Technical Information

Test Geartooth Sensing using 55075 device

The best ferrous targets are made of cold-rolled low carbon steel. Sintered-metal targets are also usable, although care must be taken to ensure uniform material composition and density.

The Hamlin device is a self-adjusting digital output geartooth speed sensor.

The sensing distance between the sensor and a geartooth is influenced many factors including the gear teeth dimensions, the grade of ferrous metal of the gear and alignment of sensor to gear. Typically, larger teeth and slots allow a larger sensing air gap. For best performance, the sensor should be located as close as possible to the target. Optimally this is gap should be less than 1mm. The sensor may sense up to 2mm depending on your gear geometry.

General gear guideline should consider the following as an example:

W = 4mm	S = 5mm
T = 6mm	G= 1.5mm typical
H = 4mm

For gears with smaller tooth dimensions the sensing gap would be typically 0.5 to 1.0mm. It is best to evaluate a sensor against your specific gear prior to final selection.

The teeth or slots of the target should be cut with a slight angle so as to minimise the abruptness of transition from metal to air as the target passes by the sensor. Typical air gaps for Hamlin geartooth Sensors are between 1-1.5 mm. Hamlin 55075 includes an internal pull up resistor for the sinking output

Geartooth Sensors 55075

The need to sense speed and position of ferrous gears occurs in many industries. The ability to convert the repetitive passing teeth to an electrical impulse has been sought for many decades. Purely mechanical systems have been used with the attendant issue of wear and failure limiting its use to low speed and low duty cycle applications.

Hall effect geartooth sensing makes use of the Hall element to sense the variation in flux found in the air gap between a magnet and passing ferrous geartooth. By digitally processing the Hall signal, several advantages are obtained. Peak detection, peak hold, and level comparison are all done digitally. The maximum and minimum Hall signal that corresponds to the last geartooth and valley is then remembered indefinitely without the drift associated with analog techniques. The level comparison then adapts to the last peak. This creates true zero speed adaptive speed sensor. It is immune to orientation requirements and can follow the gear speed down to the cessation of motion. It will detect the first edge of the next tooth immediately after power on. The digital signal processing does introduce an uncertainty from quantization that is greater at larger speeds. Extremely demanding timing requirements like those found in crank position sensors may suffer from the loss of accuracy at high speeds. In order to detect the passing gear teeth with a Hall effect sensor, it is necessary to provide a source of magnetic energy. One simple way to do this is to arrange a permanent magnet such that the axis of magnetization is pointing toward the surface of the gear teeth. As a tooth moves across the surface of the magnet the flux will become attracted to the lower reluctance path provided by the ferrous steel structure.

When this occurs the flux density measured by the Hall element between the face of the sensor and the geartooth increases. Many schemes have been developed and some patented that use the various attributes of the vector flux field and its changing nature to create zero speed Hall effect geartooth sensors. Geartooth Specifications:

Recommended Operating Conditions, 55075 Geartooth.

Electrical Characteristics, 55075 Geartooth Over T_A = -40 to 100°C, V_DD = 4.75 to 25.2V unless otherwise specified.

3-Wire Sensors: 55100, 55110, 55140, 55085

These sensors utilize CMOS technology and consist of a Hall plate, active stabilization circuitry, a comparator, and an open-drain output. Latching sensors also contain a flip-flop between the comparator and output.

Outputs are active low sinking- an external pull-up resistor is needed for most applications. The supply voltage and pull-up voltage need not be the same voltage. Any pull-up voltage from 0V to 24V nominal may be used. The pull-up resistor value is limited only by the maximum output leakage current over temperature of 10uA and the maximum recommended output current of 20mA.

The polarity of the magnet is very important for Hall sensors. Latching sensors require both a North and a South magnetic pole. The sensor is activated (output lead conducting to ground) by the South pole and deactivated by the North pole. Nonlatching "switch" sensors are activated by the South pole. The pole should be presented to the top side of the sensor. The top is the side opposite the flat mounting side. Some sensors, such as the 55085 vane sensor, have a magnet contained within the sensor. For these sensors, a ferrous metal vane or target is used to activate and deactivate the sensor.

