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. 10, 2006
Filed:
Dec. 17, 2004
James H. Logsdon, Kokomo, IN (US);
Pedro E. Castillo-borelly, Kokomo, IN (US);
Abhijeet V. Chavan, Maple Grove, MN (US);
Michael P. Donahue, Kokomo, IN (US);
Deron K. Slaughter, Kokomo, IN (US);
James H. Logsdon, Kokomo, IN (US);
Pedro E. Castillo-Borelly, Kokomo, IN (US);
Abhijeet V. Chavan, Maple Grove, MN (US);
Michael P. Donahue, Kokomo, IN (US);
Deron K. Slaughter, Kokomo, IN (US);
Delphi Technologies, Inc., Troy, MI (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for evaluating the functionality and sensitivity of an infrared sensor to infrared radiation. The method and apparatus are adapted for testing an infrared sensor having a diaphragm containing a heating element and a transducer that generates an output responsive to temperature. The method entails placing the infrared sensor in a controlled environment, and then exposing the diaphragm of the sensor to different levels of thermal radiation so as to obtain outputs of the transducer at different output levels. In the absence of exposure of the diaphragm to thermal radiation, flowing current through the heating element at different input levels so that the output of the transducer returns to the different output levels obtained using thermal radiation, the input difference between the input levels can be computed and used to assess the functionality and the sensitivity of the sensor.