Patent · US Active

Hot switch protection circuit

US9680300B2 · kind B2 · utility

0Cited by
2References
11Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 22, 2014
Grant dateJun 13, 2017
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 14, 2034

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01H9/542
  • WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A switch protection circuit includes a discharging circuit and, optionally, a clamping circuit. The discharge circuit operates prior to the switch completing the switching action to discharge capacitance from a signal line of a cable connected to a device under test to a ground voltage. When not discharging, the discharge circuit presents low leakage to a measurement circuit so as not to interfere with such measurement. If present, the clamping circuit clamps a signal line of the cable to a guard structure of the cable so that the discharge circuit can couple both the signal line and the guard structure to ground. The protection circuit operates without significantly worsening low current performance of the measurement instrument.

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