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US 9,438,221 B2Granted
Switch device
AssigneeInfineon Technologies AG
InventorsMichael Asam, Veli Kartal
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Switch devices with a first switching path and a second switching path are provided in some embodiments. When a voltage drop across the first switching path exceeds a predetermined voltage, the second switch may be activated.
Claims20
A switch device, comprising:
- a first switching path including a first input and a first output,
- a second switching path including a second input and a second output,
- wherein the first switching path and the second switching path are connected in parallel, the first input and the second input are configured to be connected to a supply voltage, and the first output and the second output are configured to be directly connected to a load,
- wherein in a closed state a resistance of the first switching path is greater than a resistance of the second switching path, and
- wherein the switch device is configured to turn the second switching path on in response to a voltage drop across the first switching path exceeding a predetermined value.
2 more elements
A switch device, comprising:
- a first mode of operation with a lower resistance in a switched-on state,
- a second mode of operation with a higher resistance in a switched-on state,
- a switching mechanism to switch between the first mode of operation and the second mode of operation, and
- a second switching mechanism different from the first switching mechanism to switch to the first mode of operation in response to an overload in the second mode of operation wherein the overload corresponds to a state causing overheating of an element in the second mode of operation.
1 more element
A method, comprising:
- activating only a higher ohmic switching path for current sensing at low currents,
- activating a lower ohmic switching path at higher currents, and
- activating the lower ohmic switching path to prevent an overload using a different activation mechanism than the activating of the lower ohmic switching path at higher currents.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.