ir Flexible shunt for vacuum circuit breaker By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 21 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT A flexible shunt for a vacuum circuit breaker can have a reduced straight length and improved flexibility even with an increased thickness within a predetermined accommodation space of a main circuit part. The flexible shunt comprises a pair of conductive plates, each including a clamp connecting portion configured as a flat conductive member, the clamp connecting portion being connected the clamp, a terminal side connecting portion configured as a flat conductive member, the terminal side connecting portion being connected to the terminal side, and a flexible curved portion configured to connect the clamp connecting portion to the terminal side connecting portion, the flexible curved portion being formed to be projected outwardly. Full Article
ir Gas-insulated circuit breaker with nominal contact shielding arrangement By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 28 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT A gas-insulated type circuit breaker including a housing defining a gas volume for a dielectric insulation gas; a first arcing contact member and a second arcing contact member, wherein the first arcing contact member and the second arcing contact member are movable relative to each other along an axis; a first nominal contact member and a second nominal contact member, wherein the first nominal contact member and the second nominal contact member are movable relative to each other along the axis; and a first nominal contact shielding arrangement including an inner shield member and an outer shield member, wherein the inner shield member and the outer shield member are arranged coaxially about the axis. The first nominal contact member is arranged co-axially between the inner shield member and the outer shield member, and is movable relative to the inner shield member and to the outer shield member. Full Article
ir Gas circuit breaker By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 28 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT The disclosure relates to a gas circuit breaker switch (5) which can be integrated inside a switching device insulated in a dielectric gas, said switch (5) comprising an arc chute (1) inside which a fixed contact (3) and a moving contact (4) are arranged. The integration of the contacts (3, 4) inside at least one casing (19, 20) corresponding to the arc chute (1) allows reducing distances between phases, in addition to preventing any incident in one phase from affecting the remaining phases, and finally more compact electrical equipment is obtained. The switch (5) also comprises at least one generation means (6) for generating at least one gas, at least one blowout/intake means (7) for at least one extinguishing gas and at least one generation means (2) for generating a magnetic field, such that the electric arc generated between the contacts (3, 4) of the switch (5) can be extinguished by combining said means (6, 7, 2). Full Article
ir Gas blast circuit breaker By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 12 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A circuit breaker includes a first contact and a second contact. An electric arc zone is disposed between the contacts. A feed channel opens into the electric arc zone, connecting the electric arc zone to a hot gas reservoir volume. The hot gas reservoir volume, in turn, is connected to a compression volume. An outflow opening is disposed in a wall of the compression volume. The outflow opening is permanently open, at least in a contacting state of the contacts. Full Article
ir Arc runners suitable for DC molded case circuit breakers and related methods By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 12 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Circuit breakers include an arc chamber and an arc chute comprising a plurality of arc plates in the arc chamber. The circuit breakers also include a line conductor assembly with at least one arc runner attached to a line conductor in the arc chamber. The arc runner can extend below but adjacent to a bottom arc plate to thereby guide a respective arc into the arc chute. Full Article
ir Air circuit breaker By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT An arc guider configured to provide an arc movement path, one side thereof forming a fixation projection and a center thereof forming a groove in a longitudinal direction, a fixation element sequentially including a main contact, an arc contact being spaced apart from the main contact and an insertion groove accommodating the arc guider and a plurality of projection fixing units being formed on both sides of the insertion groove and being curved toward the accommodated arc guider through an outer force so that the fixation projection does not escape wherein triangle V shaped groove marks by the outer force are formed in the plurality of the projection fixing units. Full Article
ir Method and circuit arrangement for controlling current in motors By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 12 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A method and circuit arrangement for controlling the motor current in an electric motor, in particular a stepper motor, by a chopper method is provided. In the method/circuit arrangement, the motor is operated with a coil current that follows a target coil current substantially more accurately at least at the zero crossing of the coil current. The method/circuit arrangement provides a good symmetry of the sinusoidal wave shape of the coil current with respect to the zero crossing of the coil current. The method is achieved in particular by the active control of the coil current both in the direction of a predefined target coil current and opposite the direction of the predefined target coil current with respect to upper or lower desired current values and a lowering or increasing of the upper or lower desired current values. Full Article
