OBSCURED FEATURE DETECTOR WITH ADVANCED TRACE PROPERTIES
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A surface-conforming obscured feature detector includes a plurality of sensor plates, each having a capacitance that varies based on the dielectric constant of the materials that compose the surrounding objects and the proximity of those objects. A sensing circuit is coupled to the sensor plates 32 to measure the capacitances of the sensor plates. A controller is coupled to the sensing circuit to analyze the capacitances measured by the sensing circuit. One or a plurality of indicators are coupled to the controller, and are selectively activated to identify the location of an obscured feature behind a surface.
-
Citations
70 Claims
-
1-52. -52. (canceled)
-
53. An obscured feature detector comprising:
-
a plurality of sensor plates, each having a capacitance that varies based on;
(a) the proximity of the sensor plates to one or more surrounding objects, and (b) the dielectric constant(s) of the surrounding object(s);a sensing circuit coupled to the sensor plates by a plurality of electrically conductive paths, the sensing circuit being configured to measure the capacitances of the sensor plates; and wherein the electrically conductive paths have a length defined by the distance along the paths between the sensor plates and the sensing circuit, and two or more of the electrically conductive path lengths are substantially the same. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
-
-
61. A method of using an obscured feature detector having a plurality of sensor plates to determine the location of an obscured feature behind a surface, the method comprising:
-
placing the obscured feature detector on the surface; transmitting a value from the plurality of sensor plates along a plurality of electrically conductive paths to a sensor circuit, wherein the length of at least two of the conductive paths is substantially equal; measuring capacitance readings sensed in a plurality of regions, each region corresponding to an area surrounding one or more of the sensor plates and represented by the value transmitted from the plurality of sensor plates; and identifying, based on the capacitance readings, a location of the obscured feature behind the surface. - View Dependent Claims (62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69)
-
-
70-239. -239. (canceled)
Specification