Patent ID: 8749939

Claim:
A switching apparatus for protecting against a shoot-through current, the switching apparatus comprising: a first transistor including first, second and third terminals, the first terminal of the first transistor coupled to a first power terminal, the third terminal of the first transistor including a gate or base of the first transistor; a second transistor including first, second and third terminals, the first terminal of the second transistor coupled to a second power terminal, the second terminal of the second transistor coupled to the second terminal of the first transistor, the third terminal of the second transistor including a gate or base of the second transistor; a first circuit module including an inductor in parallel with a diode, the first circuit module connected between the first terminal of the second transistor and the second power terminal, wherein an inductance of the inductor is selected to delay a rate of increase in the shoot-through current and the diode is configured to mitigate spikes in the shoot-through current; a first current sensor coupled to the first circuit module or the first terminal of the second transistor to detect the shoot-through current after being delayed by the first circuit module and generate a signal if the shoot-through current is detected indicating that both the first and second transistors are on; and a control circuit coupled to the third terminal of the first or second transistors, the control circuit including a feedback circuit for turning off at least one of the first or second transistors when the signal from the first current sensor is received to prevent the shoot-though current from traversing the first and second transistors, wherein the first circuit module delays the rate of increase of the shoot-through current until the first current sensor detects the shoot-through current and the control circuit turns off at least one of the first and second transistors prior to the shoot-through current traversing the first and second transistors.