ir Linearization circuit and related techniques By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 12 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Circuits and techniques to linearize the operation of an RF power amplifier are described. A linearizer circuit may include a non-amplification signal path which includes a delay line and an amplification signal path which includes at least one amplifier stage. In some embodiments, the amplification signal path may include an odd number of amplification stages. The linearizer may be used to precondition an input signal of an RF power amplifier in a manner that improves the overall linearity of operation. Full Article
ir Differential circuit compensated with self-heating effect of active device By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 12 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A differential circuit with a function to compensate unevenness observed in the differential gain thereof is disclosed. The differential circuit provides a low-pass filter in one of the paired transistors not receiving the input signal in addition to another low-pass filter that provides an average of output signals as a reference level of the differential circuit. The cut-off frequency of the filter is preferably set to be equal to the transition frequency at which the self-heating effect explicitly influences the trans-conductance of the transistor. Full Article
ir System and method for pre-charging a current mirror By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 12 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A system for pre-charging a current minor includes a controller configured to provide a first current and an additional current to a current minor to rapidly charge a capacitance associated with the current minor based on a reference voltage or control signals. A power amplifier module includes at least one current minor and a controller. A capacitor is coupled to the current minor. The controller provides a bias current in an amount proportional to an input to a voltage-to-current converter. The controller receives a control signal that directs the controller to apply one of a pre-charge voltage and a nominal voltage to the voltage-to-current converter. Full Article
ir Input receiver circuit having single-to-differential amplifier, and semiconductor device including the same By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 12 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT An input receiver circuit including a single-to-differential amplifier and a semiconductor device including the input receiver circuit are disclosed. The input receiver circuit includes a first stage amplifier unit and a second stage amplifier unit. The first stage amplifier unit amplifies a single input signal in a single-to-differential mode to generate a differential output signal, without using a reference voltage. The second stage amplifier unit amplifies the differential output signal in a differential-to-single mode to generate a single output signal. Full Article
ir Transimpedance amplifier (TIA) circuit and method By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 12 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A TIA circuit and method are provided that merge the automatic gain control function with the bandwidth adjustment function to allow the TIA circuit to operate over a wide dynamic range at multiple data rates. The TIA circuit has an effective resistance that is adjustable for adjusting the gain and the bandwidth of the TIA circuit. The mechanism of the TIA circuit that is used to adjust the effective resistance, and hence the gain and bandwidth of the TIA circuit, is temperature independent, and as such, the performance of the TIA circuit is not affected by temperature variations. Full Article
ir Circuitry for reducing power consumption By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Circuitry for reducing power consumption is described. The circuitry includes a power amplifier. The circuitry also includes a predistorter coupled to the power amplifier. The circuitry further includes a power supply coupled to the power amplifier. The circuitry additionally includes a controller coupled to the power amplifier, to the predistorter and to the power supply. The controller captures a transmit signal and a feedback signal concurrently and determines a minimum bias voltage from a set of voltages and a predistortion that enable the power amplifier to produce an amplified transmit signal in accordance with a requirement. Full Article
ir Amplifier circuits By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Differential amplifier circuits for LDMOS-based amplifiers are disclosed. The differential amplifier circuits comprise a high resistivity substrate and separate DC and AC ground connections. Such amplifier circuits may not require thru-substrate vias for ground connection. Full Article
ir Wireless communication unit and semiconductor device having a power amplifier therefor By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A semiconductor package device comprises a radio frequency power transistor having an output port operably coupled to a single de-coupling capacitance located within the semiconductor package device. The single de-coupling capacitance is arranged to provide both high frequency decoupling and low frequency decoupling of signals output from the radio frequency power transistor. Full Article
