Patents by Inventor Frank Fichtner

Frank Fichtner has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Digital position sensor for indicating the relative position of relatively movable parts
    Patent number: 4980548
    Abstract: A position sensor for supplying digital signals corresponding to the position of a movable part in non-contacting, reliable fashion. A number of individual electrodes are applied on a substrate with a layer of a-Si:H applied thereon. A common, large-area collector electrode is applied over the a-Si:H layer. A light beam is moved over the collector electrode to activate a predetermined combination of photosensitive pixels which may be photodiodes or photoresistors. These pixels are situated between the individual electrodes and the common collector electrode. The output signals of the photodiodes are in the form of a digital code that characterizes the location of the light beam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 1989
    Date of Patent: December 25, 1990
    Assignee: Heimann GmbH
    Inventors: Manfred Dennhoven, Frank Fichtner, Mario Gauer, Enno Holzenkaempfer, Ulrich Traupe