A miniature circuit breaker for providing short circuit and overload protection is disclosed herein. The miniature circuit breaker features a field effect transistor (FET), which may be a depletion mode metal oxide semiconductor FET (D MOSFET), a junction field-effect transistor (JFET), or a silicon carbide JFET, the FET being connected to a bi-metallic switch, where the bi-metallic switch acts as a temperature sensing circuit breaker. In combination, the D MOSFET and bi-metallic switch are able to limit current to downstream circuit components, thus protecting the components from damage.

A vehicle control device using a semiconductor fuse, and enabling an increase in size of the semiconductor fuse to be suppressed and the occurrence of an abnormal current to be detected early to enable shut off of the abnormal current. The vehicle control device includes a shut-off unit that supplies and shuts off a supply of power to a plurality of load devices; a current detector that detects a current flowing to the plurality of load devices; and a temperature detector that detects the temperature of the shut-off unit. Furthermore, the vehicle control device includes a drive controller that, when the temperature of the shut-off unit detected by the temperature detector exceeds a predetermined value, controls and restricts operation of the load devices for which the priority is low, based on priorities set for each of the plurality of load devices.

In accordance with an embodiment, a circuit includes: a supply pin and an output pin for connecting a load, and a configuration pin; a semiconductor switch connected between the supply pin and the output pin and configured to establish or to block a current path between the supply pin and the output pin depending on a control signal; and a control circuit configured to generate the control signal for the semiconductor switch taking account of a first parameter, and set the first parameter depending on a component parameter of an external component connected to the configuration pin. The first parameter is set to a first standard value when the component parameter is less than a first threshold value, and the first parameter is set to a second standard value when the component parameter is greater than a second threshold value.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, an energy storage system includes one or more power sources, one or more energy storage components, and one or more solid state circuit breakers disposed between the one or more power sources and the one or more energy storage components such that electrical power is exchanged between the one or more power sources to the one or more energy storage components through the one or more solid state circuit breakers. The energy storage system also includes a controller configured to operate the one or more solid state circuit breakers to control current exchanged with the one or more energy storage components and protect the one or more energy storage components from the one or more power sources during a fault condition.

A vehicle includes a generator, an outlet, and a controller. The generator is electrically connected to the outlet. The controller is programmed to, responsive to outlet temperature being less than a threshold, deliver an electric current from the generator to an external device that is connected to the outlet. The controller is further programmed to, responsive to the outlet temperature exceeding the threshold, inhibit delivering the current from the electric machine to the external device.

An over-current protection apparatus constituted of: a transistor disposed on a substrate; a first thermal sense device arranged to sense a temperature reflective of a junction temperature of the transistor; a second thermal sense device arranged to sense a temperature reflective of a temperature of a casing surrounding the substrate; and a control circuitry, arranged to alternately: responsive to the sensed temperature by the first thermal sense device and the sensed temperature of the second thermal sense device being indicative that the temperature difference between the transistor junction and the substrate casing is greater than a predetermined value, switch off the transistor; and responsive to the sensed temperature by the first thermal sense device and the sensed temperature by the second thermal sense device being indicative that the temperature difference between the transistor junction and the substrate casing is not greater than the predetermined value, switch on the transistor.

A solid-state circuit protector includes a first power semiconductor device having an ON resistance that increases with increasing temperature and a second power semiconductor device connected in parallel with the first power semiconductor device having an ON resistance that decreases with increasing temperature. During times when abnormally high currents are flowing through the solid-state circuit protector, the second power semiconductor is switched ON so that some or all of the current is diverted through it, thus protecting the first power semiconductor device from being damaged due to overheating. The first power semiconductor device is either switched OFF, allowing it to cool in anticipation of a lighter load, or is configured to remain ON so that it shares the burden of carrying the high current with the parallel-connected second power semiconductor device yet operates cooler and at a lower ON resistance since it is not required to pass the full current.

A battery protective circuit including a resistor connected to a switch between a battery and a load through which a first current flows, a first driver to supply the first current to the switch and the resistor, a negative temperature coefficient element having resistance that varies in response to heat of the resistor, a second driver to supply a second current to the negative temperature coefficient element, a short-circuit device to be mechanically deformed by a current, a mechanical switch including a plurality of terminals connected with the battery, the terminals electrically connected with each other by deformation of the short-circuit device, a fuse connected in series between the battery and the mechanical switch, a circuit-changing switch configured to supply the second current to the short-circuit device or to block supply thereof, and a controller to control operations of the first driver, the second driver, and the circuit-changing switch.

A semiconductor device having an input terminal and an output terminal. The semiconductor device includes a power semiconductor element having a first main terminal connected to the output terminal, a second main terminal that is grounded and a gate terminal, and an active clamping circuit including a Zener diode and a diode connected in inverse series between the gate terminal and the first main terminal of the power semiconductor element. The semiconductor device further includes a clamp voltage switching circuit configured to switch a clamp voltage of the active clamping circuit according to a change in a voltage of the output terminal relative to the ground at a time when the power semiconductor element is turned off, the clamp voltage being switched to a first clamp voltage and a second clamp voltage, respectively, when the change in the voltage is not, and is, positive.

A vehicle includes a generator, an outlet, and a controller. The generator is electrically connected to the outlet. The controller is programmed to, responsive to outlet temperature being less than a threshold, deliver an electric current from the generator to an external device that is connected to the outlet. The controller is further programmed to, responsive to the outlet temperature exceeding the threshold, inhibit delivering the current from the electric machine to the external device.