The present invention relates to the field of electronic circuits components and particularly to potentiometers and a method for calibrating individual potentiometers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is common to use a potentiometer to vary the electrical resistance at a particular point in an electric circuit over a range determined by the potentiometer. It is common knowledge that potentiometers are made from an electrically resistive material generally having a connection point at each end thus providing a fixed electrical resistance between the two ends. A ^■ 'wiper" which is slidably movable between the two ends and also includes a connection point provides a selectively variable resistance ranging from approximately zero to the full resistance of the potentiometer. Potentiometers are generally designated by their maximum electrical resistance, such as IK, 5K, 10K, 100K ohms, etc. Potentiometers are further designated by tolerance ranges such as ±20%, ±10%, ±5% or ±1%. It is obviously less expensive to produce a potentiometer having a ±20% tolerance than to produce a potentiometer having a ±5% tolerance. It is also common for the linearity of the resistance to vary over the length of the resistive material used in the potentiometer such that equal movements of the

wiper do not always produce equal changes in resistance. Each potentiometer, regardless of its manufacturing technique, stated tolerance and quality control, has individual characteristics with respect to its maximum electrical resistance, linearity and with respect to the arc or length of travel of the wiper between its maximum and minimum resistance. In many applications the potentiometer is used to provide a variable electrical resistance that is critical to the proper operation of the electrical circuit in which it is installed. The potentiometer is generally provided with a pointer or indicator which provides an indication of the relative position of the wiper with respect to the resistive material of the potentiometer. The indicator interfaces with an indicia in the form of numbers, letters or graduation marks on a plate in fixed relationship with the potentiometer. This interface provides a relative indication of the electrical resistance at the wiper connection and thereby the resistance of the potentiometer. It is generally understood that varying the potentiometer resistance changes the output or function of the circuit in which it is installed. Therefore, in situations where the electrical resistance of the potentiometer is critical to the performance of the circuit, the interface relationship between the indicator and the indicia must accurately indicate the true electrical resistance of the potentiometer or the true circuit function. This can require further calibration of the potentiometer. Calibration is generally

accomplished by adding a fixed value resistor, a laser trimmable resistor, a manually adjustable trimmer resistor or other form of selectively variable resistance in series with the potentiometer. The trimmer resistor is then manually adjusted such that the potentiometer resistance is calibrated to the desired value with respect to the interface between the indicator and indicia. However, a trimming resistor can only adjust the potentiometer value at one point and can not adjust for nonlinearity of the resistive material. These calibration methods generally require access to the printed circuit board on which the fixed resistor or trimmer resistor are attached after the device is fully assembled or at least after the indicia is in its final relationship with the potentiometer indicator. These methods of calibration also add both material and labor cost to the device being manufactured. It is therefore desirable to provide a fast, accurate and inexpensive method of calibrating each individual potentiometer with respect to its associated indicator and indicia without adding any additional electrical components to the electrical circuit or requiring access to the circuit boards enclosed within the device after assembly has been completed. It would also be desirable to calibrate a low cost potentiometer having a tolerance of ±20% for use in situations where a more expensive potentiometer having a tolerance of ±5% or less is required, or to correct nonlinearity of the resistive material throughout the

potentiometer resistance range. It would also be desirable to calibrate potentiometer such that any number of desired circuit outputs or functions are accurately indicated by the interface between the indicator and the indicia.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention discloses a method of calibrating each potentiometer individually with respect to the interface between an associated indicator and an associated indicia. The indicator is in fixed relationship with a wiper and the indicia is in fixed relationship with the potentiometer. This calibration method is unique to each potentiometer and is accomplished without requiring any additional electronic potentiometer circuit components, assembly labor or access to internal electrical components after assembly is completed. The calibration method involves measuring the resistance of the potentiometer at its extreme positions and at preselected positions of the wiper between the extreme positions when a preselected voltage is applied to the potentiometer. Each measured resistance value is compared to a group of preselected resistance value ranges associated with the preselected position of the wiper of that measured resistance value. An index number is assigned to the measured value depending on which of the preselected resistance value ranges that measured value falls within. The index numbers are used to calculate the beginning, ending and intermediate graduation

