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. 17, 2006
Filed:
May. 28, 2003
Applicants:
Atsushi Nakazawa, Anjo, JP;
Nobutomo Takagi, Okazaki, JP;
Inventors:
Atsushi Nakazawa, Anjo, JP;
Nobutomo Takagi, Okazaki, JP;
Assignee:
Denso Corporation, Kariya, JP;
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01R 31/02 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
Abstract
A sampling voltage is periodically applied between contacts of a switch of a device to determine a status of the switch. When a CPU is in a sleep state and the status of the switch is determined closed, the CPU is activated. The sampling voltage when the CPU is in the sleep state is adjusted lower than the one when the CPU is in the wakeup state. This reduces power consumption for the switch status determination. The sampling voltage adjusted at the lower level periodically adjusted to a higher level to reduce errors in the determination due to insulation films on the contacts.