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:
Dec. 07, 1982
Filed:
Nov. 17, 1980
Michael A Piliavin, Plano, TX (US);
James R Toker, Dallas, TX (US);
Texas Instruments Incorporated, Dallas, TX (US);
Abstract
A proximity switch in which the electronic characteristics of a liquid crystal display are monitored relative to a reference liquid crystal display to determine when an operator has come into proximity thereto. A controller monitors the display elements, liquid crystal displays, respective capacitances or inductance and when an operator comes into proximity to an electrode in the display element, the controller senses this proximity due to the change in capacitance or inductance of the element. This sensing allows the controller to recognize when a change of state is desired by the operator. The use of the reference element allows the controller to respond only to operator proximity and not to noise caused by changes in the environment, such as temperature.