mark locations or numeral positions for the indicia associated with that particular potentiometer. The calculated indicia is then applied to a plate which is attached to the potentiometer or the housing enclosing the potentiometer. The plate is in fixed relationship with a known location on the potentiometer or a known position of the potentiometer within the housing. The indicator, being in fixed relationship with the wiper thereby provides an accurate and individually calibrated indication of the resistance of that particular potentiometer without requiring additional electronic components or adjustments. This method can also be used calibrate a particular circuit function controlled by the potentiometer by measuring critical circuit values controlled by that potentiometer and using the index numbers determined by those measured values to determine the indicia graduation placement and thereby the accurate calibration of that particular potentiometer to its associated circuit functions.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the following detailed description, claims and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is an isometric view of a potentiometer with an indicator attached to the control shaft and calibration indicia on a plate assembled in a fixed relation to a known location on the potentiometer.

Figure 2 is an exploded view of the potentiometer of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a top view of a housing enclosing a potentiometer illustrating a calibrated indicia label attached to the housing and the potentiometer indicator.

Figure 4 is a graphical illustration of the electrical angle of a potentiometer.

Figure 5 is a typical example of preselected maximum resistance ranges and their associated index numbers associated with a 100K ±5% potentiometer.

Figure 6 is a typical example of preselected electrical angle ranges and their associated index numbers.

Figure 7 is a graph comparing the potentiometer resistance to control shaft rotation angle for three hypothetical potentiometers having the same published resistance value range.

Before one embodiment of the invention is explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or being carried out in various other ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Figure 1 illustrates a potentiometer assembly generally indicated by reference numeral 10. The assembly 10 includes a potentiometer 14, a plate 18 on which indicia 22 has been placed, and an indicator 26 for pointing to the indicia 22 as a general indication of the resistance value to which the potentiometer 14 has been adjusted.

Figure 2 is an exploded view of the assembly 10. As can be clearly seen, the plate 18 includes a method of orienting its position with respect to the potentiometer 14. This method can be a slot 30 in a portion of the potentiometer 14 which corresponds with a tab 34 on the plate 18 or any similar method such as an alignment pin and hole or various corresponding flat surfaces or irregular shapes located on the potentiometer 14 and plate 18 as long as the plate 18 when installed is maintained in a known fixed relationship with the potentiometer 14. The potentiometer 14 also includes a control shaft 38 attached to a wiper inside the potentiometer 14. The control shaft 38 is selectively rotatable between a full clockwise position and a full counter clockwise position. In moving between these two positions the wiper slidingly engages a resistive element, also inside the potentiometer 14, and thereby varies the electrical resistance between a selected end of the resistive element and the wiper. The indicator 26 is attached to the control shaft 38 such that it maintains a known fixed relationship with the wiper. The

method of maintaining the fixed relationship between the indicator 26 and wiper can be similar to any of the methods described above for maintaining the fixed relationship between the plate 18 and potentiometer 14. Figure 3 illustrates an embodiment wherein the potentiometer 14 is enclosed within a housing 42 and the indicia 22 is placed on a label 46 after the label 46 has been fixedly attached to the housing 42. A indicator/knob 50 is attached to the control shaft 38 of the potentiometer 14. This process requires that the potentiometer 14 be held in a known fixed relationship to the housing 42. The housing 42 is held securely in a particular orientation with a laser label printing device which burns the indicia 22 onto the label 46 The laser is properly aligned over the label 46 by locating on a cross 54 at the center of the indicator/knob 50. Other accurate printing or marking devices can be used to mark the indicia 22 on the label 46.

In accordance with the present invention, the method of accurately calibrating an individual potentiometer 14 includes the steps of measuring the maximum resistance (R _max ) of the potentiometer 14, the resistance at predetermined locations of the wiper, for example halfway between the maximum clockwise position and the maximum counter clockwise position (R±) and a resistance R ₂ at some known angle, Theta2 from R-^. The maximum electrical angle (Theta _max ) of the potentiometer can be calculated from these reading by using the following formula: Theta _max =

