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:
Oct. 13, 1998
Filed:
Aug. 28, 1995
Toru Araki, Itami, JP;
Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A sensor device includes a voltage-to-pulse-number converter having a timing controller. When power is supplied to the converter from a power circuit through a power line, a timer circuit inhibits itself from performing a control operation until operations of a sensor and an amplifier become stable. After a predetermined period of time has passed, the inhibition of the controls is canceled. Then, an analog-to-digital (A-D) conversion of an output of the amplifier by the A-D converter is performed. Subsequently, a counter counts down from a value obtained from the A-D conversion. When the output of the counter becomes 0, the operation of the counter is stopped. Clock signals used for the operation of the counter are input to the pulse output circuit which is enabled only when the counter operates. Thereby, the timing controller outputs to an event counter a pulse signal having a number of pulses proportional to an output of the sensor. The sensor device obtains high precision data. Further, the power consumption of the sensor device is reduced. Consequently, the load imposed on a microcomputer is lightened.