Appeal No. 95-1994
Application 07/732,493
Appellants have appealed to the Board from the examiner’s
final rejection of claims 1 to 12, which constitute all the
claims in the application.
Representative claim 1 is reproduced below:
1. Method for dynamic and non-contact measurement of a
displacement of a grounded conductive substance with respect
to a capacitive sensor formed of two parallel conductive
plates, superimposed, electrically insulated one from the
other, and fed by a high frequency signal at a predetermined
voltage originating from a signal generator, said capacitive
sensor being connected to a device for detecting a current
value, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) positioning said capacitive sensor close to and at a
perpendicular fixed distance from a plane in which said
conductive substance extends, said plates being substantially
parallel to said plane and displacing said conductive
substance in said plane to modify an overlapping surface
formed by portions of said conductive substance and said
capacitive sensor which are superimposed;
(b) detecting a current induced by said high frequency
signal in said capacitive sensor, said current having a value
varying in a directly proportional relationship with said
overlapping surface; and
(c) determining the value of the displacement of said
conductive substance with respect to said capacitive sensor
according to the value of said current.
The following references are relied on by the examiner:
Lalonde et al. (Lalonde) 4,675,670 Jun.
23, 1987
Andermo 4,959,615 Sep. 25,
1990
2
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