Patent ID: 7080549

Claim:
A throttle position sensor for a throttle having a movable throttle element comprising: an elongated electrically resistive strip having a first end and a second end, said first end being electrically connected to a first voltage potential and said second end being electrically connected to a second voltage potential, said first voltage potential being different than said second voltage potential, an electrically conductive wiper in sliding contact with said resistive strip, one of said wiper or said resistive strip being coupled to the movable throttle element so that the position of said wiper relative to said strip varies proportionately with the position of the throttle element and so that a voltage at an output from said wiper varies proportionately with the position of the movable throttle element, and a circuit which determines a contact resistance between said wiper and said strip, wherein said circuit comprises: a sensor resistor of predetermined resistance, a switch which selectively electrically connects said sensor resistor between said wiper and said second voltage potential, a first voltage detector which generates an output signal representative of the voltage drop across said sensor resistor, a second voltage detector which generates an output signal representative of the voltage drop between said first end of said strip and said wiper, and a processor electrically connected to the output signals from said first and second voltage detectors and said first voltage potential which calculates the contact resistance as a function of said first and second voltage detector output signals and said first voltage potential.