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:
Oct. 21, 2014
Filed:
Mar. 24, 2010
David W. Caldwell, Holland, MI (US);
William D. Schaefer, Grand Rapids, MI (US);
David W. Caldwell, Holland, MI (US);
William D. Schaefer, Grand Rapids, MI (US);
AlSentis, LLC, Holland, MI (US);
Abstract
A capacitive sensor for detecting a stimulus. The capacitive sensor includes an electrode and a processing unit electrically coupled to the electrode and configured to determine the presence of a stimulus based on the rate of change of the electrode capacitance. A substrate is positioned adjacent the electrode, wherein the stimulus corresponds to the placement of an object against the substrate. The processing unit is operative to determine a time rate of change based on successive measurements of the electrode capacitance. In addition, the processing unit is operative to determine the presence of a stimulus in response to the time rate of change being less than a reference value.