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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8188755 | Electrostatic MEMS driver with on-chip capacitance measurement for autofocus applications A driver and capacitance measuring circuit includes a voltage source that selectively generates an output voltage at a first node during a driver mode to alter a capacitance of a device that is connected to the first node and that has a variable capacitance. A curre... | 05/29/2012 |
| 8174274 | Nailer with integrated stud finder A nailer incorporates an integrated stud finder for sensing when a stud is present. The nailer has a work contact element and a magazine for storing nails. The stud finder includes a sensor plate coupled to the work contact element of a nailer and a stud sensing cir... | 05/08/2012 |
| 8164353 | RF-biased capacitively-coupled electrostatic (RFB-CCE) probe arrangement for characterizing a film in a plasma processing chamber A method for characterizing deposited film on a substrate within a processing chamber during processing is provided. The method includes determining voltage-current characteristic for a probe head when measuring capacitor is set at a first capacitance value. The met... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8164352 | Capacitance detecting apparatus A capacitance detecting apparatus which can detect the change in minute capacitance of a measuring object with high sensitivity comprises a signal generator, a differential amplifying circuit, and a detecting unit. The signal generator generates a probe signal w(t) ... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8159234 | Proximity sensor A proximity sensor includes an L-C resonator, an oscillator for oscillating the L-C resonator, an oscillation detector, an output circuit, and a burnout detecting means. The L-C resonator has a detection coil for detecting an object, and a resonant capacitor connect... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8154310 | Capacitance sensor with sensor capacitance compensation A capacitance sensing circuit may include a capacitive sensor configured to conduct a sensor current, a current source for supplying a compensation current to the capacitive sensor, and a current mirror that generates a mirror current based on a compensated sensor c... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8149001 | Low cost fingerprint sensor system Low cost fingerprint system having a single chip solution includes a circuit board, a fingerprint sensor array fabricated onto a first surface of the circuit board, and an integrated circuit die for processing information received from the fingerprint sensor array i... | 04/03/2012 |
| 8143907 | Capacitive occupant sensor A capacitive occupant sensor includes a sensor mat having U-parts arranged in a first direction and, a second direction perpendicular to each other. The U-parts located adjacent to each other are connected in the second direction so as to define S-parts, in a manner... | 03/27/2012 |
| 8115499 | Device with proximity detection capability The electrical equivalent of a relatively large area proximity detection capability is provided in a space limited electronic device (20, 30) with many individual input electrodes (24, 34, 44) by dynamically coupling parallel groups of the individual e... | 02/14/2012 |
| 8106668 | Proximity detector and proximity detecting method A proximity detector detects the approach of an object based on a stray capacitance. A differential electrode has an apparent stray capacitance that varies in response to an approaching object. An individual capacitance detector detects an individual stray capacitan... | 01/31/2012 |
| 8093915 | Angle-measuring device with an absolute-type disk capacitive sensor An absolute position measuring device suitable for wide-angle range measurement and providing the advantages of high precision, high resolution, and easy data processing. The measuring device comprises a disk capacitive sensor, a measurement signal processing unit, ... | 01/10/2012 |
| 8058884 | System and method for measuring a capacitance and selectively activating an indicating transducer Systems and methods for sensing capacitances that are applicable to proximity sensor devices are provided. The systems and methods provide decreased implementation costs by reducing the number of output terminals required. Specifically, the systems and methods for s... | 11/15/2011 |
| 8035402 | Sensor A sensor including a carrier, a plurality of conductive bumps, a capacitive sensing element connected to the carrier through the conductive bumps, and a cover is provided. The capacitive sensing element has a membrane, and a channel is formed among the capacitive se... | 10/11/2011 |
