Patents Examined by Dominic E Hawkins
  • Patent number: 11747371
    Abstract: A current sensing topology uses an amplifier with capacitively coupled inputs in feedback to sense the input offset of the amplifier, which can be compensated for during measurement. The amplifier with capacitively coupled inputs in feedback is used to: operate the amplifier in a region where the input common-mode specifications are relaxed, so that the feedback loop gain and/or bandwidth is higher; operate the sensor from the converter input voltage by employing high-PSRR (power supply rejection ratio) regulators to create a local, clean supply voltage, causing less disruption to the power grid in the switch area; sample the difference between the input voltage and the controller supply, and recreate that between the drain voltages of the power and replica switches; and compensate for power delivery network related (PDN-related) changes in the input voltage during current sensing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Nachiket Desai, Harish Krishnamurthy, Suhwan Kim, Fabrice Paillet
  • Patent number: 11747370
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to the technical field of current sensors, and provides a fiber-optic current transformer based on nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond, and a measurement method. The fiber-optic current transformer based on NV centers in diamond includes a device for laser light excitation and reflected light reception and analysis, a diamond NV center probe, a magnetic concentrator, and a microwave excitation device. The fiber-optic current transformer based on NV centers in diamond includes three measurement methods: an all-optical measurement method, a non-all-optical measurement method, and a measurement method combining the all-optical measurement method and the non-all-optical measurement method. A sensor in the present disclosure has advantages of a simple structure, strong practicability, resistance to external interference, and strong robustness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignee: ANHUI GUOSHENG QUANTUM TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Bowen Zhao, Shaochun Zhang
  • Patent number: 11747367
    Abstract: A current sensor of an embodiment includes a U-shaped conductor through which a current flows, a first magnetic field sensor configured to receive a magnetic field generated by the conductor in a first direction, and a second magnetic field sensor configured to receive the magnetic field in a second direction opposite to the first direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation
    Inventor: Jia Liu
  • Patent number: 11740263
    Abstract: A current sensor system for measuring an AC electrical current, comprising: a busbar having a thickness and a width; a sensor device comprising two sensor elements spaced apart along a first direction for measuring two magnetic field components oriented in a second direction; the sensor device configured for determining a magnetic field difference, and for determining the AC current based on said difference. The sensor device is positioned relative to the busbar such that a reference point in the middle between the two sensor elements is located at a first distance from a side of the busbar from 70% to 110% or from 70% to 95% of the width of the busbar and is located at a second distance from 0.5 to 4.0 mm from the busbar.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: MELEXIS TECHNOLOGIES SA
    Inventor: Simon Houis
  • Patent number: 11740262
    Abstract: A current sensor includes a first component and a second component shaped to fit together to create a combined unit with multiple openings through the combined unit. The opening is bounded on a first side by the first component and on a second side by the second component. The first component and the second component are configured to be fitted together around current-carrying conductors passing through the openings. The first component includes first portions of an inductive energy harvesting device and a current sensing device, both proximal to the first side of the opening. The second component includes second portions of the inductive energy harvesting device the current sensing device, both proximal to the second side of the opening. The inductive energy harvesting device may include a split-core ferrite current transformer and the current sensing device may include a Rogowski coil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: ETACTICA EHF.
    Inventors: Kristján Guδmundsson, Karl Pálsson, Ragnar Einarsson
  • Patent number: 11740379
    Abstract: A device for locating an object. The device includes a housing including a first hole. The device also includes a sensor carried by the housing and comprising two or more electrodes that are positioned next to each other to form a substantially circular configuration. The sensor includes a second hole formed in the center of the circular configuration, and the second hole is axially aligned with the first hole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: Stanley Black & Decker Inc.
