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:
Aug. 11, 1998
Filed:
Aug. 20, 1996
Christopher Sanzo, Providence, RI (US);
Richard Patch, Forest, VA (US);
Cherry Semiconductor Corporation, East Greenwich, RI (US);
Abstract
An op amp clamp for charging or discharging a capacitor prevents the voltage on the capacitor from going beyond a reference voltage determined by a reference clamp voltage applied to an input of a differential amplifier. The second input of the differential amplifier is connected to the capacitor. The output of the differential amplifier is provided in a feedback loop to the capacitor. The feedback loop includes a charging circuit or a discharging circuit depending upon the function of the op amp clamp. The feedback loop may be arranged with a current mirror in which current generated by the output of the differential amplifier is mirrored in the charging or discharging circuit. A signal to activate charging or discharging is applied at the output of the differential amplifier to activate or deactivate the current mirror.