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:
Mar. 20, 2012
Filed:
Aug. 14, 2009
Judson Grant Mcdonnell, Howell, MI (US);
Phillip Maguire, Royal Oak, MI (US);
Shawn Tracy, Macomb, MI (US);
Judson Grant McDonnell, Howell, MI (US);
Phillip Maguire, Royal Oak, MI (US);
Shawn Tracy, Macomb, MI (US);
TK Holdings Inc., Auburn Hills, MI (US);
Abstract
A capacitive vehicle sensor includes a sensing electrode configured to generate an electric field, a shield electrode configured to reduce the electromagnetic influence of electric fields generated by objects outside of the electric field, a circuit coupled to the sensing electrode and shield electrode that allows a plurality of impedances to be coupled between the sensing electrode and the shield electrode, and a control system. The control system configures the impedances between the sensing electrode and the shield electrode, is configured to measure current to the sensing electrode in each configuration, and is configured to calculate a measure related to the impedance from the sensing electrode to ground.