This family of sensors utilizes chopper stabilization. This feature provides nearly constant magnetic characteristics over variations in supply voltage, temperature, and mechanical stress. In order to implement this technology, an internal oscillator switches amplifier circuitry between sampling a reference and sampling the active magnetic sensor. The period of the oscillation is called TOSC and is a few microseconds (see specification). The sensor's digital output may be delayed by up to this amount. This very small delay is inconsequential in most applications and is far outweighed by the stability provided by the chopper circuitry.

3 Wire Specifications

Absolute Maximum Ratings, 55085, 55110, 55100 3-wire, 55140 3-wire.

Recommended Operating Conditions 55085, 55110, 55100 3-wire, 55140 3-wire.

Electrical Characteristics, 55085, 55110, 55100 3-wire, 55140 3-wire (Note 2) Over T_A = -40 to 90°C, V_DD = 3.8 to 24.0V unless otherwise specified

Note 1: Conditions beyond the Absolute Maximum Ratings may cause permanent damage to the sensor. Functional operation beyond those shown in Recommended Operating Conditions is not implied. Exposure to absolute maximum ratings conditions for extended periods may affect device reliability.

Note 2: The 55110 sensor utilises the base Hall circuitry but adds an LED and 2200 Ohm resistor between the output and V_DD. This additional circuitry increases I_DD when the output is on (low), decreases the available output current I_O, and changes the output characteristics. An additional external pull-up resistor is not normally needed with the 55110 sensor.

Analog Sensors: 55100, 55140

Analogue Hall sensors also utilize CMOS technology. These can be preset to a customer requested output voltage to a relative gauss value, either by Hamlin or by the customer. Because the sensor electronics are programmable, options for magnetic field range, sensitivity, output voltage range, temperature coefficients, and other features are also available. The output value is referenced to the supply voltage (ratiometric to the supply voltage). The output is defined for power supply open-circuit, ground open-circuit, or power supply over/undervoltage to ground or supply voltage. Total error for the sensor is <2% over the operating voltage and temperature range.

Custom Design Sensors

Hamlin specializes in meeting our customers specific requirements. Hamlin offers full service Engineering capability in-house. Please contact our local Sales Representative or the Hamlin factory for any relative special requirements.

EMC and ESD

For applications with disturbances on the supply line or radiated disturbances, a series resistor and a capacitor are recommended. The series resistor and the capacitor should be placed as closely as possible to the sensor. Applications with this arrangement passed the EMC tests according to the product standards DIN 40839. NOTE: International standard ISO 7637 is similar to the product standard DIN 40839.

Overvoltage Protection except 55075

Absolute maximum rating for a continuous supply is 24 V. If the supply voltage exceeds the Zener voltage of 28 V, the current consumption of the devices increases. Voltages above the Zener voltage can be tolerated only for short time. In order to protect the Hall sensor against overvoltage, an external series resistor is required. The voltage drop at this series resistor increases with increasing supply current. A Zener diode in combination with a (external) series resistor acts as clamping device, limiting the supply voltage of the device to the Zener voltage

Reverse Voltage Protection except 55075

The maximum reverse voltage is -15 V. As an example, if the device is used with an automobile 12 V supply, it may be connected incorrectly without damage. As with overvoltage protection, with external components this value can be increased. Please consult Hamlin for details.

Temperature, Voltage, and Power

Like all solid-state semiconductor devices, Hall sensors have a maximum operating junction temperature. The operating junction temperature is determined by the power (voltage times current) that the sensor is dissipating, the thermal resistance of the package, any heat-sinking effects resulting from mounting configuration, any air movement, and ambient (air) temperature. Because of the internal power dissipation and self-heating, the maximum operating temperature may need to be reduced at higher supply voltages in order to limit the junction temperature to an acceptable value.

ESD Precautions

Hamlin semiconductor products are sensitive to Electro Static Discharge (ESD). Always follow ESD control procedures whenever handling our Hall Effect Sensors

FAQs

Q: Does HAMLIN manufacture its own Hall elements?

A: No, HAMLIN has an agreement with Micronas as the preferred supplier of Hall Effect ICs. However, this does not preclude using other reputable Hall Effect vendors if a customer specifically requests it or if the technical solution requires it.

Q: How large of a sensing gap can I obtain between the magnet and the sensor?

A: The relative distance is dependent upon the environment within and around the magnetic circuit. Relative factors are characteristics of the magnet, the presence of ferrous materials and other magnetic fields. HAMLIN shows typical operate values on its Hall sensor datasheets to be used as a guide. These are based upon using our standard Hall sensor actuator. Other magnet designs would have their own characteristics. Please feel free to contact HAMLIN technical support for assistance.

