Tyco Electronics Corporation

Tyco Electronics France Sas

Littelfuse France Sas

Littelfuse Electronics (shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Philippe Difulvio

James J Toth

Werner Johler

Dapeng Hou

A smart fuse for circuit protection includes a first shaft and second shaft separated by a gap. A heater is located inside portions of the first and second shafts, and the heater is held in place within the shafts by a solder alloy that fills the gap. The shafts and solder alloy form an electrical signal path through the fuse. A spring is attached to the heater. The spring is stretched such that the spring exerts a force on the heater. The solder alloy holds the heater in place and resists the force exerted by the spring. In an activation condition of the fuse, the heater increases in temperature and melts the solder alloy. The melted solder alloy no longer resists the force exerted by the spring, and the spring pulls the heater through the second shaft until the gap is open, thereby severing the electrical connection through the fuse.

Smart fuse for circuit protection

A circuit protection device includes a reflowable thermal fuse that shuts off current to a field-effect transistor if the field-effect transistor is overheating. In particular, the reflowable thermal fuse is integrated with the field-effect transistor to provide greater proximity between the field-effect transistor and the reflowable thermal fuse, thus providing efficient and accurate detection of an overtemperature condition in the field-effect transistor.

Integrated FET and reflowable thermal fuse switch device

Growing community of inventors

Le Deluge, France

Philippe Difulvio