Patents by Inventor Timothy J. Legat

Timothy J. Legat 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: 7283343
    Abstract: A reverse battery protection circuits that provides an integrated reverse battery condition solution for protection of external NMOS switches during the reverse battery condition is disclosed herein. This reverse battery protection circuit minimizes power consumption during a reverse battery event wherein there is no need for mechanical adjustments such as heat sinking and clamping to extract the heat away from the silicon and not destroy the device. Specifically, the reverse battery protection circuit includes a push-pull gate drive circuit coupled between the first and second power supply rail. A protection subcircuit portion connects between a first output node and the second power supply rail to turn the external FET ‘on’ during the reverse battery condition. In particular, the protection subcircuit portion connects to the external FET device and includes a p-channel device connected between a second output node that biases the external FET device and a first diode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2007
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: William E. Grose, Timothy J. Legat, Sanmukh M. Patel
  • Patent number: 6608521
    Abstract: A control circuit (50) for a switch mode power converter having precise control of amplitude and frequency that does not exhibit overshoot error nor undershoot error during a fast charge cycle nor a fast discharge cycle, respectively. In a first embodiment, the control circuit (50) does not exhibit undershoot error during a fast discharge cycle. The control circuit (50) comprises an oscillator (70) for providing a periodic carrier signal comprising a sawtooth wave output signal (VST). The oscillator (70) includes a capacitor (CT2) charged and discharged to the power supply voltage (VCC) to provide the sawtooth wave output signal (VST). In addition, the oscillator (70) includes a switching circuit (65) coupled to the reference voltage level (Vref). The control circuit (50) further includes a gain circuit (64) having a reference voltage input (Vref2), voltage input (Vin) and an output (Out). The reference voltage input (Vref2) receives the reference voltage(Vref).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2003
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: David J. Baldwin, Timothy J. Legat, Sanmukh Patel
  • Patent number: 6324044
    Abstract: A controlled area network (CAN) driver provides improved symmetry between its differential output signals CAN-H and CAN-L, and provides protection for its low voltage devices from voltage transients occurring on its output lines. A plurality of CAN drivers 80 are serially interconnected to form a driver system, wherein each downstream driver stage receives a time-delayed form of the digital input signal TxD, each stage providing a time-delayed contribution to the differential output signals of the overall driver system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2001
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Ross E. Teggatz, Joseph A. Devore, Timothy J. Legat, Timothy P. Pauletti, David J. Baldwin