Patents by Inventor Norman L. Culp

Norman L. Culp 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: 9024574
    Abstract: A battery charger and system and method for use of the same are disclosed for increasing a charge of a battery. In one embodiment of the battery charger, an input for an electric charging power source is configured to supply electrical charging power to a rechargeable battery via an output circuit portion interposed therebetween. A transfer function circuit portion is configured to sense the voltage of the rechargeable battery as a sensing voltage such that the change in the sensing voltage is directly proportional to the internal impedance of the rechargeable battery. A control logic circuit portion is configured to select between a constant current, variable voltage operational mode, a constant current, scalable voltage operational mode, and a variable current, constant voltage operational mode to furnish rapid recharging of the rechargeable battery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2015
    Inventor: Norman L. Culp
  • Patent number: 8963485
    Abstract: A battery charger system and method are disclosed for increasing a charge of a battery. In one embodiment of the battery charger, an input for an electric charging power source is configured to supply electrical charging power to a rechargeable battery via an output circuit portion interposed therebetween. A transfer function circuit portion is configured to sense the voltage of the rechargeable battery as a sensing voltage such that the change in the sensing voltage is directly proportional to the internal impedance of the rechargeable battery. A control logic circuit portion is configured to select between: a constant current, variable voltage operational mode; a constant current, scalable voltage operational mode; and a variable current, constant voltage operational mode to furnish rapid recharging of the rechargeable battery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Inventor: Norman L. Culp
  • Publication number: 20140042960
    Abstract: A battery charger and system and method for use of the same are disclosed for increasing a charge of a battery. In one embodiment of the battery charger, an input for an electric charging power source is configured to supply electrical charging power to a rechargeable battery via an output circuit portion interposed therebetween. A transfer function circuit portion is configured to sense the voltage of the rechargeable battery as a sensing voltage such that the change in the sensing voltage is directly proportional to the internal impedance of the rechargeable battery. A control logic circuit portion is configured to select between a constant current, variable voltage operational mode, a constant current, scalable voltage operational mode, and a variable current, constant voltage operational mode to furnish rapid recharging of the rechargeable battery.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 8, 2013
    Publication date: February 13, 2014
    Inventor: Norman L. Culp
  • Publication number: 20140042959
    Abstract: A battery charger and system and method for use of the same are disclosed for increasing a charge of a battery. In one embodiment of the battery charger, an input for an electric charging power source is configured to supply electrical charging power to a rechargeable battery via an output circuit portion interposed therebetween. A transfer function circuit portion is configured to sense the voltage of the rechargeable battery as a sensing voltage such that the change in the sensing voltage is directly proportional to the internal impedance of the rechargeable battery. A control logic circuit portion is configured to select between a constant current, variable voltage operational mode, a constant current, scalable voltage operational mode, and a variable current, constant voltage operational mode to furnish rapid recharging of the rechargeable battery.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 16, 2012
    Publication date: February 13, 2014
    Inventor: Norman L. Culp
  • Patent number: 7400064
    Abstract: A switching regulation system and control scheme efficiently enables driving multiple loads from a common energy storage element, such as an inductor. The control scheme operates to store energy in the energy storage element over a first portion of a cycle, such as by ramping up current through an inductor, according to energy requirements of the multiple loads. After storing the energy in the storage element during the first portion of the cycle, the stored energy is delivered consecutively to each of the multiple loads over a subsequent portion of the cycle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2008
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Siew Kuok Hoon, Norman L. Culp, Jun Chen, Franco Maloberti
  • Patent number: 6836148
    Abstract: A output driver architecture (100) is proposed that uses thin gate-oxide core and thin gate-oxide Drain-extended transistors that can directly interface with voltage supplies up to six times the normal rating of the transistor. A bias generator (101), level shifter (103) and output stage (105) are adapted to buffer an input signal with a voltage swing of less than the normal operating voltage of the transistors to an output signal with a voltage swing of up to approximately six times the normal operating voltage of the transistors. The bias generator is interfaced directly with a high voltage power supply and generates a bias voltage with a magnitude of less than the dielectric breakdown of the transistors internal to the level shifter and output stage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2004
