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:
Dec. 07, 2010
Filed:
Dec. 20, 2005
Lorenzo Barlesi, Paris, FR;
Michel Chiaffi, Breuil le Vert, FR;
Volodia Naydenov, Louvain-la-Neuve, BE;
Lorenzo Barlesi, Paris, FR;
Michel Chiaffi, Breuil le Vert, FR;
Volodia Naydenov, Louvain-la-Neuve, BE;
Inergy Automotive Systems Research (Societe Anonyme), Brussels, BE;
Abstract
A sensor for detecting a liquid level, including a measurement capacitor, a reference capacitor, an integrating capacitor, a calibration capacitor, a controller, an amplifier, a comparator, and a complementary calibration capacitor. The controller implements operations, over accumulation periods and for given target and discharge capacitors, of a target capacitor charging, a charge transfer, a decision, a conditional discharge, and a return. The target and discharge capacitors given at each period are taken from pairs of capacitors, including the measurement and calibration capacitors and the reference and complementary calibration capacitors. A method estimates the liquid level using the sensor in a vehicle.