Patents by Inventor Steven R. Hilliard

Steven R. Hilliard 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).

  • Publication number: 20020018006
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for measuring the inductance of a wire-loop without direct reference to any particular time-constant or frequency. Low-frequency noise induced into the wire-loop is canceled within the detector circuit and crosstalk between a plurality of adjacent wire-loops is nullified using passive transformers. New wire-loop configurations utilize the permeability-modulated carrier referencing to provide repeatable inductive signatures with less intrusive, and non-intrusive installations.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 4, 2001
    Publication date: February 14, 2002
    Inventors: Steven R. Hilliard, Geoffrey W. Hilliard
  • Publication number: 20020018007
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for measuring the inductance of a wire-loop without direct reference to any particular time-constant or frequency. Low-frequency noise induced into the wire-loop is canceled within the detector circuit and crosstalk between a plurality of adjacent wire-loops is nullified using passive transformers. New wire-loop configurations utilize the permeability-modulated carrier referencing to provide repeatable inductive signatures with less intrusive, and non-intrusive installations.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 4, 2001
    Publication date: February 14, 2002
    Inventors: Steven R. Hilliard, Geoffrey W. Hilliard
  • Patent number: 6342845
    Abstract: A system and method for measuring a plurality of successive induction measurements, collectively known as the “inductive signature” of a vehicle, and classifying the vehicle described by the measured inductive signature. The system includes a blade-type wire-loop configuration, or blade sensor and a corresponding measurement circuit employing a discrete measurement technique, as opposed to the frequency counting technique of the prior art. The system and method produce repeatable inductive signatures at a high resolution that allows for accurate identification and classification of a vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2000
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2002
    Assignee: Inductive Signature Technologies
    Inventors: Steven R. Hilliard, Geoffrey W. Hilliard
  • Patent number: 6337602
    Abstract: An oscillator circuit for use with a wire-loop inductive sensor and method for use. The oscillator circuit includes two balanced capacitors coupled to the wire-loop sensor, and an excitation circuit connectable with the capacitors at a selected polarity. Wherein, when the excitation circuit is connected to the capacitors, one of the capacitors is charged while the other capacitor is discharged, and both of the capacitors are discharged when the excitation circuit is disconnected to produce a pair of decaying oscillations having a caduceus-shaped output. The oscillator circuit highly attenuates common-mode noise detected by the wire-loop and differential noise from both ambient and crosstalk sources is filtered by active isolation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2002
    Assignee: Inductive Signature Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Steven R. Hilliard, Geoffrey W. Hilliard
  • Publication number: 20010043124
    Abstract: An oscillator circuit for use with a wire-loop inductive sensor and method for use. The oscillator circuit highly attenuates common-mode noise detected by the wire-loop and differential noise from both ambient and crosstalk sources are filtered by active isolation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 5, 2001
    Publication date: November 22, 2001
    Inventors: Steven R. Hilliard, Geoffrey W. Hilliard