| 7990160 | Capacitive sensing with combinatorial sensor layout In a method for determining capacitance, a set of sensor electrodes is employed. The set of sensor electrodes comprises at least three sensor electrodes including first, second, and third sensor electrodes. The first sensor electrode meets the second sensor electrod... | 08/02/2011 |
| 7982471 | Capacitance measurement system and method A capacitance measurement system precharges first terminals (21-0 . . . 21-k . . . 21-n) of a plurality of capacitors (25-0 . . . 25-k . . . 25), respectively, of a CDAC (capacitor digital-to-analog conv... | 07/19/2011 |
| 7969167 | Capacitance-to-voltage interface circuit with shared capacitor bank for offsetting and analog-to-digital conversion A capacitance-to-voltage interface circuit includes a capacitive sensing circuit, an amplification circuit adapted for selective coupling to the capacitive sensing circuit, a capacitor bank comprising a plurality of binary-weighted capacitors, and a switching archit... | 06/28/2011 |
| 7952367 | Capacitive position sensor Methods and apparatus related to a sensor are discussed herein. The sensor can include a sensing element having a sensing path, the sensing element coupled to a sensing channel, and a processor configured to interpret a signal generated by the sensing channel indica... | 05/31/2011 |
| 7948245 | Methods and systems for detecting a capacitance using sigma-delta measurement techniques Methods, systems and devices are described for detecting a measurable capacitance using sigma-delta measurement techniques. According to various embodiments, a voltage is applied to the measurable capacitance using a first switch. The measurable capacitance is allow... | 05/24/2011 |
| 7924030 | Test pattern for analyzing capacitance of interconnection line Disclosed is a test pattern for analyzing capacitances of interconnection lines that accounts for parasitic capacitance components. The test pattern includes a first metal line having a comb-type structure including a plurality of tines, a second metal line having a... | 04/12/2011 |
| 7906976 | Switched capacitor measurement circuit for measuring the capacitance of an input capacitor A switched capacitor measurement circuit is provided for measuring the capacitance of an input capacitor with a parallel parasitic resistor. The circuit comprises a switching arrangement, a reference capacitor, a steered current sink and an operational amplifier wit... | 03/15/2011 |
| 7902843 | Sensor A sensor including a carrier having two channels, a capacitive sensing element disposed on the carrier, and a cover is provided. The capacitive sensing element has a membrane, and a first chamber is formed between the membrane and the carrier. The cover is disposed ... | 03/08/2011 |
| 7898267 | Capacitive position sensing in an electrostatic micromotor An electrostatic micromotor is provided with a fixed substrate, a mobile substrate facing the fixed substrate, and electrostatic-interaction elements enabling a relative movement of the mobile substrate with respect to the fixed substrate in a movement direction; th... | 03/01/2011 |
| 7884625 | Capacitance structures for defeating microchip tampering Apparatus, method and program product may detect an attempt to tamper with a microchip by detecting an unacceptable alteration in a measured capacitance associated with capacitance structures proximate the backside of a microchip. The capacitance structures typicall... | 02/08/2011 |
| 7884624 | Capacitance sensing structure A capacitance sensing structure includes a substrate, a sensing electrode layer, at least one stack layer and a conductive body. The sensing electrode layer is formed on or in the substrate. The stack layer is formed on the sensing electrode layer. The conductive bo... | 02/08/2011 |
| 7830160 | Capacitive position sensor A capacitive touch sensor is provided having sensing path for setting a color parameter to a desired value within a range, the color parameter being color hue, color saturation or color temperature. The sensor includes a sensing element having a sensing path, a term... | 11/09/2010 |
| 7808255 | Two-dimensional position sensor A two-dimensional position sensor is formed by drive electrodes (52) and sense electrodes (62, 64, 66) both extending in the x-direction and interleaved in the y-direction. The sense electrodes comprise several groups, two of which co-extend in the x-d... | 10/05/2010 |
