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:
Feb. 22, 2000
Filed:
Jun. 17, 1998
Michael J Benes, Irvington, NJ (US);
Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
A constant voltage power supply includes one or more sense leads connected to a load and in a feedback control loop. The voltage at the load is fed back via the sense leads for comparison to a reference voltage in the loop to generate an error signal that adjusts the voltage output of the power supply to achieve and maintain the voltage delivered to the load constant at a desired value. The power supply further includes a continuity checking circuit for checking continuity status of the sense leads while the power supply is in a disable mode wherein it is isolated from the load. This allows any detected discontinuity to be repaired before the supply is connected to a load. The detected discontinuity informs the user that the voltage delivered to the load will not be accurately controlled because of the broken or disconnected sense lead. Without the continuity checking circuit, the user would think that the voltage at the load is an accurate replica of the desired load voltage as represented by the reference voltage.