Patent · US Expired

Charge dissipation in capacitively loaded ports

US5546039A · kind A · utility

184Cited by
9References
28Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 17, 1995
Grant dateAug 13, 1996
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 17, 2015

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG10H2250/611
  • WIPO fieldOther consumer goods
  • WIPO sectorOther fields

Abstract

A cascade of triggering circuits sequentially activates a series of parallel pull-down paths in reflexive response to a pull-down signal indicating correspondence between the potential on a capacitively loaded port and a selectable threshold voltage. The triggering circuits are clocked with a common signal to sequentially propagate the pull-down signal from prior to subsequent triggering stages to sequentially activate corresponding parallel paths. In a preferred embodiment, the D flip-flops of a sequential cascade control multiple pull-down paths to regulate charging and discharging of a joystick capacitive load on a monolithic audio personal computer IC game port. To initiate charging of the joystick capacitor, the flip-flops simultaneously disable the pull-down paths in response to a system WRITE signal. To discharge the joystick capacitor, the flip-flops sequentially propagate a comparator derived pull-down signal to sequentially enable the pull-down paths to controllably dissipate the accumulated charge.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.