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:
Sep. 22, 2009
Filed:
Jul. 11, 2006
David Cave, Tempe, AZ (US);
Jade H Alberkrack, Tempe, AZ (US);
David Cave, Tempe, AZ (US);
Jade H Alberkrack, Tempe, AZ (US);
Other;
Abstract
In accordance with the principles of the invention, a semiconductor substrate is provided that has a first cell formed thereon. The first cell has first and second terminals or nodes and a control terminal or node and has a characteristic breakdown voltage across the first and second terminals. A voltage sensing transistor is coupled across the power transistor first and second terminals. The voltage sensing transistor has a second element characteristic breakdown voltage that is less than the first cell characteristic breakdown voltage. The voltage sensing transistor provides a control signal to the terminal when the voltage across the first and second terminals exceeds the second element characteristic breakdown voltage.