Delco Electronics Corporation

Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Hughes Aircraft Company

Delco Electronics Corporaiton

Delco Electyronic Corp.

Michael J Schnars

Raymond Lippmann

James Edward Nelson

James R Chintyan

Mark C Hansen

Ronald Kenneth Selby

Mark James Miller

James M Aralis

Frank J Bohac, Jr

Gail M Sylvester

Ivan Roy Brouwer

Anthony Luke Simon

Edward H Honnigford

Mahlon Richard Pachciarz

Victor David Kruppa

Jeffrey Lynn Shepard

Paul L DuBois

William J Johnston

Jerry Alan Gohl

Gerard Arnold Streelman

A voltage regulator circuit having a series device external to an integrated circuit voltage regulator. The external series device provides a voltage drop prior to the voltage being input to the voltage regulator during high power applications. Depending on the power level, low or high, one of two transistors will be activated. For low power applications, a transistor attached directly to the input voltage is active and the external series device is bypassed. For high power applications, the external series device provides a voltage drop prior to the input voltage reaching the second transistor thereby lowering the power to be dissipated by the integrated circuit.

Smart IC power control

A circuit board has an arcuate array of conductor segments each subject to a digital waveform differing in phase for the various segments, and a concentric pickup conductor. A rotary encoder disk has a conductive pattern which sums and couples the waveforms from selected segments, depending on rotary position, to the pickup conductor. A synchronous phase detector generates a phase signal from the summed waveforms and the zero crossing of the phase signal is detected. A counter develops count signals used to generate the digital waveforms. The count signals are input to a latch which is clocked at the zero crossing point to latch the count value which is a digital measure of the encoder angle.

Liquid level sensor incorporating a capacitive rotary position encoder

An IC driver mounted on a LCD display package contains a sensor for determining temperature of the LCD cell, and a digital value of the temperature is serially transmitted to a remote microprocessor which determines compensated voltage and sends voltage command data back to the IC driver which produces a drive voltage by a charge pump. A digital code on the LCD cell identifies cell response characteristics and the code is used by the microprocessor to calculate the desired voltage. A ROM in the IC driver stores many bit-mapped images which are selected by the microprocessor for display.

Liquid crystal display with temperature compensated voltage

A high frequency AC probe signal is applied to one coil of a stepper motor to induce a signal on the other coil. The induced signal varies in amplitude according to rotor position. The stepper motor is driven by a microprocessor in microsteps. The position of a mechanical stop is determined by monitoring the induced signal while driving the rotor to the stop. When the induced signal no longer changes in amplitude the number of the last microstep yielding movement is recorded as the rotor position corresponding to the stop position. Also by measuring the induced signal at each microstep over a whole rotor rotation and the signal when the rotor stops, a more precise value of the stop position is determined by interpolation. Alternatively, the flip back position of the gauge and thus the stop position is determined on the basis of the induced signal.

Stepper motor gauge calibration by AC feedback

The maximum full level is determined in a fuel tank of undetermined size using a fuel level sender referenced to the tank bottom. A minimum full value is selected for a given type of tank and when the sender signal goes below a percentage of that value and subsequently goes above the minimum full value, a fueling event is recognized and the current fuel sender value is adopted as the maximum full value. Where a heavily filtered signal is used to minimize the effects of fuel slosh, the maximum full value is subject to increasing to higher values occurring during a short period after fueling to allow recovery of the filtered signal. An empty value is calibrated before the vehicle is initially fueled. A maximum empty level is initially set and if a lower level is measured when the ignition is turned on, the lower level is set as the empty value. This calibration is terminated when the tank is fueled above the minimum full value.

Method of accurately gauging fuel in an automotive tank

A circuit board has an arcuate array of conductor segments each subject to a digital waveform differing in phase for the various segments, and a concentric pickup conductor. A rotary encoder disk has a conductive pattern which sums and couples the waveforms from selected segments, depending on rotary position, to the pickup conductor. A synchronous phase detector generates a phase signal from the summed waveforms and the zero crossing of the phase signal is detected. A counter develops count signals used to generate the digital waveforms. The count signals are input to a latch which is clocked at the zero crossing point to latch the count value which is a digital measure of the encoder angle. Two encoders mounted on orthogonal horizontal axes are used as an accelerometer or attitude sensor. Each disk is eccentrically weighted to seek a position vertically below the axis to serve as an attitude sensor when the unit is stationary. When the unit is subject to horizontal acceleration the disks rotate from the vertical position to render acceleration readings.

