Entries |
Document | Title | Date |
20080204954 | Method and apparatus to evaluate notches in an electrical power system - A system and method to evaluate characteristics of notches in sine wave type electrical signals. An example method includes measuring a voltage waveform. A reference waveform is derived from the measured voltage waveform. A series of threshold voltage values is determined based on corresponding voltages of the reference waveform. The voltages of the voltage waveform are compared with the corresponding threshold voltages. The presence of a notch is indicated when a voltage of the voltage waveform is lesser in magnitude than the corresponding threshold voltage. | 08-28-2008 |
20080212246 | Systems and Methods for Detecting Shorts in Electrical Distribution Systems - Systems and methods for detecting a short in an electrical distribution system are disclosed. In one embodiment, a determination is made as to whether a short condition is satisfied based on a change in a voltage in a wire harness coupled to a first side of a switch. The determination of whether a short exists is made in response to determining whether the short condition has been satisfied for at least a threshold time. The threshold time is dependent on a change in a voltage of the wire harness coupled to a second side of the switch. | 09-04-2008 |
20080266735 | Method and Apparatus for Implementing APS Voltage Level Activation With Secondary Chip in Stacked-Chip Technology - A method and apparatus implement adaptive power supply (APS) system voltage level activation eliminating the use of electronic Fuses (eFuses). A primary chip includes an adaptive power supply (APS). A secondary chip circuit includes at least one pair of hard-wired APS setting connections. Each hard-wired APS setting connection is defined by a selected one of a voltage supply connection and a ground potential connection. A respective inverter couples a control signal from each of the hard-wired APS setting connections to a power communication bus connected to the APS on the primary chip. | 10-30-2008 |
20080266736 | Method and Apparatus for Implementing APS Voltage Level Activation With Secondary Chip in Stacked-Chip Technology - A method and apparatus implement adaptive power supply (APS) system voltage level activation eliminating the use of electronic Fuses (eFuses), and a design structure on which the subject circuit resides are provided. A primary chip includes an adaptive power supply (APS). A secondary chip circuit includes at least one pair of hard-wired APS setting connections. Each hard-wired APS setting connection is defined by a selected one of a voltage supply connection and a ground potential connection. A respective inverter couples a control signal from each of the hard-wired APS setting connections to a power communication bus connected to the APS on the primary chip. | 10-30-2008 |
20080285192 | Power converters with rate of change monitoring for fault prediction and/or detection - A power converter includes a controller having at least one input for monitoring a rate of change of an operating parameter of the power converter. The controller is configured for comparing the monitored rate of change of the operating parameter with an allowable rate of change for the operating parameter, and for generating a fault signal when the monitored rate of change of the operating parameter deviates from the allowable rate of change for the operating parameter. The operating parameter for which the rate of change is monitored may be, for example, a temperature, a current and/or a voltage in the power converter. | 11-20-2008 |
20080291594 | Electrical Circuit Protection Arrangement - For an electrical circuit ( | 11-27-2008 |
20080304192 | Low Voltage Head Room Detection For Reliable Start-Up Of Self-Biased Analog Circuits - A method and structure for preventing operation of a circuit in a high current operating region by disabling a start-up circuit until a power supply headroom is detected at a predetermined voltage level. | 12-11-2008 |
20080304193 | Voltage input circuit - The present invention is to provide a voltage input circuit applied to a notebook computer, which includes a first voltage terminal for receiving and outputting voltage, a first protection loop connected to the first voltage terminal and a second voltage terminal, a second protection loop connected between the first protection loop and the second voltage terminal, and a discharge loop connected between the second protection loop and the second voltage terminal. When a short condition occurs in the notebook computer, the first protection loop electrically cuts the connection between the first and second voltage terminals and outputs voltage to the discharge loop through the second protection loop, so as to prevent circuits or electronic components in the notebook computer from being burned or damaged. | 12-11-2008 |
20080310064 | Protection Circuit - A protection circuit comprising: a second circuit to be connected to a first circuit, the first circuit including: a first reference voltage generating circuit configured to generate a first reference voltage; a first comparing voltage generating circuit configured to generate a first comparing voltage a first comparator configured to output a first comparing output voltage and a first control circuit the second circuit including: a second comparing voltage generating circuit configured to be input with the first reference voltage and to generate a second comparing voltage to be compared with a battery voltage based on the first reference voltage; a second comparator configured to output a second comparing output voltage corresponding to relation in magnitude between the second comparing voltage and the battery voltage; and a second control circuit configured to control the supply of the charging voltage to the secondary battery corresponding to the second comparing output voltage. | 12-18-2008 |
20090027819 | DEVICE HAVING FAILURE RECOVERY CAPABILITIES AND A METHOD FOR FAILURE RECOVERY - A device that has failure recovery capabilities and a method for power recovery. The method includes: detecting a potential power failure in response to a decrement rate of a supply voltage, and applying at least one failure recovery measure in response to a detected potential power failure. The device includes: a power source, an energy reservoir, at least one component, and a power failure circuit, adapted to detect a potential power failure in response to a decrement rate of a supply voltage. | 01-29-2009 |
20090027820 | Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Device - An overheat protection circuit | 01-29-2009 |
20090073623 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SAFETY POWER CONTROL - An apparatus for safety power control is provided. The apparatus comprises first and second electrodes oppositely spaced a predetermined distance to each other; a first voltage generator applying first voltage between the first and second electrodes, a second voltage generator applying, between the first and second electrodes, second voltage for detecting an object put between the first and second electrodes, a voltage meter measuring voltage between the first and second electrodes, and a controller detecting the variance in voltage measured by the voltage meter, and if the measured variance is no less than a predetermined threshold value, cutting off the first voltage, whereby detecting voltage having frequency different from high voltage is applied between electrodes to which the high voltage is applied, the variance in detecting voltage between the electrodes according to ingress of a human body or an object is measured, and if voltage variance above a predetermined value is measured, the high voltage is cut off, so that it is prevented for the human body from being damaged by the high voltage in the apparatus, and that the electrodes for applying high voltage is used as it is, thereby controlling power without installing an additional sensor. | 03-19-2009 |
20090097178 | METHODS AND APPARATUS TO DETECT AND OVER-CURRENT IN SWITCHING CIRCUITS - Methods and apparatus to detect an over-current in switching circuits are described. An example method to detect an over-current in a switching circuit includes randomly selecting a sensor from a plurality of sensors operatively coupled to an output stage of the switching circuit; detecting a first voltage via the randomly selected sensor; and comparing the first voltage to a reference voltage to generate a signal, wherein the signal indicates a status of the output stage of the switching circuit. | 04-16-2009 |
20090103219 | OVERVOLTAGE PROTECTION CIRCUIT - An input terminal is externally input with an input voltage. An output transistor of N-channel MOSFET is arranged between the input terminal and an output terminal. A charge pump circuit steps up the input voltage. An error amplifier receives a voltage stepped up by the charge pump circuit as a power supply, and outputs an error voltage of a feedback voltage corresponding to an output voltage of the output terminal and a predetermined reference voltage to a gate of the output transistor. A controller compares the input voltage with a predetermined threshold voltage, and forcibly turns OFF the output transistor when the input voltage is higher than the threshold voltage. | 04-23-2009 |
20090109587 | OVER VOLTAGE PROTECTION FOR REDUCED LEVEL ELECTRICAL SIGNAL INTERFACES - A device for protecting sensitive electronic equipment from low level signal lines short circuited to high voltage power sources includes a switch that open the circuit between the data lines and the sensitive computing equipment if a high voltage condition is detected on the data lines. Otherwise, the switch remains closed and data can be transmitted to the computing equipment. | 04-30-2009 |
20090116158 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR OVER-VOLTAGE PROTECTION OF DEVICE INPUTS - Methods and apparatus for over-voltage protection of device inputs are disclosed. An example apparatus to protect a device from an over-voltage condition disclosed herein comprises a switch coupled between a device input and at least one component of the device, and a voltage compensator to pull a control input of the switch to a voltage associated with the device input to open the switch to protect the device component from the over-voltage condition. | 05-07-2009 |
20090207543 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FAULT DETECTION AND HAZARD PREVENTION IN PHOTOVOLTAIC SOURCE AND OUTPUT CIRCUITS - A fault detection system comprises a photo voltaic (PV) source responsive to incident sunlight to generate output power along output conductors. Control circuitry monitors to PV source and disables output power from the source in response to detection of a fault condition. The PV source may be situated on the roof of a structure and includes an array of modules. One or more controllers monitors the output of the PV modules and a combiner is electrically connected to an output of each controller for combining DC output power from the modules into a combined PV source power output. The combiner is capable of disabling the PV source power output upon detection of a fault condition by any of the controllers, and an override switch is preferably displaced from the PV source at a remote location. Methods for detecting fault conditions in a PV system are also provided and may entail monitoring conditions associated with the PV source and comparing the conditions to a set of known fault conditions associated with the source such that output power can be disabled when a detected source condition corresponds to a known fault condition. | 08-20-2009 |
20090231768 | PROTECTION CIRCUIT FOR A SUBSCRIBER LINE INTERFACE CIRCUIT - The present invention provides a protection circuit coupled to a tip lead and a ring lead in a subscriber line interface circuit formed on a silicon substrate. The protection circuit includes first and second diodes formed on the silicon substrate and coupled to the tip lead and the ring lead, respectively. The first and second diodes are configured to provide a path from the tip lead or the ring lead to ground in response to a positive voltage at the tip lead or the ring lead. The protection circuit also includes a silicon-controlled rectifier formed on the silicon substrate and configured to provide, in response to a negative voltage at the tip lead or the ring lead, a path from the tip lead or the ring lead to ground via the silicon-controlled rectifier. | 09-17-2009 |
20090237850 | Over-voltage protection device - An over-voltage protection device includes a comparison module, a first switch, a second switch and an output switch. The comparison module compares a divided input voltage with a threshold voltage to output a control signal according to the comparison result. The first switch is coupled with the comparison module and controlled by the control signal. The second switch is coupled with the first switch and is controlled by the output signal of the first switch. The output switch is coupled with the second switch, the output switch is coupled with the voltage output terminal, and the output switch is coupled with the voltage input terminal. The output switch is controlled by the output signal of the second switch to cut off the input voltage or pass the input voltage to the voltage output terminal. | 09-24-2009 |
20090257161 | Rechargeable battery protection device - A rechargeable battery protection device has a voltage detector, a logic circuit, an output stage, a first switch, a second switch and inverter circuits. The device turns on a charger to charge a rechargeable battery or turns off the charger not to charge the rechargeable battery depending on the purpose for battery protection. | 10-15-2009 |
20090257162 | TECHNIQUE FOR COMBINING IN-RUSH CURRENT LIMITING AND SHORT CIRCUIT CURRENT LIMITING - A circuit that protects from high power-on in-rush currents and short circuits. The circuit has a pass transistor and a parallel smaller transistor. A comparator senses when an output voltage crosses a reference and turns off the pass transistor and turns on the parallel smaller transistor. The parallel smaller transistor has a higher “on” resistance so that the short circuit or the in-rush current does not harm the electronics. When the short circuit or in-rush current condition is removed, the comparator senses this condition and returns to the normal operation where the pass transistor is on and the parallel small transistor is off. | 10-15-2009 |
20100027176 | ARC FAULT DETECTION APPARATUS EMPLOYING A COMPARATOR WITH A CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE THRESHOLD - An arc fault detection apparatus that provides for better discrimination of electrical arcing events from nuisance loads. The arc fault detection apparatus includes an arcing sense circuit having a comparator circuit with a variable threshold voltage that varies continuously with the line voltage. The arc fault detection apparatus has reduced susceptibility to nuisance tripping in the presence of sudden changes in the load current that occur outside of a specified time window centered on each zero crossing point of the line voltage. | 02-04-2010 |
20100073836 | Supervision Circuit to Detect Very Fast Power Supply Drops - This invention is power supply protection for complex digital circuits employing an external high voltage supply and an internally generated low voltage core logic supply. Precision analog comparators distinguish between short circuit conditions on the internal supply at various ramp down rates including slow brown out decay. Control circuitry protects I/O circuits from exposure to high currents as a result of possible floating gate conditions in the output circuitry. | 03-25-2010 |
