CAPACITANCE-BASED VEHICULAR COMPONENT PROTECTION SYSTEMS AND CONFIGURATIONS
First Claim
1. A vehicular component protection system, comprising:
- a controller and a vehicular component;
two electrodes electrically coupled to the controller and near the component;
a shorting element coupled to the component; and
a resistor electrically coupled to the element and controller,wherein the controller activates an alarm upon detecting a change in capacitance between the electrodes or continuity between the element and the resistor.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicular component protection system is provided that includes: a controller and a vehicular component; two electrodes electrically coupled to the controller and near the component; a shorting element coupled to the component; and a resistor electrically coupled to the element and controller. The controller activates an alarm upon detecting a change in capacitance between the electrodes or continuity between the element and the resistor. Further, the controller may activate the alarm upon detecting a change in capacitance between the electrodes that exceeds the predetermined capacitance over a predetermined time threshold. In addition, the predetermined capacitance and time threshold can be set to filter false positives caused by one or more of weather conditions, wind-driven objects, and animals.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A vehicular component protection system, comprising:
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a controller and a vehicular component; two electrodes electrically coupled to the controller and near the component; a shorting element coupled to the component; and a resistor electrically coupled to the element and controller, wherein the controller activates an alarm upon detecting a change in capacitance between the electrodes or continuity between the element and the resistor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A catalytic converter protection system, comprising:
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a controller; a catalytic converter; and two electrodes electrically coupled to the controller and near the converter, wherein the controller activates an alarm upon detecting a change in capacitance between the electrodes above a predetermined capacitance over a predetermined time threshold, the capacitance and threshold set to filter false positives caused by one or more of weather conditions, wind-driven objects, and animals. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A vehicular component protection system, comprising:
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a controller; a vehicular component; and two electrodes electrically coupled to the controller and near the component, wherein the controller activates an alarm upon detecting a change in capacitance between the electrodes above a predetermined capacitance over a predetermined time threshold, the capacitance and threshold set to filter false positives caused by one or more of weather conditions, wind-driven objects, and animals. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification