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:
Mar. 09, 2004
Filed:
Apr. 25, 2002
Larry E. Tyler, Mesa, AZ (US);
James T. May, Tempe, AZ (US);
Medtronic, Inc., Minneapolis, MN (US);
Abstract
An ESD protection circuit protects circuitry internal to an integrated circuit from ESD damage to electrostatic discharge voltages occurring at one or more of the inputs of the integrated circuit while maintaining substantially zero effective capacitance at the inputs. The ESD protection circuit includes a pair of diodes of opposite conductivity coupled between at least one of the inputs of the integrated circuit and an internal node thereof for providing current paths to the operating supply rails when ESD voltages occurring at the input forward bias the diodes. A unity gain amplifier provides feedback between the input and the internal circuit node to maintain a zero voltage difference therebetween whereby the effective capacitance seen at the input is reduced to substantially zero.