20100103578 | ELECTRICAL STRESS PROTECTION APPARATUS AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE - In various embodiments, circuits and semiconductor devices and structures and methods to manufacture these structures and devices are disclosed. In one embodiment, a bidirectional polarity, voltage transient protection device is disclosed. The voltage transient protection device may include a bipolar PNP transistor having a turn-on voltage of V | 04-29-2010 |
20100118461 | OVERCURRENT PROTECTION APPARATUS FOR LOAD CIRCUIT - To provide an overcurrent protection apparatus which can surely protect a load circuit from an overcurrent with a simple configuration. Supposing that the temperature increasing amount of a semiconductor element caused when the semiconductor element is turned on is ΔTch, the on-resistance value of the semiconductor element (T | 05-13-2010 |
20100165528 | UPSTREAM DEVICE OVERVOLTAGE DETECTION WITH DEACTIVATION OF DOWNSTREAM DEVICE POWER - For one disclosed embodiment, a controller comprises communication circuitry to communicate over one or more data lines with a downstream device external to an upstream device having the controller and detection circuitry to detect on at least one of the one or more data lines a voltage having a value in excess of a reference value. The detection circuitry is to deactivate a supply of power over one or more power lines to the downstream device in response to detection on at least one of the one or more data lines of a voltage having a value in excess of the reference value. Other embodiments are also disclosed. | 07-01-2010 |
20100265624 | POWER CIRCUIT WITH FEED THROUGH PROTECTION CIRCUIT - A power circuit includes a gate drive sever comparator circuit operable to disconnect a pre-drive transistor circuit from ground in response to an over voltage fault condition. A back-up gate drive comparator circuit operable to switch a reference directly into a multiple of shunt MosFets such that the multiple of shunt MosFets are turned on to reverse the over voltage fault condition until voltage drops and the gate drive sever comparator circuit and the back-up gate drive comparator circuit turn off to maintain a regulated voltage between comparator controlled limits. | 10-21-2010 |
20100284114 | System and method to provide transient overvoltage suppression - Transient overvoltage suppression circuit prevents voltage surges from damaging an attached load. The suppression circuit includes a transistor connected in series with a low-side or return line of the load. A control circuit monitors the voltage on the input line (i.e., high-side) and in response to a detected voltage transient turns the transistor OFF to isolate the load from the transient voltage. | 11-11-2010 |
20100302696 | RELAY FAILURE DETECTING DEVICE - A relay failure detecting device able to detect reliably a fault in a relay circuit that provides alternating current power to a load through a relay that is a double-pole switch. Individual common terminals of first and second relays are connected individually to a pair of outputs terminals of an alternating current power supply, individual normally-open terminals of the first and second relays are connected to a pair of power supply input terminals, and a dummy load that is driven by the alternating current power supply through a diode between the individual normally-closed terminals of the first and second relays is provided. A fault in the first and second relays is evaluated from the state of operation of the dummy load when the first and second relays are not driven. | 12-02-2010 |
20100321844 | VOLTAGE PROTECTION ARRANGEMENT FOR AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE - A voltage protection arrangement for an electronic device, in particular for a control system in automation engineering has a great functionality, and also a greater range of applications, due to the fact that the arrangement has a switching-off unit and a voltage detection unit connected to the output of the switching-off unit, the switching-off unit having a voltage comparator and a normally electrically closed switch connected to the output of the voltage comparator, arranged between the input and the output of the switching-off unit, wherein the voltage detection unit has a voltage comparator and a switch output connected to the output of the voltage comparator for signaling an impermissible voltage, and wherein, in the event of an impermissible voltage occurring at the input of the switching-off unit, the electrical switch is opened and, in the event of a subsequent permissible voltage occurring, the switch is closed again. | 12-23-2010 |
20100321845 | OVERHEAT PROTECTION CIRCUIT AND POWER SUPPLY INTEGRATED CIRCUIT - Provided is a power supply integrated circuit including an overheat protection circuit with high detection accuracy. The overheat protection circuit includes: a current generation circuit including: a first metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistor including a gate terminal and a drain terminal that are connected to each other, the first MOS transistor operating in a weak inversion region; a second MOS transistor including a gate terminal connected to the gate terminal of the first MOS transistor, the second MOS transistor having the same conductivity type as the first MOS transistor and operating in a weak inversion region; and a first resistive element connected to a source terminal of the second MOS transistor; and a comparator for comparing a reference voltage having positive temperature characteristics and a temperature voltage having negative temperature characteristics, which are obtained based on a current generated by the current generation circuit. | 12-23-2010 |
20110007440 | Safety Circuit for a Household Appliance - The present invention relates to a household appliance ( | 01-13-2011 |
20110007441 | METHOD AND CIRCUIT FOR SHORT-CIRCUIT AND OVER-CURRENT PROTECTION IN A DISCHARGE LAMP SYSTEM - Embodiments of the present technology provide short-circuit detection and protection suitable for a discharge lamp system. In several embodiments, the transformer's primary current is sensed and used to provide short-circuit protection of the secondary winding side or high voltage side. | 01-13-2011 |
20110043956 | PROTECTION CIRCUIT FOR POWER AMPLIFIER - Techniques for protecting a power amplifier (PA) are described. In an exemplary design, an apparatus includes (i) a PA module to amplify an input RF signal and provide an output RF signal and (ii) a protection circuit to control a transmitter gain to protect the PA module against high peak voltage. In an exemplary design, the protection circuit includes a set of comparators to quantize an analog input signal and provide digital comparator output signals used to adjust the transmitter gain. In another exemplary design, the protection circuit reduces and increases the transmitter gain with hysteresis. In yet another exemplary design, the protection circuit has faster response to rising amplitude than falling amplitude of the output RF signal. The hysteresis and/or the different rise and fall responses may allow the protection circuit to avoid toggling the transmitter gain under severe load mismatch and to handle time-varying envelope due to amplitude modulation. | 02-24-2011 |
20110051302 | INTEGRATED POWER DEVICE AND METHOD - A method of protecting a circuit arrangement including an integrated power dissipating device, and a circuit arrangement including an integrated power dissipating device. One method provides measuring a temperature difference between temperatures at a first position and a second position of the arrangement, the second position being distant to the first position; generating a thermal protection signal, and generating the control signal dependent on the thermal protection signal; and the thermal protection signal assuming a first signal level, if the temperature difference rises to a first temperature difference threshold, and assuming a second signal level, if the temperature difference falls to a second temperature difference threshold. | 03-03-2011 |
20110141640 | POWER SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE FOR IGNITER - A power semiconductor device for an igniter comprises: a first semiconductor switching device; and an integrated circuit, wherein the integrated circuit includes: a second semiconductor switching device connected in parallel with the first semiconductor switching device and having a smaller current capacity than a current capacity of the first semiconductor switching device; a delay circuit delaying a control input signal so that the second semiconductor switching device is energized prior to the first semiconductor switching device; a third semiconductor switching device including a thyristor structure connected to a high voltage side main terminal of the second semiconductor switching device and being made conductive by a part of a main current flowing through the energized second semiconductor switching device; and a first excess voltage detection circuit stopping the first semiconductor switching device when voltage on the high voltage side main terminal is equal to or more than predetermined voltage. | 06-16-2011 |
20110205678 | Protection Circuit And Electronic Device - A protection circuit that is used with a power supply that produces charging power, and a storage battery for which normal operation is conditional upon a terminal voltage being less than or equal to a maximum voltage, including: a first switch disposed to a first path that electrically connects the storage battery and the power supply; a second path that electrically connects the storage battery and a load; a voltage detection circuit that detects a terminal voltage of the storage battery; an over-charge detection circuit that monitors the storage battery terminal voltage and controls the first switch to turn off when the terminal voltage is detected to exceed the maximum voltage; and a control circuit that controls the monitoring operation interval of the over-charge detection circuit according to the terminal voltage of the storage battery detected by the voltage detection circuit. | 08-25-2011 |
20110211286 | REVERSE-CONNECTION PROTECTING DEVICE AND BACKUP POWER SUPPLY INCLUDING THE SAME - A reverse-connection protecting device comprises an interface, a battery control module and an activation module. The interface includes first and second lead-in ends coupled to respective ones of first and second lead-out ends. The second lead-in end is couplable to a negative terminal of a backup battery. The second lead-out end is couplable to each negative terminal of a load and an external power supply. The battery control module is coupled to the first lead-in end of the interface and couplable to a positive terminal of the backup battery. The battery control module is configured to control the charging or discharging of the backup battery. The activation module is coupled to the battery control module, and couplable to the load and the external power supply. The activation module is configured to drive the battery control module after the external power supply is powered on, but disable the battery control module in an instance in which the load, the backup battery or the external power supply is reversely connected. | 09-01-2011 |
20110216457 | VOLTAGE SURGE AND OVERVOLTAGE PROTECTION - Disclosed are various embodiments of voltage protectors that include a first voltage clamping device configured to clamp a voltage of an input power applied to an electrical load, and a second voltage clamping device configured to clamp the voltage applied to the electrical load. A series inductance separates the first and second voltage clamping devices. Also, a switching element is employed to selectively establish a direct coupling of the input power to the electrical load, where a circuit is employed to control the operation of the switching element. | 09-08-2011 |
20110228433 | OVERCURRENT RELAY - An overcurrent relay able to detect a failure current and rapidly generate a driving signal to drive a circuit breaker in response to the failure current is disclosed. The overcurrent relay has at least one Hall sensor detecting a failure current and outputting a Hall voltage signal; a filter filtering the Hall voltage signal to output a filtered signal having only an exponent wave; a reference voltage provider providing a reference voltage; a comparator comparing the filtered signal with the reference voltage and outputting a trigger signal when the filtered signal reaches the reference voltage; and a circuit breaker driver being triggered by the trigger signal to output a driving signal for driving a circuit breaker. | 09-22-2011 |
20110255203 | CHARGE PUMP SWITCH POWER DOWN PROTECTION - This application discusses, among other things, switch circuit apparatus having power down protection and not requiring power up sequencing. An apparatus embodiment can include a first supply node coupled to a first input of a level shifting circuit via a protection circuit, a second supply node coupled to a second input of the level shifting circuit via a single pull-up transistor, and a switch including a control input, a first node, and a second node controllably isolated from the first node, wherein the control input is coupled to the level shifting circuit. The first and second inputs of the level shifting circuit can be coupled via a rectifier, and the protection circuit can be configured to power the first and second supply nodes to controllably isolate the first and second nodes from each other when a voltage of one of the first or second nodes exceeds a threshold. | 10-20-2011 |
20110267727 | APPARATUS FOR MONITORING FAULT CURRENT IN POWER SYSTEM - Disclosed is an apparatus for monitoring a fault current in a power system. The apparatus does not rectify an AC signal detected from a power system but full wave-rectifies the AC signal using a bridge diode and then monitors a fault current. Particularly, current and voltage in the power system are respectively detected through a current transformer and a Rogowski coil, and presence of occurrence of an accident is parallely monitored using the detected current and voltage. Thus, it is possible to prevent a response delay due to a rising time generated when the AC signal is smoothed to a DC signal through a capacitor and to prevent malfunction caused by chattering while performing a fast response at the time when a fault current is generated for the first time. | 11-03-2011 |
20110279938 | DYNAMIC LEAKAGE CONTROL USING SELECTIVE BACK-BIASING - Embodiments of a dynamic leakage control circuit for use with graphics processor circuitry are described. The dynamic leakage control circuit selectively enables back biasing of the transistors comprising the graphics processor circuits during particular modes of operation. The back biasing levels are controlled by two separate power rails. A first power rail is coupled to an existing power supply and the second power rail is coupled to a separate adjustable voltage regulator. A separate voltage regulator may also be provided for the first power rail. A hardware-based state machine or software process is programmed to detect the occurrence of one or more modes of operation and adjust the voltage regulators for the first and second power rails to either enable or disable the back biasing state of the circuit, or alter the threshold voltage of the circuit within a specified voltage range. | 11-17-2011 |
20110286138 | Temperature Controller - A temperature controller comprises a first power supply input interface and a second power supply input interface for inputting alternating current, a main control module, a temperature safety module and a power conversion module connected between the first power supply input interface and the second power supply input interface; the first input terminal of the main control module is connected with the power conversion module; the second input terminal of the main control module is connected through a power detecting module with the first power supply input interface and the second power supply input interface. The present invention has the advantages of accomplishing conveniently constant temperature control and preventing partial heating elements from high temperature. | 11-24-2011 |
