Patents Examined by Matthew Nguyen
  • Patent number: 10277146
    Abstract: Disclosed are half bridge inverter unit and inverter thereof. The half bridge inverter unit includes an inverter controlling module and inductors. The inverter controlling module provides different connection modes based on different operation modes so that the inverter meets the requirement of wide input voltage range as it can work in either voltage step-up mode or voltage step-down mode. The mid-point voltage between the DC series capacitors connected in parallel with DC power supply can be balanced automatically by taking advantage of the grid voltage symmetry with regard to positive and negative half cycles. The inverter is of single stage structure. It has advantages of low power loss, low cost, high efficiency and reliability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2019
    Inventors: Hongliang Wang, Yan-Fei Liu
  • Patent number: 10243473
    Abstract: An LED driver is provided having a gate drive integrated circuit with an adaptive operating mode which operates between a first operating mode and a second operating mode. The gate drive integrated circuit is designed to primarily operate in the first operating mode which includes a predetermined minimum on-time and a predetermined maximum off-time for enabling and disabling gate drive signals to a switch, respectively. The second operating mode begins at the minimum on-time and the maximum off-time. The LED driver further includes a controller configured to monitor an on-time and an off-time of the gate drive signals. The controller is further configured responsive to the second operating mode to fix the on-time equal to the predetermined minimum on-time and to continually adjust the off-time greater than or equal to the maximum off-time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2019
    Assignee: Universal Lighting Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Wei Xiong, Travis L. Berry, Keith Davis
  • Patent number: 10236786
    Abstract: The various implementations described herein include inverter devices and systems. In one aspect, an inverter includes: a case; a capacitor within the case having a first terminal and a second terminal; a first bus bar including a first portion within the case and a second portion extending from the case to contact a first transistor; a second bus bar including a first portion situated in the case and a second portion extending from the case to contact a second transistor; and a phase-out bus bar including a first portion situated in the case, a second portion extending from the case to contact the first transistor, and a third portion extending from the case to contact the second transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2019
    Assignee: GALATECH, INC.
    Inventors: Wenjun Liu, Robert James Ramm
  • Patent number: 10236687
    Abstract: In a full-scale converter system both the grid-side inverter unit and the generator-side inverter unit have a series convection of parallel inverters and form a generator-side and grid-side voltage-center-point at a voltage level between those of the inverters connected in series. The voltage-center-points are electrically connected by a center-line conductor that has a cross-section between 30% and 70% of that of a positive or negative potential conductor. The converter system continues conversion operation in the event of a fault in an inverter of a first converter-string, with non-faulty inverters of the converter system, as the center-line conductor is dimensioned by said cross-section to carry a compensation current resulting from an unbalanced active power-output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2019
    Assignee: VESTAS WIND SYSTEMS A/S
    Inventors: John Godsk Nielsen, Søren Andersen, Lars Helle, Duy Duc Doan
  • Patent number: 10236878
    Abstract: An isolator device (200) includes a differential transmitter, a differential receiver, and a pair of differential signal lines between the differential transmitter and the differential receiver. The isolator device also comprises isolation circuitry along the pair of differential signal lines, wherein the isolation circuitry includes a transmitter-side capacitor for each differential signal line, a receiver-side capacitor for each differential signal line, and at least one common-mode voltage regulation component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2019
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Jikai Chen, Yanli Fan
  • Patent number: 10224805
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus relate to a minimizing ripple in a polyphase power supply by modulating a voltage pre-regulator output setpoint to minimize ripple performance. In an illustrative example, the modulation may include incrementally adjusting the pre-regulator output setpoint supplied, for example, to a multiphase controller. Some examples may reverse the increment direction in response to determining that the prior incremental adjustment yielded increased ripple. Each phase of the polyphase power supply may include a buck-derived switch-mode power supply connected, for example, to a common output node. Various embodiments may advantageously maximize reduce bulk capacitance requirements for active loads by dynamically seeking a duty cycle of the polyphase power supply with substantially minimal ripple.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2019
    Assignee: Alpha and Omega Semiconductor (Cayman) Limited
    Inventor: Chris M. Young
  • Patent number: 10218272
    Abstract: For controlling a switch power supply, an adjustment module produces a first control voltage by comparing a period of a switch signal with a reference period. A current source module generates a first charging current according to the first control voltage. A pulse signal generating module converts the first charging current into an on time signal or off time signal of a switch transistor. A driving module produces the switch signal according to the on time or off time signal of the switching transistor, so as to control the turn on and turn off signal of a switching transistor. A time measurement module obtains a time parameter according to the switch signal, and generates a periodic adjustment signal according to the time parameter. The adjustment module adjusts the reference period according to the periodic adjustment signal to adjust the period of the switch signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: Joulwatt Technology (Hangzhou) Co. LTD.
