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. 15, 2002
Filed:
Dec. 31, 2001
Wen Li Luo, Shenzhen, CN;
Abstract
A voltage regulator includes a power transistor receiving a drive current, and a current limit protection circuit connected to the power transistor. The current limit protection circuit includes a first resistance connected to the power transistor for sensing an output current, a limit switch transistor connected to the power transistor and to the first resistance, and a current generator and second resistance connected thereto. The current generator and second resistance biases the limit switch transistor to divert drive current from the power transistor based upon the output current through the first resistance exceeding a threshold. The first resistance has a value less than a value of the second resistance. The first resistance can be made considerably smaller than otherwise to thereby reduce power consumption. The temperature coefficient for the second resistance is balanced with respect to a temperature coefficient for the first resistance so that a output current from the voltage regulator is not sensitive to temperature variations.