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:
Jun. 28, 2011
Filed:
Sep. 24, 2007
James Vogeley, Yorktwon, VA (US);
Marcel F. C. Schemman, Maria-Hoop, NL;
Garth S. Jones, Virginia Beach, VA (US);
James Vogeley, Yorktwon, VA (US);
Marcel F. C. Schemman, Maria-Hoop, NL;
Garth S. Jones, Virginia Beach, VA (US);
Par Technologies, LLC., Hampton, VA (US);
Abstract
A drive circuit () produces a drive signal for a pump () having a piezoelectric actuator (), with the piezoelectric actuator () forming a part of the drive circuit () and serving to shape a waveform of the drive signal. The drive circuit () comprises a pulse generator () which generates pulses; a converter circuit () which receives the pulses and produces charge packets at a rate which equals a desired drive frequency; and, the piezoelectric actuator (). The piezoelectric actuator () receives the charge packets and, by its capacitive nature, integrates the charge packets to shape the waveform of the drive signal. Preferably, the piezoelectric actuator () integrates the charge packets to yield a drive field that approximates a sine wave. In one non-limiting example embodiment, the pulse generator () comprises a microcontroller-based pulsed width modulator (PWM) circuit () and the converter circuit () comprises a flyback circuit.