ir Apparatus and method of forming needle blanks from wire stock By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 08:00:00 EDT There is disclosed an apparatus and method for forming curved and pointed needle blanks from a coiled length of wire needle stock material. The apparatus includes an inner mandrel having a circumferential wire receiving groove and at least one longitudinally extending broach receiving channel formed in the outer surface. The apparatus also includes an outer member having an inner surface defining a bore sized to receive the inner mandrel wrapped with wire needle stock. The outer member includes at least one longitudinal broach receiving channel formed in the outer member inner surface. The outer mandrel further includes a circumferential wire receiving groove formed in the inner surface such that, when wrapped with the length of wire needle stock material, the inner mandrel is threaded into the outer member. The apparatus further includes at least one broach which is movable within the channels to cut the length of wire needle stock into curved and pointed needle blanks. The method includes wrapping a length of wire needle stock around an inner mandrel and inserting the wire wrapped mandrel within an outer member. The method further includes moving at least one broach within a longitudinal channel formed in at least one of the mandrel and outer member to cut the length of wire needle stock into needle blanks. A needle blank formed by the apparatus and method is disclosed. Full Article
ir Manipulator needle portion repairing method By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 15 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT In a manipulator needle portion defect repairing method, the existence of an abrasion or a fracture in a needle portion for holding a sample at an end of a manipulator disposed in an FIB device is confirmed using a microscope function of the FIB device. The abrasion or the fracture in the needle portion is then repaired by chemical vapor deposition using a focused ion beam of the FIB device. Full Article
ir Apparatus driven by compressed air and equipped with dual piston function for use in body construction in the automotive industry By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 03 Mar 2015 08:00:00 EST The invention relates to an energy-efficient apparatus driven by compressed air and equipped with a dual piston function for tensioning, or clamping, or centering, or punching, or welding, or clinching, for use in body construction in the automotive industry. The apparatus is driven by a pressurized fluid, in particular by compressed air. It is shown how a significant amount of operating costs can be saved while, at the same time, conserving the environment and consuming a low amount of pressurized fluid, in particular compressed air. In addition, the pivoting angle of a toggle joint assembly and thus of an apparatus connected thereto, for example, a tensioning arm of a toggle tensioning apparatus, can be continuously adjusted in both directions while, at the same time, adjusting a sampling device using sensors, for example, microswitches, or inductive switches, or pneumatic switches, or limit switches. Full Article
ir Air motor having a programmable logic controller interface and a method of retrofitting an air motor By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 14 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT A pump assembly having an air motor includes a valve connected to a motive fluid inlet of the air motor. The valve shifts between a first position, in which a flow of motive fluid is directed into a pilot port, through a two way pilot conduit and into a pilot chamber portion, and a second position, in which the flow of motive fluid is inhibited from flowing into the pilot port through the two way pilot conduit and into the pilot chamber portion, and in which fluid in the pilot chamber portion flows out through the two way pilot conduit and is directed by the valve to exhaust. The valve is connected to a programmable logic controller, so that the valve is shifted between the first position and the second position in response to the programmable logic controller. Full Article
ir Brake actuating unit for actuating a motor vehicle braking system of the “brake-by-wire” type, and method for operating a motor vehicle braking system by means of such a brake actuating unit By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 28 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT A brake actuating unit for actuating a motor vehicle braking system of the “brake-by-wire” type having a brake booster. In order to provide a brake actuating unit for actuating a motor vehicle braking system of the “brake-by-wire” type, which on the one hand fulfills the statutory requirements care and which on the other hand is inexpensive to produce, it is proposed according to aspects of the invention, that the brake booster be provided as a travel-controlled brake booster, so that when not in the “brake-by-wire” operating mode the brake pedal is decoupled from feedback forces of the brake actuating unit, and the return force is simulated by the pedal travel simulator even when not in the “brake-by-wire” operating mode. Full Article
ir Welding wire feed system By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 03 Jul 1979 08:00:00 EDT The invention relates to a welding wire feed system for feeding welding wire over a considerable distance from a remotely located wire storage spool to a welding gun through the use of straight lengths of angularly related conduit and intermediate low friction wire direction changing devices. Full Article
ir Method of forming titanium nitride coatings on carbon/graphite substrates by electric arc thermal spray process using titanium feed wire and nitrogen as the atomizing gas By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 Oct 1993 08:00:00 EDT Graphite and/or carbon surfaces are coated with a titanium nitride coating by exposing the substrate to electric arc thermal spray process wherein titanium wire as the source of titanium and nitrogen is used as the propelling (atomizing) gas. Full Article
