Patent ID: 8030950

Claim:
A measuring device ( 20 ) for measuring a capacitance of a capacitive component ( 21 ), comprising: pulse generating means ( 23 , 24 ), which are connected to the capacitive component ( 21 ) whose capacitance is being measured, to generate a first train of pulses (M) of a frequency (f 1 ) related to the unknown capacitance being measured, and are connected to a reference capacitive component ( 25 ) having a known reference capacitance (C REF ), to generate a second train of pulses (L) of a frequency (f 2 ) related to said reference capacitance (C REF ); and processing means ( 22 , 26 ) connected to said pulse generating means ( 23 , 24 ) and configured to determine the time difference (ΔT) between the times (T 1 , T 2 ) taken by the first and second train of pulses (M, L) to reach a given number of pulses (Th 1 , Th 2 ), and to calculate the difference (ΔC) between the unknown capacitance and the reference capacitance (C REF ) as a function of said time difference (ΔT).