Patents by Inventor John J. Gough

John J. Gough 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).

  • Signal conditioning apparatus and method exhibiting accurate input impedance and gain characteristics over common mode range and operational environments
    Patent number: 5554951
    Abstract: A signal conditioning apparatus useful in applications, such as automotive applications, having a signal conditioning circuit capable of conditioning a sensor input signal and providing an output useful, for example, to a fuel-air mixture control system. The signal conditioning circuit employs an amplifier with a feedback impedance, NMOS and PMOS transistors, an input impedance, a detection impedance, input terminals coupled to a sensor. The sensor, such as an oxygen sensor, has a sensor output referenced to sensor ground and input terminals coupled to a power supply and power supply ground. The signal conditioning circuit utilizes switched impedances to provide an output voltage proportional to the differential voltage between the sensor output voltage and the sensor ground when an impedance between the signal conditioning circuit input terminals is low relative to the detection impedance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 1995
    Date of Patent: September 10, 1996
    Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventor: John J. Gough