Rain sensor with fractal capacitor(s)
First Claim
1. A rain sensor comprising:
- a sensing circuit comprising at least a first sensing capacitor supported by a vehicle window, the first sensing capacitor being sensitive to moisture on an external surface of the window;
the first sensing capacitor having first and second spaced apart capacitor electrodes that are substantially coplanar; and
wherein at least part of the first sensing capacitor has a fractal geometry.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and/or method for sensing the presence of moisture (e.g., rain) and/or other material(s) on a window such as a vehicle window (e.g., vehicle windshield, sunroof or backlite). In certain example embodiments of the invention, at least one sensing capacitor is supported by a window such as a vehicle windshield, the capacitor(s) having a field that is affected by moisture (e.g., rain) on a surface of the window. The at least one sensing capacitor may have a fractal geometry in certain example embodiments of this invention. The sensing circuit may output an analog signal that is based on and/or related to the sensing capacitor(s). The analog output of the circuit may be converted to a digital signal, and subjected to processing (e.g., correlation) for determining whether moisture (e.g., rain, dew, fog, etc.) or the like is present on the surface of the window.
34 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A rain sensor comprising:
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a sensing circuit comprising at least a first sensing capacitor supported by a vehicle window, the first sensing capacitor being sensitive to moisture on an external surface of the window;
the first sensing capacitor having first and second spaced apart capacitor electrodes that are substantially coplanar; and
wherein at least part of the first sensing capacitor has a fractal geometry. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A rain sensor comprising:
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at least one sensing capacitor supported by a window, the sensing capacitor being sensitive to rain on an external surface of the window; and
wherein the sensing capacitor comprises fractal geometry. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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20. A rain sensor comprising:
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at least one sensing capacitor that is sensitive to moisture on an external surface of a window; and
the first sensing capacitor comprising first and second capacitor electrodes each have a meandering shape, and wherein the first and second capacitor electrodes are substantially parallel to each other.
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Specification