Device for protection of a semiconductor device

Claim 1

A protective element for use in a device for protecting a semiconductor device from overcurrent, comprising a package made of a molded synthetic resin, a pair of conductive leads having their inner ends in said package and mounted in spaced apart relation and having their outer ends extending out of said package and being adapted for connection in circuit to a semiconductor device, and a metallic fuse wire connected between said inner ends of said leads wherein each such fuse wire to lead connection is wire bonded, said package of molded synthetic resin comprising a permanently flexible synthetic resin portion surrounding and contacting the surface of said fuse wire and a nonflexible synthetic resin portion encapsulating said flexible resin portion with said fuse wire therewithin, said fuse wire being made from a metal chosen from the group consisting of gold, silver, copper and aluminum, which group is characterized by relatively low specific resistances and relatively high melting points, and said fuse wire having a cross section and length selected such that when a current through said semiconductor device and said fuse wire approaches, but does not reach a predetermined current level known to destroy said semiconductor device, said wire is melted, whereby the melting of said fuse wire occurs more promptly than if made of a metal having a relatively higher specific resistance and relatively lower melting point compared to metals in said group, and said permanently flexible synthetic resin portion supportively protects said fuse wire, prior to melting, from damage due to external mechanical forces and yet flexibly yields to said melting of said fuse wire so as to allow formation of gap widening rounded ends of the melted fuse wire.