Method and apparatus for protecting an integrated circuit from current overload

An apparatus for protecting an integrated circuit connecting a power source to an output device, the apparatus comprising:

• a detector, connected to the output device, for detecting a current overload condition in the output device;
• and
• a time interval generator including:
• an oscillator having a frequency defined by a capacitor;
• a counter, connected to the detector and the oscillator, for controlling the integrated circuit to cyclically drive the output device with a cycle defined by a predetermined on-time and a predetermined off-time when a current overload condition is detected;
• and
• a memory, connected to the counter, for storing the predetermined on-time and the predetermined off-time.

An apparatus for protecting an integrated circuit connecting a power source to a plurality of output devices, the apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of detectors, each detector being connected to a respective output device of the plurality of output devices for detecting a respective current overload condition in the respective output device;
• and
• a time interval generator including:
• an oscillator having a frequency defined by a capacitor;
• a plurality of counters, each counter being connected to the oscillator and to a respective detector for controlling the integrated circuit to cyclically drive an output device connected to the respective detector with a cycle defined by a respective predetermined on-time and a respective predetermined off-time when a current overload condition is detected by the respective detector;
• and
• a plurality of memories, each memory being connected to a respective counter for storing the respective predetermined on-time and the respective predetermined off-time.

A method for protecting an integrated circuit connecting a power source to an output device, the method including steps of:

• A. detecting a current overload condition in the output device;
• B. generating a clock signal having a frequency defined by a capacitor;
• C. cyclically driving the output device with a cycle defined by a predetermined on-time and a predetermined off-time based upon the clock signal when a current overload condition is detected;
• and
• storing the predetermined on-time and the predetermined off-time.

A method for protecting an integrated circuit connecting a power source to an output device, the method including steps of:

• A. detecting a current overload condition in the output device;
• B. generating a clock signal having a frequency defined by a capacitor;
• and
• C. cyclically driving the output device with a cycle defined by a predetermined on-time and a predetermined off-time based upon the clock signal when a current overload condition is detected;
• and
• wherein the step of counting includes a step of loading alternately one of the predetermined on-time and the predetermined off-time into a counter as a count start value.

A method for protecting an integrated circuit connecting a power source to a plurality of output devices, the method including steps of:

• A. detecting a respective current overload condition for each output device;
• B. generating a clock signal having a frequency defined by a capacitor;
• C. cyclically driving each output device that has a respective current overload condition, with a respective cycle defined by a respective predetermined on-time and a respective predetermined off-time based upon the clock signal;
• and
• storing a respective predetermined on-time and a respective predetermined off-time for each output device of the plurality of output devices.

A method for protecting an integrated circuit connecting a power source to a plurality of output devices, the method including steps of:

• A. detecting a respective current overload condition for each output device;
• B. generating a clock signal having a frequency defined by a capacitor;
• and
• C. cyclically driving each output device that has a respective current overload condition, with a respective cycle defined by a respective predetermined on-time and a respective predetermined off-time based upon the clock signal;
• wherein the step of counting includes a step of loading alternately one of the respective predetermined on-time and the respective predetermined off-time into a respective counter as a count start value.

An apparatus for protecting an integrated circuit connecting a power source to an output device, the apparatus comprising:

• a detector, connected to the output device, for detecting a current overload condition in the output device;
• an oscillator providing a clock signal having a frequency defined by a capacitor;
• a means for cyclically driving the output device with a cycle defined by a predetermined on-time and a predetermined off-time based upon the clock signal when a current overload condition is detected;
• and
• a means for storing the predetermined on-time and the predetermined off-time.

An apparatus for protecting an integrated circuit connecting a power source to a plurality of output devices, the apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of detectors, each detector of the plurality of detectors being connected to a respective output device for detecting a respective current overload condition;
• an oscillator providing a clock signal having a frequency defined by a capacitor;
• a means for cyclically driving each output device that has a current overload condition with a respective cycle defined by a respective predetermined on-time and a respective predetermined off-time based upon the clock signal:
• and
• a means for storing the respective predetermined on-time and the respective predetermined off-time for each output device.