    Inventors: Bruce Eidinger, Yong Cushing, Michael Murray, Bianca Linay
  • Patent number: 11733225
    Abstract: An oxygen sensor for a gas, coal, oil or wood fired kiln that is orders of magnitude cheaper than the current state of the art oxygen sensors. It uses a TiO2 tip sintered between and bridging a 1 mm spacing between a pair of 22 gauge Nichrome® series 90 round annealed resistance wires (0.64 mm diameter and having 0.648 Ohms/ft resistance). The Nichrome® 90 wires do not contact each other. One of the wires is a signal wire that resides down the center of an insulating sheath and the other wire is a ground wire that is wound around the outside of a high temperature ceramic insulating sleeve. The sensor needs no temperature compensation and exhibits an approximate 50,000 ohms of resistance change from a neutral (ambient) atmosphere and a fully reduced atmosphere.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Inventor: Mark C Smith
  • Patent number: 11719726
    Abstract: The present technology relates to a current sensing device utilizing a magnetic flux concentrator loop composed of segmented ferromagnetic components. The concentrator loop is designed to focus magnetic flux generated by a current carrying cable, wire, or conductor along the Faraday rotation axis of a magneto-optic sub-assembly. The segmented magnetic flux concentrator encompassing the current carrying cable is held close to a circumferential geometry about the cable, in order to maximize magnetic flux concentration on the magneto-optic sensor. The segmented design of the magnetic flux concentrator loop, combined with a clamping mechanism, allows for easy, straightforward attachment and detachment, during installation and removal or the current sensing device from the current carrying cable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2023
    Assignee: MICATU INC.
    Inventors: Anthony Fiorille, James Kennedy, Michael Oshetski
  • Patent number: 11714109
    Abstract: Presented are one or more embodiments of a device which includes a case and a sensor device. The case includes a first indent configured to secure an electronic device, the first indent in a first side of the case, a second indent in a second side of the case opposite the first side, the second indent extending from a first edge of the case in a first direction such that second indent is open at the first edge of the case, and a securing device in the second indent. The sensor device includes an outer casing configured to slide in the first direction in the second indent and at least partially prevented from leaving the second indent by the securing device, and a sensor at least partially in the outer casing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2023
    Inventor: Zachary D. Gniewoz
  • Patent number: 11680927
    Abstract: The present invention provides a way to increase the density of Hall effect sensors on a MFL inline inspection tool mounting the sensors on a first circuit board which overlies a second circuit board. Op amps for the sensors which condition and filter the analog signal from the sensors are mounted on the first circuit board. Microprocessors mounted on the second circuit board receive the analog signal from the op amp and translate it into a digital signal. Use of the stacked circuit boards doubles the amount of area to mount the sensors and their op amps and microprocessors while maintaining the same footprint. This results in being able to increase the number of Hall effect sensors in that footprint area. In other embodiments the number of layers of circuit boards may be increased beyond two.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2023
    Assignee: Cypress In-Line Inspection, LLC
    Inventors: Arthur Fox, Calvin L. Simmons, Michael P. Sheffield, William Geoffrey Callahan
  • Patent number: 11656248
    Abstract: A current meter for detecting currents in electrical lines includes: a housing having a plurality of receiving grooves formed on a housing wall, into which receiving grooves an electrical line is in each case insertable from outside the housing; and an arrangement of magnetic field sensors enclosed in the housing. The arrangement of magnetic field sensors detects a magnetic field on electrical lines inserted into the receiving grooves. The housing encloses an interior delimited by the housing wall, inside which interior the arrangement of magnetic field sensors is arranged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2023
    Assignee: PHOENIX CONTACT GMBH & CO. KG
    Inventor: Martin Jankowski
  • Patent number: 11656251
    Abstract: An integrated magnetic current sensor is provided. Aspects include a first transformer comprising a magnetic core, a first primary winding and a first secondary winding, a voltage source configured to supply a first alternating current (AC) voltage to the first secondary winding, a second transformer comprising, the magnetic core, a second primary winding, a second secondary winding, and a third secondary winding, wherein the first primary winding and the second primary winding are connected in series, and a bi-directional current source configured to bias a magnetic field in the magnetic core by supplying a current to the second secondary winding responsive to a sense current flowing through the first primary winding and the second primary winding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2023
    Assignee: HAMILTON SUNDSTRAND CORPORATION
    Inventor: John Vorndran
  • Patent number: 11656250
    Abstract: A current sensor system, includes: a plurality of conductors that are integrated into a substrate, each of the plurality of conductors having a respective first through-hole formed therein and a plurality of current sensors, each of the plurality of current sensors being disposed on the substrate. Each of the plurality of current sensors is disposed above or below the respective first through-hole of a different one of the plurality of conductors, and the substrate includes a plurality of conductive traces, each coupled to at least one of the plurality of current sensors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2023
