Patent ID: 8680897

Claim:
A switching element control apparatus comprising: a constant current circuit that applies a constant current to a control terminal of a switching element driven by controlling a voltage on the control terminal; a voltage-limiting circuit that limits the voltage on the control terminal of the switching element so as not to exceed a limiting voltage set in the voltage-limiting circuit; and a control circuit that controls the constant current circuit to apply the constant current to the control terminal of the switching element when the control circuit receives a drive signal for turning on the switching element, and controls the voltage-limiting circuit to limit the voltage on the control terminal of the switching element for a voltage-limiting time period, wherein the control circuit comprises a memory storing characteristic information of the switching element and variably sets at least one of the limiting voltage, the voltage-limiting time period, and the constant current in response to the characteristic information stored in the memory, the characteristic information includes an ON/OFF threshold voltage of the switching element, and the control circuit variably sets the limiting voltage of the voltage-limiting circuit to be higher than the ON/OFF threshold voltage of the switching element.