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. 09, 2010
Filed:
Feb. 15, 2008
Yingjie Lin, El Paso, TX (US);
Su-chee Simon Wang, Troy, MI (US);
Norberto Hernandez Resendiz, Juarez, MX;
Yingjie Lin, El Paso, TX (US);
Su-Chee Simon Wang, Troy, MI (US);
Norberto Hernandez Resendiz, Juarez, MX;
Delphi Technologies, Inc., Troy, MI (US);
Abstract
A sensor circuit is coupled to a sensing element for determining a property, such as a dielectric constant, of a fuel. The circuit includes an excitation voltage signal generator, a synchronization trigger and a processing circuit configured to generate an output signal indicative of the fuel property. The excitation signal is applied to the sensing element to produce an induced current signal. The synchronization trigger generates a trigger signal when the excitation signal crosses zero volts, at which time the real (resistive) component of the induced current signal is zero. The induced signal is therefore wholly representative of the imaginary component attributable to a capacitance of the fuel, which in turn is dependent on the dielectric constant (and thus ethanol concentration) of the fuel blend. The processing circuit is configured to sample the induced signal in response to the trigger signal and produce the output signal.