Patents Examined by Adolf Berhane
  • Patent number: 10110119
    Abstract: A multiplier assembly for a power supply and a method of manufacturing the multiplier assembly. The multiplier assembly may be a stack of capacitors and support elements electrically and mechanically coupled together to form a first capacitor string and a second capacitor string. The support elements may electrically and mechanically connect adjacent series capacitors in the first capacitor string. Additionally or alternatively, the support elements may electrically and mechanically connect adjacent series capacitors in the second capacitor string. In one embodiment, the power supply may include drive and feedback circuitry capable of controlling operation of the multiplier assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2018
    Assignee: UT-Battelle, LLC
    Inventors: Robert J. Warmack, Charles L. Britton, Jr., Milton Nance Ericson, John P. Brainard
  • Patent number: 10110140
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a power converter circuit includes a resonant circuit coupled to an alternating current (AC) voltage source to convert a first AC voltage to a first AC current and an AC to direct current (AC/DC) converter coupled to the resonant circuit, where the AC/DC converter is to convert the AC current to a DC current. The power converter circuit further includes an inverter coupled to the AC/DC converter to convert the DC current to a second AC current, an AC filtering circuit coupled to an output of the inverter, and a load coupled to the output of the inverter to convert the second AC current to a second AC voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2018
    Inventor: James Nanut
  • Patent number: 10110115
    Abstract: A switching power supply device includes: a latch circuit to be set by a latch signal that is generated when an anomaly is detected, the latch circuit stopping the turning ON and OFF of the switching element when set by the latch signal; a pulse generator that receives said latch signal and generates a pulse signal at a prescribed cycle in response to said latch signal; a discharge circuit that is activated every time said pulse signal is provided so as to discharge electric charges stored in the capacitor; and a comparator for undervoltage protection that, when said control power supply voltage decreases to a prescribed operation stop voltage as said capacitor discharges, resets the latch circuit and the pulse generator, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2018
    Assignee: FUJI ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Masanari Fujii
  • Patent number: 10110144
    Abstract: A device for safe control of at least one driver module for controlling a semiconductor switch of an inverter, wherein the driver module controls the semiconductor switch in dependence on a pulse signal, wherein a switching arrangement which is connected with the driver module is provided and that this has a switching connection for applying an inhibition signal and a first connection for applying the pulse signal, in order to either inhibit or switch the pulse signal applied to the first connection through to the driver module depending on the inhibition signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2018
    Assignee: B&R INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION GMBH
    Inventor: Leopold Faschang
  • Patent number: 10110037
    Abstract: A battery charging circuit receives an input current, and provides a system voltage and a charging current to charge a battery. A control circuit used to control the battery charging circuit has a charging current control loop providing a compensation signal, an inductor current control loop providing a first loop control signal, and a system voltage control loop providing a second loop control signal. The control circuit provides an inductor current reference signal based on the compensation signal and a designed maximum input current level. And the control circuit provides a control signal based on the first loop control signal the second loop control signal to control the battery charging circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2018
    Assignee: Chengdu Monolithic Power Systems Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Qian Ouyang
  • Patent number: 10110112
    Abstract: A controller, and related method, configured to generate a duty cycle control signal for controlling an output voltage of a switched mode power supply as a function of a reference signal. In one embodiment, the controller is configured to sample a signal indicative of the output voltage to generate a first sampled signal, filter out a ripple component of the first sampled signal to generate a filtered signal, and generate a feedback control signal based on the filtered signal. The controller is also configured to sample a signal indicative of an input voltage of the switched mode power supply to generate a second sampled signal, generate a feed-forward control signal based on the second sampled signal and a feed-forward reference voltage, and generate the duty cycle control signal based on the feedback control signal and the feed-forward control signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2018
    Assignee: TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (PUBL)
    Inventors: Magnus Karlsson, Torbjorn Holmberg, Andreas Larsson
  • Patent number: 10103635
    Abstract: A high power-factor buck-boost converter having a rectified low-frequency AC line voltage input and a DC output is provided. The converter may include a magnetic element, a controlled switch having a gate terminal and a drain terminal that is coupled to the magnetic element, a rectifier diode coupled to the magnetic element, an output smoothing capacitor coupled to the rectifier diode, and a control circuit having an output coupled to the gate terminal of the controlled switch for repeatedly turning the controlled switch off for a first time duration and on for a second time duration. The second time duration may be determined as a function of the first time duration immediately preceding the second time duration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2018
    Assignee: Microchip Technology Inc.
