Abstract: A conductor pad, formable on a substrate or a printed circuit board, for conducing the reduction of gas voids in solder when an electronic device is soldered to the conductor pad, wherein the conductor pad includes a uniform and electrically conductive base layer having an interface surface, and also includes a patterned layer formed on the interface surface of the base layer, wherein one of the base layer and the patterned layer is substantially non-wettable and the other is substantially wettable, and wherein the base layer and the patterned layer cooperatively define strips of non-wettable surface areas which extend across the interface surface of the base layer. The strips of non-wettable surface areas can be defined upon the interface surface of the base layer in various ways to thereby create various non-wettable patterns upon the base layer. Preferably, the base layer is substantially wettable, and the patterned layer is both substantially non-wettable and electrically conductive.

Abstract: A compression sense ignition system includes a sensing capacitor having a conductive sensing element disposed in proximity to the secondary winding leads of a first and a second ignition coil for developing a compression sense ignition signal. Epoxy potting material encapsulates the leads and the sensing element to reduce variation of the effective capacitance of the sensing capacitor. The compression sense ignition signal is processed to generate a cylinder identification signal which is used to determine absolute engine position. A fault mode detection and correction scheme is implemented wherein a controller responsive to the cylinder identification signal can determine correct absolute engine position notwithstanding the occurrence of one or more engine or ignition system faults which may impair the cylinder identification signal.

Abstract: 16 A thick-film circuit (10) includes an electrically conductive substrate (12), such as stainless steel, and a first layer of a gold-rich conductor (15) applied directly thereon. The gold layer is fired in a non-oxidizing atmosphere, such as nitrogen, to ensure a solid mechanical and electrical connection between the gold and the substrate. A next layer of a silver composition (20) containing a first proportion of silver to a conductive metal is directly applied to the gold layer (15). Preferably, the composition (20) includes palladium in equal parts with the silver to achieve a secure mechanical and electrical contact with the gold layer with a minimum resistivity. A silver-rich layer (23) is then applied directly onto the intermediate layer. This silver-rich layer (23) is a composition of silver and the conductive metal in a second proportion greater than the first proportion. In one embodiment, this second proportion is three parts silver to one part palladium by weight.

Abstract: An adaptive digital filter for filtering noise from a binary signal having a baseline that is low and including valid pulses that are high, a system for monitoring a rotating element employing such an adaptive digital filter, and a method for filtering. The adaptive filter discriminates noise pulses from valid pulses by eliminating pulses of shorter duration than a specified high time threshold and eliminating pulse occurring prior to the expiration of a specified low time threshold from the filtered signal generated by the filter from the binary signal. The filter also includes a mechanism for analyzing the filtered signal and dynamically and automatically adjusting the specified high time threshold and specified low time threshold based on timing changes in the filtered signal. A method of filtering is also presented whereby the specified high time and low time thresholds are adjusted dynamically in accordance with the timing data calculated by the filter.

Abstract: A circuit for providing a synchronizing signal based on detected ignition voltages in a coil-per-plug ignition system. In this type of ignition system, each spark plug has its own step-up transformer, typically packaged in close proximity to the spark plug itself. Normally, the plugs are fired individually to extend plug life, but according to this invention, at least two of the plugs are fired concurrently during engine cranking. During such operation, the circuit senses the voltages at the primary transformer windings of two different spark plugs to identify the respective spark plug firings, and the synchronizing signal is produced based on the sequence of the identified firings.