The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 20, 2026
Filed:
Dec. 05, 2023
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Robert B Schlak, Hyde Park, NY (US);
Samuel Oludare Bamgbose, Beacon, NY (US);
Timothy Kilmer, Poughkeepsie, NY (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
An approach for controlling power distribution with respect to an ECB (electronic circuit breaker) is disclosed. The approach employs a microcontroller inside the ECB to directly control startup current, which facilitates optimization of startup and shutoff current ramp for specific switch and load types as well as mitigate the damaging negative voltages due to inductive 'kick' at shutoff. Also, because of concurrent energy monitoring optimized for the MOSFET operating mode during startup, a pre-charge circuit is no longer needed. Furthermore, multiple overcurrent thresholds and energy limits allow for optimization of self-protection and system robustness. Downloadable thresholds provide flexibility to support variations in system configurations and ECB componentry.