Patents by Inventor Thomas A. Mignone

Thomas A. Mignone 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).

  • Pulsed antenna capacitive touch switch
    Patent number: 8203466
    Abstract: A capacitive touch switch suitable for use in areas with high environmental and electrical contamination employs a complex excitation signal that is demodulated to better distinguish it from environmental effects. Improved discrimination allows these sensed signals to be offset against a signal developed by a reference electrode to allow the system to operate robustly with contamination on the electrodes that would otherwise trigger or obscure pulses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2012
    Assignee: Illinois Tool Works Inc.
    Inventors: Jeffrey P. Rudd, Levi G. Fox, David Malcom Howie, Thomas A. Mignone, James Pellegrini
  • Pulse-based communication for devices connected to a bus
    Patent number: 7826525
    Abstract: A method for communicating data is disclosed. The method includes receiving a sequence of electrical pulses during an interval having a pre-determined time period, the sequence of electrical pulses representing a message from one of a plurality of devices, determining the number of received electrical pulses in the sequence of electrical pulses, and decoding the message based on the determined number of electrical pulses received during the interval.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 16, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2010
    Assignee: Illinois Tool Works, Inc.
    Inventor: Thomas A. Mignone
  • SELF-ADVANCING ENCODER FOR APPLIANCE CONTROL
    Publication number: 20100242548
    Abstract: The present invention provides cycle control that may be used among many different appliances. The cycle control provides a standard knob on the shaft that may be rotated and pulled out or pushed into activate the washing machine. The shaft is attached to a high-resolution encoder and a motor allowing software control of the actual movement and cycle definitions provided by the control.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 7, 2008
    Publication date: September 30, 2010
    Applicant: ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS INC.
    Inventors: Matthew C. Webster, Thomas A. Mignone, Eric Larson
  • PULSED ANTENNA CAPACITIVE TOUCH SWITCH
    Publication number: 20100109917
    Abstract: A capacitive touch switch suitable for use in areas with high environmental and electrical contamination employs a complex excitation signal that is demodulated to better distinguish it from environmental effects. Improved discrimination allows these sensed signals to be offset against a signal developed by a reference electrode to allow the system to operate robustly with contamination on the electrodes that would otherwise trigger or obscure pulses.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 18, 2008
    Publication date: May 6, 2010
    Inventors: Jeffrey P. Rudd, Levi G. Fox, David Malcom Howie, Thomas A. Mignone, James Pellegrini
  • PULSE-BASED COMMUNICATION FOR DEVICES CONNECTED TO A BUS
    Publication number: 20080198917
    Abstract: A method for communicating data is disclosed. The method includes receiving a sequence of electrical pulses during an interval having a pre-determined time period, the sequence of electrical pulses representing a message from one of a plurality of devices, determining the number of received electrical pulses in the sequence of electrical pulses, and decoding the message based on the determined number of electrical pulses received during the interval.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 16, 2007
    Publication date: August 21, 2008
    Applicant: ARK-LES CORPORATION
    Inventor: Thomas A. Mignone