The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 16, 2018
Filed:
Sep. 22, 2016
Leopold Kostal Gmbh & Co. KG, Luedenscheid, DE;
Uwe Borgmann, Recklinghausen, DE;
Carl Christian Lexow, Dortmund, DE;
Leopold Kotsai GmbH & Co. KG, Luedenscheid, DE;
Abstract
A method for measuring a capacitance value of a capacitive sensor uses an integration process. For the integration process, the sensor is connected to an integration capacitor having a known capacitance value greater than the capacitance value of the sensor and a voltage Uof the integration capacitor is measured by an A/D converter after a number IZ of executed integration cycles of the integration process. The method includes carrying out the integration process until the number IZ of executed integration cycles has reached the number N of integration cycles to be executed, adding a voltage value U(N) of the integration capacitor, which is determined by the A/D converter, to the total voltage value U, increasing the number N, and repeating until the number N exceeds a predetermined value. The final total voltage value Uis indicative of the capacitance value of the capacitive sensor.