1. A vehicle power steering unit comprising:
an engine driven positive displacement hydraulic pump;
a rotary valve coupled to a steering shaft for receiving hydraulic fluid under pressure in a rotary valve inlet and providing a differential pressure to a steering rack piston for a steering boost responsive to a torque exerted on the steering shaft;
a two-position three-way valve coupled between an output of the positive displacement hydraulic pump, the rotary valve inlet and an input of the positive displacement hydraulic pump for controllably coupling the output of the positive displacement hydraulic pump to the rotary valve inlet or the input of the positive displacement hydraulic pump;
an engine speed sensor; and
a controller coupled to the engine speed sensor and the two-position three-way valve to control the two-position three-way valve to control flow rate of hydraulic fluid coupled to the rotary valve to maintain a flow rate of hydraulic fluid coupled to the rotary valve by pulse width modulation of the two-position three-way valve.
2. The vehicle power steering unit of claim 1 wherein the controller is also responsive to hydraulic fluid pressure at the rotary valve inlet.
3. The vehicle power steering unit of claim 1 further comprised of a hydraulic accumulator coupled to the rotary valve inlet.
4. The vehicle power steering unit of claim 1 wherein the controller is also responsive to an engine speed input to the controller.
5. The vehicle power steering unit of claim 1 wherein the controller is also responsive to a vehicle speed input to the controller.
6. The vehicle power steering unit of claim 1 wherein the controller is also responsive to a steering shaft and rack input to the controller.
7. The vehicle power steering unit of claim 1 wherein the controller is also responsive to an engine speed input, a vehicle speed input, and a steering shaft and rack input to the controller.
8. A vehicle power steering unit comprising:
an engine driven hydraulic pump;
a rotary valve coupled to a steering shaft for receiving hydraulic fluid under pressure in a rotary valve inlet and providing a differential pressure to a steering rack piston for a steering boost responsive to a torque exerted on the steering shaft;
a two-position three-valve coupled between an output of the hydraulic pump, the rotary valve inlet and a hydraulic pump input for controllably coupling the output of the hydraulic pump to the rotary valve inlet or an input of the hydraulic pump;
a hydraulic accumulator coupled to the rotary valve inlet;
a pressure sensor coupled to the rotary valve inlet to sense hydraulic pressure coupled to the rotary valve inlet; and
a controller coupled to the pressure sensor and the valve to control the valve to maintain a flow rate of hydraulic fluid coupled to the rotary valve responsive to a pressure sensor output and a vehicle speed input to the controller by pulse width modulation of the two-position three-way valve.
9. The vehicle power steering unit of claim 8 wherein the controller is also responsive to an engine speed input to the controller.
10. The vehicle power steering unit of claim 8 wherein the controller is also responsive to a steering shaft and rack input to the controller.
11. The vehicle power steering unit of claim 8 wherein the controller is also responsive to an engine speed input, and a steering shaft and rack input to the controller.
12. A vehicle power steering unit comprising:
an engine driven hydraulic pump;
a rotary valve coupled to a steering shaft for receiving hydraulic fluid under pressure in a rotary valve inlet and providing a differential pressure to a steering rack piston for a steering boost responsive to a torque exerted on the steering shaft;
a two-position three-way valve coupled between an output of the hydraulic pump, the rotary valve inlet and the hydraulic pump input for controllably coupling the output of the hydraulic pump to the rotary valve inlet or an input of the hydraulic pump;
a hydraulic accumulator coupled to the rotary valve inlet;
a pressure sensor coupled to the rotary valve inlet to sense the hydraulic pressure coupled to the rotary valve inlet; and
a controller coupled to the pressure sensor and the two-position three-way valve to control the two-position three-way valve to maintain a flow rate of hydraulic fluid coupled to the rotary valve responsive to a pressure sensor output to the controller by pulse width modulation of the two-position three-way valve.
13. The vehicle power steering unit of claim 12 wherein the controller is also responsive to an engine speed input to the controller.
14. The vehicle power steering unit of claim 12 wherein the controller is also responsive to a steering shaft and rack input to the controller.
15. The vehicle power steering unit of claim 12 wherein the controller is also responsive to an engine speed input, and a steering shaft and rack input to the controller.
