§
Luxuse
Patent Intelligence
Sign In
Patent EP0356034A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
← Back to Patent Explorer
EP0356034A2 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Optical sensor

Assignee: Emerson Process Management Ltd
•
Filing: 1989-07-31
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2009-07-31
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract An optical sensor comprises a plurality of light-sensitive members (10) each having an individually associated capacitor (11) which is charged with a current dependent upon the incident light sensed by the associated light-sensitive member (10); a light pulse source (12) providing light pulses from which the incident light is derived; and a control pulse source (14) providing pairs of consecutive pulses sandwiching the light pulses from the light pulse source (12), the first of which serves to discharge the capacitors (11) to a reference level prior to issue of a pulse by the light pulse source (12) and the second of which serves to effect read out from the capacitors (11) of the charge thereon deriving from the incident light from the preceding light pulse from the light pulse source (12), whereby the output of the sensor is not swamped by any stray charge on the capacitors (11).

Inventors

  • 👤 Andrew Eugene Romer

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-08 05:19
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N23/00; H04N23/56; H04N25/00; H04N25/70; H04N25/701

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 3
Claim 1
Independent Claim 129 words
An optical sensor comprising a plurality of light-sensitive members (10) each having an individually associated capacitor (11) which is charged with a current dependent upon the incident light sensed by the associated light-sensitive member; a light pulse source (12) providing light pulses from which said incident light is derived; and a control pulse source (14) providing pairs of consecutive pulses sandwiching the light pulses from the light pulse source (12), the first of which serves to discharge the capacitors (11) to a reference level prior to issue of a pulse by said light pulse source (12) and the second of which serves to effect read out from the capacitors (11) of the charge thereon deriving from incident light from the preceding light pulse from the light pulse source (12).
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 129 words
An optical sensor comprising a plurality of light-sensitive members (10) each having an individually associated capacitor (11) which is charged with a current dependent upon the incident light sensed by the associated light-sensitive member; a light pulse source (12) providing light pulses from which said incident light is derived; and a control pulse source (14) providing pairs of consecutive pulses sandwiching the light pulses from the light pulse source (12), the first of which serves to discharge the capacitors (11) to a reference level prior to issue of a pulse by said light pulse source (12) and the second of which serves to effect read out from the capacitors (11) of the charge thereon deriving from incident light from the preceding light pulse from the light pulse source (12).
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 42 words
A sensor as claimed in Claim 1, in which the charges on the capacitors (11) are transferred to an analogue shift register (15) for subsequent reading by a charge-to-current or charge-to-voltage converter (16) to provide the output signal (17) from the sensor.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

No citation records indexed.

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag