Micro-fluidic bubble fuse
OwnerDaniel Kowalikinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A microfluidic bubble fuse is formed from a hermetically sealed reservoir containing an electrically conductive liquid. The reservoir is interposed between a pair of electrodes such that each electrode is in electrical contact with the fluid within the reservoir, and such that the fluid within the reservoir provides electrical interconnectivity between the electrodes. The reservoir may be implemented on a substrate, in a tube, or in another manner. When the current or voltage across the electrodes increases beyond a threshold, the excess current or voltage will cause a bubble to be created within the fluid to reduce or inhibit the flow of electricity between the electrodes. When the current/voltage is reduced, the bubble will collapse to restore the flow of electricity between the electrodes.
Claims17
A microfluidic bubble fuse, comprising:
- a substrate having a hermetically sealed reservoir defined therein and containing an electrically conductive fluid disposed therein;
- and
- a pair of electrodes terminating on either side of the hermetically sealed reservoir, each of the pair of electrodes being in contact with the electrically conductive fluid disposed within the hermetically sealed reservoir but not directly in contact with each other such that electrical connectivity between the electrodes requires electricity to pass from one of the electrodes, through the electrically conductive fluid, to the other electrode;
- wherein, upon application of an electrical field across the electrodes in excess of expected electrical operating conditions a bubble will form in the electrically conductive fluid to reduce the flow of electricity between the electrodes.
A method of protecting an electrical circuit from an over-current condition, the method comprising the steps of:
- creating a reservoir in a substrate;
- forming electrodes on the substrate to contact the reservoir;
- filling the reservoir with an electrically conductive liquid;
- hermetically sealing the electrically conductive liquid in the reservoir;
- and
- interposing the reservoir in an electrical path between a power source terminal and an electrical circuit, so that, in operation, the electrically conductive liquid will help protect the electrical circuit from an overcurrent condition;
- wherein the reservoir is formed in the substrate as a recessed region forming a bubble chamber, the recessed region being adapted to hold the electrically conductive liquid such that, upon occurrence of the overcurrent condition, a bubble will form in the electrically conductive liquid to help protect the electrical circuit from the overcurrent condition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.