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:
Aug. 12, 2025
Filed:
Apr. 24, 2023
Alps Alpine Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Shinichi Endo, Miyagi-ken, JP;
Sho Taguchi, Miyagi-ken, JP;
Alps Alpine Co., Ltd., , JP;
Abstract
A contact deciding apparatus includes: reference signal creating units that create first and second reference signals, with a sine wave, that have the same frequency as a detection signal output from a sensor unit, and are respectively in phase with and out of phase with the detection signal; a demodulation circuit that creates first and second demodulation signals by multiplying the detection signal respectively by the first and second reference signals; low-pass filters that extract first and second direct-current signals, which are respectively the direct-current components of the first and second demodulation signals; and a contact deciding unit that makes a decision about contact according to the first direct-current signal. The contact deciding unit decides that the connection state between the sensor unit and the detection circuit is abnormal when the first and second direct-current signals change in the same direction and normal when these signals change in opposite directions.