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:
Jan. 14, 2003
Filed:
Aug. 24, 2001
Bruce Hecht, Brookline, MA (US);
Stephan Goldstein, Reading, MA (US);
Robert Duris, Hubbardston, MA (US);
Analog Devices, Inc., Norwood, MA (US);
Abstract
A clamp for use with a circuit (having an output for delivering an output voltage) forms a voltage boundary for the output voltage based upon a clamp voltage. To that end, the clamp includes a clamp input for receiving the clamp voltage, a clamp transistor in communication with the clamp input, and a control transistor in communication with the output. The clamp also includes a driving source for driving at least one of the clamp and control transistors based upon the voltage at the clamp input and the voltage at the output. The output is clamped at a voltage within the voltage boundary of the clamp voltage after the clamp transistor begins being driven by the driving source.