20120026634 | VOLTAGE DETECTION CIRCUIT DEVICE - A voltage detection circuit device acquires a predetermined compare voltage through a voltage acquisition circuit by a power source of a power supply circuit. After a voltage step-down circuit steps down a voltage, the compare voltage acts as a voltage reference, and high and low potential comparators of the compare circuit compare the voltage of a power source of the power supply circuit. If the voltage of the power source of the power supply circuit falls within a normal range, the high potential comparator will output a high potential signal, while the low potential comparator will output a low potential signal. After an electronic circuit supplied with electric power receives the electric potential signals, the electronic circuit starts its operation. By determining whether or not the voltage of the power supply falls within the normal range, damages to the electronic circuit by abnormal power supply can be prevented. | 02-02-2012 |
20120075759 | Safe Exposed Conductor Power Distribution System - A power distribution system that can detect an unsafe fault condition where an individual or object has come in contact with the power conductors. A block diagram of the present invention is shown in FIG. | 03-29-2012 |
20120075760 | PROTECTION OF AN ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT - A device for protecting electronic equipment having an output terminal includes an electronic breaker switch linked between the output terminal and ground, and a protection means which protects the electronic breaker switch against overvoltages applied to the output terminal. The protection means includes a means for detecting a current above a given threshold flowing in the electronic breaker switch, a means for prohibiting the closing of the electronic breaker switch when the current flowing in the electronic breaker switch is above the given threshold, and a means for permitting the closing of the electronic breaker switch after a given duration following a prohibition. | 03-29-2012 |
20120081823 | PROTECTION CIRCUIT OF SEMICONDUCTOR APPARATUS - An internal circuit protection circuit includes a voltage comparison unit and an internal circuit protection unit. The voltage comparison unit is configured to compare an external driving voltage applied from outside with a reference clamp voltage and output a comparison signal. The internal circuit protection unit is configured to adjust a level of the external driving voltage to a lower level than that of the reference clamp voltage, in response to the comparison signal. | 04-05-2012 |
20120081824 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SUB-HARMONIC PROTECTION - A method and device for detecting damaging sub-harmonic frequencies in a power system, and recording data or initiating protective action. A microprocessor based sub-harmonic protection relay (S-PRO) monitors system voltages and currents from voltage and current transformers on the power system that may be present in the 5 Hz to 25 Hz frequency window. The user of S-PRO has full programming control to select bandwidths of frequencies or specific frequency components of the collected system voltages and currents. S-PRO can be user programmed to either detect the sub-harmonic power quantities and record them for future use in simulations or to initiate protective action. Protective action may include initiating output contact closure on the device to shut down equipment or to initiate corrective actions to prevent damage. | 04-05-2012 |
20120170165 | ADAPTIVE OVERVOLTAGE PROTECTION CIRCUIT AND METHOD, AND POWER SYSTEM INCLUDING THE SAME - An adaptive over-voltage protection circuit includes an over-voltage protection reference voltage provider and an over-voltage signal output unit. The over-voltage protection reference voltage provider provides a voltage of an over-voltage protection level higher than that of an over-voltage protection voltage corresponding to an output voltage supplied to a load from among a plurality of different over-voltage protection levels as an over-voltage protection reference voltage when the output voltage reaches a range of a rated voltage of the load. The over-voltage signal output unit outputs an over-voltage signal indicating an over-voltage by comparing the over-voltage protection voltage with the over-voltage protection reference voltage. | 07-05-2012 |
20120176714 | ELECTRIC SHOCK PROTECTION DEVICE - An electric shock protection device is provided, including a voltage input unit, a rectifier unit, a determine unit, an output control unit and a switch unit. The voltage input unit receives an AC voltage, and the rectifier unit rectifies the AC voltage to time-varying DC voltage. The determining unit determines whether the time-varying DC voltage is less than or greater than the preset voltage and selectively chooses an output control signal to determine whether there is an external receptor connected in series with the input power. The output control unit is driven by the control signal to make the switch unit control whether the time-varying DC voltage is provided to the electrical load, and to sustain or interrupt the conductive circuit loop. Accordingly, the receptor can be avoided from being subjected to an electric shock from high AC voltage. | 07-12-2012 |
20120200968 | Battery Charge Protection System - A system comprises a battery including one or more cells, an energy source, a load, and a battery protection circuit coupled to the battery, the energy source and the load. The circuit determines if the charge of each cell is at/above a predetermined, band gap supplied threshold voltage, which results in disconnecting of the battery from the energy source. The circuit also may determine if the charge of any cell is at/below a second predetermined level, which may result in disconnecting of the battery from the load. The circuit may be radiation-hardened (e.g., via redundancy), through the use of two sets of field effect transistors, two logic gates, two groups of comparator circuits, and two relays. The circuit provides multiply redundant protection comprising: redundantly assessing the overvoltage determination; redundantly triggering battery isolation; and preventing inadvertent isolation and non-charging, occurring absent overvoltage, through redundant first and second relays. | 08-09-2012 |
20120206845 | PASS GATE OFF ISOLATION - This document discusses methods and apparatus for preventing or reducing sub-threshold pass gate leakage. In an example, an apparatus can include a pass gate configured to electrically couple a first node with a second node in a first state and to electrically isolate the first node from the second node in a second state, control logic configured to control the pass gate, wherein the control logic includes a supply rail, and an over-voltage circuit configured to compare voltages received at a plurality of input nodes and to couple an output to an input node a highest voltage. In an example, the output of over-voltage circuit can be selectively coupled to the supply rail. | 08-16-2012 |
20120212870 | POWER MODULES WITH REVERSE POLARITY PROTECTION - Power handling circuits that may be packaged as power modules, and methods of operating semiconductor devices in such circuits and modules. An exemplary circuit comprises power terminals to receive electrical power, a first semiconductor device, a first drive circuitry, and a second drive circuitry. The first drive circuitry provides a drive signal to the first semiconductor device in accordance with a desired circuit function when the electrical power received at the power terminals has the positive polarity, and ceases providing the drive circuit when the electrical power received at the power terminals has the negative polarity. During the negative polarity condition, the second drive circuitry provides a drive signals to the first semiconductor device which causes its primary current conduction path to conduct, thereby reducing the power dissipation in the device's parasitic path, and optionally causing a fuse in the circuit providing power to the circuit to blow. | 08-23-2012 |
20120229944 | SAFE DISCONNECT SWITCH - A safe disconnect circuit is provided for mitigating the effect of harmful circuit conditions upon a load, such as an integrated power module (IPM). The safe disconnect circuit comprises a switching circuit operative to receive a pulsed input signal, and to detect the presence of a load threatening input signal, e.g. a load control signal, having an amplitude below a preset amplitude threshold and a duration beyond a present duration threshold. The switching circuit is operative to terminate load power in response to detect a presence of the load threatening signal. | 09-13-2012 |
20120229945 | CHARGE/DISCHARGE CONTROL CIRCUIT AND BATTERY ASSEMBLY - There is provided a charge/discharge control circuit and a battery assembly including an accurate overcurrent protecting circuit with low consumption current characteristics. The charge/discharge control circuit comprises a current protecting circuit including: a reference voltage circuit having a reference transistor for detecting overcurrent flowing through a control transistor to turn it on, and a constant current circuit; and a comparison circuit for comparing voltage on the reference voltage circuit with voltage generated by overcurrent flowing through the control transistor, wherein when no overcurrent flows, the electric current flowing through the reference voltage circuit is interrupted to reduce power consumption. | 09-13-2012 |
20120236453 | TRANSMITTER/RECEIVER CIRCUIT FOR PROTECTION CIRCUIT - A transmitter/receiver circuit includes secondary batteries connected in series, a first protection circuit in a high voltage side of the secondary batteries and including a transmitter circuit increasing a voltage of a binary signal to a level that is a first voltage higher than an anode voltage of a first secondary battery connected to the first protection circuit, and a second protection circuit in a low voltage side of the secondary batteries and including a receiver circuit that receives the binary signal from the transmitter circuit via a wiring and including a shift part decreasing the voltage of the binary signal to a level that is a second voltage lower than a cathode voltage of a second secondary battery connected to the second protection circuit, and a detection part that determines that the wiring is disconnected when the voltage of the binary signal is lower than a reference voltage. | 09-20-2012 |
20120250203 | VOLTAGE DETECTION APPARATUS AND COMBINATION CIRCUIT - A voltage detection apparatus includes an operational amplifier, first and second switches coupled between a terminal of a detection target voltage source and a common node, a first capacitor including a plurality of capacitor elements coupled in series between the common node and an inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier, a third switch and a second capacitor, which are coupled between the inverting input terminal and an output terminal of the operational amplifier, a reference voltage selection circuit which applies one of a first reference voltage and a second reference voltage differing from one another to a non-inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier, and a controller which is capable of selecting a voltage detection mode and a self-diagnostic mode. | 10-04-2012 |
20120250204 | PROTECTION CIRCUIT AND INPUT/OUTPUT CIRCUIT - A first voltage dividing circuit is connected between a power feeding line to feed power from an external power supply to an internal circuit, and a fixed potential to divide a voltage of the power feeding line. A first comparator compares a divided voltage, which has been divided by the first voltage dividing circuit, with a reference voltage, and outputs a signal to turn off a power switch inserted into the power feeding line when the divided voltage exceeds the reference voltage. A first transistor is connected between a first node where the divided voltage, which has been divided by the first voltage dividing circuit, is generated, and the fixed potential, and is turned on when the voltage of the first node exceeds a set voltage. | 10-04-2012 |
20120275076 | BIDIRECTIONAL SWITCH AND CHARGE/DISCHARGE PROTECTION DEVICE USING SAME - A bidirectional switch device, has: a bidirectional switch having a HEMT; and a control circuit which, during a first condition, applies a first voltage lower than a threshold voltage across a gate and one terminal among a source and a drain of the HEMT to turn off a first current path from the other terminal among the source and the drain to the one terminal, and during a second condition, applies a second voltage lower than the threshold voltage across the other terminal and the gate to turn off a second current path from the one terminal to the other terminal, and further during a third condition, applies a third voltage higher than the threshold voltage across the source and the gate and across the drain and the gate of the HEMT to turn on the first and second current paths. | 11-01-2012 |
20120287542 | Service Line Safety Monitor - A service line safety monitor which may be configured as a separate module or incorporated into an EVSE is adapted to monitor the connection with the service line to determine whether there is a defect in the connection. The module preferably employs a current transformer to determine a no-load and a load applied to the EVSE. Comparisons are made to determine whether there is a power loss. In the event of a power loss beyond a safe limit, the monitor disconnects the EVSE from the service line. A warning indicator is also employed. | 11-15-2012 |
20120293899 | PROTECTION CIRCUIT - A protection circuit includes an electronic switch and a comparator. The comparator includes a positive input connected to a first power supply, a negative input connected to an output power supply, and an output connected to a first terminal of the electronic switch through a first resistor. A second terminal of the electronic switch is connected to a device. A third terminal of the electronic switch is connected to the output power supply. When a voltage on the positive input is greater than a voltage on the negative input, the comparator outputs a high level signal to turn on the electronic switch, the output power supply powers the device. When the voltage on the positive input is less than the voltage on the negative input, the comparator outputs a low level signal to turn off the electronic switch, the output power supply does not power the device. | 11-22-2012 |
20120293900 | APPARATUS FOR AND METHOD OF PROTECTING WIRELESS-COUPLED POWER DEVICES FROM OVERVOLTAGE, OVERCURRENT, AND OVERTEMPERATURE USING HYSTERESIS - An overvoltage protecting unit and an overcurrent protecting unit protect a power device from an overvoltage and an overcurrent using a comparator having hysteresis. An overtemperature protecting unit protects the power device from an overtemperature using a thermistor having a resistance that changes as a temperature of the thermistor changes. | 11-22-2012 |
20120300351 | PROTECTIVE MONITORING CIRCUIT AND BATTERY PACK - A protective monitoring circuit includes a protective circuit to detect at least one of overcharging, overdischarging, and overcurrent of a chargeable secondary battery to control whether to turn on or off a control transistor to protect the secondary battery, and a secondary-battery monitoring circuit, having a reduced size and having a breakdown voltage lower than a battery voltage of the secondary battery, to detect a status of the secondary battery, wherein the protective circuit generates a voltage that is commensurate with an output voltage of the secondary battery and that is within a predetermined tolerance voltage range of the secondary-battery monitoring circuit, and the secondary-battery monitoring circuit generates a detection value responsive to the generated voltage supplied from the protective circuit, the detection value being indicative of the output voltage of the secondary battery. | 11-29-2012 |