    Inventors: Simon Krugly, Alexander Mednik, Marc Tan, Rohit Tirumala
  • Patent number: 10103623
    Abstract: A semiconductor integrated circuit for controlling a power switch in accordance with a control signal, which is at one of a first level and a second level for respectively turning on and off the power switch. The semiconductor integrated circuit includes a control circuit configured to receive the control signal to thereby output a reference voltage, a value of which gradually drops from a predetermined value when the received control signal remains at the first level for a predetermined time, a current sensing circuit configured to sense a current flowing through the power switch, and a drive circuit configured to receive the control signal and the reference voltage to thereby output a drive signal, the drive signal limiting the current flowing through the power switch in accordance with the reference voltage and a sense voltage corresponding to the current sensed by the current sensing circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2018
    Assignee: FUJI ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Takanori Kohama
  • Patent number: 10103624
    Abstract: A thermal sensor circuit comprises a conversion circuit which is one of a buck DC-DC converter circuit and a boost DC-DC converter circuit, wherein the conversion circuit comprises an inductor and an output terminal. A thermal sensor senses a thermal variation correlated to a capacitance variation of the thermal sensor. The capacitance variation induces an internal parasitic capacitance variation of the inductor which is connected in parallel to the thermal sensor and results a variation of an energy stored in the inductor. Hence a variation of a converted circuit signal outputting by the output terminal is caused, wherein the variation of the converted circuit signal is correlated to the thermal variation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2018
    Assignee: WIN Semiconductors Corp.
    Inventors: Re Ching Lin, Fan Hsiu Huang, Tung-Yao Chou, Cheng Kuo Lin, Shu Hsiao Tsai, Chih-Feng Chiang
  • Patent number: 10103644
    Abstract: An AC-to-DC converter includes a multi-resonant switching circuit including an AC-AC stage soft-switched LC network that converts a low-frequency low-amplitude alternating input voltage into a higher-frequency higher-amplitude alternating voltage and an AC-DC stage rectifying the higher-frequency higher-amplitude alternating voltage into a DC output voltage via a soft-switched diode. An AC-to-DC converter system includes at least two multi-resonant switching circuits that include at least two AC-AC stages and an AC-DC stage. A control system for the AC-to-DC converter includes at least two resonant gate drivers that each includes: one MOSFET gate configured to transmit a gate voltage signal to an AC-to-DC converter; an on/off logic module electrically coupled to the MOSFET gate; a resonant tank LC circuit electrically coupled to the on/off logic module; and a voltage bias module electrically coupled to the resonant tank LC circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2018
    Assignee: University of Maryland, College Park
    Inventors: Alireza Khaligh, Yichao Tang
  • Patent number: 10103646
    Abstract: In a control device, a load determiner determines whether a power converter is in a high-load state or a low-load state. A high-load controller controls on-off operations of the first rectifiers such that on durations of the first rectifiers are respectively synchronized with each other when it is determined that the power converter is in the high-load state. A low-load controller controls on-off operations of the first rectifiers to reduce the on durations of the first rectifies synchronized with each other when it is determined that the power converter is in the low-load state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2018
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yoshinori Hayashi, Tomotaka Suzuki
  • Patent number: 10103720
    Abstract: A buck converter device with minimum off-time operation, the device comprising a comparator providing an output signal of a minimum off time, a first amplifier, a p-channel MOSFET whose gate is connected to the output of a first amplifier providing a signal threshold voltage to a positive terminal of a comparator, a second amplifier; and, a second p-channel MOSFET whose gate is connected to the output of a second amplifier providing a signal to a negative terminal of a comparator, and a capacitor element. A capacitor establishes a voltage whose rate of change is proportional to power supply Vdd, establishing a time to charge the capacitor to a threshold voltage proportional to (Vdd?Vref)/Vdd, and establishing a minimum off time on the output of a comparator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2018
    Assignee: Dialog Semiconductor (UK) Limited
    Inventors: Mark Childs, Jindrich Svorc
  • Patent number: 10103620
    Abstract: In a SIBO boost converter, an inductor current flows from an input to ground through an inductor and a first switch to energize the inductor. The inductor releases energy stored thereof and the inductor current flows from the inductor to ground via a second switch and a first capacitor to charge the first capacitor and to produce a first positive output thereon. The inductor is energized by the input and the inductor current flows from the inductor to a third capacitor through two third switches to charge the third capacitor and to produce a second positive output thereon. The third capacitor is discharged through two fourth switches to charge a second capacitor of the capacitors to produce a negative output thereon. Timing for producing the second positive output is non-overlapped with timing for producing the negative output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2018
    Assignee: BravoTek Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Wei-Hsin Wei
  • Patent number: 10097088
    Abstract: A soft-switching auxiliary circuit is provided, which may be applicable to a converter including a first main switch and a second main switch. The soft-switching auxiliary circuit may include a first auxiliary switch, a second auxiliary switch, a first energy adjustment module and a second energy adjustment module. By means of the first auxiliary switch and a second auxiliary switch, the first energy adjustment module and the second energy adjustment may properly store and adjust the energy of the converter; therefore, both the first main switch and the second main switch of the converter can achieve soft-switching.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2018
