Patent ID: 8508201

Claim:
An inductor driving circuit, comprising: a positive terminal and a negative terminal, between which a DC voltage of a DC power supply is to be applied; a switching element provided between said DC power supply and said positive terminal and configured to apply, when turned on, said DC voltage between said positive terminal and said negative terminal and to terminate, when turned off, the application of the DC voltage; an inductor and a transistor connected in series between said positive terminal and said negative terminal; a gate control circuit configured to turn on said transistor in response to the application of said DC voltage to form a current path through said switching element, said inductor and said transistor, and turn off said transistor in response to a termination of the application of said DC voltage; a diode directly connected between a source and a drain of said transistor and having a cathode connected to said positive terminal and an anode connected to said negative terminal; an attenuation resistor connected between said source and said drain of said transistor; and a feedback diode having a cathode connected to said positive terminal and an anode connected to said negative terminal to form an attenuation current loop through said inductor, said attenuation resistor, and said feedback diode, when the application of the DC voltage is terminated by said switching element.