ir Information handling system with power fault protection circuit By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT An information handling system (IHS) employs a power fault protection circuit to protect the IHS from overvoltages which may occur on an information line from a power adapter to the IHS. The system includes a processor coupled to the protection circuit. The circuit is operative in a first mode to decouple an information line from the IHS in response to a disable command and operative in a second mode to decouple the information line from the IHS when a voltage in the information line exceeds a predetermined threshold voltage. Full Article
ir Indirectly heated electrode for gas discharge tube, gas discharge tube using said indirectly heated electrode, and lighting device for said gas discharge tube By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:00:00 EDT An indirectly heated cathode C1 comprises a heater 1, a double coil 2, a mesh member 3, and a metal oxide 10. An electrical insulating layer 4 is formed on the surface of heater 1. Heater 1 is inserted into and positioned at the inner side of double coil 2. Mesh member 3 is disposed along the length direction of double coil 2 at the outer side of double coil 2. Double coil 2 is grounded by being connected to the ground terminal of heater 1 via a lead rod 7. Metal oxide 10 is held by double coil 2 and disposed to be in contact with mesh member 3. Metal oxide 10 and mesh member 3 are exposed to the outer side of indirectly heated electrode C1 so that the surface of metal oxide 10 and the surface of mesh member 3 make up a discharge surface and mesh member 3 is in contact with the surface part of metal oxide 10. Full Article
ir Integer representation of relative timing between desired output samples and corresponding input samples By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 24 Mar 2009 08:00:00 EDT In general, this disclosure describes techniques for changing a sampling frequency of a digital signal. In particular, the techniques provide a more accurate way to determining a relative timing between a desired output sample and a corresponding input sample using a non-approximated integer representation of the relative timing. The relative timing between the desired output sample and corresponding input sample may be represented using a first component that identifies a latest input sample of the digital signal used to generate intermediate samples, a second component that identifies an intermediate sample, and a third component that identifies a timing difference between the desired output sample and the intermediate sample. Each of the components may be recursively updated using non-approximated integer values. Full Article
ir Analog front-end circuit and electronic instrument By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 29 Jun 2010 08:00:00 EDT An analog front-end circuit includes an analog processing circuit, an A/D converter, a target register in which a lower limit target value of an input image signal is set, and a calculation circuit. The analog processing circuit includes an offset control circuit which performs offset control based on an offset control value set in an offset control register. The calculation circuit monitors the A/D-converted value in a lower limit value output period when the A/D-converted value corresponding to a lower limit value of an input range is output from the A/D converter, and sets the offset control value that causes the A/D-converted value to become closer to the lower limit target value set in the target register in the offset control register. Full Article
ir Line voltage control circuit for a multi-string LED drive system By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 08:00:00 EST A line voltage control circuit for use with a multi-string LED drive system which provides a common line voltage for multiple LED strings that are connected to respective current sink circuits at respective junctions. An error amplifier receives the minimum junction voltage and a reference ‘desired junction voltage’ at respective inputs, and a voltage regulator outputs the line voltage in response to a voltage applied to a feedback input. A comparator toggles an output when the maximum junction voltage (Vmax) exceeds a reference limit (Vlimit). A multiplexer receives the error amplifier output and a fixed voltage at respective inputs and provides one of the signals to the regulator's feedback input in response to the comparator output. When Vmax>Vlimit, the fixed voltage is provided to the feedback input and the line voltage is reduced, thereby protecting low voltage current sinks from potentially damaging high voltages. Full Article
ir Hydraulic system with bi-directional regeneration By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 14 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT A hydraulic actuator system including an actuator and a valve assembly configured for bi-directional regeneration. The actuator may include a hollow body and a rod disposed within and extending outwardly from the hollow body. The rod may include a first chamber within the rod and a piston disposed at one end of the rod, defining a second chamber and a third chamber within the hollow body. A valve assembly may be in fluid communication with a first conduit, a second conduit, the first chamber, the second chamber, and the third chamber, wherein the valve assembly is configured to selectively couple one of the first conduit and the second conduit to one or more of the first port, the second port, and the third port, wherein one of the first conduit and the second conduit is configured as a pressure source. Full Article
