Systems and Methods for Obtaining Large Creepage Isolation on Printed Circuit Boards
First Claim
1. An electrical circuit, comprising:
- a ground circuit;
a floating circuit optically coupled to the ground circuit, the floating circuit being electrically isolated from the ground circuit by a first creepage isolation distance; and
an isolated circuit optically coupled to the floating circuit, the isolated circuit being electrically isolated from the floating circuit by a second creepage isolation distance, the isolated circuit being electrically isolated from the ground circuit by a total creepage isolation distance equal to a combination of the first and second creepage isolation distances.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electrical circuit with large creepage isolation distances is provided. In some embodiments, the electrical circuit is capable of increasing creepage isolation distances by many multiples over traditional electrical circuits. In one embodiment, an electrical circuit comprises a ground circuit optically coupled to a floating circuit, and an isolated circuit optically coupled to the floating circuit. The circuits can be optically coupled with opto-isolators, for example. The isolated circuit can have a creepage isolation distance at least twice as large as a traditional circuit. In some embodiments, “n” number of floating circuits can be optically coupled between the ground circuit and the isolated circuit to increase the total creepage isolation distance by a factor of “n”. Methods of use are also described.
12 Citations
24 Claims
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1. An electrical circuit, comprising:
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a ground circuit; a floating circuit optically coupled to the ground circuit, the floating circuit being electrically isolated from the ground circuit by a first creepage isolation distance; and an isolated circuit optically coupled to the floating circuit, the isolated circuit being electrically isolated from the floating circuit by a second creepage isolation distance, the isolated circuit being electrically isolated from the ground circuit by a total creepage isolation distance equal to a combination of the first and second creepage isolation distances. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An electrical circuit, comprising:
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a ground circuit; a first floating circuit optically coupled to the ground circuit, the first floating circuit being electrically isolated from the ground circuit by a first creepage isolation distance; a second floating circuit optically coupled to the first floating circuit, the second floating circuit being electrically isolated from the first floating circuit by a second creepage isolation distance; and a triple isolated circuit optically coupled to the second floating circuit, the triple isolated circuit being electrically isolated from the second floating ground circuit by third creepage isolation distance, the triple isolated circuit being isolated from the ground circuit by a total creepage isolation distance equal to a combination of the first, second, and third creepage isolation distances. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of increasing a creepage isolation distance in an electrical circuit, comprising:
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optically coupling a ground circuit to a floating circuit to electrically isolate the floating circuit from the ground circuit by a first creepage isolation distance; and optically coupling an isolated circuit to the floating circuit to electrically isolate the isolated circuit from the floating circuit by a second creepage isolation distance, and to electrically isolate the isolated circuit from the ground circuit by a total creepage isolation distance equal to a combination of the first and second creepage isolation distances. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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Specification