    Inventors: Siopang Chan, Pitleong Wong, Yuancheng Ren, Xunwei Zhou
  • Patent number: 10214165
    Abstract: The electrical supply system according to the invention is of the type comprising, on the one hand, an electrical power network having a first voltage electrically connecting first items of equipment comprising an electrical motor/generator, an inverter/rectifier and a first electrical energy store, and, on the other hand, an electrical service network having a second voltage that is less than the first voltage electrically connecting second items of equipment comprising a second electrical energy store, an electronic control unit controlling the energy transfers between the power network and the service network by means of at least one reversible DC/DC converter The electronic unit comprises a first electronic module supplied by the power network exchanging information with the first items of equipment, and a second electronic module supplied by the service network exchanging information with the second items of equipment and electrically insulated from the first module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: Valeo Equipements Electriques Moteur
    Inventor: Pierre Chassard
  • Patent number: 10211755
    Abstract: The various implementations described herein include inverter devices and systems. In one aspect, an inverter includes: a case; a capacitor within the case having a first terminal and a second terminal; a first bus bar including a first portion within the case and a second portion extending from the case to contact a first transistor; a second bus bar including a first portion situated in the case and a second portion extending from the case to contact a second transistor; and a phase-out bus bar including a first portion situated in the case, a second portion extending from the case to contact the first transistor, and a third portion extending from the case to contact the second transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2019
    Assignee: GALATECH, INC.
    Inventors: Wenjun Liu, Robert James Ramm
  • Patent number: 10199940
    Abstract: Several example multi-DC voltage (MDC) boxes and associated power delivery systems are described herein. The MDC box can take a 24-60 VDC input (or other values) and can provide multiple DC output voltages for electronic devices and medical devices to plug-in directly without having a need for a bulky AC-DC power adapter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2019
    Assignee: ENRG-dc, Inc.
    Inventor: Duc P. Bui
  • Patent number: 10199941
    Abstract: In order to set the output voltage of a resonant converter to a desired value by means of a simple additional circuit while the resonant converter is in open circuit operation, it is intended that at least one capacitor each (C1, C2) is connected in parallel to the electrical switching elements (S1, S2) of the secondary side of the resonant converter (1).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2019
    Assignee: FRONIUS INTERNATIONAL GmbH
    Inventors: Christian Magerl, Franz Peter Musil, Robert Eberl, Friedrich Steinmaurer
  • Patent number: 10193437
    Abstract: In one form, a bridgeless AC-DC converter includes a totem pole network having a first input adapted to be coupled to a second terminal of an AC voltage source, a second input adapted to be coupled to a first terminal of the AC voltage source through an inductor, an output terminal for providing an output voltage, and a return terminal, an output capacitor coupled between the output terminal and an output ground terminal, a sense element coupled between the return terminal and the output ground terminal, and a controller circuit coupled to the return terminal of the totem pole network. The controller circuit modulates an on time of an active switch in the totem pole network on a cycle-by-cycle basis by shortening the on time corresponding to an amount of time a current sense signal derived from a current through the sense element exceeds a current limit threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2019
    Assignee: SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC
    Inventors: Ajay Karthik Hari, Nikhilesh S. Kamath
  • Patent number: 10193448
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a power supply control circuit may include a capacitive boost circuit having only three switches and only one boost capacitor. The capacitive boost circuit may be configured to receive an input voltage and form a first voltage to apply to an inductor. A control circuit of the power supply control circuit may be configured to switch an inductor switch at a first frequency to regulate the output voltage to the desired value, to switch the three switches at substantially the same frequency, and to adjust a duty cycle of the three switches.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2019
    Assignee: SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC
    Inventor: Philip Crawley
  • Patent number: 10186964
    Abstract: At least some aspects of the present disclosure provide for a circuit. In one example, the circuit includes a logic circuit having multiple inputs and multiple outputs, a calculated discontinuous conduction (DCM) (TDCM) timer having an input coupled to one of the logic circuit outputs and an output coupled to one of the logic circuit inputs, an on-time (TON) timer having an input coupled to one of the logic circuit outputs and an output coupled to one of the logic circuit inputs, and a hysteresis timer having an input coupled to one of the logic circuit outputs and multiple outputs coupled to multiple of the logic circuit inputs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Michael Ryan Hanschke, Salvatore Giombanco, John C. Vogt, Filippo Marino, Joseph Michael Leisten, Ananthakrishnan Viswanathan
