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:
Jun. 18, 1996
Filed:
Dec. 08, 1994
Christopher J Kemp, Monument, CO (US);
Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MI (US);
Abstract
A calibration circuit for a capacitive sensor is disclosed which compensates for any offsets or sensitivity variations of the sensor once the sensor has been calibrated. The circuit uses digital calibration codes determined during calibration. The digital codes are modified and unmodified as inputs to a digital-to-analog converter. The digital-to-analog converter applies the corresponding analog equivalents to the inputs of the sensor in a alternate manner so that the voltages applied to the sensor are balanced around a mirror voltage. The balance around the mirror voltage reduces the electrostatic deflection of the sensor which reduces sensor errors. The output of the sensor is converted to a pulse density signal representative of the output of the sensor.