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:
Feb. 19, 2002
Filed:
Mar. 06, 2000
Judson G. McDonnell, Farmington Hills, MI (US);
James G. Stanley, Novi, MI (US);
Automotive Systems Laboratory, Inc., Farmington Hills, MI (US);
Abstract
A sense electrode ( ) and a plurality of control electrodes ( ) are located proximate to a region of space ( ) for sensing an object ( ) therein. A first signal ( ) and a plurality of second signals ( ) respectively applied to the sense ( ) and control ( ) electrodes generate an electric field ( ) within the region of space ( ). The capacitance of the sense electrode ( ) is measured for various electric field configurations responsive to the second signals ( ) and to the proximity of the object ( ). A most likely proximity scenario from a priori proximity scenarios is determined from the plurality of capacitance measurements. A front driven shield ( ) is provided between the sense electrode ( ) and the region of space ( ) for selectively shielding the sense electrode ( ) from influence by objects ( ) or grounds, so as to provide for calibrating the measurement circuit ( ) to compensate for parasitic capacitance and gain drift.