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:
Jul. 22, 1997
Filed:
Oct. 02, 1995
Theodore Henry Klotz, Jr, Scotia, NY (US);
Vivek Venugopal Badami, Niskayuna, NY (US);
Walter Whipple, III, Amsterdam, NY (US);
James Frederick Bedard, Schenectady, NY (US);
George Charles Goodman, Niskayuna, NY (US);
General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US);
Abstract
A capacitive proximity detection system for positioning a movable radiation imaging element support structure with respect to a subject includes a plurality of sensor plates disposed in a collar assembly around a portion of an imaging component disposed towards a subject; a multiplexer coupled to the plurality of capacitive plate elements and adapted to selectively electrically couple the sensor plate elements in one of a plurality of sensing range modalities; and a capacitive sensing processor coupled to the sensor plate elements via the multiplexer so as to detect proximity of object to the sensor plate as a function of the capacitance between the sensor plates and the subject. The imaging system typically further includes a shield system coupled to the multiplexer and disposed so as to focus the capacitive sensing of the sensor plate elements towards the subject. The shield system includes a plurality of shielding plate elements disposed in a shielding pattern that corresponds with the pattern of sensor plate elements in the collar assembly. The shield plate elements are coupled to the capacitive sensing processor to receive a shield plate feedback signal therefrom.