Digitally modified resistive output for a temperature sensor
View Patent ↗A method for digitally controlling the resistive output of a temperature probe is disclosed. The system is comprised of a temperature sensor, a processor and a means under the control of the processor for modifying the resistive output such as a digital potentiometer. In one embodiment, the processor reads the temperature sensor and adjusts the potentiometer based on a correlative or predictive technique so as to provide a modified output that matches that of a standard resistive temperature probe and is compatible for display on a multi-parameter monitor.
1. An interface for a monitor and a temperature probe including a temperature sensor, said interface comprising:
a logic circuit for modifying a resistive output of the temperature sensor to determine a modified resistive output for the temperature sensor; and
a means for providing the modified resistive output, wherein the means for providing the modified resistive output is compatible with the monitor such that the monitor can display a temperature that corresponds to the modified resistive output from said means, said means including a digital potentiometer,
wherein the logic circuit sends a control signal to the digital potentiometer such that the potentiometer provides the modified resistive output to the monitor.
2. The interface of claim 1 , wherein the means for providing the modified resistive output includes two digital potentiometers.
3. The interface of claim 1 , wherein the logic circuit is programmed to execute a predictive or a correlative algorithm.
4. The interface of claim 3 , wherein the logic circuit is a microprocessor.
5. A temperature probe comprising:
a temperature sensor having a resistive output;
a processor for modifying the resistive output of the temperature sensor to determine a modified resistive output for the temperature sensor, the processor being programmed to execute a predictive or a correlative algorithm; and
a digital potentiometer for providing the modified resistive output to a monitor in response to a signal from the processor,
wherein the algorithm converts the resistive output of the temperature sensor during a thermally unstable condition to a modified resistive output representative of a predicted temperature during a condition of thermal stability.
6. The temperature probe of claim 5 , wherein the probe includes two digital potentiometers.
7. A method for digitally modifying the resistive output of a temperature sensor, said method comprising the steps of:
inputting the resistive output from the temperature sensor to a logic circuit;
implementing a predictive or a correlative algorithm using the logic circuit to modify the resistive output to determine a modified resistive output; and
signaling a digital potentiometer to adopt a setting corresponding to the modified resistive output; wherein the digital potentiometer outputs a resistance corresponding to the modified resistive output.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the signaling step comprises signaling two digital potentiometers to adopt a setting corresponding to the modified resistive output.