20130038971 | ARC FAULT DETECTOR FOR AC OR DC INSTALLATIONS - An arc fault detector comprises a current transformer (CT) having a primary winding and a secondary winding (W | 02-14-2013 |
20130050889 | WIRELESS POWER TRANSMISSION SYSTEM AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME - Disclosed herein is a wireless power transmission system, including: a transmission unit generating and transmitting power for charging a battery; a reception unit receiving the transmitted power and charging the battery with power; and a transmission control unit detecting a charging status of the battery by using the transmitted power, and, if the charging status of the battery is in a damage section due to reflective power, controlling the transmission unit to transmit power lower than power of a normal operation, whereby damage of transmission and reception devices due to a reflective wave can be minimized. | 02-28-2013 |
20130063849 | OVERVOLTAGE PROTECTION CIRCUIT AND PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE HAVING THE SAME - An overvoltage protection circuit and a portable electronic device having the same are introduced. The overvoltage protection circuit provides overvoltage protection when an input voltage exceeds a rated voltage tolerable by an internal circuit unit in the portable electronic device. A reference voltage and a partial voltage are generated from the input voltage through a voltage limiting unit and voltage dividing module, respectively, and conveyed to a comparing module for comparison. Comparison of the reference voltage and the partial voltage is followed by generation of a switch signal whereby a switch unit determines whether to apply the input voltage to the internal circuit unit. The voltage dividing module sets the maximum rated voltage tolerable by the internal circuit unit and enables the overvoltage protection circuit to give overvoltage protection to the portable electronic device regardless of temperature. | 03-14-2013 |
20130077200 | OVERVOLTAGE PROTECTION CIRCUIT - An overvoltage protection circuit protects a portable electronic device against overvoltage. The overvoltage protection circuit includes an input unit for receiving an input voltage supplied by a voltage source; a voltage-divider module for dividing the input voltage and outputting a divided voltage; a voltage-regulator module for comparing a comparison voltage with the divided voltage and generating a first control signal; a first switch unit being controllably switched by the first control signal to a short-circuit state or an open-circuit state and generating a second control signal; and a second switch unit being controllably switched by the second control signal to a circuit state reverse to that of the first switch unit, and stopping supplying the input voltage to the portable electronic device when the input voltage is no less than a rated voltage of the portable electronic device. Therefore, a temperature-independent overvoltage protection can be achieved. | 03-28-2013 |
20130100565 | PROTECTION CIRCUIT FOR HARD DISK - A protection circuit includes a switch circuit, a sample circuit, a comparison circuit, and a relay circuit. The switch circuit is connected between a hard disk power supply and a hard disk to control whether to output power from the hard disk power supply to the hard disk. The sample circuit samples the voltage being supplied to the hard disk, the comparison circuit receives the sampled voltage, compares the sampled voltage to a reference voltage, and controls the switch circuit to be turned on or off accordingly. The relay circuit is connected between a system power supply and an enable terminal of the comparison circuit. The relay circuit outputs a high level signal to turn on the switch circuit when the system power supply is being supplied and the hard disk power supply is not being supplied to the hard disk. | 04-25-2013 |
20130114175 | SWITCHING MODE POWER SUPPLY INCLUDING SURGE PROTECTION CIRCUIT AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS INCLUDING THE SAME - A switching mode power supply (SMPS) including a surge protection unit that is connected to a protection pin of a pulse width modulation (PWM) controller to cut off a power supply of the SMPS when a voltage that is applied to the protection pin exceeds a predetermined threshold voltage, where the surge protection unit blocks an external surge voltage lower than a surge protection capacity of the surge protection unit for blocking a surge voltage input from outside thereof, and, when the output voltage of the SMPS is not within the predetermined range, the surge protection unit applies a voltage obtained by subtracting the surge protection capacity of the surge protection unit from a predetermined feedback voltage output from a feedback unit to the protection pin, and where the surge protection capacity is set higher than the predetermined threshold voltage of the protection pin. | 05-09-2013 |
20130128404 | OVERVOLTAGE PROTECTION CIRCUIT - A protection circuit that protects a load charged by a power supply. The protection circuit includes a reference voltage set circuit, a sampling circuit, a switch, and a comparator. The reference voltage set circuit provides a reference voltage. The sampling circuit is electrically connected to the power supply and provides a sampling voltage based on a charge voltage output from the power supply to the load. The switch is electrically connected between the power supply and the load. The comparator includes a non-inverting input terminal electrically connected to the reference voltage set circuit, an inverting input terminal electrically connected to the sampling circuit, and an output terminal electrically connected to the switch. The comparator compares the sampling voltage with the reference voltage, and controls the switch to turn on or off according to the comparison. | 05-23-2013 |
20130141828 | POWER SOURCE APPARATUS FORMED BY COMBINING A PLURALITY OF MODULES - The power source apparatus enables each battery pack to be charged with power supplied from an external charging power supply, and allows power stored in each battery pack to be output externally. Each battery pack is provided with battery pack fault output terminals to send battery pack error signals to other battery packs or to the protection unit when a malfunction occurs. The protection unit is provided with protection unit input-output terminals to connect with battery pack fault output terminals, and a protection circuit capable of cutting-off battery pack current. When a battery pack malfunction occurs, a battery pack error signal is output from the battery pack fault output terminals to the protection unit input-output terminals. When the protection unit detects a battery pack error signal, the protection circuit cuts-off current. | 06-06-2013 |
20130155559 | DATA CABLE AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE USING SAME - A data cable between two electronic devices includes a first interface comprising a first metal shell and a ground end; and a second interface connected to another electronic device comprising a second metal shell, a ground end and an identification end. The data cable includes a detection circuit detecting voltage difference between the first metal shell and the ground end, and the detection circuit comprises an output end connected to the identification end of the second interface. An electronic device using the data cable detects any current leakage in an external electronic device. When the host has current leakage, the electronic device cuts power from the host and prevents data exchange, preventing damage or loss. | 06-20-2013 |
20130163134 | BATTERY PROTECTION CIRCUIT - A battery pack including a battery and a battery protection circuit is disclosed. In one aspect, the battery protection circuit comprises a protective device configured to inhibit a flow of current between an electrode of the circuit and the battery when activated. The battery protection circuit further comprises a primary protection circuit and a secondary protection circuit. The primary protection circuit is configured to generate a control signal for control the protective device when detecting an abnormal voltage in a unit cell of the battery. The secondary protection circuit is configured to activate the protective device, either when receiving the control signal from the primary protection circuit or when detecting an abnormal voltage in a unit cell of the battery. | 06-27-2013 |
20130163135 | PROTECTIVE CIRCUIT FOR A RECHARGEABLE BATTERY PACK - A protective circuit for an arrangement includes a multiplicity of individual cells in a rechargeable battery pack. A predefined number of individual cells are connected in series in a cell row and at least two cell rows are mutually parallel, and at least one cell connector situated between the individual cells at a location of one cell row is electrically connected via a compensation line to the cell connector situated at an identical location of the parallel cell row, and the potential of the cell connector connected to the compensation line at one location of one cell row and the potential of the cell connector electrically connected to the compensation line at the same location of the parallel cell row are detected and the detected potentials are fed to an evaluation unit. | 06-27-2013 |
20130176652 | OVER-VOLTAGE PROTECTION DEVICE FOR RESONANT WIRELESS POWER TRANSMISSION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE OVER-VOLTAGE PROTECTION DEVICE - Provided is an over-voltage protection device for a resonant wireless power transmission device. The over-voltage protection device includes an amplifier for amplifying a transmission signal, a resonance signal generator for generating a wireless resonance signal according to the transmission signal amplified by the amplifier, a voltage detector for sensing a voltage of the wireless resonance signal generated by the resonance signal generator, and a controller for monitoring the voltage detected by the voltage detector to determine whether the voltage repetitively increases and decreases with periodicity when the voltage is greater than a reference voltage and controlling the amplifier to decrease an output of the transmission device by a value according to a result of the determination. | 07-11-2013 |
20130201587 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTING A FAULT OF A BATTERY PACK AND A POWER RELAY ASSEMBLY - There are disclosed a method and apparatus for detecting a fault of a battery pack and a power relay assembly. An apparatus for detecting a fault of a battery pack including a plurality of cells includes a pack voltage measurement unit for measuring a voltage of the battery pack, a cell voltage measurement unit for measuring a plurality of cell voltage for the plurality of cells, and a control unit for determining whether there is a fault at the battery pack based on the voltage of the battery pack and the plurality of cell voltages. A battery pack and a load connected to the battery pack can be protected by detecting whether there is a fault at the battery. | 08-08-2013 |
20130215544 | MULTI-STAGED OVERVOLTAGE PROTECTION CIRCUIT, IN PARTICULAR FOR INFORMATION-TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS - The invention relates to a multi-staged overvoltage protection circuit, in particular for information-technology systems, comprising at least one coarse protection element and at least one fine protection element, wherein the at least one fine protection element can be activated by a triggering device depending on a threshold. According to the invention, the applied operating voltage is led to an evaluation device, which generates a reference voltage. Also provided is an evaluation unit, firstly for checking to see whether the current operating voltage is above the reference voltage, secondly for checking to see whether the voltage excess exceeds a previously determined level, and thirdly for establishing whether the rate of change of the operating voltage is greater than another previously determined value so that a transient overvoltage exists, wherein the triggering device then receives an activation signal from the evaluation device. | 08-22-2013 |
20130222957 | ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND PROTECTION CIRCUIT AND PROTECTION METHOD - A protection method is executed by an electronic device that is powered by a supply voltage of a power source. The protection method includes steps of: storing a power-off threshold voltage; detecting the supply voltage of the power source to generate a detecting voltage; determining whether the detecting voltage is equal to the power-off threshold voltage; beginning to count for a predetermined period of time when the detecting voltage is equal to the power-off threshold voltage and acquiring the detecting voltage during the predetermined period of time; determining whether each acquired detecting voltage is smaller than the power-off threshold voltage; and generating a first control signal when one of the acquired detecting voltages is larger than or is equal to the power-off threshold voltage; wherein the first control signal controls a processor of the electronic device to stop performing a power-off procedure. | 08-29-2013 |
20130229739 | VOLTAGE BALANCING OF SYMMETRIC HVDC MONOPOLE TRANSMISSION LINES AFTER EARTH FAULTS - A voltage balancing unit for a symmetric monopole high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line interconnecting two voltage source converters (VSCs), the transmission line including first arresters having a first switching impulse protective level (SIPL) is provided. The voltage balancing unit includes a pair of second arresters having a second SIPL which is less than the first SIPL, and a switching device being arranged for temporarily connecting, in the event of a voltage unbalance on the transmission line, the first arresters between either pole and ground. A voltage unbalance on the transmission line may be removed by temporarily connecting second arresters, with a significantly lower SIPL than the first arresters, for limiting the pole voltage to a level close to the normal voltage. Further, a method of voltage balancing is provided. Voltage unbalances may arise as a consequence of lightning induced earth faults. | 09-05-2013 |
20130242445 | Service Voltage Load Protection in an Electric Utility Meter - An arrangement for controllably disconnecting a utility power service from a load includes a utility meter housing, a switch and a processing circuit. The utility meter housing includes metrology circuitry configured to generate metering information regarding electrical power provided to the load. The switch is configured to controllably interrupt a connection between the utility power service and the load. The switch has an open state and a closed state. The processing circuit is configured to determine whether a line voltage varies from an expected value by more than a predetermined amount over a predetermined amount of time. The processing circuit is further configured to cause a change in state of the switch based on the determination. | 09-19-2013 |