  • Patent number: 10186945
    Abstract: A switched-mode power regulator circuit has four solid-state switches connected in series and a capacitor and an inductor that regulate power delivered to a load. The solid-state switches are operated such that a voltage at the load is regulated by repetitively (1) charging the capacitor causing an increase in current flow in the inductor followed by a decrease in current flow in the inductor and before the current flow in the inductor stops, (2) discharging the capacitor causing an increase in current flow in the inductor followed by a decrease in current flow in the inductor and before the current flow in the inductor stops, repeating (1).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: Empower Semiconductor
    Inventors: David Lidsky, Timothy Alan Phillips, Parag Oak
  • Patent number: 10185342
    Abstract: A configurable charge converter may include an adaptive low-dropout regulator. The adaptive low-dropout regulator may include a headroom detection circuit and a power supply controller. The headroom detection circuit may monitor a voltage drop across a field effect transistor (FET) and cause a programmable power supply to increase or decrease an output voltage accordingly. In some aspects, the configurable charge converter may include an adaptive low-dropout regulator and a buck/boost converter. The output power of the configurable charge controller may be provided by the adaptive low-dropout regulator, the buck/boost converter, or by both the adaptive low-dropout regulator and the buck/boost converter operating in combination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Aaron Melgar, Christian Sporck, Chunping Song, David Wong, Rashed Hoque, Neal Horovitz, Hector Ivan Oporta, Daryl Bergstrom
  • Patent number: 10186986
    Abstract: First and second semiconductor main-elements, each having a control electrode and a load path, the load paths connected in series between first and second supply nodes, are connected with each other via a first common node. Third and fourth semiconductor main-elements, each having a control electrode and a load path, the load paths connected in series and between a third supply node and the second supply node, are connected with each other via a second common node. A fifth semiconductor main-element has a control electrode and a load path operatively connected between the first common node and an output node. A sixth semiconductor main-element has a control electrode and a load path operatively connected between the second common node and the output node. At least two of the controllable semiconductor main-elements each include a plurality of identical controllable semiconductor subcomponents.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventor: Christian Robert Mueller
  • Patent number: 10186982
    Abstract: There is described a dual-input single-output power supply with shared circuitry for the rectifying and power conversion stages and duplicated circuitry for the filtering and protection stages, and with a switching device to switch between the two inputs. Operation of the switching device is controlled according to the status of the input power feeds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: TELCODIUM INC.
    Inventor: Eric Morin
  • Patent number: 10177670
    Abstract: A flyback power converter circuit includes: a transformer including a primary winding coupled to an input power and a secondary winding coupled to an output node, a primary side switch controlling the primary side winding to convert the input power to an output power on the output node through the secondary side winding, a clamping circuit including an auxiliary switch and an auxiliary capacitor connected in series to form an auxiliary branch which is connected with the primary side winding in parallel, and a conversion control circuit for adjusting an auxiliary ON time of the auxiliary switch during an OFF time of the primary side switch according to an estimated parasitic diode conduction time of a parasitic diode of the auxiliary switch; the auxiliary ON time is controlled to be substantially equal to and coincides with the estimated parasitic diode conduction time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2019
    Assignee: RICHTEK TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tzu-Chen Lin, Kun-Yu Lin
  • Patent number: 10175708
    Abstract: A power source device includes an output transistor connected between an input node at which an input voltage can be received and an output node at which an output voltage corresponding to the input voltage can be output according to a control voltage applied to a gate of the output transistor, a first amplifier that includes a first transistor element and a second transistor element having gates to which a first voltage is applied, receives a feedback voltage corresponding to the output voltage, and outputs a second voltage corresponding to a voltage difference between the feedback voltage and a reference voltage, a monitor transistor having a gate to which the first voltage is applied, a first current source that supplies a first current to the first amplifier, and a second current source that supplies a second current to the first amplifier according to a current flowing in the monitor transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2019
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventor: Akio Ogura