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:
Jan. 01, 2002
Filed:
Oct. 30, 1998
Naruki Suetake, Tokyo, JP;
Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A thermal-type flowmeter for detecting a flow rate of a fluid such as intake air flow rate in an internal combustion engine includes a voltage converting circuit for converting a flow-rate indicating voltage signal outputted from a flow-rate detecting sensor element into a voltage of a level falling within a predetermined range, a voltage-to-current converting circuit for converting the voltage into a current of magnitude which is proportional to a value of the flow-rate indicating voltage signal, a current-to-voltage converting circuit for converting the current mentioned above into a voltage signal for analogue-to-digital conversion, and a voltage adjusting circuit for increasing or decreasing the output voltage level of the voltage converting circuit in dependence on the value of the flow-rate indicating voltage signal. The voltage of a current source for the voltage-to-current converting circuit can be regulated so as to conform with the input voltage. The voltage-to-current converting circuit can be realized inexpensively by imparting a gain adjusting function thereto.