Patents by Inventor Michael Scott Lay

Michael Scott Lay has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 12597861
    Abstract: A switching regulator is disclosed that includes a driver having a driver-wake circuit configured to report its readiness for operation during a startup period. The driver-wake circuit can operate during startup by temporarily drawing power from the controller's power supply until the driver's power supply has reached a level sufficient to power the driver-wake circuit. The driver-wake circuit is configured to communicate the status of the driver's power supply during startup over a pin typically used to communicate temperature. Thus, the disclosed driver can communicate status during startup without needing extra pins, and because the circuitry is automatically disconnected after startup, very little additional power is consumed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2024
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2026
    Assignee: SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC
    Inventors: Han Zou, David H. Elwart, II, Paul J. Harriman, Michael Scott Lay
  • Patent number: 12362741
    Abstract: A driver can be configured to provide sensed phase currents as feedback to a controller to indicate the output currents from each phase of a switch mode power supply (SMPS). The driver can be configured to temperature compensate the sensed currents in one of two ways. If a temperature sensor is directly coupled to the driver, then the driver may be configured to temperature compensate the sensed currents from each phase based on a temperature measurement made by the temperature sensor. If a temperature sensor is not directly coupled to the driver, then the driver may be configured to temperature compensate the sensed current from each phase based on a temperature signal received from a bus coupled to the driver. The bus can communicate the temperature signal so that multiple drivers can utilize one temperature sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2024
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2025
    Assignee: SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC
    Inventors: Paul J. Harriman, Thomas Patrick Duffy, James George Hill, Michael Scott Lay, Margaret Spillane
  • Publication number: 20240413738
    Abstract: A switching regulator is disclosed that includes a driver having a driver-wake circuit configured to report its readiness for operation during a startup period. The driver-wake circuit can operate during startup by temporarily drawing power from the controller's power supply until the driver's power supply has reached a level sufficient to power the driver-wake circuit. The driver-wake circuit is configured to communicate the status of the driver's power supply during startup over a pin typically used to communicate temperature. Thus, the disclosed driver can communicate status during startup without needing extra pins, and because the circuitry is automatically disconnected after startup, very little additional power is consumed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 7, 2024
    Publication date: December 12, 2024
    Applicant: SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC
    Inventors: Han ZOU, David H. ELWART, II, Paul J. HARRIMAN, Michael Scott LAY
  • Publication number: 20240235543
    Abstract: A driver can be configured to provide sensed phase currents as feedback to a controller to indicate the output currents from each phase of a switch mode power supply (SMPS). The driver can be configured to temperature compensate the sensed currents in one of two ways. If a temperature sensor is directly coupled to the driver, then the driver may be configured to temperature compensate the sensed currents from each phase based on a temperature measurement made by the temperature sensor. If a temperature sensor is not directly coupled to the driver, then the driver may be configured to temperature compensate the sensed current from each phase based on a temperature signal received from a bus coupled to the driver. The bus can communicate the temperature signal so that multiple drivers can utilize one temperature sensor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 21, 2024
    Publication date: July 11, 2024
    Applicant: SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC
    Inventors: Paul J. HARRIMAN, Thomas Patrick DUFFY, James George HILL, Michael Scott LAY, Margaret SPILLANE
  • Patent number: 11949406
    Abstract: A driver can be configured to provide sensed phase currents as feedback to a controller to indicate the output currents from each phase of a switch mode power supply (SMPS). The driver can be configured to temperature compensate the sensed currents in one of two ways. If a temperature sensor is directly coupled to the driver, then the driver may be configured to temperature compensate the sensed currents from each phase based on a temperature measurement made by the temperature sensor. If a temperature sensor is not directly coupled to the driver, then the driver may be configured to temperature compensate the sensed current from each phase based on a temperature signal received from a bus coupled to the driver. The bus can communicate the temperature signal so that multiple drivers can utilize one temperature sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 16, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC
    Inventors: Paul J. Harriman, Thomas Patrick Duffy, James George Hill, Michael Scott Lay, Margaret Spillane
  • Publication number: 20220345126
    Abstract: A driver can be configured to provide sensed phase currents as feedback to a controller to indicate the output currents from each phase of a switch mode power supply (SMPS). The driver can be configured to temperature compensate the sensed currents in one of two ways. If a temperature sensor is directly coupled to the driver, then the driver may be configured to temperature compensate the sensed currents from each phase based on a temperature measurement made by the temperature sensor. If a temperature sensor is not directly coupled to the driver, then the driver may be configured to temperature compensate the sensed current from each phase based on a temperature signal received from a bus coupled to the driver. The bus can communicate the temperature signal so that multiple drivers can utilize one temperature sensor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 16, 2022
    Publication date: October 27, 2022
    Applicant: SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC
    Inventors: Paul J. HARRIMAN, Thomas Patrick DUFFY, James George HILL, Michael Scott Lay, Margaret SPILLANE