    Assignee: Allegro MicroSystems, LLC
    Inventors: Yannick Vuillermet, Loïc André Messier
  • Patent number: 11650230
    Abstract: Sensor circuitry utilizing feedback to balance sensor output data is provided. An apparatus can include a primary coil and a first secondary coil outputting a first voltage. The apparatus can also include a second secondary coil outputting a second voltage. The apparatus can further include circuitry coupled to the first secondary coil and the second secondary coil. The circuitry can be configured to receive the first voltage from the first secondary coil and the second voltage from the second secondary coil. The circuitry can also be configured to determine a feedback voltage based on a difference between the first voltage and the second voltage. The feedback voltage can correct the difference. The circuitry can also modify a third voltage that can be output by the circuitry to be zero based on the feedback voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2023
    Assignee: Baker Hughes Holdings LLC
    Inventors: Andrew Walter Hutchinson, James Michael Lustig
  • Patent number: 11650242
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides an arcing detection device. The arcing detection device may include a detection coil and a processing circuit operably connected to the detection coil. The detection coil may be configured to detect a current variation of a system. The processing circuit may be configured to determine information of an arcing event of the system based on the current variation of the system. The information of the arcing event of the system may include a position where the arcing event occurs in the system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2023
    Assignee: SHANGHAI UNITED IMAGING HEALTHCARE CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Siming Chen, Guoping Zhu, Jinglin Wu, Biao Luo, Xu Chu
  • Patent number: 11638982
    Abstract: An apparatus for chemical mechanical polishing includes a support for a polishing pad having a polishing surface, and an electromagnetic induction monitoring system to generate a magnetic field to monitor a substrate being polished by the polishing pad. The electromagnetic induction monitoring system includes a core and a coil wound around a portion of the core. The core includes a back portion, a center post extending from the back portion in a first direction normal to the polishing surface, and an annular rim extending from the back portion in parallel with the center post and surrounding and spaced apart from the center post by a gap. A width of the gap is less than a width of the center post, and a surface area of a top surface of the annular rim is at least two times greater than a surface area of a top surface of the center post.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2023
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Hassan G. Iravani, Kun Xu, Denis Ivanov, Shih-Haur Shen, Boguslaw A. Swedek
  • Patent number: 11639911
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to circuitry for determining a temperature coefficient value of a resistor. The circuitry comprises circuitry for supplying an AC current signal to the resistor, circuitry for measuring a first voltage across the resistor when the AC current signal is supplied; and processing circuitry configured to determine the temperature coefficient value based on the first voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2023
    Assignee: Cirrus Logic, Inc.
    Inventors: Ravi K. Kummaraguntla, Kathryn R. Holland
  • Patent number: 11639950
    Abstract: A current sensor for detecting a magnitude of a current flowing through a measuring object has a magnetic core having a first magnetic core and a second magnetic core that is arranged magnetically in parallel to the first magnetic core, wherein the first magnetic core has a magnetic permeability that is higher than that of the second magnetic core in a first frequency band, and the first magnetic core has a magnetic permeability that is lower than that of the second magnetic core in a second frequency band, the second frequency band being higher than the first frequency band, and the current sensor detects the magnitude of the current in a frequency band that is constituted by combining the first frequency band and the second frequency band.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2023
    Assignee: HIOKI E.E. CORPORATION
    Inventors: Koki Nakazawa, Yuki Karasawa, Kenta Ikeda, Kimihiko Yamagishi, Takafumi Maruyama
  • Patent number: 11635420
    Abstract: A solution for evaluating a medium using electrical signals is described. A plurality of electrical signals having different frequencies are transmitted through the medium and signal data corresponding to the electrical signals after having traveled through the medium is acquired. A complex impedance and a complex permittivity and/or complex conductivity can be calculated for the medium. A set of characteristics of the medium can be computed using mixing models and/or known information of the medium. A level of one or more attributes of the medium can be determined from the characteristics using nonparametric Bayesian inference. One particular application is directed to determining a nitrate level of soil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2023
    Assignee: Blue Lab Solutions, LLC
    Inventor: Sarah E. Pluta
  • Patent number: 11624851
    Abstract: Buried utility locator systems, including a locator including an integrated marker device excitation transmitter for generating and sending a marker device excitation signal to one or more marker devices, are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: SEESCAN, INC.
    Inventors: Mark S. Olsson, Stephanie M. Bench, Ray Merewether, Jan Soukup