# US 9,753,466 B2 · Signal determination apparatus and temperature determination apparatus

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- Number: US 9,753,466 B2
- Document ID: US9753466B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 14/286,036
- Filed: 2014-05-23
- Published: 2014-09-11
- Granted: 2017-09-05
- Earliest claimed: 2010-06-16
- Assignees: Yazaki Corporation; Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
- Applicants: Yazaki Corporation; Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Yoshihiro Kawamura; Susumu Yamamoto; Mitsuteru Yano
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9753466B2

## CPC

- G05D 23/19: characterised by the use of electric means {(G05D23/1393 takes precedence)}
- G01K 7/24: in a specially-adapted circuit, e.g. bridge circuit
- G01K 15/007: {Testing}
- H03M 1/12: Analogue/digital converters ({H03M1/001 – } H03M1/10 take precedence)
- G01K 2219/00: Thermometers with dedicated analog to digital converters
- G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES
- G01K: MEASURING TEMPERATURE; MEASURING QUANTITY OF HEAT; THERMALLY-SENSITIVE ELEMENTS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR (radiation pyrometry G01J5/00)
- H03M: CODING; DECODING; CODE CONVERSION IN GENERAL (using fluidic means F15C4/00; optical analogue/digital converters G02F7/00; coding, decoding or code conversion, specially adapted for particular applications, see the relevant subclasses, e.g. G01D, G01R, G06F, G06T, G09G, G10L, G11B, G11C, H04B, H04L, H04M, H04N; ciphering or deciphering for cryptography or other purposes involving the need for secrecy G09C)

## Abstract

A temperature determination apparatus includes a signal detection section having an A/D input port, a thermistor that is connected to the A/D input port and outputs an analog signal to the A/D input port, and a switch section that shifts a level of the analog signal to a low level. The signal detection section determines that a control signal having a priority higher than that of an output detection process of the thermistor is generated when it is detected that the analog signal to be input to the A/D input port is in the low level.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A signal determination apparatus, comprising:
a signal detection section comprising an A/D input port;
an analog signal generation section connected to the A/D input port and configured to:
detect a temperature detection process; and
output an analog signal indicating temperature to the A/D input port;
a priority signal generation circuit configured to generate a priority signal based on a received external control signal; and
a level shift section configured to:
shift a level of the analog signal output from the analog signal generation section to a low level within a second level range in response to the received priority signal; and
provide the shifted analog signal to the A/D input port,
wherein, when the signal detection section detects that the level of the analog signal is within a first level range, a temperature determination process of the analog signal is performed,
wherein, when the signal detection section detects that the level of the analog signal is within the second level range, the temperature determination process of the analog signal is not performed,
wherein, when the signal detection section detects that the level of the analog signal is within the second level range, different from the first level range, a first process corresponding to the received priority signal is performed, and
wherein, when the signal detection section detects that the level of the analog signal is within the second level range and detects that a speed of change of the analog signal indicating an amount of level shift per a predetermined time of the analog signal is lower than a threshold value, the signal detection section determines that the priority signal is not generated by the priority signal generation circuit and a second process, different from the temperature determination process of the analog signal and from the first process, is performed.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The signal determination apparatus of claim 1, wherein the analog signal generation section comprises a thermistor.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The signal determination apparatus of claim 1, wherein:
when the signal detection section detects that the level of the analog signal is within the second level range, the signal detection section determines that a second process, different from the temperature determination process of the analog signal, is performed; and
when the signal detection section detects that the level of the analog signal is matched with the low level within the second level range, the signal detection section determines that the first process corresponding to the priority signal is performed, the first process being different from both of the second process and the temperature determination process of the analog signal.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The signal determination apparatus of claim 1, wherein, when the signal detection section detects that the level of the analog signal is within the first level range, the signal detection section determines that the temperature determination process of the analog signal is performed by referring to a table or a calculation formula.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The signal determination apparatus of claim 1, wherein:
the analog signal generation section comprises a thermistor; and
the second process is performed for an abnormal state of the thermistor with a high temperature.