Patent · US Expired

Coupling circuit between high impedance piezoelectric signal source and utilizing circuit

US4490639A · kind A · utility

9Cited by
4References
6Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 6, 1983
Grant dateDec 25, 1984
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 6, 2003

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S310/80

Abstract

The high impedance output of a touch-sensitive piezoelectric sensor is coupled directly to the high impedance input of a CMOS (complementary metal oxide silicon field effect transistor pair). The CMOS is protected on its input side by clamps which restrict the voltage swing applied to the gates to within the range defined by the positive and negative CMOS bias supply (+V.sub.DD and -V.sub.SS). The sensor produces voltages of approximately equal magnitude in response to slow acting temperature changes and quicker acting manual touching. In order to distinguish piezoelectric from pyroelectric signals, the CMOS bias is periodically and briefly shorted, to ensure a brief return-to-zero of the sensor output, thereby effectively suppressing the slow acting pyroelectric signal without interfering with sensing of quick acting piezoelectric signals.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.