ir Attachment structure for adjustable air diffuser By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 08:00:00 EST An adjustable air diffuser is disposed in an airflow channel into which a travelling wind is directed through an opening provided in a bumper face. The diffuser opens and closes the channel by movable louver blades driven by an actuator. An upper part of the diffuser is disposed to face a rear wall of the bumper face and is attached to a bumper beam extending along a vehicle width direction. A lower part of the diffuser is attached to a vehicle body structural member. The attachment structure includes a column that is disposed behind the adjustable air diffuser. A lower end of the column is attached to a lower end of the adjustable air diffuser. Weak portions are provided on the column such that the column breaks when the column interferes with another member behind the column. Full Article
ir External airbag apparatus By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 31 Mar 2015 08:00:00 EDT Disclosed is an external airbag apparatus. The apparatus includes, a back beam disposed on one surface directed toward a bumper on which an airbag module is disposed. The apparatus additionally includes a deployment guide disposed between the bumper and the back beam, both ends of which are coupled to the back beam, and a middle end of which is supported on the bumper. Furthermore, the apparatus includes a sensor disposed between the deployment guide and the back beam to sense impact when pressed by the deployment guide during impact to the bumper. Full Article
ir Front air dam for truck By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 07 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT An air dam for a semi-truck tractor in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure includes a rigid upper panel affixed to a bumper of the semi-truck tractor and a lower flexible panel affixed to the upper panel. Full Article
ir Airflow control device for an automotive vehicle By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 07 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT An airflow control device is mounted to the front end of an automotive vehicle and includes an upper air scoop section having a scoop channel disposed rearward of a bumper assembly and oriented to direct airflow entering a bumper intake opening toward an air-receiving powertrain component. A lower air dam section extends downwardly from the upper section to be positioned below a lower extent of the bumper assembly to deflect airflow away from an underside of the vehicle. Full Article
ir Front rail mounted airbag By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 14 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT An airbag system mitigates intrusion in the event of an offset rigid barrier impact to a forward corner of a motor vehicle. An airbag is attached proximate a distal end of a front rail. When in the inflated condition, the airbag has an angular leading edge. An impact detection sensor generates a signal upon a corner impact event, whereby a controller processes the signal generated by the detection sensor and electrically actuates an inflator upon a predetermined impact severity. The angular leading edge of the airbag in the inflated condition acts against the offset rigid barrier to generate a lateral force against the offset rigid barrier to push the motor vehicle away from the barrier and thereby redirect impact energy by lateral movement of the motor vehicle. Full Article
ir Articulated coupling between a first car and a second car of a vehicle, especially a railway vehicle By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 08:00:00 EDT The invention relates to an articulated coupling between a first car (3) and a second car of a vehicle, especially a railway vehicle, having at least two cars, said articulated coupling including a first element (33) capable of being connected to said first car (3) and a second element (35) capable of being connected to said second car, a device for moving said second element (35) in translation relative to said first element (33) in the event of an impact, and an energy absorber capable of being arranged between said first (3) and second (19) cars. The energy absorber is arranged between said first (33) and second (35) elements, and in the first element (33) is designed to allow persons to pass between said first car (3) and said second car. Full Article
ir Activated nano carbon and nano composite containing activated nano carbon, as well as methods for their preparation By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 12 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT The present invention relates to a method for preparing activated nano carbon from food waste material and a method for preparing a polymer nano composite, wherein the activated nano carbon at least one polymer are blended. Full Article
ir Apparatus for circulating comminuted materials By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT An improved scraper plate assembly is provided on a comminuting device having compliant rounded edges, sloped walls, and reduced height for placement along recycle flow paths within a comminuting apparatus when circulating subdivided waste material from between a pair of scissor rolls for further delivery to a scissor roll for further movement and subdividing of the subdivided waste material. A comminuting apparatus is also provided. Full Article
