Potentiometer assembly providing an encoded output signal

摘要

The present invention relates to a potentiometer assembly including a position sensing device and an integrated control circuit to form a potentiometer assembly providing an encoded output signal representing a position of a user operable control means. The encoded output signal may be in the form of a digital data signal or an encoded analogue signal representing the position of the user operable control means so that an external device, such as a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) or microprocessor, may read and decode the encoded output signal. In particular, the present invention is suitable for use in compact electronic equipment, such as mobile phones and hearing instruments. Such equipment will benefit from the versatile functionality of the potentiometer assembly according to the present invention allowing a broad range of applications to be supported.