Patent attributes
A magnetic angular position sensor system is described herein. According to one exemplary embodiment the angular position sensor system comprises a shaft rotatable around a rotation axis, wherein the shaft has a soft magnetic shaft end portion. The system further comprises a sensor chip spaced apart from the shaft end portion in an axial direction and defining a sensor plane, which is substantially perpendicular to the rotation axis. At least four magnetic field sensor elements are integrated in the sensor chip, wherein two of the magnetic field sensor elements are spaced apart from each other and are only sensitive to magnetic field components in a first direction and wherein two of the magnetic field sensor elements are spaced apart from each other and are only sensitive to magnetic field components in a second direction, whereby the first and the second direction are mutually non-parallel and the first and the second direction being perpendicular to the rotation axis. Moreover, the system comprises a magnetic field source that magnetizes the shaft end portion, wherein the shaft end portion is formed such that a magnetic field in the sensor plane, which is caused by the magnetic field source, is rotationally symmetric with order N, wherein N is a finite integer number ≥1. The system also comprises circuitry that is coupled to the at least four magnetic field sensor elements and configured to calculate an angular position of the shaft by combining output signals of the at least four magnetic field sensor elements.