16. The vehicle power steering unit of claim 12 wherein the controller is also responsive to an engine speed input, a vehicle speed input and a steering shaft and rack input to the controller.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of operating a heart rate monitor of a wearable fitness monitoring device, wherein the heart rate monitor comprises a light source and a light detector, the method comprising:
(a) operating the heart rate monitor in a first mode while also operating in a skin characterization mode for determining a characteristic of a user’s skin, wherein the first mode is configured to determine one or more characteristics of the user’s heartbeat waveform, and wherein the skin characterization mode comprises generating data points representing emission intensity from the light source and corresponding detection levels from the light detector;
(b) fitting the data points of the skin characterization mode to a linear mathematical relationship relating light source emission intensity to light detector detection level;
(c) using the linear mathematical relationship to determine a light source emission intensity setting that provides a pre-determined light detector detection level identified as providing good heart rate monitor performance; and
(d) adjusting the light source emission intensity to said setting determined in (c) for operating in the first mode.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the pre-determined light detector detection level was previously determined to have a high signal to noise ratio.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to (b),
determining a slope of a line fitting the data points representing emission intensity from the light source and corresponding detection levels from the light detector; and
setting the light source emission intensity for operating in the first mode based on the determined slope and pre-set values of emission intensity levels.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the heart rate monitor comprises a photoplethysmographic sensor.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more characteristics of the user’s heartbeat waveform comprises the user’s heart rate.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the light source emission intensity setting is about 120 mW or less.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein operating in the first mode and operating in the skin characterization mode are performed concurrently.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein operating in the first mode and operating in the skin characterization mode concurrently comprises periodically determining a response characteristic of the user’s skin while continuously operating in the first mode.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein operating in the skin characterization mode occurs no more than about 50% of the time.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein operating in the first mode comprises pulsing the light source in the heart rate monitor at a first frequency and detecting light from the light source, after the light has interacted with the user’s skin, at the first frequency, and wherein operating in the skin characterization mode comprises pulsing a light source in the heart rate monitor at a second frequency and detecting light from the light source, after the light has interacted with the user’s skin, at the second frequency.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the second frequency is greater than the first frequency.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein operating in the skin characterization mode further comprises determining an intensity level andor pattern of two or more light pulses, after the light has interacted with the user’s skin, detected at the second frequency.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein operating the heart rate monitor in the skin characterization mode comprises emitting a succession of light pulses, and wherein some of the light pulses have variable intensity and other light pulses having constant intensity compared to one another.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein operating the heart rate monitor in the skin characterization mode comprises emitting a succession of light pulses, and wherein at least two of the light pulses have variable intensity compared to one another.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein operating the heart rate monitor in the skin characterization mode comprises emitting a succession of light pulses, and wherein at least four of the light pulses have variable intensity compared to one another.
16. The method of claim 1, wherein the wearable fitness monitoring device comprises a motion detecting sensor.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the motion detecting sensor comprises an accelerometer, a magnetometer, an altimeter, a GPS detector, gyroscope, or a combination of any of these.
18. A wearable fitness monitoring device comprising:
a motion sensor configured to provide output corresponding to motion by a user wearing the fitness monitoring device;
a photoplethysmographic sensor comprising (i) a periodic light source, (ii) a light detector positioned to receive periodic light emitted by the periodic light source after interacting with a user’s skin, and (iii) circuitry determining a user’s heart rate from an output of the light detector; and
control logic configured to:
(a) operate the photoplethysmographic sensor in a first mode while also operating in a skin characterization mode for determining a characteristic of a user’s skin, wherein the first mode is configured to determine one or more characteristics of the user’s heartbeat waveform, and wherein the skin characterization mode comprises generating data points representing emission intensity from the light source and corresponding detection levels from the light detector;
(b) fit the data points of the skin characterization mode to a linear mathematical relationship relating light source emission intensity to light detector detection level;
(c) use the linear mathematical relationship to determine a light source emission intensity setting that provides a pre-determined light detector detection level identified as providing good heart rate monitor performance; and
(d) adjust the light source emission intensity to said setting determined in (c) for operating in the first mode.
19. The wearable fitness monitoring device of claim 18, wherein the pre-determined light detector detection level was previously determined to have a high signal to noise ratio.
20. The wearable fitness monitoring device of claim 18, wherein the control logic is further configured to, prior to (b),
determine a slope of a line fitting the data points representing emission intensity from the light source and corresponding detection levels from the light detector; and
set the light source emission intensity for operating in the first mode based on the determined slope and pre-set values of emission intensity levels.
21. The wearable fitness monitoring device of claim 18, wherein operating in the first mode and operating in the skin characterization mode are performed concurrently.
22. The wearable fitness monitoring device of claim 21, wherein operating in the first mode comprises pulsing the light source in the photoplethysmographic sensor at a first frequency and detecting light from the light source, after the light has interacted with the user’s skin, at the first frequency, and wherein operating in the skin characterization mode comprises pulsing a light source in the photoplethysmographic sensor at a second frequency and detecting light from the light source, after the light has interacted with the user’s skin, at the second frequency.