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:
Oct. 07, 1997
Filed:
Oct. 03, 1995
Thomas D Petty, Tempe, AZ (US);
Troy L Stockstad, Phoenix, AZ (US);
Warren J Schultz, Tempe, AZ (US);
Motorola, Inc., Schaumburg, IL (US);
Abstract
An overcurrent detector circuit (21) for a power MOSFET (22) is described. The overcurrent detector circuit (21) generates a bias voltage corresponding to the drain to source voltage of the power MOSFET (22). The drain to source voltage correlates directly to the current being conducted by the power MOSFET (22). An overcurrent condition occurs when the power MOSFET (22) exceeds a predetermined current. The bias voltage is applied to a transistor (24) for generating a current. A current source (29) couples to the transistor (24). The current provided by the transistor equals the reference current of the current source (29) when the power MOSFET conducts the predetermined current. The overcurrent detector circuit (21) generates a signal indicating a overcurrent condition does not exist when the reference current is greater the current provided by the transistor. Conversely, the overcurrent detector circuit (21) generates a signal indicating the overcurrent condition when the current provided by the transistor exceeds the reference current.