| 7795882 | Operator sensing circuit for disabling motor of power equipment An electrical characteristic in an operator-sensing circuit having a microcontroller that commands a charge sensor to send a sensor charge signal to a capacitive sensing element. The charge sensor outputs a corresponding raw data signal to the microcontroller that i... | 09/14/2010 |
| 7786738 | Cancelling low frequency errors in MEMS systems Systems and methods are described below for cancelling low frequency errors in electronic systems including MEMS systems. The systems include a first circuit coupled to one or more switches. One or more bond wires are coupled to the switches and a second circuit. Co... | 08/31/2010 |
| 7782069 | Capacitive proximity switch, and domestic appliance comprising the same A capacitive proximity switch includes an electrically conductive sensor area, which is covered by an electrically-insulating cover plate, as part of a capacitor having a capacitance which varies as a result of proximity. An associated evaluation circuit is provided... | 08/24/2010 |
| 7777502 | Capacitive proximity switch, and domestic appliance equipped with the same A capacitive proximity switch has an electrically conductive sensor surface, which is covered by an electrically non-conductive covering plate and which serves as a part of a capacitor with a capacitance that varies with proximity. A household appliance is equipped ... | 08/17/2010 |
| 7755369 | Capacitive fingerprint sensor and the panel thereof A capacitive fingerprint sensor comprises a fingerprint capacitor, a reference capacitor, a first transistor, a second transistor, a comparator and a multiplexer. The fingerprint capacitor has a capacitance that is either a valley capacitance CFV or a rid... | 07/13/2010 |
| 7724002 | Capacitive sensor A capacitive sensor with at least one reference impedance and at least one measuring condenser (5), with at least one electrical alternating signal source (6), with a current supply network as well as with an analysis unit (7) in which the refer... | 05/25/2010 |
| 7719291 | Capacitive sensor A capacitive sensor with at least one reference impedance (2) and at least one measuring condenser (3), at least one electrical alternating signal source (4), a current supply network (5) and an analysis unit (6) in which the refer... | 05/18/2010 |
| 7688082 | Capacitive fingerprint sensor and the panel thereof A capacitive fingerprint sensor comprises a first transistor, a second transistor, a fingerprint capacitor and a third transistor. The fingerprint capacitor has a capacitance that is either a valley capacitance CFV or a ridge capacitance CFR, w... | 03/30/2010 |
| 7683641 | Methods and systems for detecting a capacitance using sigma-delta measurement techniques Methods, systems and devices are described for detecting a measurable capacitance using sigma-delta measurement techniques. According to various embodiments, a voltage is applied to the measurable capacitance using a first switch. The measurable capacitance is allow... | 03/23/2010 |
| 7683639 | Capacitive fingerprint sensor and the panel thereof A capacitive fingerprint sensor comprises a fingerprint capacitor, a reference capacitor, a first transistor and a second transistor. The fingerprint capacitor CF has a capacitance that is either a valley capacitance CFV or a ridge capacitance ... | 03/23/2010 |
| 7683640 | Capacitive fingerprint sensor and the panel thereof A capacitive fingerprint sensor comprises a fingerprint capacitor, an integrator, a first transistor, a second transistor and a third transistor. The fingerprint capacitor has a capacitance that is either a valley capacitance CFV or a ridge capacitance C | 03/23/2010 |
| 7683638 | Capacitive fingerprint sensor and the panel thereof A capacitive fingerprint sensor comprises a fingerprint capacitor, an integrator, a first transistor, a second transistor and a multiplexer. The fingerprint capacitor has a capacitance that is either a valley capacitance CFV or a ridge capacitance CF... | 03/23/2010 |
| 7679378 | Dual function capacitive sensor for seat occupant detection A dual function capacitive occupant detection sensor includes a capacitive load cell disposed below a seat cushion, an electric field emitter disposed above the seat cushion and a capacitance-responsive control circuit. The control circuit determines a seated weight... | 03/16/2010 |
| 7663380 | Capacitive fingerprint sensor and the panel thereof A capacitive fingerprint sensor comprises a fingerprint capacitor, a reference capacitor, a first transistor, a second transistor, a third transistor and a fourth transistor. The fingerprint capacitor CF has a capacitance that is either a valley capacitan... | 02/16/2010 |