20130242446 | PROTECTIVE SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE FOR SECONDARY CELL - Provided is a protective semiconductor device detecting a disconnection reliably with secondary cells including for each cell: cell-connecting terminals; a first resistance detecting the voltage of each cell; a comparator detecting whether or not the voltage of each cell is in the reference voltage range; a series circuit composed of a second resistance and a first switch element, and including a control circuit controlling ON/OFF of the switch element, wherein the first switch element connects the second resistance to the connecting terminals by turning ON, while disconnecting it by turning OFF, the control circuit maintains a disconnection test signal ON, while turning ON the plurality of first switch elements sequentially and detecting the disconnection between the cells and the connecting terminals based on the output signal from the comparator corresponding to the first switch element turned ON. | 09-19-2013 |
20130265683 | CIRCUIT FOR PROTECTING AN ELECTRIC LOAD FROM OVERVOLTAGES - A circuit for protecting an electric load from overvoltages has an n-channel MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor) (T1) and a means for producing a reference voltage in order to achieve the most effective overvoltage protection possible by means of the cheapest and most compact circuit possible, wherein the means for producing a reference voltage is connected to the gate of the MOSFET (T1), wherein a supply voltage is applied to the circuit on the input side and wherein the gate is supplied with a voltage greater than the supply voltage using an auxiliary voltage source in such a way that the MOSFET (T1) is turned on. | 10-10-2013 |
20130279054 | OVERVOLTAGE PROTECTION METHOD USING EXPOSED DEVICE SUPPLY RAIL - A semiconductor device may be protected from over-voltages via a comparator-controlled, high-current FET coupled to the semiconductor device output and between circuit devices that carry high voltages. A three-terminal, N-channel field effect transistor (FET) may have its source coupled to the output of the semiconductor device to be protected from over voltage. The FET drain may be connected to the load to be driven by the semiconductor device. A transistor, or other voltage comparator, may be configured and connected in order to compare the voltage on the FET drain to a V | 10-24-2013 |
20130279055 | METHODS, SYSTEMS AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING WHETHER AN ACCESSORY INCLUDES PARTICULAR CIRCUITRY - Methods, systems, and apparatus for determining whether an accessory includes particular circuitry. A host device may measure a first voltage and a second voltage received from an accessory, where the voltages are provide through the accessory from a power source. Before measuring the second voltage, the host device may send an instruction to the accessory instructing the accessory to alter an impedance of the power path between the power source and the host device, and the host device may draw at least a threshold amount of current from the power source via the accessory. The host device may then determine whether the accessory includes particular circuitry based on the relationship between the first voltage and the second voltage. | 10-24-2013 |
20130279056 | VOLTAGE MONITORING CIRCUIT, AND VEHICLE EQUIPPED WITH SAME - During charging of a cell module in which a plurality of cells are connected in series, a voltage is applied in forward polarity to a switch element even when a current interrupting switch provided to the cell module is open, thereby shorting an anti-fuse element, and the switch element is thereby opened. A voltage monitoring circuit and a vehicle equipped with the voltage monitoring circuit are thereby provided in which a high voltage is not applied even when the cell module is charging when the current interrupting switch is open | 10-24-2013 |
20130301176 | PROTECTION CIRCUIT FOR A CASCODE SWITCH, AND A METHOD OF PROTECTING A CASCODE SWITCH - A circuit arrangement is disclosed comprising: a normally-on transistor (such as a HEMT) having first and second transistor main terminals and a non-insulated control terminal, the non-insulated control terminal being electrically coupled to a ground; a normally-off switch having first and second switch main terminals and a switch control terminal, the normally-off switch being arranged in a cascode configuration with the normally-on transistor, the first switch main terminal being electrically coupled to the second transistor main terminal, the switch control terminal being electrically coupled to the second switch main terminal and to the ground; and a control circuit configured to switch on the normally-off switch in response to the voltage at the first switch main terminal being negative relative to the ground. | 11-14-2013 |
20130308236 | OVERVOLTAGE PROTECTION CIRCUIT - In general terms, embodiments of the present invention relate to an overvoltage protection circuit. In some embodiments, the overvoltage protection circuit includes: (a) an input receiving node configured to receive an input voltage; (b) an input transmitting node; (c) an input switch formed between the input receiving node and the input transmitting node, and configured to selectively electrically connect the input receiving node to the input transmitting node based on a switch control signal, where the input switch is configured to cut off an electrical connection between the input receiving node and the input transmitting node when the switch control signal is in an inactive state (e.g., a logic low state “L”); and (d) a control signal generation block configured to sense a transmission voltage of the input transmitting node and generate the switch control signal in the inactive state when the transmission voltage rises to a reference voltage or higher. | 11-21-2013 |
20130314829 | SWITCHING DEVICE - In the present invention, a main switch circuit ( | 11-28-2013 |
20130314830 | Circuit Protection - An apparatus ( | 11-28-2013 |
20130329327 | Installation Comprising Two Batteries Joined in Parallel - Installation ( | 12-12-2013 |
20130335872 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLED OVERVOLTAGE DETECTION - An overvoltage detection system includes a sensed voltage; an active reference module that generates an active reference signal having a magnitude that varies inversely with a magnitude of the sensed voltage; and a timed trip module that includes a resistor and capacitor, and detects an overvoltage condition as a function of the sensed voltage, the active reference signal, and time. | 12-19-2013 |
20130342945 | METHOD FOR MONITORING A DISCONNECTION DEVICE, IN PARTICULAR A SERVICE PLUG OR A SERVICE SOCKET, IN A BATTERY SYSTEM, AND CORRESPONDING MONITORING DEVICE - A method is used to monitor a disconnection device of a battery system having a battery with a plurality of battery cells. The method includes using a monitoring device, which is connected to the disconnection device, to detect a negative voltage or a positive voltage which is applied to connections of the disconnection device. The method also includes evaluating the detected applied negative voltage or positive voltage to establish a functional state of the disconnection device. The method also includes initiating measures to protect the battery system against manipulation of its disconnection device when a value of detected applied negative voltage or positive voltage exceeds a predetermined threshold value. | 12-26-2013 |
20140022681 | POWER SUPPLY SYSTEM, VEHICLE INCORPORATING THE SAME AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING POWER SUPPLY SYSTEM - A power supply system has a power storage device and an ECU, and supplies driving electric power to a load device. The power storage device includes an interrupting device configured to interrupt a conduction path of the power storage device. The load device includes a voltage sensor for detecting a voltage applied to the load device, and supply of electric power from the load device to the power storage device is stopped in response to a failure of the voltage sensor. Where the voltage sensor has failed, the ECU determines presence or absence of activation of the interrupting device, based on a variation length of an actual current that is input to or output from the power storage device and a variation length of a command current set in accordance with requested electric power requested based on a user's operation. | 01-23-2014 |
20140049866 | Method for Controlling a Transistor and Control Circuit - A description is given of a method for the pulsed control of a transistor which has a control terminal and a load path. The load path of the transistor is connected in series with a load. A control circuit is provided for a transistor. In the method, the transistor is controlled with a control pulse of a first type, which has a first control level at least for a first time duration, before a control pulse of a second type, which has a second control level, which is higher in comparison with the first control level. A voltage across the load path of the transistor is evaluated and the pulsed control is terminated if the voltage across the load path exceeds a predefined threshold value. | 02-20-2014 |
20140055896 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND BATTERY VOLTAGE MONITORING DEVICE - A semiconductor device is provided for measuring a voltage of each of plural unit cells series-coupled in multi-stage and configuring an assembled battery. The semiconductor device includes two terminals coupled to two nodes which are electrodes of a unit cell and coupled with other unit cells, and a voltage measurement circuit which measures the inter-terminal voltage between the two terminals. The device also includes a down-convert level shifter circuit which converts the inter-terminal voltage into a low-potential-side inter-terminal voltage based on a ground potential, and a comparator circuit which compares the converted low-potential-side inter-terminal voltage with a predetermined reference voltage. The semiconductor device further includes an up-convert level shifter circuit which converts a low-potential-side shunt control signal based on the ground potential into a high-potential-side shunt control signal, and a switch which short-circuits the two terminals via a resistor based on the converted high-potential-side shunt control signal. | 02-27-2014 |
20140055897 | SWITCHING MODULE INCLUDING SWITCHING ELEMENT CONTROLLED TO BE TURNED OFF WHEN CONDUCTION FAILURE IS DETECTED - A switching module includes a switching element having a control terminal, electrically connected to a first conduction path including a reference terminal, to be opened and closed by controlling the switching element to be ON and OFF. The switching element is controlled in response to a voltage difference between the reference terminal and the control terminal. Moreover, the switching module includes determining unit that determines whether or not a conduction failure has been occurred between the control terminal and an outside the switching module; and reducing unit that reduces an absolute value of the voltage difference when the determining unit determines that the conduction failure has occurred, so as to forcibly turn OFF the switching element. | 02-27-2014 |
20140071570 | POWER INTERCONNECT INTEGRITY DETECTION - Embodiments include systems and methods for detecting and/or responding to deficiencies in power interconnect integrity. For example, a first module distributes power to a second module via a high-current mechanical power interconnect. Insufficient integrity in the interconnect can manifest as an impedance, causing potential thermal hazards. A separate (e.g., low-current) interconnect is used to monitor the power being received by the second module from the first module. Embodiments detect when a difference between the power supplied to and received by the second module exceeds a threshold difference, which can indicate deficient interconnect integrity (i.e., a fault). The supply of high-current power to the second module can be substantially immediately interrupted upon detecting the fault. | 03-13-2014 |
20140078630 | FAIL OPERATIONAL POWER SYSTEM WITH SINGLE ENERGY STORAGE - Method for operating a fail operational power system for a vehicle includes monitoring a first voltage on a first power distribution path and a second voltage on a second power distribution path. An isolator switch controllably operative between open and closed states is monitored. The closed state connects the first and second power distribution paths and the open state opens the connection between the first and second power distribution paths. Each of the monitored first and second voltages is compared to a reference voltage. When a predetermined operating mode requiring fail operational power is enabled, the isolator switch is controlled to the open state when at least one of the monitored first and second voltages violates the reference voltage and the isolator switch is controlled to the closed state when neither one of the monitored first and second voltages violates the reference voltage. | 03-20-2014 |
20140104736 | CIRCUIT PROTECTION DEVICE AND METHODS OF CONFIGURING A CIRCUIT PROTECTION DEVICE - A circuit protection device includes an adjustment device configured to provide a selected voltage, a memory configured to store a selector, and a processor coupled to the memory and to the adjustment device. The processor is configured to receive the selector from the memory, select an operational parameter of the circuit protection device based on the selector, receive a voltage value representative of a selected voltage provided by the adjustment device, and set the selected operational parameter to a parameter value based on the voltage value received. | 04-17-2014 |
20140126096 | Apparatus And Method For An Under-Voltage Protection Of An Electrical Network, Especially In An Aircraft Comprising A Fuel Cell - An apparatus for protecting an electrical network of an aircraft includes a power switch, an activation means coupled with the power switch, and a detection circuit connectable to the electrical network for detecting a voltage. The detection circuit is coupled with the activation means. The activation means is adapted for opening the power switch once the detected voltage is lower than a predetermined voltage. This is particularly advantageous for high voltage direct current networks temporarily, primarily or permanently powered by a fuel cell system. | 05-08-2014 |
20140139960 | OVERHEATING PROTECTION CIRCUIT - There is provided an overheating protection circuit, including a temperature-variable voltage generating unit generating a temperature-variable voltage by adding a temperature-proportional voltage increasing with an increase in temperature and a first turn-on voltage decreasing with an increase in temperature; and an overheating prevention signal generating unit comparing the temperature-variable voltage and a second turn-on voltage decreasing with an increase in temperature to generate an overheating prevention signal, wherein the first turn-on voltage and the second turn-on voltage have the same distribution. | 05-22-2014 |
20140146428 | CASCODED SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES - The invention provides a cascode transistor circuit with a main power transistor and a cascode MOSFET formed as an integrated circuit, packaged to form the cascode transistor circuit. A control and protection circuit is integrated into the integrated circuit together and a storage capacitor provides an energy source to drive the control and protection circuit. A charging circuit is also integrated into the integrated circuit for charging the storage capacitor. | 05-29-2014 |