Q: Does HAMLIN offer more than one sensitivity of Hall sensor?

A: HAMLIN offers high, medium and low sensitivity Hall sensors. Please reference our individual data sheets in Table 1 of the individual specification sheets. We also offer custom variants if our standard selection does not meet the requirements of a specific application.

Q: What's the maximum operating speed of a HAMLIN Hall sensor?

A: Hall effect sensors can switch much faster than the requirements of many mechanical sensing applications. The sensor will reliably switch up to 10kHz. Geartooth sensors can work at even higher frequencies. Refer to sensor specific data for details.

Q: When I mount a HAMLIN Hall sensor, do I need to worry about the orientation of the sensor or the magnet?

A: The sensing face of HAMLIN Hall sensors is indicated on the datasheet. Hamlin digital products are designed to be operated using the magnetic south pole of the actuating magnet. Of course, the latching Hall uses both poles and the analog Hall can operate with both poles or one pole.

Q: What's the expected operating life of a HAMLIN Hall sensor in terms of number of operations?

A: A HAMLIN Hall sensor is a solid state device with no moving parts, so its operational life is virtually unlimited if operated within the Hall effect electrical load ratings and its junction temperatures are not exceeded.

Q: How do I know whether a reed switch or Hall effect sensor is better suited for a specific application?

A: While they are both magnetic proximity sensors, Hall effect sensors and reed sensors have significant differences in the way that they function. A reed sensor is a mechanical switch in which the precious metal contacts are hermetically sealed within a small glass tube. The reed sensor has a digital output and has no analog capability. The reed switch can be magnetically biased to obtain a latching version. A Hall effect sensor is a solid-state device with no moving parts. The Hall effect sensors that Hamlin uses have 3 types of output options: digital, latching, and analogue. Each technology has its advantages or disadvantages. Hall effect sensors may have advantages over reed sensors if you have the following requirements:

• Unlimited life and fast operation. For example, if you have a spinning magnet application with a cycle rate less than 1000 Hz, a reed will work fine. If the cycle rate is up to 10KHz, a Hall effect will operate well beyond a billion operation cycles. Reed sensors generally have very long life compared to other electro-mechanical devices. For many logic level electrical loads, a reed will operate a billion cycles.
• You need bounce free switching.
• A Hall sensor is excellent for geartooth speed sensing or rotary position sensing. A reed sensor is very difficult to bias and obtain long term stability when used as a geartooth sensor.

A reed sensor may be preferable to a Hall effect sensor if you have the following requirements:

• You need a two-wire device that requires no power.
• You require immunity to ESD and have a low target price.
• Special reed sensors can effectively switch up to 240 Vac at low current. A Hall device is typically limited between 5 to 24Vd and less than 50mA

Q: What sort of material do you recommend I use to operate a HAMLIN vane sensor?

A: Low carbon steel, which is magnetically soft, makes an excellent ferrous material for vane applications that are highly calibrated. Cold roll steel is acceptable but magnetic retentivity is a concern that may result in less than acceptable actuation repeatability for your sensor.

Q: Are there advantages of a HAMLIN vane sensor over an opto-interrupter?

A: There are a few potential advantages, depending upon your application. Opto-interrupters are very sensitive to contamination that will inhibit light detection. Reliability will be an issue within this environment. Hall effect vane sensors are immune to dust, dirt and grease. 2. We also recommend ferrous vane sensors for their stability at high temperatures. HAMLIN offers standard vane sensors with maximum operating temps up to 100°C and higher with special added features.

Interfacing, Signal Conditioning, Interference

Q: I just received a Hall Effect Sensor from HAMLIN, and I can't figure out how to get a signal from it. What should I do?

A: HAMLIN's Hall sensors use sinking outputs, also commonly referred to as "open collector outputs". For sinking outputs, you need to select an appropriate external pull-up resistor, connected between Vdd and Vout. If you have questions about connecting to your sensor, you can obtain assistance by contacting HAMLIN technical support.

Q: Are HAMLIN Hall sensors ESD sensitive?

A: HAMLIN Hall sensors are ESD sensitive. Normal ESD precautions should be taken when handling sensors that are not grounded.