Delco Electronics Corporation

Delphi Technologies, Inc.

Tracy Adam Noll

Seyed R Zarabadi

John Carl Christenson

Edward H Honnigford

Ian D Jay

Jack D Johnson

Jack Duane Parrish

Douglas Ray Sparks

A balanced angular accelerometer is provided having a substrate, a fixed electrode with a plurality of fixed capacitive plates, and a rotational inertia mass with a central opening and substantially suspended over a cavity and including a plurality of movable capacitive plates arranged to provide a capacitive coupling with the first plurality of fixed capacitive plates. The accelerometer has a central member and an outer member fixed to the substrate. According to one embodiment, a plurality of inner support arms extend between the central member and the inertia mass and a plurality of outer support arms extend between the inertia mass and the outer member to support the mass over the cavity. According to another embodiment, one or more cut out apertures are formed in the inertia mass to compensate for a channel and signal line so as to balance the inertia mass about the center of the inertia mass.

Balanced angular accelerometer

Angular accelerometer having balanced inertia mass

A multi-sensor module ( ) includes a housing ( ) with a plurality of vehicle operating condition sensors (S -S ) mounted therein and a signal processing circuit ( ) also mounted therein which receives sensor signals provided by the plurality of sensors (S -S ). The signal processing circuit ( ) is operable to produce at an output thereof ( ) a time-division multiplexed signal representative of the various sensor signals according to a vehicle data bus communications protocol. The signal processing circuit output is connected to an electrical connector ( ) adapted for connection to an existing vehicle data bus ( ) which is further connected to a vehicle control computer ( ). The signal processing circuit ( ) is accordingly operable to broadcast on the vehicle data bus ( ) sensor information provided by each of the sensors (S -S ) mounted within the module ( ).

Multi-sensor module for communicating sensor information over a vehicle data bus

An IC voltage clamp and a process for forming the voltage clamp. The voltage clamp includes an MGFO device having an n-type source region, an n-type drain region, and a p-type field implant diffusion between the source and drain regions. The voltage clamp further employs a parasitic NPN device having a collector region coincident with the MGFO drain region, an emitter region coincident with the MGFO source region, and a base region formed by the substrate. A metal gate electrode overlies and is insulated from the field implant diffusion, but electrically connects the source and emitter regions to ground. An input electrode contacts the drain region so as to electrically connect the drain and collector regions to the input voltage of an integrated circuit. The field implant diffusion and drain/collector regions are formed by overlapping their masks, such that a lower breakdown voltage is achieved between the NPN collector and the substrate and field implant diffusion (the NPN base). The voltage clamp is capable of withstanding electrostatic discharge pulses of greater than about 8000 Vdc, and is particularly adapted for use in protecting a CMOS IC that operates at high voltages, such as automotive battery voltages with 40 Vdc transients, without interfering with the operation of the IC.

Method for forming voltage clamp having a breakdown voltage of 40 Vdc

CMOS voltage clamp

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Kokomo, IN, United States of America

Tracy Adam Noll