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:
Mar. 12, 2024
Filed:
Sep. 01, 2021
Infineon Technologies Ag, Neubiberg, DE;
Dan-Ioan-Dumitru Stoica, Buchare, RO;
Cesare Buffa, Villach, AT;
Alessandro Caspani, Villach, AT;
Constantin Crisu, Bucharest, RO;
Victor Popescu-Stroe, Bucharest, RO;
Bernhard Winkler, Regensburg, DE;
Infineon Technologies AG, Neubiberg, DE;
Abstract
A capacitive sensor includes a first electrode structure; a second electrode structure that is counter to the first electrode structure, wherein the second electrode structure is movable relative to the first electrode structure and is capacitively coupled to the first electrode structure to form a capacitor having a capacitance that changes with a change in a distance between the first electrode structure and second electrode structure; a signal generator configured to apply an electrical signal at an input or at an output of the capacitor to induce a voltage transient response at the output of capacitor; and a diagnostic circuit configured to detect a fault in the capacitive sensor by measuring a time constant of the first voltage transient response and detecting the fault based on the time constant and based on whether the first electrical signal is the pull-in signal or the non-pull-in signal.