Patent 7936216 was granted and assigned to Bang & Olufsen on May, 2011 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The invention relates to a current limiting method, e. g. for Class D amplifiers comprising a unique detection- and control method. The current detection circuit can be implemented as a voltage measurement where the measured voltage corresponds to the current flowing through the power-switching device. The device can be switched OFF when a set limit is reached. By forcing certain OFF time, the associated control system behaves as a self-oscillating current limiting circuit. This can be implemented locally close to the switching device and be independent of other local or global control systems.