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:
Nov. 08, 2011
Filed:
May. 24, 2006
Johann Hauer, Erlangen, DE;
Stefan Moedl, Hilpoltstein, DE;
Marcus Hartmann, Hilpoltstein, DE;
Abstract
The present invention is based on the finding that a capacitance can be measured precisely and efficiently when, in a delta-sigma modulator having an operational amplifier, a first capacitor connectable to an input of the operational amplifier, and a second capacitor in a feedback branch of the operational amplifier, a reference signal source is connectable to the first capacitor, wherein the first or second capacitor may represent a capacitance to be measured. Due to the fact that, in contrast to what is conventional, no input quantity is measured and digitalized at the input of the delta-sigma modulator, but instead a defined reference signal source is coupled at the input and a device of the delta-sigma modulator itself represents the measuring quantity, an extremely compact circuit is provided allowing capacitances to be measured quickly and reliably, the measuring result being additionally made available in a digital form.