Patent ID: 7474090

Claim:
A position sensor assembly comprising: a rhombus-shaped magnet; and at least one magnetic flux density sensor, wherein rotation of the rhombus-shaped magnet is detected by the at least one magnetic flux density sensor, wherein the at least one magnetic flux density sensor includes three Hall sensors A, B, and C positioned 120 degrees apart from each other about a circular pattern circumscribed around the rhombus-shaped magnet, and wherein position information is extracted by measuring output signals V from the Hall sensors A, B, C, and employing the following algorithm to determine position θ at different intervals: Position Extraction Algorithm Range A B C θ (deg) 0-60 + − + 60 ⁢ V A V C + V A 60-120 + − − 60 ⁢ ( V B + 2 ⁢ V C ) V B + V C 120-180 + + − 60 ⁢ ( 2 ⁢ V A + 3 ⁢ V B ) V A + V B 180-240 − + − 60 ⁢ ( 3 ⁢ V C + 4 ⁢ V A ) V C + V A 240-300 − + + 60 ⁢ ( 4 ⁢ V B + 5 ⁢ V C ) V B + V C 300-360 − − + 60 ⁢ ( 5 ⁢ V A + 6 ⁢ V B ) V A + V B .