Patent attributes
A switching power supply for achieving a constant current drooping characteristic of sufficient accuracy with low cost and the minimum number of components. In the switching power supply, a secondary duty limiter circuit outputs a clock signal from the time a switching element is turned off until the time the on duty of secondary current, which starts flowing to a secondary winding of a transformer, is fixed at a predetermined value. A clock signal selector circuit selects and outputs the clock signal when a load increases and the on duty of the secondary current reaches the predetermined value. Consequently, when the load increases, a direct current output voltage decreases and an output characteristic becomes a constant current drooping characteristic. At this point, when the voltage of an element current detection signal reaches an overcurrent protection reference voltage, a drain current control circuit outputs a turn-off signal for determining the turn-off of the switching element, therefore the peak current of the secondary current is kept at a fixed value.