ir Method for sanitizing water dispensed from a water dispenser having a reservoir By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A method and apparatus of sanitizing drinking water to be dispensed from a water dispenser having a reservoir includes the steps of providing the ozone gas generator that generates an ozone gas stream, transmitting the ozone gas stream from the generator to the water dispenser reservoir, mechanically breaking up the ozone gas stream inside the reservoir to produce ozone gas bubbles, and using the ozone gas bubbles to disinfect water in the reservoir. The ozone gas stream can be mechanically broken up using a pump such as, for example, an impeller type pump. Full Article
ir Nanostructured sorbent materials for capturing environmental mercury vapor By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT The present invention is a method and material for using a sorbent material to capture and stabilize mercury. The method for using sorbent material to capture and stabilize mercury contains the following steps. First, the sorbent material is provided. The sorbent material, in one embodiment, is nano-particles. In a preferred embodiment, the nano-particles are unstabilized nano-Se. Next, the sorbent material is exposed to mercury in an environment. As a result, the sorbent material captures and stabilizes mercury from the environment. In the preferred embodiment, the environment is an indoor space in which a fluorescent has broken. Full Article
ir Cap unit for a tire puncture repair apparatus By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 21 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT Disclosed is a cap unit wherein safety is increased by preventing a reversed flow of a puncture-sealing agent. A cap main body (33) comprises an air flow passage (31) consisting of a vertical flow passage (31A) extending downward from an air passage upper opening (31a), a lateral flow passage (31B) laterally extending from an air intake port (31b), and a connecting flow passage (31C) connecting therebetween. The air flow passage (31) is provided with a reversed flow preventing device (22). The cap main body (33) is provided with a vertical hole (40) consisting of first to fourth vertical holes (40A to 40D) which have inner diameters increasing downwardly from the upper end in a stepwise manner, and the first to third vertical holes (40A to 40C) form the vertical flow passage (31A). Full Article
ir DC-DC converter, control circuit, and power supply control method By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A DC-DC converter includes a first amplifier that amplifies a first difference between a first reference voltage and a feedback voltage corresponding to an output voltage, a second amplifier that amplifies a second difference between the first reference voltage and an integrated value of the feedback voltage, and a controller that controls a switching circuit to change the output voltage when the first difference reaches the second different. Full Article
ir Voltage-to-current sensing circuit and related DC-DC converter By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT The present disclosure is directed to a voltage-to-current sensing circuit having a bias terminal configured to receive a reference voltage, an offset terminal configured to receive an offset current, and an operational amplifier configured to output a low voltage signal. The device includes a first amplifier having first and second high voltage inputs configured to receive a first voltage difference across a sense component on a high voltage line and to generate a first current, a second amplifier having first and second low voltage inputs configured to receive a second voltage difference between the bias terminal and the offset terminal and to generate a second current, a summing circuit configured to provide an intermediate voltage corresponding to a sum of the first and the second currents, and a low-voltage transistor coupled to an output of the amplifier and controlled by the intermediate voltage to generate the output current. Full Article
ir High efficient control circuit for buck-boost converters and control method thereof By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A controller used in a buck-boost converter includes a clock generator, an error amplifying circuit, a comparing circuit, a proportional sampling circuit, a logic circuit, a pulse width increasing circuit, first and second driving circuits. Based on a clock signal generated by the clock generator, the proportional sampling circuit samples the difference between a current sensing signal and a compensation signal generated by the error amplifying circuit, and generates a proportional sampling signal. The pulse width increasing circuit generates a sum control signal based on the proportional sampling signal and a logic control signal generated by the logic circuit, wherein a modulation value adjusted by the proportional sampling signal is added to the pulse width of the logic control signal to generate the pulse width of the sum control signal. The first and second driving circuits generate driving signals based on the sum control signal and the logic control signal. Full Article
ir Startup circuit By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A startup circuit to ensure a bandgap reference circuit reliably starts up or recovers from a noise disturbance is provided. The startup circuit incorporates a pull down resistor to detect the bandgap reference circuit being in a disabled state. The startup circuit creates a positive feedback loop to force the bandgap reference circuit out of a disabled state. Consequently, whenever the power supply for the bandgap reference circuit sags or if bandgap output collapses, the output of the bandgap circuit reliably ramps back up to the expected level. Full Article