Theta ₂ X R*max / (( ^R max / ² ) ~ ^R 2) • ^An electrical angle and elements of the formula are graphically illustrated in Figure 4. Referring now to Figure 5, the maximum resistance ^R max - _* - ^s compared with a group of resistance ranges and assigned an index number depending on which of the preselected resistance value ranges that measured value falls within. Referring now to Figure 6, the electrical angle is compared with a group of preselected electrical angle ranges and assigned an index number depending on which of the preselected electrical angle ranges that calculated angle falls within. These index numbers are used to indicate a particular range and spacing for the indicia graduations which will be printed on the plate 18 or label 46 by the printing device. The index number corresponding to the electrical angle determines the range of the indicia 22 while the index number or numbers associated with the measured resistance determines the spacing for the indicia graduations. For purposes of this description, "electrical angle" is defined as the angle of rotation of the control shaft of a rotary operated potentiometer between positions corresponding to two specified values of resistance of the potentiometer.

By using this same method additional resistance measurement can be made at other predetermined wiper positions to increase the accuracy of the potentiometer calibration and adjust for nonlinearity in the resistive material of the potentiometer 14.

It is desirable to place the index numbers on a machine readable bar code label attached to the device. This permits the indicia 22 to be applied as an operation of an automated assembly process which reads and interprets the index numbers. It also provides a means of recording the individual resistive characteristics of a particular potentiometer permanently on the potentiometer or its housing.

Figure 7 illustrates how three 100K ±5 % off-the-shelf potentiometers A, B and C can differ with respect to the electrical angle at a specified resistance. The potentiometer calibration method of the present invention provides individual calibration such that, at a specified resistance value, the indicator of each of the potentiometers A, B and C would point to the same indicia graduation regardless or the difference in electrical angle. In another embodiment of the calibration method of the present invention, the actual measured values of a particular potentiometer are used to provide an individual indicia range and graduation spacing for that particular potentiometer. In this method the maximum resistance (R _max ) of the potentiometer 14, the resistance at predetermined locations of the wiper, for example halfway between the maximum clockwise position and the maximum counter clockwise position (R^) and a resistance R ₂ at some known angle,

Theta ₂ , from R^. The electrical angle (Theta _max ) of the potentiometer can be accurately approximated from these

readings by using the following formula: Theta _max = Theta ₂ ^{x R} max / (( ^R max ) " ^R 2) • Using the electrical angle (Theta _max ) as a reference point, the angle (Theta _x ) for any particular resistance (R _x ) can be subtracted from Theta _max to produce an accurate indicia location for that particular R _x . Theta _x can be calculated by using the following formula: Theta _x - (Theta _max / 2) + ((Ri - R _x ) X (Theta _max / ^R maχ) ) • ^An electrical angle and elements of the formula are graphically illustrated in Figure 4. The calibration method of the present invention, in its most precise mode, uses the actual measured values of a particular potentiometer directly to provide an individual indicia range and graduation spacing for that particular potentiometer. In this method, the plate 18 is placed in a fixture such that it is in fixed relationship with the printing/marking machine. The potentiometer 14 is connected to a resistance measuring device such that as the control shaft 38 is rotated throughout its range the resistance at the wiper can be continuously measured. The printing/marking device is indexed with the control shaft 38 such that movement of the control shaft 38 produces a corresponding movement of the printing/marking device. As the control shaft 38 is rotated to positions wherein desired resistances readings are indicated by the resistance measuring device the printing/marking device is activated thereby causing a desired indicia marking to be produce on the plate 18 at a particular position corresponding to that

particular position of the control shaft 38. This method can also be used for a potentiometer enclosed within a housing.

When it is desired to calibrate the potentiometer 14 such that the indicia 22 indicates a specific output or function of the electrical circuit, electrical measurements such as resistance or voltage can be taken at specified test points controled by the particular potentiometer and processed as described in any of the embodiments above. The calibrated indicia 22 derived from the electrical measurements provides an accurate indication of the output or function of the circuit at various positions of the potentiometer control shaft 38.

While a preferred embodiment has been shown and described, it will be understood that it is not intended to limit the disclosure, but rather it is intended to cover all modifications and alternate methods falling within the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that, while the above description relates to using a method for calibrating a rotary operated potentiometer, the present invention can be used in the calibration of a linear operated potentiometer by substituting the linear displacement of the potentiometer control lever for the electrical angle of the rotary operated potentiometer described above.