Analog encoder method for determining distance moved

• Main Authors: WRITT JOHN T, ADKINS CHRISTOPHER A, MARRA MICHAEL A.III
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 28.04.2005
• Edition: 7
• Subjects: ARRANGEMENTS FOR MEASURING TWO OR MORE VARIABLES NOT COVEREDIN A SINGLE OTHER SUBCLASS; CONVEYING; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS,CABLES; i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; LINING MACHINES; MEASURING; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS; MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEARDIMENSIONS; MEASURING NOT SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR A SPECIFIC VARIABLE; MEASURING OR TESTING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; PACKING; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICS; PRINTING; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS; STAMPS; STORING; TARIFF METERING APPARATUS; TESTING; TRANSPORTING; TYPEWRITERS

A method for determining the distance moved by a component (such as a printer paper-feed roller) operatively coupled to an analog encoder having analog first and second output signals. At least one of a first inverse signal which is the inverse of the first output signal and a second inverse signal which is the inverse of the second output signal is calculated. The distance moved by the component from a previous position is calculated using one of an ascending or descending region of the first or second output signal, wherein the previous position is the position of the component corresponding to a crossover level of two signals chosen from the group consisting of the first output signal, the second output signal, and the at-least-one inverse signal.