Patent ID: 8416549

Claim:
A bi-directional over-voltage protection circuit, comprising: a regulator having an input and an output; a lockout circuit having first and second inputs and an output, the first input of the lockout circuit coupled to the input of the regulator and coupled for receiving an input signal; a first control circuit having first and second inputs and first and second outputs, the first input coupled to the output of the regulator and the second input coupled to the output of the lockout circuit; a second control circuit having first and second inputs and an output, the first input coupled for receiving a control signal and the output coupled to the first input of the first control circuit; a first transistor having a control electrode and first and second current carrying electrodes, the first current carrying electrode coupled for receiving the input signal and the control electrode coupled to the first output of the first control circuit; and a second transistor having a control electrode and first and second current carrying electrodes, the control electrode coupled to the second output of the first control circuit, the first current carrying electrode of the second transistor coupled to the second current carrying electrode of the first transistor, the second current carrying electrode of the second transistor coupled to the second input of the second control circuit.