Capacitance decoded accelerometer

Capacitive rotary position encoder

An elastomeric connector couples the terminal pads of an LCD with corresponding terminal pads of a printed wiring board (PWB). Conductive elements in the connector are subject to skewing at such an angle that the LCD must be adjusted relative to the PWB to attain pad alignment. Sense pads on the terminal strips are coupled to contact pads and are arranged so that a continuity test on substantially opposed contact pads will verify pad alignment. In one embodiment, one sense pad is narrower than the terminal pads so that even marginal continuity will assure proper alignment of the terminal pads. In another embodiment, a pair of sense pads on either one of the LCD and the PWB is bracketed by a pair of spaced pads on the other such that continuity is evidence of non-alignment.

LCD connector alignment with printed wiring board

Two or more communication modules are coupled by a one wire transmission line. A feed module impresses dc power and a sine wave carrier signal on the line. Each module generates a square wave signal synchronous with the carrier, each period of the signal representing one data bit. Data is written onto the line by a module by attenuating the carrier wave for selected bits and read by another module by sampling the bits and detecting those which are attenuated. Address and message data is transmitted in packets of n bits, the first bit always being an attenuated bit. Addressing is accomplished by generating a sequence of n unattenuated bits and then writing packets of address data. An address is valid when it matches a stored address in a module and that module is then activated to read or write. Multiple addressing modules can be used with a priority technique which reserves a priority code location at the beginning of an address string and compares code bits of a sending module with carrier bits, and aborts the address write when the carrier has an attenuated priority bit and the sending module is attempting to send an unattenuated bit.

Serial communication method and apparatus

An LCD display is backlit by a main light pipe with LEDs of a first color along one edge or opposed edges which uniformly flood the display with the first color, and with an LED of a second color coupled by a second light pipe to another edge to introduce light to local areas of the main light pipe. Filters of the second color over the local areas are illuminated by the second color LED. Prismatic sheets between the main light pipe and the LCD aid in the uniform distribution of the first color and improve display brightness by directing light toward the operator's eyebox.

Multi-color display lighting by led

A rotary gauge driven by a stepper motor has a stop near the zero point of the gauge graphics. A factory calibration procedure rotates the gauge field in reverse direction to move the gauge pointer against the stop and continues field rotation until the rotor becomes unstable and flips back in the forward direction, and then moved to a rotor rest position. The angle of flip back, the rest position and the number of steps to the zero position are stored in non-volatile memory. In the vehicle, when the ignition is off, the microprocessor or the stepper motor wakes periodically and exercises the gauge, using the stored values to reset the gauge to the stable position. When ignition is turned on, the microprocessor moves the gauge directly to the zero position.

Method of calibrating and zeroing stepper motor gauges

Liquid crystal display with image storage ROM

An apparatus includes a rotatably mounted magnetic rotor, a first coil mounted in proximity of the magnetic rotor, the first coil mounted such that, if the coil is flowing with electric current, the magnetic rotor is within immediate proximity of at least part of a magnetic field created by the coil. The apparatus includes a second coil mounted in proximity of the magnetic rotor, the second coil mounted such that, if the coil is flowing with electric current, the magnetic rotor is within immediate proximity of at least part of a magnetic field created by the coil. A current source is coupled to the first coil, for generating an AC signal and applying the AC signal across the first coil whereby an AC output signal develops across the second coil, the AC output signal having a magnitude that varies in relation to the rotational position of the rotor. A measuring circuit detects the AC output signal and develops therefrom a measure of the position of the rotor.

Method and apparatus for determining the rotational position of a

Method of calibration for gauging fuel in an automotive tank

An apparatus for fuel level display systems comprises a fuel level sender providing a fuel level signal, a short period filter for filtering the fuel level signal through a short time constant filter, a long period filter for filtering the fuel level signal through a long time constant filter, a signal selector for selecting the long period filter output if the fuel level is above a trip point and for selecting the short period filter if the fuel level is below the trip point, and a display device for displaying a level of fuel in the tank in response to the selected signal.

Growing community of inventors

Clarkston, MI, United States of America

Michael J Schnars