20140146429 | UNDERVOLTAGE LOCKOUT CIRCUIT, SWITCH CONTROL CIRCUIT AND POWER SUPPLY DEVICE COMPRISING THE UNDERVOLTAGE LOCKOUT CIRCUIT - Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to an under-voltage lockout circuit, and a switching control circuit and a power supply including the same. The under-voltage lockout circuit according to an embodiment of the invention includes a first under-voltage lockout circuit comparing a driving voltage with a first reference voltage and a second under-voltage lockout circuit generating an under-voltage lockout signal based on a result of the comparison between the driving voltage and the second reference voltage. The first under-voltage lockout circuit stops operation of the second under-voltage lockout circuit when the driving voltage is lower than the first reference voltage and operates the second under-voltage lockout circuit when the driving voltage is higher than the first reference voltage. Power consumption of the first under-voltage lockout circuit is limited by a first current that generates the first reference voltage. | 05-29-2014 |
20140160609 | SHORT-CIRCUIT PROTECTION CIRCUIT OF LIGHT EMITTING DIODE AND SHORT-CIRCUIT PROTECTION METHOD THEREOF AND LIGHT EMITTING DIODE DRIVING APPARATUS USING THE SAME - A short-circuit protection circuit of a light emitting diode (LED) is for protecting a plurality of LED strings from a short-circuit condition. The short-circuit protection circuit includes a short-circuit protection unit and a control unit. The short-circuit protection unit is coupled to the plurality of LED strings to execute a short-circuit protection. The control unit coupled to the short-circuit protection unit and the LED strings is configured to control the short-circuit protection unit according to at least one of a feedback voltage and a compensation voltage, so as to determine whether to trigger the short-circuit protection. The feedback voltage is generated from a cross voltage of one of the LED strings, and the compensation voltage is generated according to a comparison result between the feedback voltage and a reference voltage for controlling a power supply of the LED strings. | 06-12-2014 |
20140168838 | Method and Component for Voltage Instability Protection in an Electric Power System - Voltage instability protection for an electric power system is implemented by determining a change in power injected into a region of interest within the electric power system based on synchronized power measurements from different power injection points of the region of interest, and by determining a change in power absorbed by one or more loads in the region of interest based on synchronized power measurements from different load points of the region of interest. A change in power loss for the region of interest is determined based on the difference between the change in power injected into the region of interest and the change in power absorbed by the region of interest. A voltage instability condition is indicated when the change in power loss for the region of interest approximates the change in power injected into the region of interest. | 06-19-2014 |
20140168839 | MOTHERARD PROTECTION CIRCUIT - A protection circuit includes an embedded control chip (ECC) which includes detecting pins, each of which is connected with one of working chips of a motherboard to read a working voltage of the working chip, first control pins, each of which is connected with an enable pin of one of voltage chips of a voltage supply module, and a second control pin connected to a power button pin of a Southbridge of the motherboard. Each voltage chip provides an input voltage. Each working voltage is one of the input voltages. The ECC compares each working voltage with an associated standard range, outputs a first abnormal signal to the enable pin of the voltage chip which provides an abnormal working voltage to disable the voltage chip, and outputs a second abnormal signal to the power button pin of the Southbridge to turn off the electronic device. | 06-19-2014 |
20140168840 | GATE CONTROL CIRCUIT, POWER MODULE AND ASSOCIATED METHOD - It is presented a gate control circuit comprising: a main gate unit arranged to supply, via a plurality of main gate unit outputs, a gate signal to respective gates of a plurality of power switches, for controlling a main current; and an auxiliary gate unit comprising an optical power converter for converting incoming optical power to an auxiliary electrical gate signal. The auxiliary gate unit is arranged to, when a failure occurs in one of the plurality of power switches, provide the auxiliary electrical gate signal to respective gates of any of the plurality of power switches still being in operation. A corresponding power module and method are also presented. | 06-19-2014 |
20140185172 | APPARATUS FOR DETECTING SURGE VOLTAGE AND METHOD THEREOF - An apparatus for detecting surge voltage and a method thereof are proposed, by which a surge voltage can be detected to prevent damage to output parts by using a shunt regulator, when a surge voltage exceeding a maximum voltage limitable by a zener diode is applied, and trouble shooting and system maintenance/repair of a system can be more effectively performed, the apparatus including a voltage distributor configured to output a driving voltage, when an applied surge voltage exceeds a reference surge voltage, a signal output unit configured to generate an output signal by being driven by a driving voltage outputted by the voltage distributor, and a surge voltage detection signal output unit configured to output a surge voltage detection signal indicating that a surge voltage exceeding the reference surge voltage in response to a signal outputted by the signal output unit. | 07-03-2014 |
20140185173 | PROTECTION CIRCUIT FOR CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT - A protection circuit for a central processing unit (CPU) includes a power circuit, two comparators, a number of resistors, a thermistor, and an electronic switch. A non-inverting input terminal of the comparator is coupled to a first power terminal. An inverting input terminal of the comparator is connected to ground through the thermistor. An output terminal of the comparator is coupled to the electronic switch. When an operation temperature of the CPU exceeds a predefined temperature, the comparator enables the electronic switch to be turned on, to reduce an operation frequency of the CPU. | 07-03-2014 |
20140198420 | Fault-Likely Detector - A method, device, and system for detecting a fault for a protective device. The device can receive an input signal and detect a power spike in the input signal. If a power spike is detected in the input signal, the device simultaneously disables the trip mechanism for one or more protective devices and starts a time period. During the remainder of the time period, the device compares the input signal and the threshold value. If, during the remainder of the time period, the input signal exceeds the threshold value, and if the fault originates within a region between the multiple sensing devices, then the trip mechanism for each protective device is again enabled. | 07-17-2014 |
20140198421 | Over Temperature Protection Circuit - The present invention provides an over temperature protection circuit. The over temperature protection circuit includes a reference circuit and a hysteretic comparator. The reference circuit is used for generating a reference voltage and a changeable voltage. The changeable voltage is varied by temperature. The hysteretic comparator compares the reference voltage with the changeable voltage to output a power down signal. | 07-17-2014 |
20140211351 | Electronic Device With Connector Fault Protection Circuitry - An electronic device may include protection circuitry coupled to a connector port. The connector port may be a reversible connector port that receives a mating reversible connector plug with either first or second orientations. The connector port may include contacts for receiving and/or transmitting signals during communications between the electronic device and the accessory device. The protection circuitry may monitor signals received at the contacts to determine whether transient or permanent connection faults exist. In response to determining that a connection fault exists at any of the contacts, the protection circuitry may electrically disconnect the faulty contacts from processing circuitry in the electronic device. | 07-31-2014 |
20140254055 | Over Current and Short Circuit Protection Device and Method For Electronic Cigarette - The present invention discloses a control device and method for over current or short circuit protection of electronic cigarette. The control device includes an input module, a power module, a heating element, a switch control module, a comparator, and a FET; the FET is used to detect an operating voltage generated by an operating current following through the internal resistance of the FET, and the operating voltage is transmitted to the comparator; the comparator compares a reference voltage with the operating voltage, and output a potential signal to the switch control module, the switch control module turns off the FET or maintains it turning on corresponding to the potential signal, further the FET powers off or powers on the heating element. Therefore the circuit of electronic cigarette is protected in over current or short circuit condition. | 09-11-2014 |
20140268457 | HIGH VOLTAGE PROTECTION APPARATUS AND METHOD - An apparatus includes first and second switches. The first switch is for coupling a first node to a second node responsive to a first control signal having a first value, and for decoupling these nodes responsive to the first control signal having a second value. The second switch is for coupling the first node to a third node responsive to a second control signal having the first value, and for decoupling these nodes responsive to the second control signal having the second value. A load is coupled between the second and third nodes. A detection circuit coupled to the first node is configured to generate a signal indicating whether voltage at the first node exceeds a threshold. First and second modules are configured to set the first and second control signals to the second value responsive to the signal indicating that the voltage at the first node exceeds the threshold. | 09-18-2014 |
20140268458 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETECTING AND DETERMINING SOURCES OF POWER DISTURBANCES IN CONNECTION WITH EFFECTIVE REMEDIATION - Apparatus and methods for selective protection of an electrical load from disturbances on an input power line. A power protection circuit includes a selectively variable inrush current limiting circuit and a switch for disconnecting the input power line from the load. A control circuit determines that the electrical load is in a first operational state, such as a standby mode or normal operation, or a second operational state, such as full operation at rated current. The power protection circuit provides variable inrush current limiting to the electrical load in response to a first category of disturbances when the electrical load is in the first operational state. The power protection circuit inhibits disconnecting the electrical load in response to a second category of disturbances when the electrical load is in the second operational state. Species of selectively variable current limiting circuits are also described. | 09-18-2014 |
20140285934 | BATTERY PROTECTION CIRCUIT AND METHOD THEREOF - The present disclosure discloses a battery protection circuit and a method thereof for protecting a battery pack. The battery protection circuit comprises a hardware protection circuit, a software protection circuit and a current detecting circuit. When the battery pack is not in the active status, the hardware protection circuit is used to execute a protective operation; and when the battery pack is in the active status, the software protection circuit is used to execute the protective operation. Furthermore, the hardware protection circuit is electrically connected to the software protection circuit to detect a status of the software protection circuit. When the battery pack is in the active status, the software protection circuit is used to execute the protective operation, and when the software protection circuit is in an abnormal status, the hardware protection circuit is used instead to execute the protective operation. | 09-25-2014 |
20140285935 | ELECTRONIC FUSE APPARATUS AND METHOD OF OPERATING THE SAME - An electronic fuse apparatus is connected between a power side and a system side. The electronic fuse apparatus mainly includes an electronic fuse, a short-circuit protection switch, a current-sensing module, and a digital control module. The current-sensing module detects an operating current which flows from the power side to the system side. The digital control module generates a control signal to control the electronic fuse. When the current-sensing module detects that the operating current is over-current, the digital control module generates the high-level control signal to turn off the electronic fuse, thus providing an over-current protection. When a short-circuit fault occurs at the system side, the short-circuit protection switch is turned on to turn off the electronic fuse, thus providing a short-circuit protection. | 09-25-2014 |
20140301005 | Low Side NMOS Protection Circuit for Battery Pack Application - An electric circuit comprising means for communicating with an external device coupled to means for measuring the charge condition of an external battery. In some embodiments, the circuit comprises at least one level shifter for changing the reference voltage of communication signals. In some embodiments, the circuit comprises a first driver and a second driver for driving external switching elements for the controlled charge and discharge of the battery. | 10-09-2014 |
20140307357 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETECTING OVER/UNDER EXCITATION FAULTS - System, methods, and computer-readable storage media that may be used to detect excitation faults for electrical devices, such as generators and/or condensers, connected in a parallel configuration are provided. A method includes determining a change in a terminal voltage of one of the electrical devices with respect to a steady state terminal voltage. The method further includes determining a change in a reactive power of the electrical device with respect to a steady state reactive power. The method further includes determining whether an excitation fault condition exists based on the determined changes in terminal voltage and reactive power. | 10-16-2014 |
20140313625 | VOLTAGE PROTECTION CIRCUIT - A voltage protection circuit includes a first power source, a power circuit, a comparator, and a electronic switch. The power circuit provides an output voltage to the comparator. The comparator compares the output voltage with a reference voltage. The electronic switch controls the power circuit according to the comparison. When the output voltage is larger than the reference voltage, the electronic switch controls the power circuit to stop providing the output voltage. | 10-23-2014 |
20140321015 | POWER DISTRIBUTION AND INFORMATION HANDLING - A method includes supplying power from a power supply to a. first electrical circuit breaker. The method includes detecting whether at least one of a current and a voltage of the power has exceeded an operating threshold for the first electrical circuit The method includes, in response to detecting that at least one of the current and the voltage of the power has exceeded the operating threshold for the first electrical circuit, shutting off the power supply and the first electrical circuit breaker. The method includes in response to detecting that at least one of the current and the voltage of the power has not exceeded the operating threshold for the first electrical circuit, supplying the power from the power supply to the second electrical circuit breaker that is electrically coupled to the second electrical circuit. | 10-30-2014 |