ir Control circuit of a switched-mode power converter and method thereof By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A method for controlling voltage crossing a power switch of a switched-mode power converter includes the steps of: controlling a switch frequency of the power switch of the switched-mode power converter to a first frequency as activating the switched-mode power converter; and then changing the switch frequency of the power switch to a second frequency after the switched-mode power converter is activated for a predetermined time; wherein the first frequency is lower than the second frequency. Full Article
ir Power supply device control circuit By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT In some aspects of the invention, overcurrent protection is carried out by suppressing fluctuations in current flowing through a switching element after overcurrent detection. A peak current reaching time detection circuit detects a peak current reaching time needed until current flowing through a switching element reaches a peak value. A difference voltage detection circuit, including a ½ time detection circuit which detects a time of ½ an ON time of the preceding cycle of the switching element, detects difference voltage between reference voltage used when detecting overcurrent flowing to a load and a signal which has detected current flowing through the switching element for the ½ time. A delay time adjustment circuit, based on at least one of the peak current reaching time and difference voltage, carries out adjustment and control of a delay time occurring until the time when the switching element is turned off after detecting the overcurrent. Full Article
ir Low dropout light emitting diode (LED) ballast circuit and method therefor By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A ballast circuit for a Light Emitting Diode (LED) has a regulator element coupled to the LED and to an input voltage source. A control circuit is coupled to the LED and to an input voltage source. A first switching device is coupled in series with the regulator element. A second switching device is coupled to the input voltage and the control circuit. Full Article
ir Delay compensation circuit By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A device (200) includes a circuit (202) and a driver stage (204) therefor. The circuit includes two sub-circuits (231 and 232). The driver stage includes switcher logic (206) that produces signals that control switching on and off of the sub-circuits. The switcher logic also produces other signals in advance of the signals that control the switching of the sub-circuits. The driver stage includes delay compensations circuits (221 and 222), coupled to the switcher logic and to the circuit, that produce timing signals for the switcher logic. The timing signals are closely aligned with moments that a changing voltage at a node between the sub-circuits passes through threshold voltages. The timing signals compensate for all delays of signals through the device such that a period that both sub-circuits are off is minimized, while ensuring that both sub-circuits are not on at a same time. Full Article
ir Charge pump regulator circuit with a variable drive voltage ring oscillator By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A charge pump regulator circuit includes a voltage controlled oscillator and a plurality of charge pumps. The voltage controlled oscillator has a plurality of inverter stages connected in series in a ring. A plurality of oscillating signals is generated from outputs of the inverter stages. Each oscillating signal has a frequency or amplitude or both that are variable dependent on a variable drive voltage. Each oscillating signal is phase shifted from a preceding oscillating signal. Each charge pump is connected to a corresponding one of the inverter stages to receive the oscillating signal produced by that inverter stage. Each charge pump outputs a voltage and current. The output of each charge pump is phase shifted from the outputs of other charge pumps. A combination of the currents thus produced is provided at about a voltage level to the load. Full Article
ir Power converting circuit and control circuit thereof By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A power converting circuit includes an upper gate switch, a transistor, a current source circuit, a comparator circuit, a delay circuit, and a pulse width modulation signal generating circuit. The transistor and the current source circuit provide a reference signal. The comparator circuit generates a comparing signal according to the reference signal and an output signal provided by the upper gate switch. The delay circuit generates a delay signal according to the comparing signal and a clock signal. The pulse width modulation signal generating circuit generates a control signal for the upper gate switch according to the delay signal and the clock signal for configuring the conduction status of the upper gate switch. The power converting circuit adjusts the conduction time of the upper gate switch according to the reference signal and the output signal. Full Article
ir Pseudo constant on time control circuit and step-down regulator By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A step-down regulator comprising a pseudo constant on time control circuit is disclosed, comprising an on-time generator configured to receive a switching signal provided by the step-down regulator and a control signal provided by the pseudo constant on time control circuit, and generates an on-time signal; a feedback control circuit configured to receive a feedback signal representative of the output voltage of the step-down regulator and generate an output signal; and a logic control circuit coupled to the on-time generator and the feedback control circuit to receive the on-time signal and the output signal and generating the control signal, and a power stage configured to receive an input voltage and the control signal and generate the switching signal. Full Article