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. 17, 2006
Filed:
Aug. 28, 2002
Philip K. Schneider, El Paso, TX (US);
Philip K. Schneider, El Paso, TX (US);
Delphi Technologies, Inc., Troy, MI (US);
Abstract
A thermopile structure containing improved heat sinks for thermocouples in the detectors is described. The heat sinks are provided without additional processing. The heat sinks are added by using 'dummy traces' to the polysilicon mask. The 'dummy traces' act as heat sinks to transfer of thermal energy from the narrow metallic traces used in the thermocouple. The “dummy traces” are not electrically connected to the thermopile, therefore they do not affect the electrical resistance of the thermopile. Also, the “dummy trace” does not add significant mass to the thermopile/membrane system; therefore they do not adversely affect the thermal conductance of the system.