Maxwell Technologies, Inc.

Jeffrey Johnstone

Steve Stanley

Dragan Danilo Nebrigic

Hung Quang Ha

Vlastislav Haman

An active voltage management device and a method for actively managing a voltage level of an energy storage device are provided. The active voltage management device comprises: a pair of input terminals adapted to be connected to the energy storage device; a reverse polarity protection circuit coupled to the pair of input terminals; a voltage comparator circuit adapted to compare a second voltage associated with the voltage level of the energy storage device to a reference voltage and to provide an output based upon the comparison of the second voltage to the reference voltage; and a transistor adapted to operate in a linear mode to dissipate energy from the energy storage device at a substantially constant current level, wherein output of the voltage comparator circuit is adapted to activate the transistor when the second voltage is greater than or equal to the reference voltage. The method comprises: receiving an input voltage from the energy storage device; providing reverse polarity protection from the energy storage device; comparing the a second voltage associated with the input voltage from the energy storage device to a reference voltage; and conducting a transistor in a linear mode to dissipate energy from the energy storage device at a substantially constant current level when the second voltage is greater than or equal to the reference voltage.

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San Diego, CA, United States of America

Jeffrey Johnstone