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:
Aug. 17, 1999
Filed:
Oct. 06, 1997
Michael Thomas Augustyn, Kokomo, IN (US);
Joseph Robert Dockemeyer, Jr, Kokomo, IN (US);
William E Dyson, Carmel, IN (US);
J Alexander Easley, Warren, MI (US);
Gary K Mitchell, Kokomo, IN (US);
Delco Electronics Corporation, Kokomo, IN (US);
Abstract
In an automotive radio system an amplifier is capable of detecting speaker faults. A fault signal from the amplifier is received by a microprocessor which sends a fault message to a radio display and/or stores fault data which can be accessed via a serial data link by a diagnostic tool. One embodiment of the amplifier has an output pin for outputting distortion signal, and that pin is used when distortion is not likely to also output a fault signal which reveals the presence of a fault. Another embodiment of the amplifier has a data storage register which receives data on the type of fault and the affected channel, and a data bus to send the data to the microprocessor.