Patents by Inventor Stephen C. Hinkle

Stephen C. Hinkle 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: 5703416
    Abstract: A circuit for providing protection from effects of electromagnetic interference (EMI) at input pins and internal nodes of an integrated circuit (IC) includes a regenerative comparator (Schmitt trigger) to perform triggering functions in response to input pulses applied to the input pin, resulting in hysteresis between high and low trigger voltages. The hysteresis extends durations of false pulses induced by presence of EMI at the input pin. A filter is coupled to the regenerative comparator, with a filter response time with a duration at least as great as the expected largest duration of EMI-induced false pulses including extended duration attributable to the hysteresis, for filtering out the EMI-induced false pulses. A pulse generator is coupled to the filter, for generating a pulse for application to the IC whenever a pulse applied to the input pin has a duration exceeding the duration of the filter time constant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 30, 1997
    Assignee: Microchip Technology Incorporated
    Inventors: Stephen C. Hinkle, Richard Hull