20140321016 | Over Voltage Protection Circuit and Electronic System for Handling Hot Plug - An over voltage protection circuit comprises an input end, coupled to an input power, for receiving an input voltage provided by the input power; and a driving module, coupled between the input end and a ground end, for generating a discharging current when the input voltage is larger than a predefined voltage, to reduce the input voltage to the predefined voltage. The driving module comprises a voltage regulating module, a p-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (PMOS), and an n-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (NMOS). The PMOS and the NMOS are an upper gate switch and a lower gate switch of a motor driver or a fan driver. | 10-30-2014 |
20140355160 | Method, Device and Circuitry for Detecting a Failure on a Differential Bus - An exemplary embodiment relates to a method for detecting a failure on a differential bus comprising the steps: detecting a first signal between the bus lines, detecting a second signal between the bus lines, and detecting the failure in case the first signal and the second signal do not show the same absolute value or in case the first signal and the second signal do not show nearly the same absolute value. | 12-04-2014 |
20140362485 | Transient Protection Filter Circuit that Minimizes the Effects of Thermal Runaway - Commonly, a transient protection filter circuit is integrated between power sources and the circuits that follow to suppress voltage transients. Pre-existing transient protection filters are implemented such that when a transient is detected, transistors in the path become linear regulators. Instead, this invention uses bridge resistors to form a voltage divider to dissipate the extra power. The novelty of this invention is that it protects the load not by dissipating the extra power in front of the load as other transient protection filter circuits do, but by providing energy from the transient to the load through a resistor. This implementation solves the problem of thermal runaway that is commonly caused when transient voltages are filtered by dissipating power within the transistors in the path of the transient and the electric circuits after the transistors. | 12-11-2014 |
20140376137 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETECTING LEAKAGE PATHS IN A BATTERY SENSING CIRCUIT - System and methods for detecting electrical leakages in a battery sensing are presented. In certain embodiments, the systems and methods allow a vehicle battery sensing circuit and/or other associated system to detect certain electrical leakages and implement one or more actions to protect vehicle systems from damage resulting from such leakages. | 12-25-2014 |
20140376138 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE - A semiconductor device includes an external voltage detection unit suitable for detecting a voltage level of an external voltage to output an external voltage detection signal based on the detected result, a reference voltage generation unit suitable for generating a reference voltage based on the external voltage, an internal voltage generation unit enabled in response to the external voltage detection signal, suitable for selectively generating a voltage corresponding to the reference voltage as an internal voltage, and an internal voltage control unit suitable for selectively providing a voltage having a target level corresponding to the internal voltage as the internal voltage in response to the external voltage detection signal. | 12-25-2014 |
20150009598 | METHOD, DEVICE AND CIRCUITRY FOR DETECTING A FAILURE ON A DIFFERENTIAL BUS - An exemplary embodiment relates to a method for detecting a failure on a differential bus. The method may include: determining an allowed voltage range of the differential bus based on a minimum load and a maximum load; comparing a differential bus voltage with the allowed voltage range; and determining a failure state in case the differential bus voltage is outside the allowed voltage range. | 01-08-2015 |
20150022924 | CIRCUITRY AND METHOD FOR MONITORING A POWER SUPPLY OF AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE - The disclosure relates to a circuitry including a first contact connected to a power supply, a first compare unit connected to the first contact and to a first reference signal, wherein the first compare unit is configured to compare a voltage at the first contact with the first reference signal and provide a first output signal for further processing. | 01-22-2015 |
20150022925 | ELECTRONIC MODULE, ELECTRONIC ARRANGEMENT AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING AN ELECTRONIC MODULE - An electronic module ( | 01-22-2015 |
20150049407 | ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND VOLTAGE MONITORING METHOD - An electronic device includes a processor, and a connector used for connecting an external device to the electronic device, wherein the processor monitors fluctuation in a voltage at a specific terminal of the connector, and when the fluctuation in the voltage during a predetermined time period are not within a predetermined range, the processor electrically separates the connector. | 02-19-2015 |
20150062768 | FEEDBACK PROTECTION FROM ADJACENT TERMINAL SHORTS - This relates to detecting unwanted couplings between a protected terminal and an adjacent terminal of an IC controller of a power supply. The voltages across adjacent terminals are monitored. If the voltage difference between the terminals falls below a minimum threshold for greater than a first duration of time, an internal current source injects current into one of the terminals. If, within a second duration of time, the injected current pulls the voltage of the injected terminal to a voltage that causes the voltage difference between the terminals to be above the minimum threshold, it may be determined that a transient fault has occurred and been cleared or falsely detected. If, however, the injected current does not pull the voltage of the injected terminal to a voltage that causes the voltage between the adjacent terminals to be above the minimum threshold, the fault condition is confirmed and switching is disabled. | 03-05-2015 |
20150070807 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTING ELECTRO STATIC DISCHARGE IN ELECTRONIC DEVICE - A system detects Electro Static Discharge (ESD) of an electronic device by sensing a ground voltage of an electronic device, comparing the sensed ground voltage with a predetermined reference voltage and if the sensed ground voltage exceeds the reference voltage, performs at least one predetermined operation of the electronic device. | 03-12-2015 |
20150077892 | PROTECTION CIRCUIT AND RELATED METHOD - A protection circuit is connected between a power supply for providing a working voltage and a load. The protection circuit comprises an interface, a detecting module connected to the interface, a control module, and a switch module. The control module generates a plus width modulation (PWM) signal with a predetermined duty cycle when the interface interconnects with the load. The switch module periodically turns on and turns off based on the PWM signal with the predetermined duty cycle. | 03-19-2015 |
20150092311 | METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIA FOR PROTECTION OF DIRECT CURRENT BUILDING ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS - Methods, systems, and computer readable media for providing protection of DC building electrical systems are disclosed. According to one aspect, a system for over-current protection of direct current (DC) building electrical systems includes a DC bus for providing DC power to a building and multiple DC feeder conductors for providing DC power to multiple locations within the building. Each DC feeder conductor is connected to the DC bus via a DC protection module having a fuse, a normally closed switch connected in parallel with the fuse, and a circuit breaker connected in series with the fuse and switch, where the switch is controllable to be closed to protect the fuse against transient current conditions and controllable to be open after the transient current conditions have subsided to allow the fuse to operate normally. | 04-02-2015 |
20150098160 | PROTECTION CIRCUIT AND A GATE DRIVING CIRCUITRY - A protection circuit and a gate driving circuitry. The protection circuit is for protecting a p-type back-to-back MOS switch. The circuit receives an input driving signal and provides a driving output signal to common gates of the p-type back-to-back MOS switch. The circuit comprises a driving signal insulation switch for disconnecting the common gate of the p-type back-to-back MOS switch from the received input driving signal when the voltage of the common gates is larger than the supply voltage of the circuit. The circuit further comprises a gate source coupling switch for coupling a voltage received at the common source of the p-type back-to-back MOS switch to the common gate if a received voltage at the common sources is larger than a reference voltage Vref. | 04-09-2015 |
20150116879 | IN-RUSH CURRENT LIMITING SWITCH CONTROL - A subsystem is configured to apply a voltage source to a gated circuit domain in a manner that limits in-rush current and affords minimal time delay. A control signal turns on a wake-up switch that connects the voltage source to the domain. The equivalent series resistance of the wake-up switch has a magnitude that limits the transient charge current to the gated domain. A digital control circuit monitors the resulting rising domain voltage and determines when the domain voltage reaches operating level, at which point additional transient current will be minimal. The control circuit then activates a primary switch that connects the voltage source to the domain through a series resistance of negligible magnitude. An adjustment element provides the option to permanently set a control signal that marginally reduces the time at which the control circuit activates the primary switch to compensate for variations in circuit parameters. | 04-30-2015 |
20150116880 | INDUCTOR PROTECTION DEVICE - An inductor protection device includes a single chip microcomputer (SCM) and an input unit. The protection device is used for protecting an inductor in a circuit, the circuit includes a controller configured for triggering on or cutting off the circuit. The SCM sets a limiting voltage according to parameters input from the input unit, obtains a current voltage of the inductor, compares the current voltage with the limiting voltage, and sends a control signal to the controller to cut off the circuit when the current voltage is bigger than or equal to the limiting voltage. | 04-30-2015 |
20150124363 | ELECTRONIC SAFETY PATH - A system is described that includes a first portion including one or more components configured to implement one or more safety functions of an application. The system further includes, a second, different portion comprising one or more different components configured to activate a safety path in response to a detection of a voltage overstress in the first portion. The system further includes a third, different portion comprising one or more different components configured to electrically couple the first portion to the second portion and to prevent the voltage overstress from propagating from the first portion to the second portion. | 05-07-2015 |
20150295395 | INTERRUPTION OF A CURRENT - A method for interrupting a current is proposed, wherein a signal of a supply line is integrated over at least one predetermined time period and wherein the current in the supply line is interrupted by means of a separating element if the signal integrated over the at least one predetermined time period meets a predetermined condition. | 10-15-2015 |
20150303678 | PRECISION SURGE CLAMP WITH CONSTANT CLAMPING VOLTAGE AND NEAR-ZERO DYNAMIC RESISTANCE UNDER VARIOUS THERMAL, POWER AND CURRENT LEVELS - A system includes a voltage surge protection circuit that receives a source voltage from a source. The voltage surge protection circuit includes a reference circuit to generate a reference voltage based on the source voltage when the source voltage exceeds a clamping voltage and a feedback control circuit to receive the reference voltage and clamp an output voltage to the clamping voltage when the voltage from the source exceeds the clamping voltage. A dynamic resistance of the feedback control circuit is substantially zero. | 10-22-2015 |
20150326005 | ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT FOR PROTECTING A LOAD AGAINST OVER-VOLTAGE - An electronic circuit for protecting a load against over-voltage is disclosed. The electronic circuit comprises an input port for receiving a voltage and an output port for feeding the voltage to the load. The electronic circuit further comprises a switching unit arranged to switch on and off the voltage from the input port. Moreover, the electronic circuit comprises a capacitive component arranged to receive the voltage when the switching unit is switched on and is otherwise arranged to feed voltage to the output port. Furthermore, the electronic circuit comprises a comparing unit configured to control the switching unit to be switched off when a value at the output port exceeds a first threshold; and to control the switching unit to be switched on when the value is below a second threshold. | 11-12-2015 |
20150340355 | CURRENT SENSING OF EMITTER SENSE INSULATED-GATE BIPOLAR TRANSISTOR (IGBT) - A control circuit and method are disclosed for controlling a current sense Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT). In particular, the current sense IGBT creates voltage spikes in a sense voltage as a result of normal switching operations. The control circuit creates a blank period so that the voltage spikes are ignored and false detections of short-circuit events are avoided. | 11-26-2015 |
20150340854 | SAFETY SWITCHING DEVICE WITH A SAFE POWER SUPPLY UNIT - A safety switching device for an automated installation includes a power supply unit for providing at least one operating voltage for the device. The power supply unit receives an input voltage via a feed line and provides a defined output voltage on an output side. Electrical supply to the power supply unit is interrupted if an instantaneous output voltage is higher than the defined output voltage. The interruption is achieved by first and second switching elements arranged in series and connecting the input of the power supply unit to ground, and by an interrupter element in the feed line. The interrupter element triggers when both the first and the second switching elements are in a closed, low-impedance state. A reference point between the first and the second switching elements has a voltage value that corresponds to a first expectation value when the first switching element is in the closed, low-impedance state and the second switching element is in an open state, and corresponds to a second expectation value when the first switching element is in the open state and the second switching element is in the closed, low-impedance state. | 11-26-2015 |
20150346127 | MOISTURE INGRESS SENSORS - This application relates to a moisture ingress sensor. In particular, this application relates to a moisture ingress sensor that can detect liquid ingress into an electronic device. The moisture ingress sensor can include a resistor, an N-channel MOSFET, an operation amplifier, comparators, and an AND logic gate. The moisture ingress sensor is configured to provide a lower power means for accurately detecting moisture in an electronic device. Multiple areas of the electronic device can include the moisture ingress sensor in order to optimize the detection of moisture for at a variety of regions of the electronic device. Additionally, the electronic device can record signals from the moisture ingress sensor and shut down components of the electronic device that could be affected by the detected moisture. Furthermore, the moisture ingress sensor can be tuned to detect one or more types of liquids. | 12-03-2015 |
