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:
Jul. 24, 2001
Filed:
Aug. 16, 2000
Harry Neuteboom, Eindhoven, NL;
U.S. Philips Corporation, New York, NY (US);
Abstract
A converter for converting a terminal voltage (V,) supplied by a battery (BT) which is connected between an input terminal (,) and a reference terminal (GND) into an output voltage (U,) across a load (Z,) which is connected between an output terminal (,) and the reference terminal (GND). The converter comprises a first and a second switch (SW,, SW,), a coil (L), a control circuit (CNTRL), a comparator (CMP), a frequency counter (CNT), and an indicator (IND). If the output voltage (U,) is lower than the reference voltage (V,), the start signal (ST) will turn logic high. As a consequence the control circuit (CNTRL) will start an energy transfer cycle for transferring an amount of energy from the battery (BT) to the load (Z,). The frequency of the start signal (ST) increases as the terminal voltage (V,) decreases. By measuring the frequency of the start signal (ST), the indicator (IND) has the possibility of supplying a battery-low indication signal (BTLW) when the battery (BT) is almost empty.