    Assignee: INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
    Inventors: Chun-Chen Lin, Chih-Wei Ko, Yi-Ling Lin, Chien-Ming Wang
  • Patent number: 10097105
    Abstract: The present invention provides a synchronous rectification module. The synchronous rectification module includes a circuit board, a transformer, two synchronous rectification sets and a grounding set. The transformer includes a primary winding and a secondary electrically-conductive foil winding. The first and second synchronous rectification sets are symmetrically disposed on the circuit board, corresponding to the transformer and electrically connected to a secondary dotted end tap and a secondary synonyms end tap of the secondary electrically-conductive foil winding respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2018
    Assignee: DELTA ELECTRONICS (THAILAND) PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
    Inventors: Youzhun Cai, Chengfeng Yu, Sanchao Sun, Jiajia Ouyang
  • Patent number: 10097079
    Abstract: A dual constant time switching regulator includes: a power circuit including an inductor and at least a power switch for converting an input power to an output power, and a switching control circuit for generating a switch control signal to control the power switch, wherein the switching control circuit includes a comparison circuit for comparing an error amplified signal and a triangle wave signal to generate a comparison result, and a time determining circuit for generating the switch control signal according to the comparison result, wherein after the power switch turns ON, it keeps ON for at least a minimum ON time until the triangle wave signal is higher than the error amplified signal, and wherein after the power switch turns OFF, it keeps OFF for at least a minimum OFF time and until the triangle wave signal is lower than the error amplified signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2018
    Assignee: RICHTEK TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hung-Yu Cheng, Kuo-Chun Wu
  • Patent number: 10097095
    Abstract: A variable frequency resonant converter includes an inverter stage, a resonant circuit, a transformer, a rectifier stage, and a controller. The inverter and rectifier stages include first and second FET devices. The inverter converts a DC input signal to a first AC signal. The resonant circuit is coupled to the inverter stage and filters the first AC signal. The transformer is coupled to the resonant circuit and converts the first AC signal to a second AC signal. The rectifier stage is coupled to the transformer and converts the second AC signal to a DC output signal. The controller is configured to operate both of the first and second FET devices substantially at a resonant frequency at least partially defined by the resonant circuit to generate the DC output signal according to a voltage setpoint.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2018
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Pradeep Vijayan, Vishnu Mahadeva Iyer
  • Patent number: 10097100
    Abstract: A converter circuit is disclosed. The converter circuit includes a transformer and a primary circuit connected to the primary side of the transformer, where the primary circuit includes a first switch connected to a ground. The converter circuit also includes a second switch connected to the first switch, and a clamping capacitor connected to the second switch and to the input. The converter circuit also includes a secondary circuit connected to the secondary side of the transformer, where the secondary circuit includes a rectifying element, and an output capacitor connected to the rectifying element. In addition, the output capacitor has a substantial effect on resonance of the converter circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2018
    Assignee: Navitas Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventors: Lingxiao Xue, Ju Zhang
  • Patent number: 10097106
    Abstract: A power converter includes first and second switching circuits 12 and 16, a primary winding T1 having both ends connected to the first switching circuit 12, a secondary winding T2 having both ends connected to the second switching circuit 16 and magnetically coupled with the secondary winding T2, and a reactor L having a first end connected to a center tap m of the primary winding T1. The first switching circuit 12 includes a full bridge having half bridges U and V connected in parallel, and diodes D1 and D2 each having one end connected to a common point. The diodes D1 and D2 each have the other end connected to one of two parallel connecting points of the full bridge. Input alternating-current voltage Vin is applied between a second end of the reactor L and the connecting point of the diodes D1 and D2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2018
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA CHUO KENKYUSHO
    Inventors: Kenichi Takagi, Shuntaro Inoue
  • Patent number: 10097092
    Abstract: A multi-phase switching regulator includes: a plurality of power stages, a plurality of pulse width modulation (PWM) controllers and a ramp signal setting circuit. The PWM controllers generate corresponding PWM signals for controlling corresponding power stages respectively according to an error signal related to an output voltage and a plurality of ramp signals corresponding to corresponding power stages respectively. The ramp signal setting circuit adjusts the ramp signal of the phase that is to be enabled or disabled according to the phase adjustment signal. Under a phase-cut operation, the ramp signal setting circuit causes a basis level of the ramp signal corresponding to the phase to be disabled to gradually change, thereby decreasing a duty ratio of the PWM signal corresponding to the phase to be disabled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2018
    Assignee: RICHTEK TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Jyun-Che Ho, Yu-Chang Chen, Jo-Yu Wang, Yi-Wei Lee, Isaac Y. Chen