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:
Sep. 29, 2026
Filed:
Aug. 15, 2024
Semiconductor Components Industries, Llc, Scottsdale, AZ (US);
Marek Hustava, Bratislava, SK;
Jiri Kantor, Hrusky, CZ;
SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC, Scottsdale, AZ (US);
Abstract
Ultrasonic sensors, sensor controllers, and sensor control methods are provided with self-cleaning functionality. An illustrative method includes: driving a piezoelectric transducer to generate a short acoustic burst for obstacle detection or distance measurement; obtaining a receive signal to monitor for reflections of the short acoustic burst; and operating to clean the sensor by driving the piezoelectric transducer to generate a long acoustic burst at a resonant frequency of the piezoelectric transducer. The method may be implemented by a sensor controller having a transmitter configured to drive the piezoelectric transducer, a receiver coupled to the piezoelectric transducer and a microphone to detect a reflection of the acoustic burst within a measurement interval associated with the acoustic burst; and a microcontroller configured to control a length of the acoustic burst. The sensor controller may be incorporated into a sensor that also includes a piezoelectric transducer and optionally includes one or more microphones.