Patents by Inventor Rex J. Eccleston

Rex J. Eccleston 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).

  • Active clamp circuit with immunity to zener diode microplasmic noise
    Patent number: 5001373
    Abstract: An active clamp circuit for an inductive load switching circuit includes a zener current control resistor to set the breakdown current in a zener diode of the clamp circuit. The zener breakdown current is set at a sufficiently high level to ensure that the zener diode is operated at a point beyond its "knee" region and therefore does not generate interfering levels of microplasmic noise (MPN). The zener current control resistor is provided in addition to a circuit speed control resistor such that there is substantially independent control of the switching circuit operating speed and the breakdown current of the zener diode of the active clamp circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 1990
    Date of Patent: March 19, 1991
    Assignee: Ford Motor Company
    Inventors: Philip M. Bator, Rex J. Eccleston, David J. Rutkowski