20150349519 | OVERCURRENT PROTECTION DEVICE AND OVERCURRENT PROTECTION METHOD FOR ELECTRONIC MODULES - Overcurrent protection devices and methods for electronic modules. In some embodiments, an overcurrent protection system can be implemented for an electronic circuit. The system can include a detection unit configured to detect an overcurrent condition associated with the electronic circuit and generate an overcurrent signal indicative of the overcurrent condition. The system can further include a consumption system in communication with the detection unit. The consumption system can be configured to consume and thereby reduce a current in a path associated with the electronic circuit upon receipt of the overcurrent signal. The consumption system can be further configured to not consume the current when the overcurrent signal ceases. | 12-03-2015 |
20150364909 | POWER CONVERTER, SHORT-CIRCUIT DETECTING DEVICE THEREOF AND SHORT-CIRCUIT DETECTING METHOD THEREOF - A short-circuit detecting device includes a coil and a processing circuit. The coil is configured to detect a variation of magnetic flux intensity generated by a current variation of a current flowing through a power semiconductor switch and to generate an induced electromotive force based on the variation of magnetic flux intensity. When the current variation rate of said current is greater than a predetermined value, the processing circuit is configured to generate a short-circuit signal based on the induced electromotive force so as to turn off the power semiconductor switch based on the short-circuit signal. | 12-17-2015 |
20150371798 | CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER INCLUDING THERMAL TRIP ASSEMBLY AND PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD ROGOWSKI COIL - A circuit interrupter includes a first terminal, a second terminal, separable contacts moveable between a closed position and an open position, the first and second terminals being electrically disconnected from each other when the separable contacts are in the open position, a printed circuit board Rogowski coil structured to sense a current flowing between the first and second terminals, a current transformer structured to harvest power from the current flowing between the first and second terminals, an electronic trip unit including an other trip circuit structured to output a first trip signal to control the actuator to cooperate with an operating mechanism to trip open the separable contacts based on the current sensed by the current sensor and a thermal trip assembly structured to sense a temperature of a busbar and to output a second trip signal based on the sensed temperature. | 12-24-2015 |
20150372476 | POWER SUPPLY FOR ISOLATED BUS COMMUNICATION - A protective module is described for a power supply of a bus communication unit. The protective module includes an input terminal for connecting to a power supply unit comprised by the bus communication unit; an input/output terminal for connecting to a second power supply unit external to the bus communication unit; an output terminal for providing power supply to the bus communication unit; and a relay unit adapted to (i) isolate the input terminal from the output terminal when a voltage at the input terminal is above a first upper threshold value or below a first lower threshold value, and to (ii) isolate the input/output from the output terminal when a voltage at the input/output terminal is above a second upper threshold value. Further, there is described a power supply for a bus communication unit and a bus communication system. | 12-24-2015 |
20160006234 | PROCESSOR-BASED CIRCUIT INTERRUPTING DEVICES - Circuit interrupting devices are provided. One circuit interrupting device includes a fault sensor configured to output a sensor signal; a voltage sensor configured to sense a reference voltage; and a controller configured to determine an occurrence of an actual fault based on the sensor signal and the reference voltage. The circuit interrupting device further includes an amplifier configured to receive the sensor signal and the reference voltage and output an amplified signal; an analog-to-digital converter configured to receive the reference voltage and the amplified signal and output respective digital signals corresponding to the reference voltage and the amplified signal; and a line interrupt assembly configured to interrupt current flow through a conductive path when a characteristic of the sensor signal exceeds an actual fault threshold. | 01-07-2016 |
20160028223 | CHARGE INJECTION AND DRAIN-BASED ELECTRICAL OVERSTRESS (EOS) PROTECTION APPARATUS AND METHOD - An electrical overstress (EOS) protection circuit that at least partially neutralizes or compensates for undershoot and overshoot in first and second signals that are communicated using differential signaling, such as with USB communications. For an undershoot, the EOS protection circuit injects charge into pads that receive the first and second signals. For an overshoot, the EOS protection circuit drains charge from the pad that receives the second signal and injects charge into the pad that receives the first signal. | 01-28-2016 |
20160036214 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MONITORING AND CONTROLLING ELECTRICAL NETWORK - A system and method for monitoring and controlling an electrical network includes a plurality of peripheral units installed at various nodes along the branches of the electrical network, each peripheral unit including current meters and voltage meters to measure current of a phase wire, current of the neutral wire, current of the ground wire, current difference between a phase wire and the neutral wire, voltage between a phase wire and the neutral wire and voltage between the neutral wire and the ground wire; switches connected to the phase wires and the neutral wires; and a central processing unit configured to: collect data from the meters, analyze the data to detect faults at the electrical network, and control the switches of the plurality of peripheral units, so as to disconnect faulty branches of the electrical network. | 02-04-2016 |
20160064917 | METHOD AND SWITCH FOR AUTOMATICALLY CUTTING OFF HIGH TEMPERATURE AND HIGH CURRENT BY USING METAL-INSULATOR TRANSITION (MIT) DEVICE - A method of automatically cutting off high temperature and high current, includes calculating an FET voltage applied to an FET (Field Effect Transistor), based on a resistance of a CTS (Critical Temperature Switch) and a reference resistance, comparing the FET voltage with a predetermined threshold voltage, and setting the FET to an ON state when the FET voltage is higher than the threshold voltage and setting the FET to an OFF state when the FET voltage is lower than the threshold voltage. The CTS is a switch including an MIT (Metal-Insulator Transition) device. The MIT device has a metallic property only in a predetermined temperature range. | 03-03-2016 |
20160069819 | VEHICLE LAMP DEVICE AND ABNORMALITY DETECTOR OF LIGHT SOURCE THEREOF - An abnormality detector for a light source includes a laser diode which emits an excitation light and a fluorescent substance which is excited by the excitation light to generate a fluorescent light. The abnormality detector includes a first photo sensor which is sensitive to a wavelength of the excitation light, a second photo sensor which is sensitive to a wavelength of the fluorescent light, a first current-voltage conversion circuit which outputs a first detection signal based on an output of the first photo sensor, a second current-voltage conversion circuit which outputs a second detection signal based on an output of the second photo sensor, and a determination unit which determines whether an abnormality occurs based on the first detection signal and the second detection signal. | 03-10-2016 |
20160087419 | OVER-CURRENT PROTECTION METHOD AND CIRCUIT FOR A DC INVERTER - An over-current protection method and circuit for a DC Inverter is provided in the present invention. Said over-current protection circuit comprises: a sampling unit for sampling output currents from a power module to form a sampling signal; a signal-processing unit for amplifying with various magnification factors and low-pass filtering the sampling signal to generate a first over-current signal and a second over-current signal; a signal-generating unit for generating a first interrupt trigger signal based on the first over-current signal; a comparison unit for comparing the second over-current signal with a reference voltage corresponding to an over-current threshold of a motor, with a comparison result being a second interrupt trigger signal; and a control unit for controlling the power module based on the first interrupt trigger signal, and the motor based on the second interrupt trigger signal. The over-current protection method and circuit provided in the present invention are able to satisfy over-current protection of the power module and the motor of the inverter simultaneously. | 03-24-2016 |
20160087422 | Fault and Short-Circuit Protected Output Driver - A driver and protection circuit for driving a power switch is disclosed. The driver and protection circuit includes a fault detection block configured to detect a discrepancy between a reference drive signal and a measured voltage at a gate of the power switch. The driver and protection circuit also includes a short circuit detection block configured to detect a gate-to-source short circuit or a gate-to-drain short circuit of the power switch. The driver and protection circuit further includes a latch coupled to the fault detection block and the short circuit detection block to selectively turn off an output driver coupled to the gate of the power switch when a fault or a short circuit is detected, and wherein the latch is configured to send a diagnostic signal when the fault or the short circuit is detected. | 03-24-2016 |
20160093988 | Electrical Plug Connector And An Electrothermal Article Including The Same - An electrical plug connector includes a housing, a connector unit and a temperature sensing unit. The housing includes a housing body defining a receiving space, and a shell extending from the housing body and defining a cavity. The shell is removably pluggable to a power supply. The connector unit includes a supporting tongue disposed in the receiving space and the cavity, a plurality of contacts provided on the supporting tongue, and a connector cable electrically interconnecting the contacts and an electronic device. The temperature sensing unit is disposed in at least one of the receiving space and the cavity for detecting a temperature associated with the supporting tongue. | 03-31-2016 |
20160094024 | UNDER VOLTAGE PROTECTION DEVICE - An under voltage protection device includes a voltage detector and a starting unit. The voltage detector includes a diode, a variable resistor, a transistor and a fixed-resistance resistor. The starting unit includes a second transistor. When a voltage of the external voltage source is smaller than a voltage of the diode, a voltage between an emitter node and an collector node of the first transistor is smaller than a threshold voltage present between a gate node of and a source node of the second transistor such that the starting unit is turned off. When the voltage of the external voltage source is larger than the voltage of the diode, the voltage between the emitter node and the collector node is larger than the threshold voltage present between the gate node and the source node such that the starting unit is turned on. | 03-31-2016 |
20160099559 | OVERCURRENT PROTECTION FOR AN AUTOMOTIVE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER - A system and method for protecting an instrument panel circuit from overcurrents includes a differential amplifier that magnifies a voltage drop across at least one power input component. The magnified voltage drop is provided to a hysteresis comparator that compares the voltage drop against a pair of hysteresis thresholds. When the voltage drop exceeds the thresholds, an overcurrent is detected and a default state of a power switching element is changed from closed to open. | 04-07-2016 |
20160105017 | OVER-VOLTAGE PROTECTION CIRCUIT FOR A DRIVE TRANSISTOR - A drive transistor is connected to a resonant load in a low-side drive configuration. The voltage across the conduction terminals of the drive transistor is sensed and compared to an over-voltage threshold. An over-voltage signal is asserted in response to the comparison. The drive transistor is controlled by a PWM control signal in normal mode. In response to the assertion of the over-voltage signal, the drive transistor is forced to turn on (irrespective of the PWM control signal) to relieve the over-voltage condition. Operation of the circuit may be disabled or forced into soft start mode in response to the assertion of the over-voltage signal. Additionally, the pulse width of the PWM control signal may be reduced in response to the assertion of the over-voltage signal. | 04-14-2016 |
20160116509 | ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING DEFECT IN AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE - According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an electronic device may comprise an external device connector having at least one connection sensing pin to sense connection to at least one external device connector, a voltage sensor measuring a voltage at the at least one connection sensing pin and a controller determining that a defect occurs when the voltage measured by the voltage sensor meets a preset condition. Other various embodiments are also provided herein. | 04-28-2016 |
20160126721 | ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND POWER PROTECTION METHOD - An electronic device and a power protection method are provided. The electronic device includes a transfer port, a switch, a first detecting unit and a second detecting unit. The transfer port provides a driving voltage to an external device. The switch is coupled between the transfer port and a supply power source, and the switch is selectively turned off according to at least one of a first control signal and a second control signal. The first detecting unit generates the first control signal when a voltage drop of the driving voltage exceeds a threshold voltage. The second detecting unit generates a sampling voltage by detecting the driving voltage and generates the second control signal when the sampling voltage is lower than a first reference voltage. The electronic device can provide a power protection when an external device is plugged in/out the transfer port. | 05-05-2016 |
20160156343 | OVER-VOLTAGE PROTECTION CIRCUIT AND ASSOCIATED METHOD | 06-02-2016 |
20160181787 | Isolator Circuit | 06-23-2016 |
20160190794 | OVERVOLTAGE PROTECTION CIRCUIT FOR USB INTERFACE - Protection circuits, USB interface integrated circuits, and methods for protecting host circuitry from USB port pin overvoltages, in which a switch is connected between a USB port pin and a middle node, and a detection circuit compares the middle node voltage with a reference voltage. A control circuit turns off the switch and turns on a clamp circuit to conduct pull down current from the middle node in response to the middle node voltage exceeding the reference voltage to mitigate overvoltage conditions on a host pin coupled to the middle node. When the middle node voltage falls below the reference voltage, the control circuit delays for a predetermined time and then turns off the clamp circuit and turns on the switch. | 06-30-2016 |
20160190795 | Protection Circuit for Electronic System - Damages to the rectifying MOSFET in the secondary side of voltage converters are reduced or eliminated by inserting intermediary steps between detecting a dropping in the converter output voltage V | 06-30-2016 |
20160254660 | Overvoltage Notching of Electrical Swells | 09-01-2016 |
20180026438 | EMBEDDED BATTERY PROTECTION SYSTEM | 01-25-2018 |
20190149144 | LOAD-SWITCH GATE-PROTECTION CIRCUIT | 05-16-2019 |