APPLIANCE INTERFACE, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR LIQUID INGRESS DETECTION IN THE APPLIANCE INTERFACE

Abstract

An electronic system comprising an appliance interface and an electronic device couplable to the appliance interface is disclosed. The appliance interface comprises at least one primary appliance terminal, a reference appliance terminal, and a dielectric region separating the at least one primary appliance terminal and the reference appliance terminal. The electronic device comprises at least one primary device terminal configured to connect to the at least one primary appliance terminal, and a reference device terminal configured to connect to the reference appliance terminal. The electronic device is configured to generate and apply an electrical reference signal to the reference appliance terminal and to detect an electrical primary signal from the at least one primary appliance terminal. Further, the electronic device is configured to compare the primary signal with the reference signal, and, in accordance with at least a component of the primary signal being identical to the reference signal, determine that liquid is present in the appliance interface. Thereby, the electronic system can detect a presence of liquid in the appliance interface: only through the presence of (electrically conducting) liquid in the appliance interface can the primary signal, or a component thereof, be identical to the reference signal. The present disclosure further provides a method for detecting presence of liquid in an appliance interface, an appliance interface, and a medical device comprising the electronic system.

IPC Classifications