Capacitive field sensor with sigma-delta modulator
US8089289B1 · kind B1 · utility
405Cited by
236References
7Claims
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Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 2, 2008 |
| Grant date | Jan 3, 2012 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 19, 2029 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH03K2217/96074
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A capacitive sensor includes a switching capacitor circuit, a comparator, and a charge dissipation circuit. The switching capacitor circuit reciprocally couples a sensing capacitor in series with a modulation capacitor during a first switching phase and discharges the sensing capacitor during a second switching phase. The comparator is coupled to compare a voltage potential on the modulation capacitor to a reference and to generate a modulation signal in response. The charge dissipation circuit is coupled to the modulation capacitor to selectively discharge the modulation capacitor in response to the modulation signal.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.