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:
Nov. 08, 1988
Filed:
Dec. 29, 1986
Thomas H Wilson, Indianapolis, IN (US);
General Motors Corporation, Detroit, MI (US);
Abstract
A single capacitor is used to measure the oil level in an engine or transmission and compensate the sensed capacitance for changes in dielectric constant. Measurements are made for two different running conditions, one giving a capacitance reading dependent only on dielectric constant and one giving a capacitance dependent on oil level as well as dielectric constant. The transmission application uses a capacitor that is fully immersed in oil when the engine is off and partly immersed when the engine is idling, so that both types of measurements can be obtained. The engine application uses a capacitor having an upper section spaced from a lower section. Only the lower section is immersed during engine idle to render dielectric constant information, while the upper section is partly immersed when the engine is off.