# US 2010/0164448 A1 · Saturating Series Clipper

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- Number: US 2010/0164448 A1
- Document ID: US20100164448A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 12/345,213
- Filed: 2008-12-29
- Published: 2010-07-01
- Earliest claimed: 2008-12-29
- Assignees: Eldon Technology Limited
- Inventors: Peter R. Miles
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20100164448A1

## CPC

- G05F 1/56: using semiconductor devices in series with the load as final control devices (G05F1/461 takes precedence)
- G05F: SYSTEMS FOR REGULATING ELECTRIC OR MAGNETIC VARIABLES

## Abstract

A clipper circuit for regulating an unregulated or semi-regulated output of a power supply unit. The circuit includes a gate element between the load and the input voltage from the power supply unit. The gate is activated by a comparing circuit, which turns the gate on or off based on the feedback voltage of the circuit output, compared with a reference voltage. The gate is in saturation mode during normal and heavy loading and in linear mode during light loading.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An apparatus for regulating a varying voltage supply, comprising:
a first voltage node;
a second voltage node;
a gate device connected to the first voltage node and to the second voltage node, further connected to an output node;
a switching element connected to the first voltage node, a feedback node and to ground;
a current shunt connected to the first voltage node and the feedback node;
a first resistive element connected to the feedback node and the output node;
a second resistive element connected to the feedback node and ground, wherein the first resistive element and the second resistive element supply a feedback voltage to the switching element.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The apparatus for regulating a varying voltage supply of claim 1, wherein:
when the switching element is on, the gate is in a first state;
when the switching element is off, the gate is in a second state, when the gate is in the second state the voltage of the output node is equal to the voltage of the second voltage node.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The apparatus for regulating a varying voltage supply of claim 1, wherein the gate element is a transistor.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The apparatus for regulating a varying voltage supply of claim 1, wherein the switching element is a diode.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The apparatus for regulating a varying voltage supply of claim 1, wherein the switching element is a shunt regulator.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The apparatus for regulating a varying voltage supply of claim 1, wherein the voltage for the first voltage node and the second voltage node is from a power supply unit.

### Claim 7

A method for regulating a voltage output, comprising the operations of:
activating a switching element;
in response decreasing a voltage level of a gate, switching the gate into a first state;
deactivating the switching element;
in response increasing the voltage level of the gate, switching the gate into a second state.

### Claim 8

A voltage regulator for a multi-output power supply unit, comprising:
a first voltage input connected to a first node;
a comparison circuit connected to the first node, a second node, a third node, ground and a reference voltage;
a gate device connected to the second node, the third node and a second voltage input;
a resistive element connected to the first node and the second node;
a current shunting element connected to the second node and a fourth node;
a voltage divider connected to the third node and the fourth node, the voltage divider providing a first voltage to the comparison circuit, wherein
the comparison circuit compares the first voltage to the reference voltage.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The voltage regulator of claim 8 wherein:
when the first voltage is greater than the reference voltage, the comparison circuit draws current from the second node through the current shunting element;
when the current shunting element draws current from the second node, the gate element switches to a first state;
when the gate element is in a first state an output voltage is the same value as the voltage of the second voltage input.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The voltage regulator of claim 9 wherein:
when the first voltage is less than or equal to the reference voltage, the comparison circuit stops current from flowing between the second node and the current shunting element;
when current stops flowing through current shunting element from the second node, the gate element switches to a second state;
when the gate element is in a second state an output voltage is linearly regulated.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The voltage regulator of claim 10 wherein the gate element is a transistor.

### Claim 12 (depends on 9)

The voltage regulator of claim 9 wherein the comparison circuit further comprises:
a first transistor connected to the first node, the reference voltage and ground;
a second transistor connected to the second node, the third node, ground and the first transistor.

### Claim 14 (depends on 9)

The voltage regulator of claim 9 wherein:
the first voltage input is connected to a first output from a power supply unit (PSU);
the second voltage input is connected to a second output from the PSU; and
the reference voltage is supplied by a third output from the PSU.

### Claim 15

A method for regulating an output voltage of a multi-output power supply unit, comprising:
comparing a first voltage to a reference voltage;
in the event the first voltage exceeds a reference voltage, shunting at least a portion of a current, thereby closing a gate;
transmitting a voltage from a supply voltage to an output of the multi-output power supply unit when the gate is closed.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, further comprising:
in the event the first voltage is less than the reference voltage, opening the gate; and
in response to opening the gate, linearly regulating the output voltage.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16, further comprising:
dividing an input voltage, via a voltage divider, to produce the first voltage.

### Claim 18 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, wherein the operation of shunting at least a portion of a current is performed by a current shunt connected to an input of the gate and a node supplying the first voltage.

### Claim 19 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein the electronic device is a television receiver.

### Claim 20 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein the electronic device is a removable storage device.