Usb cable with thermal protection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018097318-A1
Application number	US-201615386144-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 21, 2016
Priority date	Oct 5, 2016
Publication date	Apr 5, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

A universal serial bus (USB) cable including a power conductor configured to transmit power between a first device and a second device, a configuration channel (CC) conductor configured to allow the first device and the second device to determine whether a connection has been established via the USB cable, and a first positive temperature coefficient (PTC) element coupled to the CC conductor and configured to mitigate current flowing through the CC conductor if a temperature of the first PTC element rises above a predefine trip temperature.

First claim

1 . A cable comprising:
a power conductor configured to transmit electrical power between a first device and a second device; a first data conductor configured to transmit data between the first device and the second device; and a first positive temperature coefficient (PTC) element coupled to the first data conductor and configured to mitigate current flowing through the data conductor if a temperature of the first PTC element rises above a predefined first trip temperature, wherein the opening of the data line indicates a fault condition to a device to which the cable is connected, whereby electrical power flowing through the power conductor is resultantly mitigated.

2 . The cable of claim 1 , wherein the first PTC element is configured to be connected electrically in series with the first device and the second device when the cable is connected to the first device and the second device.

3 . The cable of claim 1 , wherein the first data conductor is a configuration channel (CC) conductor configured to allow the first device and the second device to determine whether a connection has been established via the cable.

4 . The cable of claim 1 , wherein the first data conductor is rated to handle a maximum of 330 microamps.

5 . The cable of claim 1 , wherein the first PTC element has a resistance that increases in a non-linear fashion when a temperature of the first PTC element exceeds the predefined first trip temperature.

6 . The cable of claim 1 further comprising:
a second data conductor configured to transmit data between the first device and the second device; and
a second PTC element coupled to the second data conductor and configured to mitigate current flowing through the second data conductor if a temperature of the second PTC element rises above a predefined second trip temperature.

7 . The cable of claim 1 , further comprising:
a Vconn conductor configured to facilitate high power operation of the cable, the Vconn conductor having an integrated circuit coupled thereto configured to indicate that the cable is configured to handle high power; and a second PTC element coupled to the Vconn conductor and configured to mitigate current flowing through the Vconn conductor if a temperature of the second PTC element rises above a predefined second trip temperature.

8 . The cable of claim 7 , wherein the second PTC element is configured to be connected electrically in series with the first device and the second device when the cable is connected to the first device and the second device.

9 . The cable of claim 7 , wherein the second trip temperature is lower than the first trip temperature.

10 . The cable of claim 1 , wherein the cable conforms to a universal serial bus (USB) Type-C standard.

11 . A system for providing over-temperature protection comprising:
a first device and a second device connected to one another by the cable; wherein the cable comprises:
a power conductor configured to transmit electrical power between the first device and the second device;
a first data conductor configured to transmit data between the first device and the second device; and
a first positive temperature coefficient (PTC) element coupled to the first data conductor and configured to mitigate current flowing through the first data conductor if a temperature of the first PTC element rises above a predefined first trip temperature;
wherein at least one of the first device and the second device is configured to reduce an amount of electrical power transmitted via the power conductor upon mitigation of the current flowing through the first data conductor.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the first PTC element is connected electrically in series with the first device and the second device.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the first data conductor is a configuration channel (CC) conductor configured to allow the first device and the second device to determine whether a connection has been established via the cable.

14 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising a second positive temperature coefficient (PTC) element coupled to a data conductor of one of the first device and the second device and configured to mitigate current flowing through the data conductor if a temperature of the second PTC element rises above a predefined first trip temperature, wherein at least one of the first device and the second device is configured to reduce an amount of electrical power transmitted via the power conductor upon mitigation of the current flowing through the data conductor.

15 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the first PTC element has a resistance that increases in a non-linear fashion when a temperature of the first PTC element exceeds the predefined first trip temperature.

16 . The system of claim 11 further comprising:
a second data conductor configured to transmit data between the first device and the second device; and
a second PTC element coupled to the second data conductor and configured to mitigate current flowing through the second data conductor if a temperature of the second PTC element rises above a predefined second trip temperature;
wherein at least one of the first device and the second device is configured to reduce an amount of electrical power transmitted via the power conductor upon mitigation of the current flowing through the second data conductor.

17 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising:
a Vconn conductor configured to facilitate transmission of a high power via the power conductor, the Vconn conductor having an integrated circuit coupled thereto and configured to indicate to at least one of the first device and the second device that the cable is configured to handle high power; and a second PTC element coupled to the Vconn conductor and configured to mitigate current flowing through the Vconn conductor if a temperature of the second PTC element rises above a predefined second trip temperature; wherein at least one of the first device and the second device is configured to limit transmission of electrical power via the power conductor to a low power that is less than the high power if current flowing through the Vconn conductor is mitigated.

18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the second PTC element is connected electrically in series with the first device and the second device.

19 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the second trip temperature is lower than the first trip temperature.

20 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the cable conforms to a universal serial bus (USB) Type-C standard.

Assignees

• Littelfuse Inc

Inventors

• Golubovic Boris
• Yu Kunghao

Classifications

• G06F1/206

  comprising thermal management · CPC title

• G06F1/266

  Arrangements to supply power to external peripherals either directly from the computer or under computer control, e.g. supply of power through the communication port, computer controlled power-strips · CPC title

• H02H9/026

  Current limitation using PTC resistors, i.e. resistors with a large positive temperature coefficient · CPC title

• H02H3/085

  making use of a thermal sensor, e.g. thermistor, heated by the excess current (also responsive to the temperature of the protected device H02H5/041, thermal images H02H6/00) · CPC title

• H02H5/042

  using temperature dependent resistors · CPC title