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:
Jan. 20, 1976
Filed:
Apr. 29, 1974
John Millard Caywood, Richardson, TX (US);
Texas Instruments Incorporated, Dallas, TX (US);
Abstract
The disclosure relates to a system for controlling the total charge collected on a charge-coupled imager to, in effect, provide an electronic shuttering action for the charge-coupled imager. The charge-coupled imager works in standard fashion and is normally biased into depletion whereby minority carriers, generated by the light impinging on the imager, are collected in predetermined charge collecting areas or wells, the charges in each well then bring read out in a serial fashion. In order to prevent collection of an excess number of charges, which is equivalent to overexposure in a photographic sense, the majority carriers which are necessarily generated simultaneously with the minority carriers, are collected and integrated so that when a predetermined amount of charge is measured, a shuttering action can take place. When the basic imager is formed from p-type silicon, the majority carrier charges are collected by providing an ohmic contact to the p-type substrate. Two modes ofoperation are disclosed. The first mode is suitable for imaging applications and the second mode is suitable for laser warning receivers.