Patents by Inventor Judson Grant McDonnell

Judson Grant McDonnell 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).

  • Capacitive sensing and method
    Patent number: 8138772
    Abstract: A capacitive vehicle sensor includes a sensing electrode configured to generate an electric field, a shield electrode configured to reduce the electromagnetic influence of electric fields generated by objects outside of the electric field, a circuit coupled to the sensing electrode and shield electrode that allows a plurality of impedances to be coupled between the sensing electrode and the shield electrode, and a control system. The control system configures the impedances between the sensing electrode and the shield electrode, is configured to measure current to the sensing electrode in each configuration, and is configured to calculate a measure related to the impedance from the sensing electrode to ground.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2012
    Assignee: TK Holdings Inc.
    Inventors: Judson Grant McDonnell, Phillip Maguire, Shawn Tracy
  • CAPACITIVE SENSING AND METHOD
    Publication number: 20100039122
    Abstract: A capacitive vehicle sensor includes a sensing electrode configured to generate an electric field, a shield electrode configured to reduce the electromagnetic influence of electric fields generated by objects outside of the electric field, a circuit coupled to the sensing electrode and shield electrode that allows a plurality of impedances to be coupled between the sensing electrode and the shield electrode, and a control system. The control system configures the impedances between the sensing electrode and the shield electrode, is configured to measure current to the sensing electrode in each configuration, and is configured to calculate a measure related to the impedance from the sensing electrode to ground.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 14, 2009
    Publication date: February 18, 2010
    Inventors: Judson Grant MCDONNELL, Phillip MAGUIRE, Shawn TRACY