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; and
wherein the rain sensor includes a plurality of sensing capacitors that have fractal geometry, wherein the plurality of sensing capacitors are arranged in an array around a centrally located contact pad.
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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.
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Citations
19 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; and wherein the rain sensor includes a plurality of sensing capacitors that have fractal geometry, wherein the plurality of sensing capacitors are arranged in an array around a centrally located contact pad. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. 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; and wherein the rain sensor includes a plurality of sensing capacitors that have fractal geometry, wherein the plurality of sensing capacitors are arranged in an array around a centrally located contact pad. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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19. 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; and wherein at least part of the first sensing capacitor has a fractal geometry; and wherein the rain sensor includes a plurality of sensing capacitors that have fractal geometry, wherein the plurality of sensing capacitors are arranged in an array around a centrally located contact pad.
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Specification