and  12 A pass through a grid plate  2 , which is attached to the moving body and at the same time images its movement. For detecting rotary movements, the grid plate  2  is generally a circular grid disk, it and for detecting linear movements it is a grid straight edge. The illustration shows a detail of the grid plate  2  that is moving, for example, as shown in the direction of the arrow. The grid plate  2  has a periodic opening pattern containing translucent areas  21 , grid openings, and opaque areas  22 . When the grid plate  2  is in certain positions, the light beams  11 A and  12 A can pass completely through the translucent areas  21 , and then arrive at a photo receiver  3 . The receiving area of the photo receiver  3  is sufficiently large to be able to detect both light beams  11 A,  12 A. The photo receiver  3  is connected to an evaluation circuit  4  in which signals are processed to form output signals, which supply the position and direction of movement information. The evaluation circuit  4  and the photo receiver  3  can be integrated in a single semiconductor chip as shown in dashed lines. 
     FIG. 1B shows a plan view of the configuration shown in FIG.  1 A. The illustration shows a position of the grid plate  2  in which both light beams emitted by the light emitters  11  and  12  (which are shown shaded) pass through the grid opening  21  and arrive at the receiving area of the photo receiver  3 . As can be seen, a total width of the laser diodes (light emitters)  11  and  12  in the movement direction corresponds approximately to a width of the grid opening  21 . The laser diodes  11 ,  12  are thus just located within the grid opening  21 . In other words, a distance between the laser diodes  11 ,  12 , that is to say between their respective front edges, is approximately one quarter of a period of the grid disk. 
     If the grid plate  2  now moves in a specific direction, then the radiation from one of the laser diodes  11 ,  12  is shadowed to an ever greater extent by one of the opaque areas  22 , while the radiation from the other laser diode still passes through completely. In order to allow this to be detected, it is necessary to separate the timing of the signals from the laser diodes  11 ,  12  by the evaluation circuit  4 . 
     For this purpose, the laser diodes  11 ,  12  are actuated in the pulsed mode by a control device  7 , in order thus to allow the signals to be separated in the evaluation circuit  4 . The signal frequency is very many times greater than the modulation frequency of the grid disk, that is to say the frequency at which the light beams pass through the grid openings  21  as a result of the movement of the moving body. 
     FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the pulsed mode. In this case, the laser diodes  11 ,  12  are actuated at the same clock frequency, but the pulse train from the laser diode  12  has a phase lag of 90° in comparison with the pulse train from the laser diode  11 . The evaluation circuit  4  thus receives a sequence of two pulses, which follow one another at a short interval, from the photo receiver  3  during each cycle. The leading-phase and lagging-phase pulses are supplied to different evaluation channels in the evaluation circuit  4 . The two evaluation channels thus contain signals whose phases are shifted through 90° in the time domain. 
     In FIG. 2, the pulse levels of both pulse trains are equal and are constant with time, that it so say the grid disk  2  is stationary. If it is now set in motion, then the intensity of one of the two pulse trains decreases, since the light beam  11 A,  12 A from the corresponding laser diode  11 ,  12  is increasingly shadowed. Since the evaluation circuit  4  knows that the leading-phase pulse originates from the laser diode  11 , it can deduce the direction of the movement by finding which pulse train is weaker. In addition, it can determine the speed and the length of the movement from the rate at which the intensity is reduced and the further profile of the signals. 
     The distribution of the pulses between the various evaluation channels can be carried out by an electronic changeover switch contained in the evaluation circuit  4 , for example using a flip-flop. 
     FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the pulsed mode. In this case, the laser diodes  11 ,  12  are actuated at different clock frequencies. For example, as indicated, the laser diode  11  is actuated at a first frequency f 1  and the laser diode  12  at a second frequency f 2  which is higher by a factor of 2 than the frequency f 1 . In this case as well, the pulse trains are supplied to different evaluation channels. The pulse trains can be separated, for example, by bandpass filters  6 . 
     In this variant, the evaluation circuit  4  identifies the laser diodes  11 ,  12  from the pulse frequency and can thus make a statement on the movement direction. 
     The invention is not limited to the use of only two light emitters  11 ,  12 . It is also possible to use more than two light emitters disposed in a line which, for example, emit pulse trains according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, which are successively phase-shifted through 90° with respect to one another, or according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, which have a corresponding number of different clock frequencies.