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Donald T. Pullen, Norman L. Culp, Xiaoyu Xi, Keith E. Kunz
  • Publication number: 20030189443
    Abstract: A output driver architecture (100) is proposed that uses thin gate-oxide core and thin gate-oxide Drain-extended transistors that can directly interface with voltage supplies up to six times the normal rating of the transistor. A bias generator (101), level shifter (103) and output stage (105) are adapted to buffer an input signal with a voltage swing of less than the normal operating voltage of the transistors to an output signal with a voltage swing of up to approximately six times the normal operating voltage of the transistors. The bias generator is interfaced directly with a high voltage power supply and generates a bias voltage with a magnitude of less than the dielectric breakdown of the transistors internal to the level shifter and output stage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 8, 2002
    Publication date: October 9, 2003
    Inventors: Keith E. Kunz, Norman L. Culp, Xiaoyu Xi, Donald T. Pullen
  • Patent number: 5371552
    Abstract: A clamp circuit including a clamping capacitor and a differential amplifier charge and discharge the clamping capacitor in accordance with the magnitude of difference signals applied to the differential amplifier's inverting and non-inverting inputs. The inverting input receives the voltage produced by the clamping capacitor. This voltage is digitized by an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and is set to a reference voltage range by a voltage divider network. The ADC output signal is compared to a given reference level corresponding to a selected voltage in the reference voltage range to produce a difference output signal. This difference output signal is summed with the selected voltage in the reference voltage range and applied to the non-inverting input of the differential amplifier to produce a clamp voltage with substantially minimum offsets due to the amplifier, ADC and DAC.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 1991
    Date of Patent: December 6, 1994
    Assignees: North American Philips Corporation, Texas Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Steven C. Brummette, William G. Miller, James F. Asbury, William R. Krenik, Norman L. Culp
  • Patent number: 5281860
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for an improved multiple channel sensor interface circuit is described which comprises a plurality of input integrator circuits (35) coupled in parallel; a switched capacitor multiplexer (37) coupled to the input integrator circuits (35); and an output integrator stage (39) coupled to the switched capacitor multiplexer (37). An additional embodiment is described wherein a multiple channel voltage sensor interface circuit comprising a plurality of switched capacitor storage elements (S26 . . . S28) is coupled to a plurality of inputs; a plurality of integrator amplifiers (51, 53) is coupled to the switched capacitor storage elements (C22 . . . C30); and timing circuitry is coupled to the switched capacitor storage elements (C221 . . . C30) and to integrator amplifiers (51, 53) operable to selectively enable sampling of the inputs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 1992
    Date of Patent: January 25, 1994
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: William R. Krenik, Norman L. Culp, Chih-Hung Lin
  • Patent number: 4924341
    Abstract: A transient protection circuit comprising using a circuit connected to operate as a diode while presenting lower forward voltage drop for the same area and current as in pn junction diodes to provide greater efficiency. The circuit is a standard merged SCR circuit wherein a resistive path is provide between the base and collector of the pnp transistor and between the base and emitter of the npn transistor. In addition, there is provided a trip circuit wherein current is shunted away from the lateral transistor after a predetermined threshold current is passed through said transistor to minimize current drawn through the later transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 1988
    Date of Patent: May 8, 1990
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Norman L. Culp, Stephen C. Kwan
  • Patent number: 4577163
    Abstract: A digital phase locked loop is provided by the present invention which includes a digital controlled oscillator (DCO), whereby the frequency of the output signal of the DCO is a function of the value associated with a digital input word. The frequency of the output signal of the DCO is phase compared to a reference signal by a phase comparator. Depending upon which signal is leading or lagging, the phase comparator outputs an increment signal or a decrement signal. These increment and decrement signals are operatively coupled to an up/down counter which provides the digital input word to the DCO, the value of the digital input word being modified by the increment or decrement signal to cause the frequency of the output signal to track the frequency of the input signal to the phase comparator, i.e., the frequency of the reference signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 1984
    Date of Patent: March 18, 1986
    Assignee: Honeywell Inc.
    Inventor: Norman L. Culp
  • Patent number: 4346265
    Abstract: An annunciator is disclosed which has an improved charging circuit for storing the energy of a ring signal received via an improved Schottky diode bridge rectifier, and an oscillator-driven variable divider which actuates an audible output device when the stored charge exceeds a threshold level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 1979
    Date of Patent: August 24, 1982
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Kenneth G. Buss, Norman L. Culp