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:
Jun. 30, 2009
Filed:
Oct. 31, 2006
Satoshi Sobue, Nukata-gun, JP;
Hiroyuki Ban, Hazu-gun, JP;
Shigenori Mori, Nukata-gun, JP;
DENSO CORPORATION, Kariya, JP;
Abstract
A current mirror circuit includes transistors having bases coupled together and emitters connected to a voltage line. The current mirror circuit further includes a zener diode having an anode connected to the bases and a cathode connected to the voltage line. When a base potential of the transistors decreases, a reverse current of the zener diode increases. Therefore, the zener diode has a resistance and acts as a resistor to clamp the base potential of the transistors. A layout area of the zener diode is much smaller than that of the resistor having a resistance equal to that of the zener diode. The current mirror circuit achieves reduced chip size by using the zener diode instead of the resistor.